I never noticed it before, but from some angles you could convince me that pictures from Laguna Seca were actually taken at the Targa Florio. Then again, maybe it’s just the subject matter—as in this Porsche 906 at the Rennsport Reunion.
Jo Siffert’s Porsche dealership in Switzerland. Note the 917 in the showroom.
Speaking of Rennsport Reunion IV…
Friend of the blog, Steven Cabales wrote in about his trip up the coast with my dear friend (and old housemate) Heather for the Rennsport Reunion at Laguna Seca. Part of me thinks he just sent it in to fuel my envy.
Porsche Rennsport Reunion IV. After this weekend I’ve learned that no other manufacturer has earned more endurance racing victories than Porsche. Was this new knowledge? Not really. I like Ferraris and Alfas (had a 1974 Alfetta GTV) but I love Porsches. Nothing could prepare me for what we were about to witness. Being in the midst of the legendary winning vehicles and their legendary drivers was total nirvana.
We rolled up Saturday at Mazda Raceway at 7am and directed to the 993 section of the Porsche corral. There were a few cars there already but pretty empty that early. Foggy and cold we slowly made our way to the track. Vendor stalls started opening as we walked past. Once across the bridge and past a few more stalls, through the fog there they were. 935 Moby Dick and the amazing RSR in front of the Porsche Paddock on the asphalt. No ropes, no “do not touch” signs, just sitting there for anyone to touch, which I did. These and 54 other of Porsches finest steeds came directly from the Porsche museum in Stuttgart. That museum must have looked very empty during the week.
Could it possibly get any better than this? Hell yes it could. Just walking past the Brumos staging area nearly gave me an aneurysm. Hurley Hayward’s Daytona winning 914-6 was sitting there. At Canepa’s, multiple 917’s in Gulf livery. In the pit paddock, racing Porsches from every era, all in chronological order! In the “tent” there must’ve been no less than 8 550s a 356 Abarth Carrera, with Carrera Panamerica livery, a Martini 917, and a lot more I’ve leaving out. It was like walking into the history books of Porsche racing. Shortly after checking my pulse to see if I was really alive still or not, we discovered the Porsche Corkscrew shuttle. Porsche set up a free shuttle service with brand new Cayennes to the Corkscrew. Nice marketing.
At the Corkscrew the fog started rolling in. I feared they’d delay first practice session. I was wrong. First thing we saw was flashing lights of the pace car (Panamera Turbo) leading the group, and then the sound. The sound of wailing 4 Cam Carrera motors bombing down turn 7 and up throttling in before turn 8. RSK, RS60s, Abarth Carrera, Speedsters. I couldn’t talk at this point even if I tried. Next up Eifel Trophy: 908, 904, 914-6s, 911s. One car I did recognize in this group was Hurley Haywood’s Daytona winning 914-6, only to learn later who was driving this car. Hurley Haywood!
Now next group is really what I came to see. The Weissach Cup cars. I could nearly feel tears swelling up in my eyes hearing the flat 12s of the 917s, followed by 910s, and 906s screaming down the screw, spitting fire on the overrun. Oh look, there goes Brian Redman in the Gulf 908. Hi Jeff Zwart, I sure like that 906 you’re driving. It was that surreal to me. Still is.
I could go on and on about which cars we saw and which drivers I talked to, but the auto rags have done a much better summary than I possibly could. The most important thing I came away with from this event is Porsche has endurance racing DNA in spades. Nothing even comes close. My first memory of a Porsche was in 1976. I was six. We bought our first Mercedes that year. A 1976 240D. Mustard yellow. Slow as molasses, tough as iron. Next door was a Porsche dealership. I asked my parents, ‘why can’t we get one of those?’ ‘Because mom can’t drive stick’ was my dad’s answer. Super. So after years of growing up with Benzs, I still coveted Porsches. I still covet aircooled 911s and 33 years later I now have my first one. Rennsport Reunion confirmed I made the right decision. DNA really is everything in racing.
Thanks again for sending this in Steven. See more of Steven and Heather’s photos from the Reunion here.
Two. It takes two. And that’s in heels.
Here, enjoy a couple more shots from very early 356 production at the Porsche factory… Really it was still more of the Porsche workshop at the time.
Yet again, I’m flabbergasted by how small this giant of a racing machine is. Its reputation, its power, its mystique all manage to make it something enormous in my mind. When we see it next to a car we know, however, it’s true diminutive stature reveals itself. It just seems so impossible to me that it’s really this small; particularly when it’s the wearing the livery of the Hans Herrmann/Richard Attwood 1970 LeMans winning example as shown here in the Porsche Museum’s workshop.
Over on the Angola Off Road forums, commenter Kadypress has been uploading his collection of photos and news clippings from several of the Grande Prémios de Angola of the early-mid 60s. It’s fantastic to see the Ferrari LMs and Porsche 904s and the occasional older machine on the streets of Luanda with the palm fronds whipping in a stiff coastal wind. These tropical settings make these amazing machines seem all the more exotic.
Willy Mairesse won the day completing 100 laps of the Circuito da Fortaleza street circuit in the Equipe National Belge Ferrari 250LM in 2 hours 31 minutes. Gerhard Koch took the GT class in his own privateer Porsche 904.
Click on over to the discussion thread for more.
Lovely snips shot by Roy Pagliacci of the 1969 Monza 1000km. Some from (what looks to me like) turn 8, and a few heatbreakingly brief glimpses of cars entering the banking for the final time. Bellissimo!
Keep digitizing those old film cans, people.
Porsches change. What makes them Porsches doesn’t.
What is it about a decades-old Porsche that makes it so very desirable—even with the $15,000-plus price tag such a car is more likely to command these days?
Horsepower? Top speed?
None of the above.
Its true value lies in the total commitment of two uncompromising men to build cars that would be more than simply a means of getting from one place to another. Cars that would be a joy to drive. Cars like no one else had ever built. Or ever would.
This commitment has been passed on successfully—some might say miraculously—to the uncompromising people who build Porsches today.
The workers on the Zuffenhausen assembly line who, in their off-hours, have been known to grab their friends, point at a passing Porsche and say with genuine pride, “That’s one of mine.”
The quality control technicians—one for every production workers—whose goal is to take the ideal of “zero defects” and make it a daily reality.
And, of course, the engineers at our R&D facility at Weissach.
For them, the pursuit of excellence will never fit comfortably between the hours of 8 and 5. Or within the theoretical vacuum of an air-conditioned office.
For them, theories have value only on the inside of a Porsche, at speed, on the Weissach test track—preferably with one of them behind the wheel.
The results of their labors, and the extent of their success, is reflected in the procession of cars you see below.
From the first recorded Porsche win on July 11, 1948 at Innsbruck to the most recent victory at LeMans, these cars have dominated the racing circuits of a world that loves fast cars.
As they have dominated the highways, turnpikes, interstates, autobahns, city streets and winding back roads of a world that loves to drive them.