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Glen Smale
JoinedSeptember 18, 2021
Articles459
Comments145
South African-born Smale started his professional motor journalism and photography career back in 1994, but if truth be told, Glen has had a driving passion for all things motoring since a tender age. In 1997, Glen launched Autosport & Classics, a classic motoring and historic motorsport magazine covering the local scene in SA. Two years later, having sold his share in the magazine. Between 2004 and 2016 Smale has authored thirteen books covering sports cars and motor racing. In 2007 he received the Laurin and Klement ‘Design Writer of the Year’ award for his book Jaguar E-type: Portrait of a Design Icon. In 2012 his book, Porsche at Le Mans: 60 Years of Porsche Participation in the World’s Greatest Motor Race, was shortlisted in the British Sports Book Awards. Of his thirteen books, no less than seven have been on Porsche cars, perhaps suggesting where his passion lies. Glen first started writing for the only magazine dedicated entirely to the Porsche 911, namely Total 911, as far back as 2005 and still contributes to this magazine on a regular basis. He has also written for the well-known Porsche magazines in America, Excellence, for a number of years. In addition to this, Glen has contributed to the Porsche Club of North America monthly publication, Panorama, as well as a host of other titles over the years in Europe, the UK and South Africa. Away from the race track, Glen was an aspiring golfer in his younger days and represented his province in the under-18 age group for a number of years. He went on to win his University Championships and represented Rhodes University for five years, as well as playing club league golf for ten years. With both children now out of the house and working, Glen lives with his lovely German wife, Elke, in the beautiful county of Carmarthenshire in West Wales. Glen has been a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers since 1995.
Porsche

Porsche Type 956 Design And Development

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19-20 June 1982: On the way to their 1982 Le Mans victory Jacky Ickx/Derek Bell bettered their previous year’s lap total by adding an extra five laps (both years were run in favourably dry and warm weather), posting a distance of 4,899.086 kilometres at an average speed of 204.129 km/h. Despite these improved figures, the Porsche team had to run a closely calculated race as the fuel restrictions were ever-present in the minds of the team’s management. © Corporate Archives Porsche AG
Words by: Glen Smale Images by: Corporate Archives Porsche AG The Porsche 956, and its later sibling the 962, became the most successful sports prototype in racing history during its domination of Group C between 1982 and 1992. Once the Porsche factory released the race car to private teams from...
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Porsche

Porsche 908 Spyder – Building a Racing Empire Part V

The No. 1 Porsche 908/02 Spyder driven Jo Siffert and Brian Redman to victory in the International ADAC Nürburgring 1000 Km race on 1 June 1969 - photographed at the Porsche Museum, Stuttgart, 2024. © Glen Smale
Words by: Glen Smale Images by: Glen Smale & Corporate Archives Porsche AG The Dependable 908 As previously noted, thanks to the revised Group 6 regulations for the 1968 season, the engine capacity limit was restricted to 3-litres. This allowed the Porsche factory racers to shift up a gear, becoming...
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Book Reviews

Porsche Decades by Jay Gillotti

Porsche Decades book
All images: © Dalton Watson Fine Books There are so many books that have been written on just about every Porsche model and motorsport achievement over the years, that it would be a fair to ask why we need yet another one. But therein lies the opportunity, because the subject...
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Model In Depth

Porsche 907 – Building a Racing Empire Part III

Porsche 907
The Porsche 907 has probably received the least amount of coverage of all Porsche’s 1960s ‘plastic prototypes’. But this lack of attention is unjustified, as the 907 played just as important a role in Porsche’s rise to motorsport stardom as any of the other successful Porsche racers of the time....
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Model In-Depth

Porsche 910 – Building a Racing Empire Part II

1967 Porsche Type 910/6 Coupé. Corporate Archives Porsche AG
By the time the mid-1960s arrived, Ferdinand Piëch had got his hooks well and truly into Porsche’s motorsport programme. With the 904, introduced in 1964, Porsche showed that it could mix it with the top runners even if overall victories were out of reach. With its successor, the 906, the...
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Model In-Depth

Porsche 906 – Building a Racing Empire Part I

Porsche 906
Setting the Scene The 1960s represented for Porsche, the busiest decade in the company’s history to date, with ten new road and race cars being introduced during the decade. And since those heady days, the Stuttgart manufacturer has not seen another decade in which so many different race cars were...
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Porsche 935

