Sure it’s a bit of an ad for the restoration magicians at Road Scholars but it’s more than worth it to see these miraculous Fuhrmann 4-cam machines in the workshop and on the track at VIR. When was the last time you saw a 904, various Carreras, Spyders, a handful of 356 specials, and more spinning around together?
Hey Road Scholars, invite me to the next one. Pretty please.
You don’t often see color photography from the Carrera. I’d love to know more about this shot of Hans Hermann’s car for the 1954 Carrera Panamericana. Usually the car is seen with its iconic aluminum tonneau cover occupying the passenger seat. Was this part of a scouting run? A press event? I haven’t been able to find information on it—let me know if you do.
This remarkable set of shots below highlights the sheer variety of machines that competed in ’54 (and every year). It’s one of the things I most love about the Carrera.. Jaguars and Lincolns mixing it up? Sure. Ford and Ferrari going head-to-head a decade before that meant something? Why not.
This set is collected from a series shot by Ina Mae Overman and Stanley Dean Miller. See more of Ina Mae and Stanley’s photos at The Gentleman Racer.
Always shocking to see the stark contrast between the glitzy see-and-be-seen fanfare of today’s pits and the casual atmosphere of races of the past. Even a race like LeMans looks more like a club race weekend at your local track than the paramount international endurance event.
Lots of good footage of the LeMans race itself. Rare to see color film from this event. Even with all of the 1955 LeMans disaster documentaries and media analysis, almost everything I’ve ever seen of the race has been in black and white.
Great shots from the pits of “the Tampa Hotshoe”, Joe Sheppard at the 1958 Dunnellon, Florida race. Wonderful sequence of the LeMans start with a leap into a Porsche 550 and a later (or perhaps an earlier practice session?) stop in the pits. Sheppard was a well known racer in the Southeast and podiumed many late 50’s/early 60’s races in Florida as well as on jaunts into the Caribbean for Nassau Speed Weeks and the Cuban GP.
Many thanks to John Shea for sending these.
Got some old slides or prints gathering dust in your closet? Send ’em in!
Previously: Joe with team Camoradi at the 1960 Sebring in photos and video.
A few weeks ago we posted about a Richie Ginther trophy that was being sold on eBay. The auction identified the trophy as the 1956 Santa Maria Road Races trophy pitcher that Ginther was awarded for his first place finish in a Porsche 550. I got an email that evening from Andrew that runs the magnificent type550.com, saying he reached out to Porsche 550-09’s current owner. The trophy was quickly purchased and is now reunited with the very car that helped Richie Ginther claim that victory 59 years ago. Andrew sent along these photos and I couldn’t be more pleased to share them here.
It’s things like this that keep me excited about The Chicane after doing it all these years. I love that this can be a place where these kinds of connections are made and re-made. Fantastic… And thanks Andrew!
This video clip assembled for the North Carolina Museum of Art’s upcoming exhibition Porsche by Design: Seducing Speed hits all the right notes for me. It’s my favorite era in Porsche’s racing car development and it’s a treat to see some of my personal favorites in great historic shots from the ‘Ring, La Sarthe, Targa Florio, and Carrera Panamericana. The exhibit opens in October and looks well worth the trip to see some marvelous rarities from the Porsche archives.
Via Magnus.
You never know what you’ll run across when you start digging in eBay’s basement. This trophy from the 1957 running of the Mille Miglia was presented to Georg Bialas for his co-drive with Harald von Saucken to a third place finish in the under 1500cc class. Bialas and von Saucken were scheduled to compete in a 356A but must have been pleased to instead run the event with a 550RS Spyder; examples of which took the top three spots in the under 1500cc class.
The eBay listing page shows a “Buy it Now” price of $11,000. I don’t know enough about silversmithing to understand whether the repairs made to the trophy are well done or if simply doing the repairs at all hurt its value as a collectible. What I do know is that it looks stunningly beautiful and would be an arresting addition to any garage. My hope, however, is that whoever owns the particular Porsche 550 driven by Bialas and von Saucken ends up with it.
They really should be together, don’t you think?
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.
Riding along with Andy Prill here is as close as I’m likely to come to taking hold of the wheel of a 550 for the revival. Wonderful!
While we’re at it, let’s have Andy give us a tour of 550-016, shall we?
The narration isn’t so hot, but I’m not one to turn down footage of my beloved 550.
Update: Watching this again this morning, I particularly find hilarious the narrator’s insistance in saying “Five Hundred Fifty” and “Three Hundred Fifty-Six”. Does she refer to the 911 as the “Nine Hundred Eleven”?