PORSCHE IN THE USA
It was when the Gmünd Coupe arrived in the USA that sales really took off. One of the surprises of the 1948 Geneva Show was an open two-seater from Porsche, previously known only as an automotive engineer. Once production started, these cars were quickly lapped up: Swiss hillclimbers and VW importers Ben Pon in the Netherlands and D’Ieteren in Brussels also took an interest. But it was the entrepreneurial Viennese Max Hoffman, a pre-war motorcycle racer and now a New York car dealer, who really saw the Porsche’s potential. In 1950 he imported three Coupes. Ferry Porsche was happy initially simply to
