1956 356A European Coupe

No sooner had Porsche’s 356 Continental begun to hit the shores of America, Ford, who owned the name rights to “Continental”, came calling and asked that Porsche withdraw the name. But by the time Ford had made their objections, Porsche had already ordered fenders bearing the Continental script, so a quick decision was made to rename the car “European” and ride out the fender order with the new name. As only a handful of fenders remained, only ~400 or less of 356 Europeans were produced, making these quite rare today.

This 1956 356A European Coupe was refinished by Deluxe Customs of Tempe, Arizona about a decade ago in its original shade of Aquamarine Blue Metallic over a Grey Leather interior and features a replacement 1,883cc engine.

The Aquamarine Blue Metallic paint is in excellent condition as evidenced by almost 500 pictures in the photo gallery. The exterior features sealed-beam headlights along with quad taillights with LED bulbs, body-colored bumpers with aluminum guards, a Hirschmann-style red-tip retractable antenna, and 15” Tecnomagnesio wheels.

On the inside, the Gray leather interior is excellent as well with its ivory-colored two-spoke steering wheel and replacement gauges. Out back, the car features a Porsche industrial engine with a Competition Engineering machined case, LN Engineering “Nickies” cylinders housing 90mm forged pistons with Porsche 912 connecting rods, and dual Weber 44mm IDF carburetors. Other upgrades include a 12-volt electrical system, Porsche 912 heads, aluminum oil cooler, and more. A top-notch example of a spectacular car.

Overall, the 356 market has been softening a bit over the last few years going from an average price of $139,000 in November 2021 to an average of just over $130,000 today. Back when this example previously sold in August 2021, it sold at an above average price of $190,000.

This time around our Spotlight car sold at a final bid of $239,000. While average cars slide, the best are still bringing the bids. Well sold but the buyer should be well-off as long as they keep this one looking as good as it does now.

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