Automotive creator · Austria and Germany · Creator and first documented driver · not ownership

Ferry Porsche

1948 Porsche 356 “No. 1” Roadster · Sport 356/1

The actual surviving silver Porsche 356 No. 1 Roadster displayed at the Porsche Museum in 2007, viewed from the front left with its historic registration obscured.
The actual surviving 1948 Porsche 356 “No. 1” Roadster at the Porsche Museum in 2007, photographed by leduardo. Its historic registration and a registration visible in the background display are obscured; the car is shown in its later modified/restored form, not as the separate 2018 replica.Photo: leduardo · CC BY 2.0.
Photo details

Downloaded the 1280 × 960 Commons original, stripped metadata, obscured the historic registration on the car and the registration reproduced in the background museum display with localized blur, and recompressed at JPEG quality 90. No crop, generated content or vehicle reconstruction.

Ferry Porsche at a Porsche Club of America dinner meeting in December 1958, photographed by Lew Hine.
Ferry Porsche1958 · Identification portraitLew Hine / Porsche Club of America · Public domain in the United States.
Photo details

Joyride serves the current 400 × 546 Commons crop byte-for-byte. Commons records it as a lossless crop from the 1958 group photograph; Joyride applies no additional crop, resize, retouching or generation. The portrait remains separate from the 356 No. 1 photograph.

The first Porsche was a one-off—and it kept changing

Connection
Creator and first documented driver · not ownership
When
Conceived summer 1947 · first chassis drive February 5, 1948 · road permit June 8, 1948
Identity
Sport 356/1 · one-off mid-engine prototype · surviving 1948 car with original-number engine · later modified and restored

Porsche says the first car bearing its name was built around Ferry Porsche’s ideas in Gmünd. The idea dates to summer 1947, and Ferry first took his place behind the wheel of the new chassis on February 5, 1948. The completed Sport 356/1 received its general operating permit on June 8. Joyride records a creator and first-driver association—not personal ownership.

No. 1 was not simply an early production 356. Porsche identifies it as a one-off with an aluminium body, steel lattice-tube frame, Volkswagen-derived 1,131 cc flat-four uprated to 35 hp and a mid-engine layout. The series cars moved the engine behind the rear axle and, from 1950, used steel bodies. One prototype therefore does not establish coverage of the later 356 family or any individual series model year.

The surviving car has a complicated material history. Porsche records its December 20, 1948 sale to first private owner Peter Kaiser, later brake and engine changes, accident repairs, further alterations and return to Porsche in 1958. It was restored for road use and retained its original-number engine, but Porsche says its original 1948 condition is lost and cannot be restored. The licensed 2007 museum photograph shows that actual survivor in its later form. It is not Porsche’s separate, non-running 2018 show-car replica of the original body shape.

Documented custody

Where the car went next

  1. Summer 1947The idea takes shape

    Porsche dates the conception of the Type 356 VW sports car, later Sport 356/1, to this period.

  2. February 5, 1948First drive of the new chassis

    Ferry Porsche took the driver’s seat for the chassis’s first documented outing in Gmünd.

  3. June 8, 1948Road permit granted

    The completed 356 “No. 1” received its general operating permit.

  4. December 20, 1948First private owner

    Architect Peter Kaiser bought the car in Switzerland; this documented sale does not establish prior personal ownership by Ferry Porsche.

  5. 1952–1958Changed, damaged, returned

    Successive owners altered and repaired the car before Porsche recovered it in exchange for a new 356 Speedster.

  6. 2018Survivor and replica separated

    Porsche drove the restored survivor in Switzerland while separately touring a non-running replica of the lost original body form.

Follow the evidence

Sources for this story

Porsche documents Ferry Porsche’s creator role and first drive, the Sport 356/1 identity, permit date, technical specification, first private sale, changes, crash repair, 1958 return and original-number engine. Porsche also states that the original condition is lost and identifies its 2018 show car as a separate non-running replica. No personal ownership by Ferry Porsche, untouched 1948 condition, complete 356-family coverage, exact Joyride catalog match or compatible game representation is claimed.

  • Porsche 356 ‘No. 1’ RoadsterPorsche Newsroom · Porsche Museum press kit · reviewed 2026-10-06 · external source

    Ferry Porsche’s ideas, June 8, 1948 operating permit, one-off mid-engine identity, aluminium body, lattice-tube frame, 1,131 cc flat-four, 35 hp output and distinction from rear-engine series cars.

  • The ‘Number 1’ lives onPorsche Newsroom · 2018-07-17 · external source

    Summer 1947 conception, Ferry Porsche’s February 5, 1948 first chassis drive, Sport 356/1 name, December 20 first-owner sale, later modifications and accident, 1958 return, restored road use and original-number engine.

  • Back to the RootsPorsche Newsroom · 2018-05-23 · external source

    The survivor’s changes and lost original condition, plus the separate non-running 2018 replica/show car made to reproduce the original body form.

Reviewed

Why this is the actual car
  • Photo identity evidence

    Photographer leduardo identifies the January 6, 2007 photograph as the 1948 Porsche 356 No. 1 Roadster in the Porsche Museum; the file predates Porsche’s separate 2018 replica.

  • Photo identity evidence

    Porsche distinguishes the surviving, modified original car from the non-running 2018 replica and states that the original 1948 condition cannot be restored.

The matching photographer, venue, date and vehicle history establish the identification; the chassis stamp is not visible in these photographs.