Porsche 356 - made by hand - documentary :-)

[@MartinSage]

In 1965 our family was living in Wurzburg,Germany. My Dad's best friend was Otto Meyer. Otto took my Dad+ I on a ride up to Bremen to pick up his new 911. We rode in his 356 at 90 mph (max. speed) during the rain on the autobaun. Otto sold his old 356 to my Dad for $100!

[@roberte.andrews4621]

I bought Lou Fageol's 1953 356 Super, which he had modified to AWD. Yes! They couldn't achieve synchronization between the two engines, front and rear, and the unique Porsche was sold through a classified in ROAD & TRACK for about $3,500. After the second owner died when his chute didn't open, a couple Maytag engineers bought the car and raced it in SCCA F Production. I picked it up in December of 1959 for $700, a rumpled wreck with no bumpers and a VW camshaft. I spent the month stripping the many coats of paint, but my chemical remover wouldn't touch the original paint and primer, which was hard as ceramic. I had to sand that off! I had pro spray 17 coats of Lucite metallic silver gray, while I color-sanded between coats. The bumpers were retrieved from a farm, where they were stored by the parents of the second owner, who gave them to me without cost and their blessings. When I moved to California, October of 1961, I sold my 356 for $900 in Des Moines. Today, if restored, the '53 Super coupe would fetch $225,000 at auction. Ve get too soon old, und too late schmart! Or something like hat.

[@VladimirDELOSRIOS-pf1ke]

i will give your dad $150!!!!

[@calvinmontgomery4245]

I was in the army, 3 infantry division, “rock of the Marne!”wurzburg German

[@MartyNoonan]

I bought my Polo Red 1969 911S Targa in August, 1971 when i returned from Vietnam as a USAF pilot. I did a full restoration in ’99-’00 at 287,000 miles. It has 308,000 miles on it today and runs and looks like it came off the assembly line. A joy to drive and own. It turns heads every time I take it for a spin!

[@space_114v2]

This is like watching Willie Wonka and the Chocolate factory for me. Such a blast from the past ...Very Magical :)

[@ericl452]

The Super 90 engines were made for the 1960 to 1963 models. The bodies of the cars being built are 356B Type 5, built for the 1960 to 1961 models. This footage was taken between late 1959 and late 1961.

[@Nahngunnarson]

I noted a red coupe with the small engine cover vents and the bumpers as fitted on my 1952 "pre A". Probably film footage from multiple years.

[@AudreyH48]

I'm a huge Porsche fan, and it's so cool to see the craftsmanship first hand of the 356 line. I wish I was alive in the 60's with money and knowledge of the 356 then. It would have been a family heirloom for sure. ❤

[@escapefelicity2913]

I was alive and bought a 67 912. To me the 356 looks like a bathtub. ;(

[@wappomtrs]

This is a lost art indeed. There is a proud group of select craftsmen that cannot be hired in today's World ... Thanks for your posting!

[@dickvolen4589]

I am sure available.@ $150 per hour.

[@pauloshea3741]

@@dickvolen4589 Me too! I only work for people that i actually like.

[@krusher74]

this is just production line work, its not craftmanship.

[@Retroscoop]

@@dickvolen4589 The price of "proud"ness mentioned above has gone up dramatically. The housing prices in Germany aren't as frivolous as in the US cities you know.

[@earlgandel7693]

In 1960-64 I ran advertising and PR for Porsche in Southern California (Porsche Car Distributors) and "borrowed" a 16mm print of "Made by Hand", which I had for years until it disappeared. Never thought I'd see it again and able to share it with a lot of others.

[@michaelmccormick1745]

Hi Earl- Did you work for -or- with Competition Motors in Hollywood? That is where my 62 Coupe was imported and sold.

[@adamkoller5411]

My dad bought a ‘61B super roadster in 1981 for $1500 with a broken crank in NY. I rebuilt a type one vw engine someone gave us, rebuilt the tranny, brakes, etc and drove it in high school and college. He sold it in the late 80’s for $10k.Today the same car fetches $100k restored. I have owned few other p-cars but nothing drove like that B roadster. Lovely cars. So fun to see the car I cut my automotive teeth on being made back in the day. I recognize every detail!

