Where’s my time machine? I’d sure love some of these prices on ragtop 356s that were offered at Hollywood Way VW-Porsche.
Category: Porsche
Here you are, perched on the dash of Cameron Healy’s Porsche 908 for a few laps around Daytona at the 2007 Rennsport Reunion. This example, 908-010, has a short, but storied history with the factory. It competed in only one race; but it was a very wet Spa 1000km. It finished only 34 laps in that race; but Vic Elford drove 32 of them. After handing off the car to co-driver Jochen Neerpasch, the car quickly met with a telephone pole.
Here’s what Quick Vic tells us about the ’68 Spa race:
“The weather invariably plays a part at Spa; it is almost guaranteed to rain at some time during a race weekend. And this weekend was no exception.
After mixed weather for two days of practice and qualifying, Sunday dawned with rain. It would last all day. I drove the first stint and then handed over to Jochen as the rain continued bucketing down. After just a couple of laps he didn’t pass the pits. Since communications in those days were minimal, it was a while before we learned what had happened. On the very fast, sweeping downhill esses at Malmedy, Jachen had slid off the road and knocked down a telegraph pole, part of which then came in through the passenger side window and hit his crash helmet, knocking him out. Fortunately, the car stopped safely at the edge of the road. Jochen was removed and spent the night in the hospital with a slight concussion but no other injuries”
From that afternoon in 1968 until the late 1990’s, the car was stored in Porsche’s warehouse until sold to a US buyer and restored in time for the 2004 Rennsport. It’s now made its way out to Portland and competes along the West Coast.
More info and photos of 908-010 here and here.
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Available in Connecticut: Type 547 Engine
I know, you can’t do much with just an engine. And at $127,000, this engine is some serious bread. This is no ordinary engine, my friend. This is the Porsche 4-cam. This magical little marvel of engineering powered the Porsche 550, the 356 Carrera GT, and the early Porsche 904s to many a victory. You may not be able to do much with just an engine, but this would be perfect just as a display piece. Better yet, drop it in your 356. It may be sacrilege to some, but bolting this into a 550 kit would be pure driving joy.
Give it a listen in this video. Couldn’t you just hear that all day? More info at the classified listing on the Pelican Forums and at the owner’s page.
What a wonderful sound.
No further comment necessary — don’t you agree?
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Porsche Archive Find: Going for Broke
Sometimes it pays to dig around the archives of sportscar manufacturer’s web sites. The other day I spent some time sifting through the depths of porsche.com. Porsche does more than most to inform contemporary car buyers about the history of the marque’s many glories on the track. Their Targa Florio multimedia experience of a few years back is among the best example of using racing heritage to sell contemporary road cars that I’ve seen in recent years.
Despite this, even Porsche could do more to bring their archives to the public. In the digital era, access to Porsche’s (or any other similar maker’s) archives could be easily opened up to the public through the web at minimal cost to the manufacturer. This is particularly true in Porsche’s case, as they already manage a very extensive archives available not only as an internal resource, but also to outside journalists, scientists, and researchers. This archive, part of the new Porsche museum, catalogs the entire history of the company and the Porsche family and includes: 2.5 million images, more than 1,000 hours of video, and 3,000 volumes of text. And that’s just one manufacturer’s history! What I wouldn’t give for manufacturing blueprints for the 4-cam 547 engine and a skilled machinist.
We’re not quite there yet. But that doesn’t mean that we’re not completely without vintage archival information. Porsche has posted “Going for Broke”, a wonderful article about the 1969 World Sportscar Championship season from the Porsche customer magazine, Cristophorus. While the arrival of the 917 in 1970 sealed the deal for Porsche’s Le Mans dream, the 908 of the previous year was a tremendous car that has been sadly overshadowed by its younger brother. This is, after all, a car that clinched the manufacturer’s championship at the hands of Porsche’s talented pool of drivers frequently led by Brian Redman and Jo Siffert.
The article tells an extraordinary tale of openness. After celebrating the championship, race engineer Peter Falk invited the sporting press to examine the broken parts that cost Porsche dearly: The shredded camshaft gear teeth that cost them the 24 Hours of Daytona, The cracked chassis that forced Redman/Siffert out of the 12 Hours of Sebring, the 917’s failed clutch from LeMans. While most manufacturers would hide these failed parts away, if not destroy them, Falk and the Porsche team viewed these apparent failures as the very reason for eventual success. Through these experiments and missteps, progress is made, and that should be shared with the wider world. Incredible. Ah, the age before the PR department. This spirit of openness is exactly the kind of thing I’m talking about in this call to further open up historic archives of this type.
The complete article is fantastic, read it here.
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This Never Works
I can understand the appeal of this advertising method. We have a car. Its an iconic car. Its a car people fell in love with when they were 15 years old. Let’s play on that lineage and unquenched desires of youth by reminding them of the love they had for this car when they were a kid. We show the old car, we show the new car; the thing sells itself.
The problem is that it just never works. No one has ever seen one of these ads and craved the new car.
Maybe I’m not being fair. It sort of does work. Unquenched desires swell, purchase thoughts creep into your head. But they’re not desires for the new car; no. You just want the old car more.
When Porsche can’t even pull this off, you know it’s time to abandon this entire marketing tactic. Porsche is releasing the 911 Sport Classic, a limited edition 911 inspired by the Touring RS. They’ve pulled in some of the performance spirit and visual hallmarks of the classic: 408hp, carrera stripes, the ducktail. I’m a sucker for the ducktail, so this should really be driving me crazy. But then they go ahead and photograph it next to an original 70’s RS. Guess which one I want. Guess which one everyone wants. Does this ever work on anyone?
Bonus: Here, fold your own Carrera RS.
More Sebring ’59 photos at Racing Sports Cars.
More video is finding its way online in the days following the Monterey Historics. Here’s a lovely example: the starting grid for Group 7 rolling out. A field that includes Porsche 917s, 910s, 906, and others. Hallelujah!
Here’s another for the Porschephiles among us. Let’s take a walk among the amazing machines that Porsche brought from their collection. Everything from the LeMans winning Herrmann/Attwood 917 (wow), to a pair of Porsche 804 Formula 1 cars (wow!), to the Redman/Siffert Targa Florio 908/3 (wow!!). Amazing.
The Monterey Historics are underway. There’s more racing action today, but I’m pleased to see that video from day one is already arriving on YouTube. Here’s just another stroll through the paddock as the Porsches line up for the featured marque parade. Keep your eyes peeled for the yellow Porsche 917 – this is the 917-021 that Gunnar Racing has been documenting the restoration of. They finished it in time for the historics, which is an impressive restoration pace for any car. My hat’s off to the Gunnar racing team on this. I’m amazed that they finished it in time.
There’s a whole lot more to love in this video, from Porsche 550 Spyders to RSKs to 908/3, to 935: this one video showcases virtually every Porsche racing model. I’m impressed that the cameraman didn’t fall to his knees and weep when he got to the end of the row.
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How to Tell If You’re Super Cool
Do you drive your Porsche 910 through town to gas it up?
If yes. You are super cool.
More photos here.