Porsche’s First Four-Door Was a Studebaker

[blueline]

From Hagerty, this article has a lot of unknown (to me, anyway) or little-known bits of info regarding some of the earliest days as Porsche the company struggled to get off the ground. (ie: "None other than Henry Ford II turned down the opportunity to acquire the entire Volkswagen company, when presented with that offer gratis by the British in 1948").

The piece touches on a few Interesting historical, mechanical, design and partnership attempts and misses. Things certainly were different back then, especially in the immediate years following WWII.

The opening sentences from the write-up:
"It’s fairly well known among aficionados of automotive trivia that Studebaker was the official American distributor for Mercedes-Benz cars in the 1950s. Less well known is the fact that the independent automaker based in South Bend, Indiana, had an earlier relationship with another German automaker, Porsche. Ironically, at the same time that the automotive operations of the Studebaker Corporation were deteriorating financially, Studebaker’s tie-up with Porsche helped it get established as a serious automaker."

https://www.hagerty.com/media/automotiv ... d568259d8a

that-time-porsche-secretly-designed-and-built-a-car-for-studebaker_5a.jpg (107.86 KiB) Viewed 844 times

Type 542 Porsche

[jack911s]

Very interesting reading
Thank you
Jack

[Tom]

I had no idea! Great read!

[WillyDaP]

I get the Hagerty daily newsletter and it seems to have more and more tidbits of cool, obscure , automotive history! Appreciate you posting this interesting chapter of the early years of the Porsche marquee.

[P_Coastal]

From Hagerty, this article has a lot of unknown (to me, anyway) or little-known bits of info regarding some of the earliest days as Porsche the company struggled to get off the ground. (ie: "None other than Henry Ford II turned down the opportunity to acquire the entire Volkswagen company, when presented with that offer gratis by the British in 1948").

The piece touches on a few Interesting historical, mechanical, design and partnership attempts and misses. Things certainly were different back then, especially in the immediate years following WWII.

The opening sentences from the write-up:
"It’s fairly well known among aficionados of automotive trivia that Studebaker was the official American distributor for Mercedes-Benz cars in the 1950s. Less well known is the fact that the independent automaker based in South Bend, Indiana, had an earlier relationship with another German automaker, Porsche. Ironically, at the same time that the automotive operations of the Studebaker Corporation were deteriorating financially, Studebaker’s tie-up with Porsche helped it get established as a serious automaker."

https://www.hagerty.com/media/automotiv ... d568259d8a


that-time-porsche-secretly-designed-and-built-a-car-for-studebaker_5a.jpg
Type 542 Porsche

Fascinating, a long way from those lovely Panameras I was just looking at.

[RDMcG]

It’s a shame that the prototype did not survive. An interesting piece of Porsche history.

[blueline]

It’s a shame that the prototype did not survive. An interesting piece of Porsche history.

Yes, unfortunately.

I found a few more bits this morning. Fortunately, some archival type info and old written articles/pictures are still available online. (I guess search engines have not yet been completely taken over by bogus ads and bogus info. Give 'em time.)

https://autorepublika.com/2020/12/26/po ... -type-542/
(Scroll down to an English language magazine article.)

Or can translate from Bosnian to English. The opening para reads as follows:

"You're probably all rolling your eyes and wondering how an American sedan from a manufacturer that hasn't been around for more than five decades could be connected to a well-respected German company, but we assure you there is a connection. In fact, the relationship was so close at one point that Studebaker almost produced the first four-door Porsche long before the Panamera debuted. This is the story of an ambitious venture that envisioned the Germans designing a new generation of Studebaker sedans."

5-26-1125876255.jpg (132.21 KiB) Viewed 698 times

The "W" water-cooled V-6:

542-5-2853642376.jpg (144.05 KiB) Viewed 698 times