[@356Maniac]

Unglaublichste die Autos zu damaligen Zeiten produziert wurden....

[@alfa16471]

Очень приятно было посмотреть как работали люди с душой , как работали с оловом как матовали под покраску ,как ставили коробку передач и.т.д. Спасибо за фильм.)))

[@anthonyxuereb792]

In all my years of being a car enthusiast I have never heard of Reutter and it's contribution/connection with Porsche, I'm talking 60 years. Really a good example of never bring too old to learn.

[@antonelloserpi5485]

Uno storico filmato a dir poco eccezionale e meraviglioso; complimenti a chi lo filmo' a suo tempo e a chi lo ha inserito su KZbin 👍😉

[@antonelloserpi5485]

Un vero e proprio formidabile "film" sull'intero processo costruttivo della mitica Porsche 356 😉👍 grazie!

[@bluegtturbo]

Even for 60 years ago this was incredibly labour intensive and primitive in terms of methods. Lots of fettling and reworking. Has to be the most highly skilled assembly line ever!

[@roberte.andrews4621]

Contrast this to the robotic Tesla line and you will shake your head at all the intermediate steps this modern mode eliminates. But I prefer my natural ignorance to artificial brains.

[@bobwilson758]

What country ?

[@acesantics1287]

Wow that was incredible! It's amazing to see how thorough they are

[@jockellis]

Glad they showed Drauz. I got to see the guys who built my first Porsche. It was great fun.

[@jamesberlo4298]

+jockellis Lucky Dog, you had one!!

[@dragmahk]

Thank you so much for this video. We must strive to protect all kinds of old media and bring them to the new era of information. Doing god's work.

[@olivergarcia8236]

schönes Video. Danke dass du das mit uns geteilt hast.

[@Jerod_Helt]

Amazing video! I’m working on a 356 on my channel. So much good info in this video 👍

[@dennisdaugs4138]

I think i saw my 58Coupe! Its the one where the undercoat man took a lunch break 🙃

[@TheSearaider]

love the tunes wish i was alive then

[@Retroscoop]

Could have been from a wildlife docu about frisky and curious baby deers

[@stevebirks2186]

This is an amazing piece of history - Very Interesting too! - You love the bathtub - you'' ll love this documentary ! - Thanks for sharing this piece of of a bygone era !

[@steetonsales1]

What a wonderful historic information film, has to be the best looking sports car ever built ! No wonder they change hands for £100,000's nowadays.

[@Jepskis]

This video is gold.

[@juanmaldonado3281]

WAW. A. WONDERFULL. TRIP. TO. THE. PAST. WE LOVE. IT. TNKS. SUPER. AWESOME

[@klauspohl1142]

I bought a 1963 SC Coupe in Texas 1993 and I drove it until 2009 trouble free! I earned some good money and decided to have the rust removed under the door. Then I received the dreaded "we have to talk" phone call Jack Staggs in San Clemente and he told me that the entire lower part of the body was rusted through and a total restauration was needed! Price about 50 Grand so I sold the car to him. It should be finished soon.......

[@hillstephen6]

I love Porsche and have owned many and still own a 911, wish I could go back in time and grab a few of them beauties. Great retro film … born too late 😀

[@Sams911]

very happy to be taking delivery of the latest in this royal line... a new 992 C4S!

[@Klystron33]

Great stuff indeed, thanks alot for uploading!

[@mini2nut67]

Loved every minute of this film. The true automotive craftsman is long gone unfortunately. Automation and robots have taken over virtually all auto plants worldwide.

[@christianloepfe179]

Aston Martin still builded by Hand.

[@krusher74]

This isnt craftmanship, that would be using hand tools, this is just production line work. A man trying to be a robot. You could learn to do any of these stages in less than a week, you dont need to be a skilled craftsman.

