70 years ago, on March 17, 1949, Porsche presented itself for the first time at the 19th Geneva Motor Show and thus also to the world public for the first time. Porsche exhibited the first Type 356 Cabriolet together with the first Type 356 Coupé. Both sports cars were presented to a broad international audience on a small stand in the main hall.
Bernhard Blank, a Zurich hotelier and car dealer, organized the new brand's first international appearance. Blank had already converted part of his Hotel Europe on Dufourstrasse in Zurich into a showroom in 1948 and was Porsche's official sales partner in Switzerland until 1951.
For the 1949 Geneva Motor Show, he ordered a coupé from Gmünd and a Beutler convertible with Porsche's approval. The first convertible was finished just in time for the Motor Show and had the usual Gmünd-designed fenders. Made of aluminum and weighing 600 kilograms, the Beutler cars had straight, angled, two-part windscreens, a fully retractable folding top and indicators instead of turn signals. The elegantly shaped dashboard featured two large instruments: A rev counter in the driver's field of vision and a speedometer in front of the passenger seat. The pleated pattern on the door panels and seats was just one of the convertible's many appealing details.
In addition to the convertible, the small stand also featured a bright yellow Porsche 356 Coupé with two decorative stripes on the hood and a sliding fabric roof. Ferry Porsche and his sister Louise Piëch were also present in Geneva. Their products were on display at stand number 11 in the main hall - surrounded by spectators and journalists from all over the world.
In a review of the Geneva Motor Show published in Motor on March 30, 1949, D. B. Tubbs called the Porsche "one of the most likeable little cars at the show". Referring to its chassis construction, Tubbs wrote that the car had the lowest design and thus the lowest seating position ever seen in a production car. "When you get into a Porsche, you feel like you're disappearing below the road surface."
A more detailed article on the history of Porsche can also be read on Zwischengas.