Porsche’s 356 Cabriolets were truly luxurious touring machines, as they offered a strong unitised chassis with a fixed windscreen, a plush interior with comfortable and heavily padded seats, and a thick, multi-layer fabric folding top, which helped to isolate the fortunate driver and passenger from road noise and vibration. The back jump seats also had folding backs that better lent themselves to additional luggage-carrying duties.

The 356 B was introduced in 1960 with the T5 body design, which included coupé, roadster, and cabriolet variants. In turn, the B further evolved into the T6 in 1960, offering a revised nose with a larger, squared-off front boot lid, the gas filler lid being relocated to the top of the right-front wing, and the addition of a second grille panel to the engine lid. Several engine options were offered: the Normal in 6-horsepower form, the 75-horsepower Super, the Super 90, and, of course, the rarely seen Carrera, all with 1,600-cubic centimetre capacity.

The Super 90’s Type 616/7 engine was a very strong unit, as it offered 90 brake horsepower at 5,500 rpm with the aid of 9.0:1 compression and a pair of 40-millimetre Solex carburettors. A reviewer of the day wrote that “Super 90s could be revved about 800 rpm higher than other 356 B 1600s thanks to a special cooling layout that gathered in more air, plus a nitrided crank and cam-bearing surfaces, a lighter flywheel, stiffer valve springs, light-alloy rockers, larger-diameter (by five millimetres) main bearings, and cylinders lined with Ferral, a coating of steel over molybdenum. S90s also had a unique oil pickup system that allowed the engine to draw lubricant from the sump’s full side in hard cornering, thus ensuring proper lubrication at all times. It was an important advance that Porsche racers had wanted for several years and was especially welcome in the high-performance 90”.

This very attractive Super 90 Cabriolet was produced in August 1961, when the revised T6 body was introduced. In total, only 21 right-hand-drive examples were produced and delivered worldwide. The file of documents supplied with this car show that its former long-term owner of 20 years replaced its original engine in 2001 with a rebuilt and correct-specification unit. The car’s brakes were also overhauled, and it received a new clutch at that time.

This Super 90 shows a mere 83,000 miles from new, and it is believed to have passed through five owners over its lifetime. Even though it has not been restored, it was given a full bare-metal repaint in Silver Blue metallic paint by its most recent owner in 2013. There has been extensive re-chroming of its brightwork, and the car was fitted with a set of new wheels. The interior is blue leather, and the canvas top is dark blue. It is supplied with a correct spare wheel, jack, and tool roll, as well as spare keys and early registration paperwork.