[@GT380man]

@@krusher74There are one or two operations which you probably couldn’t learn in such a short time, though your wider point is absolutely valid. The use of molten tin, it’s shaping using heat and a leather tool & subsequent filing & planing is harder to do well than it might appear. In this way, Porsche (& presumably all other manufacturers) get to hide panel junctions where they would otherwise be visible.

[@tngdwn8350]

The company which built the chassis "Karosserie Reutter", Karosserie meaning body/chassis, is still know today under a different name. Reutter Karosserie (ReKaro) with the K changed to a C becomes Recaro, the well known automotive / racing seat manufacturer.

[@GT380man]

That’s a brilliant piece of automotive genealogy! I had black leather Recaro seats in both my VW MkIV Golf GTi Turbo cars. I drove only this model for about 15 years and never tired of it. A mechanic friend said in his opinion, that era, late 1990s to early noughties, was peak reliability for quality cars. All the weaknesses had been bred out yet the amount of censors and the role of onboard computers was still minimal. As a result, fault finding was simple and fixes likewise. All parts of the vehicle were robustly made and bodies galvanised. If I could pick a car to have new again out of a Time Machine, it would be a fully loaded VW MkIV Golf GTi Turbo.

[@JoeMomma-mx8ek]

Reutter was bought out by Porsche in ‘63. The seat manufacturing division of Reutter split off from the body building division in the sale of the company and became Recaro. In the contract, they were to supply Porsche with their seats for the next 10 years.

[@waseemkhan-ms1kt]

Duuude!!!! He kneed the engine and transmission assembly in the car. Doing that every day on a bunch of cars. Tough guy.

[@2112bangkok]

Fantastic video. Wouldn't want to be the undercoating guy working in that cave. Test driver YES! I wonder which coach builder commands more money at resale? There have to be variances between all that welding, hammering, etc. Make mine a silver coupe Carerra with four can engine please.

[@humbertojuhasz1475]

Amazing factory, everything is handcrafted

[@martinkoziel9654]

Danke für den Upload Ingo :-)

[@356classiccars4]

This is story about the true passion of car builders. Hand made cars what are able to do 1 million km. Its impossible today with best tech, computers and robotics what are way ahead over hand with brush and spanner. What goes wrong today if newest tech cant serve us properly? ;)

[@PHAT50CHEVY]

That was probably my favorite utube find yet thank u very cool

[@theangelojack]

Excellent video, thanks for sharing, much enjoyed!!

[@motorv8N]

Super interesting video - thanks! Wonder if that gorgeous little navy blue roadster alive and well somewhere still being enjoyed to this day.

[@914_werke]

Ingo, Very Cool, thank you! By chance is there a similar video of the 914 ?

[@accutron-man3006]

Amazing millions of dollars worth of vintage Porsches in the first 20 seconds of the video nice!

[@Tumbleweed-vh4pt]

Back then it would set you back a few grand for one of those. Of course a few grand was a lot of money, but still a lot less than what you would pay now.

[@TheHypnotstCollector]

spray on undercoating, no respirator, shooting paint, no respirator, Melt that lead onto the body, no respirator. Real Lacquer paint. at least they wear a respirator spraying on the Signal Red paint. The same color I spayed on my 1953 coupe. Back then the windshield was +/- 1/8" in fit so putting in glass was not always a success, good luck getting a good fit with replacement doors or hood. oddly the rear decks always interchanged well, if you mashed up the rear end. I put in a 1964 SC engine with a big bore kit, over 100hp. at minute 15:17 we see a red porsche with louvers on the engine deck lid, a Carrera, I think.

[@XoVoX]

Bruno, I feel kinda light headed. Thats normal Heinrich, now get back to painting!

[@scottkashuba3476]

They must have been happy to survive the war. What was a little hazardous waste here and there.

[@ericjkent]

Yes about those windshields I actually broke one because it was too big for the opening but that was part of the program working at a Porsche Dealer as far as getting doors and hoods that fit that is why they used lead you can make anything LOOK like it fits with a little lead.