Porsche 935: The Best Of The Best

They say that the cream always rises to the top, an expression used to illustrate that if something is really great, then by virtue of its superior qualities, it will rise to a level above its contemporaries. This then surely describes what a superb example of the iconic Porsche 935...
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Featured Content & Premium Editorials

Racing in the Sun

For some, motor racing is an inevitability. It is a passion that they are born with and it is just a matter of time before they slip behind the wheel of a racing car. For these chosen few, this inborn factor elevates them to a level above the rest of...
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Featured Content & Premium Editorials

Porsche 917/10 Can-Am Rocket

A front three-quarter view of the No. 16 Porsche 917/10 chassis #005 taken in Porsche’s secret bunker in Stuttgart, May 2017. Virtual Motorpix/Glen Smale
Images by: Virtual Motorpix/Glen Smale and Corporate Archives Porsche AG  The Porsche 917 was the culmination of a line of race cars produced by the Stuttgart manufacturer during possibly the busiest decade, from 1964 to 1973, of its (by then) short existence. Just 21 short years after Porsche opened its...
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Porsche 908

Porsche 908/03 – The Sicilian Stormer

908/03 Spyder
Images by: Virtual Motorpix/Glen Smale and Corporate Archives Porsche AG The Porsche 908 is widely regarded as one of the Stuttgart manufacturer’s most reliable and important racers. The 908 came in many different guises, including Coupe, Spyder, long tail, short tail and turbo, and it excelled in all of these...
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Motorsport & Racing

24 Hours of Le Mans 2022

The No. 8 Toyota (closest to the camera) leads the Hypercar class across the start line
Race day dawned with a blanket of morning mist covering the area. It was a crisp morning as I departed my accommodation to the east of Le Mans at around 07h15, and making my way towards the circuit, the pockets of mist became more sporadic. Approaching the airfield which lies...
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Le Mans

Le Mans 24 Hours Race Week

Official group shot of the cars showing the full starting grid at Le Mans 24H
Without doubt, this race is recognised as the most important, the most charged and the one that everyone who is anybody in endurance racing wants to drive in or watch from the stands. In particular, this year, being the 99th year since its inception, there are great expectations and high...
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People & Profiles

‘Quick Vic’ – Looking Back

Vic Elford, Porsche 911 driver, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2013
Words by Glen Smale / Images by Glen Smale & Corporate Archives Porsche AG The motorsport world woke up on Monday this week to learn of the passing of one of the sport’s greatest drivers. Vic Elford, or ‘Quick Vic’ as he was affectionately known, passed away on Sunday 13...
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PRRBook Reviews

The IROC Porsches

The IROC Porsches
The IROC Porsches: The International Race of Champions, Porsche’s 911 RSR and the Men Who Raced Them by Matt Stone © Motorbooks This is the story of the International Race of Champions Porsche Carrera 911 RSRs and the drivers who raced them. It’s a story that is long overdue, as...
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PRRBook Reviews

Porsche 911 Turbo Air Cooled Years 1975 – 1998

Porsche 911 Turbo Air Cooled Years 1975 – 1998 / Hans Mezger Edition 2020 by Andreas Gabriel, Thomas Nehlert and Matthias Techau © Berlin Motor Books There was hardly a Porsche enthusiast who wasn’t deeply saddened to hear of the passing of one of Porsche’s favourite engineers, Hans Mezger. It...
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Motorsport & RacingPRR

Can Hypercar do the trick?

Le Mans 24 Hours, 14-15 June 1969: On the final lap, the No. 64 Porsche 908 LH of Hans Herrmann/Gérard Larrousse swapped places with the No. 6 Ford GT40 of Jacky Ickx/Jackie Oliver as many as five times. The two cars were so evenly matched that what the Ford lacked...
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PRR

Pic of the Week – Porsche 904 Carrera GTS

Le Mans Classic, 6 July 2018: #79 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS driven by Boden/Lins Those with sharp eyes may have picked up from our Calendar that the Le Mans Classic has been postponed yet again, until July 2022. We at Porsche Road & Race are as disappointed as the rest...
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PRRBook Reviews

