TC/914

Does anyone have any pictures or know any links to pictures of drag racing 356's? The car or the action?

Any help?

Thanks,

TC

Pedro356C

I've never seen such thing as a drag racing 356 but I'm posting a drag queen and a racing 356...just mix them together...

m21sniper

I've seen a 356 or two at the drag strip over the years.

Usually the owners are too ashamed to bring them i guess. They do not turn good times at all.

I'm sure that properly modified, they'd be total demons though. Very light car, lots of potential for hot roddin'.

Vancouver83LTD

guess you'd see some at VW drags

btw pedro, nice pic of you!

Pedro356C

Hi Vancouver...it was a "bad day hair"...you have to see me in my splendor!!!!

Vancouver83LTD

well post away

ventoGT

I might be able to run down the strip faster than my 356....they are not drag cars by any means, as with pretty much all Porsches [bar the 928 I suppose, but even that isn't a stupid fast straight line car compared with a lot of the big V-8 American iron].

Pedro356C

Cole is absolutely right and such knowledge is shared among all the 356 owners... or should I say Porsche owners? Our cars don't have a great first gear...Dr. Porsche did not design drag racers...we catch "them" on the curves though!!!

RJT

One 356 comes to mind.....

Although I never timed it in a 1/4 mile it felt very close to our 993 in acceleration!
This was ONE fast 356........

Ron_H

It is inconceiveable to me that anyone would even harbor a thought about drag racing a 356. That is like mixing oil and water. Get real. I will go even farther and include all Porsches as others have said in this thread. If you want to drag Porsche, try a 908. Just try. If you can get him to shut it down after a quarter mile. Sheesh!!

TC/914

I was only asking if there might be any pictures on the net, mainly for "historical" reasons. I'm not planning on building a drag car out of my '55.

I just sort of figured that, given the shape of the car and how the Speedsters were considered stripped out entry-level Porsches, that SOMEONE might have sacrificed a 356 or two and used the body on a drag car chassis.

They used Fiat 500 and 600's, Topolinos, Beetles, Anglias, Opals, Thames, Austins, etc. any small light weight aerodynamic body that was available. Just figured that at least ONE documented 356 might have turned up. Not necessarily INTACT, just as a body on a rail/tube chassis. They were in almost every other racing venue . . . just thought . . .

RJT

TC,
There were 356s running the quarter mile back in the early 70s at Lions Drag Strip. I just don't have any pics of them. They were not your everyday stock 356s, and I don't think you were asking about STOCK 356s to begin with. They were stripped-down bored-out haulin-*** little cars.
I know of a 67 VW bug that runs in the low NINES and hits 150mph in the 1/4 mile! If someone wants to think that it's "inconceivable" for a 356 to be built as a drag car, let them think so. And to suggest that you "get real" only shows no imagination.

Ron_H

RJT, I repeat my "get real" statement. I recall in the '70s when a very good friend of mine built drag/hot rod engines including VW engines professionally, and I drove a Speedster. The two cars were worlds apart. Both in intention and execution. No imagination? I find it a de-evolutionary move to bastardize a Porsche by limiting its intention to drag racing. But I also think this side of the Atlantic has a ways to go to catch up to the other side in that respect, and the attitude is based on more than auto racing. The truth is that drag racing represents to me and others a total lack of imagination and maturity when compared to grand touring, Hey, if drag racing is your thing, that's OK, but don't sling insults around that are inaccurate. A purpose built drag machine compared to a grand tourer, particularly a serious grand tourer? Kindergarten compared to graduate school. The debate rages on, like the debate over speed limits. There is no argument in my mind. The last drags I attended during the last Porsche Parade week in Portland literally put me to sleep. I had to leave to wake up. Make a machine capable of nothing more than accelerate as rapidly as possible in a straight line as opposed to all that a grand tourer( or even a Peterbuilt tractor for that matter) must accomplish and for how long it must accomplish it? Lack of imagination perfectly describes drag racing, not the other way around.

No offense to those who enjoy drags. If that's your thing, there is no doubt that eyebrows are lifted when a serious machine makes a blinidingly rapid and perfectly executed run through the quarter mile. Lots of talent concentrated into such a limited goal. Even lots of innovative thinking has come out of drag race engine design....for a short lived engine. Great fun for some and a great show. Sort of like a circus. Or monster trucks. Or bravado. My friend was an accomplished drag race engine builder and built lots of "fast" accelerating VWs. Of course they were all out of breath at the end of the run and it was all they could do to stop and turn then.

But being unimpressed with drag racing a Porsche hardly equates to lack of imagination. I recognize the technical skill and resolve it takes to make a drag machine perform within limited parameters and for a limited period of time. But don't attempt to equate that with the level of sophistication demanded by an evolved machine like a Porsche, which delivers performance in all practical aspects of driving requirements, including longevity. And from that original 356 have evolved some of the most respected and sophisicated grand touring machines in the world. While the dragsters continue to insist that straight line acceleration for a short quarter mile is the true test of an automobile's worth.
Sophomorish. A true but sad reflection of America's values. Nothing personal intended toward drag fans. But to cut up and bastardize a Porsche for nothing more than the crude purpose of drag racing is a pity. But American values are happily changing as foreign influence has demanded manufacturers produce machines capable of more "imaginative" performance in all areas besides acceleration. I suppose the "unimaginative" Europeans and Asian designers and their patrons simply demanded more "realistic" and balanced machines than oversized muscle cars. They continue to "be real" and we must follow to be competitive. Maybe we can even adopt the GT concept and rid ourselves of that other idiocy, the arbitrarily set speed limit on open roads. Maybe the dragsters would find more use for a car than short bursts of acceleration and then pushing the panic button, and then run back behind the bushes for fear of being "caught".

Enjoy your drag racing. Don't ask me to suppress my imagination by limiting performance of my Porsche to straight line short term acceleration. Two different worlds.

RJT

And I repeat my statements also Ron. I'm not here to promote or support drag racing in anyway. This thread was initiated by TC wanting to know about 356s that may have drag raced. He didn't ask for opinions on whether you were into drag racing or not. But that's your choice to lay your .02 down whether it be constructive or not. You chose to post negative comments towards TC, implying he was a moron for even "harboring" such thoughts.
Personally, I haven't been to a drag race in 25 years and I consider it the same as Nascar. When it's on TV, I watch something else. But if someone wants to explore the possibilty of putting a high hp motor in a lightweight car, so what. GEE what a concept.
When I bought my first 911 in 1967, all my buddies wanted to race me in their Vettes, Camaro's and Chevelles etc to prove that they could beat me. I tried to demonstate that 0-60 and mega hp was not what a Porsche was about by taking them for a ride through the twisties. Some were convinced, some weren't. There was then, and still is now, a 0-60 mentality intwined in every car manufactured. That's why ALL of the car mags list 0-60 times in their articles PLUS 1/4 mile times when reviewing a new car.
Anyway.....Please accept my apologies for questioning your imagination.

m21sniper

Some of the 911 Turbos are stupid fast quarter mile cars, even bone stock.

944s and 928s have lots of potential because of the 50/50 weight balance and readily hot roddable motors. A few of the 928 supercharged cars are well into the mid 12 second elapsed time range now. 12 seconds is purrty fast.

My lightened and hot rodded 16v naturally aspirated 928S will run a mid 13, which is quite respectable even by classic American muscle car standards.