Dramatic entrance

This year marks a very special anniversary for Porsche Cars GB: 75 years since the first appearance of a Porsche car in the UK, when three examples of the 356 appeared at the 1951 Earls Court Motor Show in London. 

That first public display was arranged by car salesman Charles Meisl. Born in Prague and fluent in German, Meisl was an early Porsche enthusiast. As he later admitted: ‘It was my admiration of Professor [Ferdinand] Porsche’s work that made me responsible for [that] appearance at Earls Court.’ 

Meisl’s passion for Porsche inspired him to call the company’s export manager in Stuttgart, who agreed to provide the demonstration models for Earls Court. The response to the cars’ appearance at the show was very positive, with Autosport magazine describing the new Porsche 356 as ‘an extremely fast sports car with remarkably efficient anti-drag bodywork’.

At this time, Meisl was working for Connaught Engineering, near Guildford, Surrey. But this was just the start. He then joined Colborne Garage in Ripley, Hampshire, in 1952, continuing to be the official Porsche importer. Dealing directly with Porsche in Stuttgart, Meisl started ordering one car at a time for his UK customers. He soon caught the attention of Bill Aldington, who ran a successful sports car dealership, AFN. Meisl subsequently joined AFN, which signed an agreement to import Porsche cars to the UK in 1954. And sales of the 356 here soon grew. In 1965, not long after the 911 went into production, AFN’s Porsche operation became Porsche Cars GB, a subsidiary of Porsche AG in Germany. 

Since then, of course, Porsche has enjoyed huge success in the UK, going from a single product (the 911) to the current offering of six model lines, with powertrains ranging from internal combustion to hybrid and full EV. Meisl would be very proud.