Mr. Le Mans: Tom Kristensen

Mr. Le Mans: Tom Kristensen by Tom Kristensen with Dan Philipsen © Glen Smale The interesting thing about racing is that nothing is certain. You can prepare yourself and the car perfectly, but then another car hits you or pulls out in front of you, and there is little if...
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PRR

This Martini was neither Stirred nor Shaken

ACO Museum, Le Mans 16 September 2020: As it was the 50th anniversary of Porsche’s first win at Le Mans, a special display was set up featuring several of Porsche’s winning cars In 1971 the first ever Starbucks coffee house was opened in Seattle, Washington. That same year, the fourth...
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PRRBook Reviews

Don’t Wash Mine

Don’t Wash Mine: Kirk F. White © Dalton Watson Fine Books I have been looking forward to seeing this new book from Dalton Watson, covering the very colourful life and times of Kirk F. White. But, who on earth is Kirk F. White you might ask? Well, his name might...
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PRR

Porsche’s fabulous 904/8 – chassis #008

Porsche 904/8 (chassis #008) photographed in the Porsche Museum, September 2020 F.A. ‘Butzi’ Porsche, the eldest son of Ferry and Dorothea Porsche, joined the family business in 1958 having shown great interest in the field of industrial design. Working under the direction of Erwin Komenda, F.A. Porsche set about learning...
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PRRBook Reviews

Porsche 911 G-Model: The Book 1974-1989

Porsche 911 G-Model: The Book 1974-1989 by Andreas Gabriel, Manfred Hering & Tobias Kindermann © Berlin Motor Books Hot off the press, so to speak, is Berlin Motor Books’ latest offering covering the 911 G-Model, and what an impressive publication it is. In line with their other excellent publications in...
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PRR

The Spyder spins its web

Autosport 1000 km, Silverstone, 14 September 2008: In the fifth and final round of the 2008 Le Mans Series season, the #34 Porsche RS Spyder was driven by Peter Van Merksteijn and Jos Verstappen and finished first in the LMP2 class and fifth overall, ahead of a brace of LMP1...
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PRRBook Reviews

50 Years Porsche 914

50 Years Porsche 914 by Jürgen Lewandowski, published by Delius Klasing Verlag – © Virtual Motorpix/Glen Smale Whether you love it or hate it, the 914 served as a very important family member in the Porsche model line-up of the day. To appreciate this fully, you need to understand the...
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Porsche History

Porsche 911 Turbo through the decades

Inspiration for this feature came from the post published by Porsche in December 2020. It covers the seven generations of the legendary 911 Turbo from inception in the mid-1970s right up to the current 992 model. No apology is made for using some of the text from the original feature,...
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PRRBook Reviews

DBR 9 – The Definitive History

DBR 9 – The Definitive History by Christoph Mäder and Thomas Gruber © T.A.G. Motor Books GmbH At Porsche Road & Race, we receive many books for review, and these include books on all manner of high performance roadgoing sports cars and motorsport. So, when the Aston Martin book, DBR...
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Porsche 911 (964)PRRBook Reviews

Porsche 964: The Modern Classic

Porsche 964: The Modern Classic by Paul Koebrugge – © Paul Koebrugge The history of Porsche sportscars is peppered with iconic models that stand out as special, from the earliest models to the very latest. One of the most notable achievements by Porsche’s designers is how they have retained the...
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PRRBook Reviews

Porsche Unseen

Porsche Unseen by Jan Karl Baedeker & Stefan Bogner – © Delius Klasing Verlag Consider what it would be like to be given the opportunity to glimpse behind the scenes, into Porsche’s inner design sanctum, where the Porsche designers imagine the models of the future. There are 120 designers who...
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PRRPorsche Museum

A visit to the Musée des 24H Le Mans

This large poster announced the 50th anniversary of the first victory by the Porsche 917 at the 1970 Le Mans 24 Hour race It all started back in early March of 2020. I had a trip planned to visit the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, to conduct another extensive photo shoot...
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PRRBook Reviews

ROFGO Collection

ROFGO Collection by Doug Nye – © Porter Press International Most motorsport enthusiasts will have attended historic races, events such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed or Revival, or similar events in the USA, where the familiar and much-admired Gulf orange and blue race cars have competed or been on...
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Motorsport & RacingPRR