[@jeffinillinois]

Saw the Carrera too!

[@bigears4426]

TheHypnotstCollector the karman ghia was no different plenty of lead to make them fit , yet the cheap beetle had nearly perfect pressings no lead at all

[@fairrodthecapacitor]

38:28 Why was that Cabrio top hanging out like that? It seems like only the blue top ones were like that on the footage and did Porsche actually make blue top cabrios?

[@tomfoster8907]

Excellent video. Thank you

[@frank09busa]

What's amazing about this is, to me, this looks futuristic and it's 60s tech. Wow

[@Tumbleweed-vh4pt]

Now it's mostly robots doing it

[@bobnoblesjr.465]

In 1965, my dad bought a 356 C ,which was it's last production year, and the first year of the 911. He chose the 356. He traded in a '63 356 SC to get it.

[@gartw6381]

7:29 The worker grinding metal without eye protection😳 Sparks flying!

[@Sanyey]

why do you think I as a mechanic ever used eye or ear protection through my daily work? :D

[@Sanyey]

@Ben Frediani It was meant as "never used it" :D

[@1959VWBeetle]

Ah, if only I'd had the money 20 or so years ago to buy one of these. I'd be so happy to still have it in my garage. A daily smile for sure.

[@bradjohnston8193]

If I'd had the money to buy one of these, I would have bought 100,000 shares of Amazon and I'd be a billionaire.

[@bigears4426]

If porsche made this model car today exactly the same they would still sell

[@markjurczyk]

The only problem i see, price would be very high

[@bigears4426]

GSA the same as any Porsche, expensive

[@ShamWerks]

@@bigears4426 it would not pass any of the security / pollution regulations unfortunately...

[@bigears4426]

ShamWerks vw diesels didn't either

[@coreygolphenee9633]

I'd buy it right fucking now

[@domingodeanda233]

That was pretty damn good.

[@josecuauhtemocmejiarubio2219]

una obra de arte hecha a mano, por eso duran tanto

[@92superamerica]

Realy nice to see that. Thanks for posting.

[@tomlasher1358]

I installed a 356 engine in my 1960 Karmen Ghia, had to enlarge the bell housing to accept the larger pressure plate/flywheel n then bolted it right in

[@Tumbleweed-vh4pt]

Now you can get more horse power off the old engine from the bolt on parts that are available.

[@VNDLZR]

Great video !!

[@radwi69]

Craftsmanship of a Fine Watchmaker.

[@mercedesbenzformula1]

@studid55 no, it says to ensure against leakage and rusting

[@radwi69]

After this beautiful documentary, I guess any restoration work will fall extremely short of making any existing 356s an original!

[@baloneyjusticecheezedog]

Actually that is the wrong way to think about it. This is proof since it was done by man, another man it can be remade and given a chance to dance again.

[@Euphorica]

great video. thanks for the upload

[@andyr9654]

Engineers even back then as well as today are not given the recognition they deserve. People don't care about who makes the television as much as they care about those on it. They idolize the car but really never think about those who designed it to make it work. Technology is simply taken for granted without knowing how it actually comes about. These engineers designed it all to the last detail, then designed machines and tools to be able to make their designs, then trained people in assembly lines to put it all together. It's simply gob smacking. BTW todays machines are far more impressive than what we see here...we now see automated robots working with utmost precision in assembly lines. Even more gob smacking.

[@roberte.andrews4621]

Tesla seems to have the automotive world by the short hair, as to efficient robotic assembly and testing technology. Now, if we can find the ingredients for the batteries of the future, the conversion to engines with only one moving part will cut costs and pollution for us all. Muffler makers will join buggy whip producers in the archives of auto history.

[@topfell8277]

When Germans were german balls of steel proud to be born there in 57

[@sheridenboord7853]

I'm watching this wondering what job I could possibly do in the factory to help. I was feeling more and more dejected as most of the jobs look pretty hard and yucky. Then I saw it, at 36:00, the chassis dyno test. Heaven.

