What sets a Porsche apart from every other car in the world? The obvious  answer is performance. Porsche cars, after all, have been held in the highest esteem by generations of drivers who value performance above all. But that's only part of the answer. What truly distinguishes a Porsche fromeverything else is passion. The passion for excellence.

It can be seen in Porsche No.1, the first of the new sports cars introduced in 1948 by Professor Ferdinand Porsche and his son Ferry Porsche.  Today, it is a passion pursued by the designers and engineers who cherishthe philosophy laid forth long ago by Professor Porsche: "To change is easy, to improve is hard."

It is a passion often lost in the demand for things made en masse. Yet from your first encounter with one, you'll see it's something that can still be found in a Porsche: that sense of what is possible when a car is crafted on ahuman scale.

Most car companies today are ruled by committee. The cars they produce reflect the compromises of conflicting agendas. Not so with the cars of Porsche. Each design change has evolved from Professor Porsche's uncompromising edict of continuous improvement. Each new idea has proven itself in the hands of the world's most demanding drivers on theworld's most demanding racetracks. And each new model has been crafted by the skilled hands of workers whose length of employment can often be measured in decades.

In 1948, Ferdinand Porsche and his son Ferry unveiled the very first Porsche, the Type 356. It was what every Porsche since has been: an uncompromised sports car. Nearly 50 years later, Porsche is still striving to create the perfect example of the breed. A sports car so ingeniously engineered, so painstakingly crafted, that it leaves no room for improvement.

An example the first production Porsches built in Austria, featuring hand formed sheet metal frame with aluminum hand formed body. Doors are steel. All running  gear is Volkswagen.  This car was the first of 15 Gmunds delivered to Scania Vabis, Sweden on May 15,1950. On June 15, 1950 this car was driven by Cecilia Koskull in the first Swedish Rallaye to the Midnight Sun. She won the 1st international racing victory for Porsche.  A major artifact in the History of Porsche            Presently undergoing restoration. $1.5 million completely restored