Goodwood SpeedWeek 2020 Weekend Action

(From L-R) 1995 Porsche WSC-95 in which Tom Kristensen registered his first Le Mans win (1997) and the first Porsche to win Le Mans outright, the #23 Porsche 917K driven by Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood at the 1970 race Regular Goodwood attendees would have been starved of all the...
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PRRBook ReviewsPorsche 356

Racing Porsche with Style

Racing Porsche with Style © Stéphane Coradi This is Stéphane Coradi’s third publication, and the third of his books that I am reviewing. It must be said that Stéphane’s enthusiasm for his work is so irrepressible, it’s contagious. But that is refreshing, because he really encourages the contributors to show...
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PRRBook Reviews

Porsche Speedster

PORSCHE Speedster: Legends 1954–2020 by Andreas Gabriel, Manfred Hering & Achim Kubiak © Berlin Motor Books There is a model in Porsche’s family line-up that receives little coverage and, as a result, it does not enjoy the attention it so richly deserves. The Speedster played an extremely important role in...
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Motorsport & RacingPRRWEC

A very different Le Mans 24 Hours

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: The pre-race grid was a busy place despite the presence of the Covid-19 pandemic – note the empty grandstand The 2020 motor racing season will undoubtedly go down in history as the most unusual and disrupted year on record. Only twice has the...
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Motorsport & RacingPRR

Special Exhibition at the Porsche Museum

#23 Porsche 917 KH 580 hp at the Le Mans 50 years victory celebration at the Museum on 13/14 June 2020
The 1970 #23 Porsche 917 KH at the Le Mans 50 years victory celebration at the Museum on 13/14 June 2020 More than 4.75 million visitors have passed through the doors of Porsche’s Museum in Stuttgart since the company officially opened its doors to the public on 31 January 2009....
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PRR

The many lives of the 935 K3/80 Red Baron

Kremer Porsche 935 K3/80 (chassis #0013) In the mid-70s, Porsche developed the 935 model, a race car homologated on the 930 road car and aimed at the Group 5 ‘silhouette’ series created by the FIA for the 1976 season. As the records will show, the 935 was a formidable race...
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PRRPorsche Museum

Porsche Museum and Archive – Then and Now

Taken just a year after its completion, the new Porsche Museum presents a striking silhouette on the Stuttgart skyline Have you ever been to the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen? If not, you would do well to plan a visit to this modern and welcoming facility in the heart of Porsche-land....
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PRRMy Porsche Story

Vamos empuje! (Come on push!)

Driver’s Parade at the 2016 Mexican Formula One GP with Carlos Sainz sitting in the 356 A 1600 Super Cabriolet (centre) ©Sergio Nieto For some Porsche enthusiasts, the road to ownership follows a course which perhaps starts as an interest back as a young child, followed by increasing interest through...
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PRRBook Reviews

Ferrari 333 SP

Ferrari 333 SP – A Pictorial History 1993-2003: by Terry O’Neil © Dalton Watson Fine Books I first caught sight of the Ferrari 333 SP at Kyalami in Johannesburg, South Africa, in December 1998. It was hot, as Johannesburg is at that time of the year, but the track action...
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PRRBook Reviews

Le Mans: The Official History 1970–79

Le Mans: The Official History 1970–79 by Quentin Spurring © Virtual Motorpix/Glen Smale This edition of Quentin Spurring’s fabulous series covers the 1970s in his well-known and valuable decade-by-decade history of the Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race. The decade from 1970 to 1979, certainly saw some of the most...
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PRR

Kremer’s Uber 935 – the ultra-rare K4

1981 Porsche Kremer 935 K4 – chassis #K4-01 In the mid-1970s, Porsche developed the 911 for racing, and in the process, it created the all-conquering 935. In 1978, Norbert Singer was responsible for building the ultimate factory 935, the Moby Dick 935/78, and although this race car had a very...
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PRRBook ReviewsPorsche 356

SportErfolge

SportErfolge: by Tony Adriaensens – page photographs by © Virtual Motorpix/Glen Smale Simply titled, SportErfolge (English: Success in Sport), this book came my way quite by surprise. It is not a book I knew anything about until I spotted it on the internet, and decided to look for a copy....
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PRRPorsche News