[@GT380man]

Hard & yucky to me looked satisfying.

[@songgreaty3338]

Enjoy and learn a lot, many Tks!

[@TheHypnotstCollector]

ahhhh, minutes like 9:00 or the spot welding around 8:00, 10:20, all those fumes, all that lead. You melt lead and shape it all day and you're going to get lead poisoning. And those doors and hoods were all custom, the difference between hoods and doors, car to car, is huge. I had a 1953. Needed a hood and I lucked out: It wasn't perfect but it was close. Doors are worse. Even the windshields had a 1/4" difference car to car so windshield fit could be Tuff.

[@gabrielmillien7439]

This was an enjoyable film.

[@CTmoog]

Really neat!

[@josemontano7767]

Wow from humble beginnings.

[@Tumbleweed-vh4pt]

The beginning was a little rough for Ferdinand between two wars to end all wars and facing the crimes against humanity trials that followed put an untimely death from the stress. But his heirs continued on and created a dynasty that he would be proud of.

[@the_fifth_wheel]

@@Tumbleweed-vh4pt yes indeed one of the Cogs in the Third Reich was Mr Porsche (Volkswagen) - peoples car, National Socialism I think they called it......but still engineering at its finest.

[@sanjayabale]

wow , thnx for the upload

[@robj2704]

Too bad they weren't using a rust-proofing dip back in those days. We might still see a lot more of these little jewels. I'd love to have a 356.

[@borisbulldog]

You can, just bring $225k and it's yours. They built 73,000 356'sand about 50,000 are still on the road

[@Retroscoop]

Craftsmanship is very entertaining to watch: humans combining skill and passion into their work. Nevertheless, thinking of my father, who became more and more deaf at the end of his life, I cannot but notice these guys working in a very noisy environment without ear protection. A sauce of friendly baby deer-ish music won't manage to hide this....

[@dodgeyaussie]

OSHA would have a field day with this lol

[@Tumbleweed-vh4pt]

Out there it's called OhShit! 😆

[@Spaceman719]

Beautiful car 😍 🚗

[@karlkelley8353]

What a wonderful treasure!

[@LuizHenrique-sz1gt]

I Love Porsche

[@breuerkarosserie]

At the beginning @ 0:41: Industrial engines? Single carb, coil behind the fanshroud... What exact type of engine?

[@bubub56]

VW engines I believe

[@anotherbody2]

I think they're Porsche engines. In those days, they're were really a souped up version of Ferdinands original Vw engine. Porsche made the Vw, Ferry along with his father Ferdinand, created the sports car version of it, the Porsche. So naturally, the Vw technology had a huge influence on the Porsche technology. The Porsche engine was larger, around 1600 cc's, used better materials, had bigger crank main/journals sizes, was fully balanced, had dual port intake, an oil sump, had more carburation, usually 2 dual port solex carburators, etc. Probably those engines on frame 0:41 with the single carburator, were destined for the European 356 market. The cost of automobile ownership in Germany is a lot more expensive than in the US. In Germany you have to pay a yearly tax that for one thing depends on engine size. Also the gas prices in Germany have always been at least 3-4 times higher than the US prices.

[@maneki9neko]

anotherbody2 In that era there was a certain amount of cross-over between the VW and Porsche parts catalogs, where either a Porsche number or a VW number would reference a component with the same geometry, though perhaps with great quality control for the Porsche part.

[@jockellis]

+anotherbody2 Porsches started off at 1100 cc like VWs. Displacement increased to 1300 then 1500 and finally, 1600. normals used single throat Solexes, Supers, Zeniths with primary and secondary throats and Super 90s, SCs and later 912s used Solex P40-II with individual barrels for each cylinder. In SCCA autocrosses my Super got about 1 mpg.

[@alhodge4051]

priceless video..

[@jamesberlo4298]

I love the Transmission ( & Differential with Axles) Install 'Knee Technique't at 34:09 !!

