top of page
Writer's pictureCOCKPIT

1956 Porsche 356 B 1600 Beutler Coupé: an extremely rare Porsche



Founded in 1943, the Carrosserie + Spritzwerk Beutler AG in the Swiss city of Thun was one of the most renowned coachbuilders in the country until 1987 and in 1956 received a special order from Porsche.

Ferry Porsche had indeed asked Swiss technicians to make a less sporty and more elegant version of the 365 B and thus the 1600 Beutler Coupé was born. The car was based on the Volkswagen Beetle chassis covered with new bodywork while the engine was the 1.6 57 hp four-cylinder derived from the Porsche 365 B with two Zenith carburettors, set to 55 kW (75 hp) at 5,000 rpm and offering 118 Nm of torque from 3,700 rpm. The 920 kg coupe was enough to reach a speed of 165 km / h.


Five copies were built in a coupé version and one in a convertible version before production was halted in 1957 due to a change in the commercial strategy of the German company.



The brothers used to deal directly with the customer while Ferry wanted distribution to go through the Porsche network. No compromise could be found and Porsche stopped supplying chassis to the Beutler brothers. The rest of the production was entrusted to Carrosserie Reutter.


The contribution of the Buetler brothers to the heritage of the Porsche brand is significant, undeniably, and often overlooked. Many have wondered what direction the business could have taken if the Brother's contribution had continued.





0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page