Our first production e56 kit ran its shakedown in the UK in 2023, in ‘Porridge’ Porsche, which in itself is a story of decades of global travel for a humble Porsche 356 B. 

 

As with most Porsche 356s, Porridge started life in Stuttgart Germany, in this case in 1961. Initially exported to America, Porridge soon found its way, via a few owners, to Hawaii. Having enjoyed a tropical life on this island paradise, Porridge was then exported to New Zealand in 1997 where it found new owners with Mark and Sarah in 2004. This was not to be the end of Porridge’s globe-trotting as in 2009, Mark and Sarah brought Porridge to the UK where Mark had moved from Brawn GP to Red Bull Racing. 

 

It was at Red Bull Racing that Mark met Anthony, a South African developing the vehicle simulation software and an avid life-long Porsche fan, and himself a 356 owner. Anthony had restored many cars with his father, including a family 356 (1953 pre-A) as his undergraduate project, his father being a highly respected Porsche restorer back in Johannesburg.  

​

After 5 years with Mercedes F1, in 2019 Anthony left and moved back to South Africa to pursue an EV project. He wanted to design and produce a non-invasive electric conversion for a Porsche 356. As the first year came to a close, he had the first prototype running in a loan car that was undergoing restoration, but Covid struck and brought everything to a halt. A few years passed and with the pandemic waning the first order came through, and work began on this first production version of the kit.  

Anthony moved the development of this kit back to the UK, where he once again met Mark and Sarah who selflessly offered Porridge as the donor car for the road test of the kit before its final delivery to an Australian enthusiast.

 

A major feature of the e-56 system was reversibility, so the temporary loan of Porridge as the donor car offered the perfect opportunity to test the conversion of a vehicle from Petrol to EV and back again. The kit was installed in March 2023

​

After 6 months of extensive trials in the UK, the kit was deemed ready for shipping to Australia. The EV components were carefully removed from Porridge and crated for their long journey to Sydney via sea.

​

The Kit arrived in early 2024 and dovetailed with the restoration of the engine-less 356B cabriolet owned by Sam the client. This process of installation alongside the restoration proceeded through 2024.

​​

Part of this process has been the certification of all elements of the system for rigorous Australian crash and strength testing, which it has passed with flying colours, only requiring minor modifications. Most importantly the new suspension has been deemed fully compliant with Australian law.

​

The final commissioning of the car is now being completed by ElectroGusto  - a premium EV shop in Sydney, who will then support the system in operation alongside its other vehicles.

This is a story of rare ambition and vision to push the Porsche 356 into the EV future. A South African engineer, a car that traversed the globe to end up in Northamptonshire with its New Zealand devotees. An Australian client who shares in the same ambitious vision for his engineless Porsche 356 T5B. The Halley Abbot E56 is a truly global story.