[@escapefelicity2913]

Men used to get up in the morning and go to work. What a concept.

[@borisbulldog]

I dont get up until the crack of 10:00 and I make $235k/yr, that's a better concept

[@escapefelicity2913]

@@borisbulldog I sats yes to me

[@geraldswain3259]

The only rust protection you got was where the spray gun hit !!no dip no internal box section protection those days. no wonder they rotted out!

[@borisbulldog]

You ever seen a US car from the '60's? They were rust buckets too!

[@samadrid6321]

This is too much like a high school reel-to-reel movie we used to see in the 1970s. Inevitably the film would jam, stop against the hot bulb, melt and we would proceed to throw paper wads at each other 'till the teacher fixed the film.

[@rlv4304]

I wonder what kind of gauges were used to check for tolerances (as shown in the video). It looks like they worked on some hydraulic principle...

[@jamesb.9155]

Sounds like a very familiar late 50s announcer/narrator!

[@pwcraig65]

Drove a 55 356a for my DL test. The car had no seat belts from the factory.

[@Joshualbm]

He doesn't mention the challenging conditions that the assembly line musicians have to endure every day.

[@bretfisher7286]

I like the cars, but it's the music that drew me here the most.

[@quantumleap359]

Lol!

[@jamesberlo4298]

I wish they showed the Steering Gear. I love the Custom Porsche mini Truck .

[@alfa_romeo55yush82]

Very interesting vid however the back ground music is gawdy and annoying.

[@bluesman1063]

Does anyone know what year this was made? Great Documentary.

[@hagenherrmann8204]

+bluesman1063 It's about a 356B which was made from '60-'63 so the date of this doc would fall in there somewhere.

[@50zoomie]

+bluesman1063 T5 cars so somewhere in the Sept 59 to Sept 61 time frame

[@50zoomie]

+Doug McDonnell I have read that it was April 1960

[@silversurfer233]

bluesman1063 I can tell you this film was made in the late 50's to early 60's..1957 to 1961. The reason why i know this is because on the 356 Speedster in this factory the rear lights are slotted or teardrop shaped and the pre 1956 Speedster the rear lights were beehives..I know this because I own one in red.

[@dgb5820]

The soundtrack is priceless

[@paultogneri9783]

Time code 20:36........made me chuckle..... :)

[@markward6076]

Every older Porsche I've ever seen were pretty much eaten up with rust. The underbody pretty much destroyed unless never driven in winter. Road salt should be banned.

[@borisbulldog]

While you're at it ban snow, cold weather and stupid MAGAs

[@luiwammes4193]

If only I were to be able to get back 'over there' and buy me one of those fresh out of the Stuffenhausen oven.

[@walkertongdee]

My brother once made a car by hand, I said it looks more like you made it with your feet.

[@craigyoung1636]

Very interesting! Love ya

[@Staniby79]

un beau document, merci , faudrait je que trouve un capot arrière !!

[@cengeb]

mfg. has come a long way, this would have all kinds of mis specs etc done by hand....takes forever and with lots of variables

[@jjjcmo]

These weren’t just cars being built; they were assembled like pieces of jewelry!

[@TravisChristopher]

OMG this is incredible

[@professorshermanpeabody1237]

inevitable on the internet: politics and insult inserted into what is a fascinating time capsule of craftsmanship. I sure get tired of this nonsense - these people would never say any of these things to someone they faced directly.

[@quantumleap359]

That's right. Why can't everyone just sit back and enjoy this peek into the past without making snide, stupid, politically charged comments. smh....

[@andrepatacchini]

Professor Sherman Peabody perfect.

[@jjmac3561]

Very interesting! A lot of forehead protection going on.

[@davedemo8229]

yeah they are supposed to cover your eyes....Not your forehead

[@gregh7457]

lacquer paint love it hate it. Lots of work but looks beautiful when finished

[@Tumbleweed-vh4pt]

Yeah and there was a time when it was applied by hand and brush and then it was sanded and buffed to a perfect shine.