Deep in the garage for 38 years....

[Ibrahim Kuzu]

Here is the picture of the hardtop panel.Car has all factory original interior.

[JOEL JENSEN]

Porsche was referring to the new model Convertible which we have come to know and love as the Convertible D...to bad many today are bastardizing the name of the wonderful Speedster replacement using terms Porsche never used such as just "D" or worse yet 356D.

Tim,
Following Porsche's sequence of letters for significant changes to their cars, the logical
candidate for the term '356 D' or 356 AD is the 912.

[Bill Block]

Perhaps in Wikidedia -- but as long ago as the 30s Mercedes used cabriolet for both two and four seat models.

I'll find that convertible is useful as the overall term and it has sub categories of roadster with a simple, not so weather tight top and cabriolet meaning the luxurious padded top.


bill



In a message dated 8/15/2008 5:36:40 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, t2coupe@totheweb.com writes:

Wim, I agree that in general "cabriolet" and "convertible" can be
considered synonymous. But Porsche did not use the terms equally. To
Porsche, "Cabriolet" was the name of a specific 356 model. It had a
fairly luxurious folding top that was padded with insulation. The
"Convertible D" model had a more basic and lightweight top with no
insulation.

By the way, the Wikipedia entry for "cabriolet" at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabriolet_(automobile) contains an error:

"The meaning has further evolved over the years and today the term
cabriolet is frequently used for any convertible version of four seat
cars; it is rarely applied to two seat or sports cars. Except for
Porsche convertible models which are all referred to as cabriolets."

I'm going to log in and edit that statement.

Barry

At 11:26 -0700 8/15/08, Captain Wim van der Horst wrote:
: Since cabriolet means convertible why should there be a "cabriolet"
and a "convertible"? They should be the same thing. So what was
different?

Captain Wim



Barry Brisco
San Mateo, CA
1959 356A 105553
1974 914 2 liter race car
Registry Member #16465

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[Larry Coreth]

Note that the 1958 supplement to the 356A shop manual has a section describing the swapping of the hardtop with the softtop and visa versa.