PORSCHE OWNER’S MANUALS
TITLE PORSCHE SPORTWAGEN TYP 356 BETRIEBSANLEITUNG
AUTHOR reprinted by Tony Singer
ISBN 10 no ISBN 10
ISBN 13 no ISBN 13
PRICE $65.00
OUT OF PRINT -- AVAILABLE @ BLOCKS BOOKS
FROM MY REVIEWS IN THE 356 REGISTRY:
Tony Singer can be counted upon to see a need and to fill it without compromise. Tony had a 550 Spyder and restored it in one of the first "take no prisoners -- no holds barred" endeavors. Previously Spyders almost never appeared at concours, and when they did they were displayed with their dents and scratches. Tony helped raise restoration to an art form; starting a stampede of over restored Porsches, especially sports racing Porsches. Luckily I count myself fortunate to consider myself among Tony's friends and I suppose he will forgive the envy intermixed in my description - for I don't suppose I shall ever have a Spyder, even a scruffy Spyder. Tony also owns a printing company and sells a lovely full color poster of a 1959 Carrera GSIGT Speedster at $10.00 and sometimes even gives away the poster of his Spyder. Additionally Tony publishes books including a favorite of mine: A PORSCHE FACTORY TOUR 1960. Tony didn't worry that PORSCHE FACTORY TOUR would be small and expensive. It would have information not be found elsewhere. Tony was confident that 356 enthusiasts would pay $30.00. His first limited edition of 2,500 signed and numbered copies
sold out fairly quickly more than five years ago and his second limited edition of 2,000 is almost gone.
Following in the footsteps of Bill Brown with his SPEEDSTERS OWNER 'S MANUAL, Tony has now come out with PORSCHE SPORTWAGEN TYP 356 BETRIEBANLEITUNG. That's right a reprint of the original Gmund owner's manual. Frankly, having never seen the actual manual in person, I don't know how accurate it
is. Also it's auf Deutsch. There are four drawings of the engine, three of the front suspension and steering, one of the rear suspension and power train, and my favorite, one of the braking system showing what looks like four emergency brakes - remember the Gmund cars originally had cable brakes. The diagrams of the wiring are a little less complicated than the power seats on a current car; and well they should be, since
the whole car probably cost less than fully optioned seats. Other drawings include the fuse box and lubrication
points. The drawing are a little crude. Clearly this manual antedated the superb technical illustrations of Siegfried Werner in later owner manuals. Absolutely indispensable at any price if you have a Gmund coupe. Otherwise a relative bargain at $19.95 for those needing a complete collection of owner's manuals or just wanting to see what the factory felt the owners of Gmund coupes, and I suppose cabriolets, needed
know. . . Armed with a German-English dictionary you can have hours of fun.
TITLE Porsche Spyder Owner's Manual (repro)
AUTHOR Factory reprinted by Rober Boyle
ENGLISH
ISBN 10 no ISBN 10
ISBN 13 no ISBN 13
PRICE $65.00
OUT OF PRINT AVAILABLE @ BLOCKS BOOKS
FROM MY REVIEWS IN THE 356 REGISTRY:
Robert Boyle has out spectacular reproduction of the original 550 Spyder manual. A few years ago, I sold a repro Spyder manual -- monochrome, totally wrong paper. At least it gave Chuck Stoddard immense pleasure to show me his correct, multi color original manual. The new manual is so good it, I can’t tell the difference. Another friend, also with an original manual, claims there is a subtle difference in paper grade, but he failed to reappear with his copy for the comparison test. The front cover is green with the correct white-silver helmet, and red-brown-orange scarf. Open the cover and you find the bright orange-red stick-on “Note! Skid tendencies on racing tires can be improved by dividing the area of each tread projection by vertically slicing down through it.” Turn the frontispiece and there is a translucent onionskin page with a spider-web motif, through which is visible an applied black and white photograph of an early 550. Inside pages are off white with blue and brown color, as was the original. “Most Important Adjustments” forms the last chapter. The last page is a fold out wiring diagram.
Robert also includes 4 pages of hand written notes by the German racing mechanic, who originally setup the Spyder, from which this manual came. Everything was so convincing that I had initial hopes that I had been sent the original not the repro for review. You will forgive me if I did not immediately contact Bob about this error. Available now @ $75.00 list – you won’t find a nicer, more accurate reproduction of an interesting piece of Porsche history. And beware when you see an “original 550 Spyder Owner’s Manual” on ebay!
TITLE Porsche Super 90 Annex to Driver's Manual 356B for Vehicles With Engine Type 1600 S-90 
AUTHOR Reprint
ENGLISH
ISBN 10 no ISBN 10
ISBN 13 no ISBN 13
PRICE $35.00
OUT OF PRINT -- NO LONGER AVAILABLE @ BLOCKS BOOKS
When the 356B-T5 became available as a 1960 model, the S-90 motor was not available -- hence the 356B-T5 owner’s manual did not include information on the S-90 motor. When the S-90 became available in in the spring of 1960, rather than change the owner’s manual, the lucky S-90 buyers received a supplement. By the introduction of the 356B-T6 the S-90 motor information had been incorporated.
TITLE Porsche 356B-T6 Owner's Manual 
AUTHOR Factory reprint
ENGLISH
ISBN 10 no ISBN 10
ISBN 13 no ISBN 13
PRICE $50.00
OUT OF PRINT AVAILABLE @ BLOCKS BOOKS
FROM MY REVIEWS IN THE 356 REGISTRY:
Not well known, except to a minority of the involved owners and literature collectors: when the S-90 became belatedly available, rather than rewrite and reprint the owner’s manual with three motors, the factory issued a Super 90 motor supplement. Most of these have long since disappeared. Even $35.00 does not sound unreasonable for Bill Brown’s superb reprint -- worthy of joining the Boyle 550 Spyder and the Raucher Speedster owner’s manuals.