Redman’s Roast Coffee

Brian Redman in a relaxed mood in the Drivers’ Club at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2008 Not many folk would have heard about Redman’s Roast, unless that is, you attended Brian Redman’s Targa Sixty Six event in February 2020, at Palm Beach International Raceway. Most of us like a...
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PRRPorsche News

Gérard Larrousse celebrates his 80th birthday

Gérard Larrousse (2017) Former Porsche works driver, Gérard Larrousse, celebrates his 80th birthday on Saturday 23 May 2020. Gérard Gilles Marie Armand Larrousse was born in 1940 in Lyon, where his father ran a textile factory. “I was fascinated by motorbikes and sports cars from a young age but my...
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PRRBook Reviews

Porsche 904

Porsche 904 by Jürgen Lewandowski © Delius Klasing Verlag The introduction of the Porsche 904 Carrera GTS, to give it its full name, marked the beginning of an unprecedented period of race car development for the Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen factory. Not only did every year from 1964 to 1969 see a new...
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PRR

Porsche 911 Turbo 3.6 (964) (1993 – 1994)

Engine based on modified 3.6 litre 964 unit. Speedline wheels with big red brake calipers. Lessons learned in the Carrera Cup series proved the reliability of the new 3.6-litre engine. An additional three millimetres on the bore and two millimetres on the stroke, resulted in an increase in capacity of 300 cc. Combined with the turbo optimised cylinders, pistons and crank train, and an increase in the compression ratio from 7.0 to 7.5:1, this helped to boost power to 360 bhp. Torque was increased significantly to 520 Nm at 4200 rpm, up from 450 Nm at 4500 rpm in the earlier car.
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Motorsport & RacingPRR

Finding Jörg Bergmeister…

Le Mans 24 Hour, 15-16 June 2019: Jörg Bergmeister at scrutineering in the Place de la République, Le Mans city centre, 10 June 2019 PORSCHE ROAD & RACE caught up with the amiable Jörg Bergmeister, to ask him how he has been dealing with the Coronavirus lock-down. With all major...
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Motorsport & RacingPRR

Finding Ben Barker…

Ben Baker in a relaxed mood ahead of the WEC Silverstone 6 Hours, 16 August 2018 PORSCHE ROAD & RACE has been out looking for some of the Porsche drivers and finding out what they have been up to during the Coronavirus lock-down that has affected most countries around the...
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PRR

How do you like your coffee?

Before: 1968 Porsche 912 1.6-litre 4-cylinder engine developing 90 bhp; after: 2014 Dutchmann Porsche 912 with 2.8-litre 6-cylinder engine developing 240 bhp What do Porsche 911s, surfboards, bicycles and coffee have in common? A lot, it would seem. South African entrepreneur, Gavin Rooke, hit on a common thread that runs...
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Motorsport & RacingPRR

Motorsport Prospects 2020

A busy grid before the start of the Le Mans 24H race on 15 June 2019 – many thousands of fans and hangers-on pack the grid After the music had died down, and the last of the revellers had left the party that had just a few hours earlier welcomed...
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PRRBook ReviewsPorsche 356

Porsche 356: Made by Reutter

Porsche 356 – Made by Reutter: by Frank Jung © Delius Klasing Verlag When the second edition of this fine publication was released back in April 2019 in German, I enquired immediately as to when the English edition would be available. I was told it would be coming onto the...
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PRRMy Porsche StoryPorsche 356

Scarlet the 1957 Porsche 356 A Speedster

1957 Porsche 356 A Speedster – looking chocolate box pretty! It was Max Hoffman, the New York-based Porsche importer, who was instrumental in getting the factory to produce a lightweight sports car for local competition in the USA. Hoffman’s clients were demanding a stripped-down factory version of the 356 to...
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Porsche 911 (993)PRRBook Reviews

PORSCHE 993 “25 YEARS” 1994–2019

PORSCHE 993 “25 YEARS” 1994–2019: by Andreas Gabriel, Manfred Hering & Thomas Nehlert © Berlin Motor Books Berlin Motor Books, a boutique book publisher located not far from the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) in Berlin, has been steadily raising its profile on the quality automotive book scene since its inception...
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