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1987 Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera Sport Targa at the top of the Black Mountain Pass (A4069) in South Wales My journey (Chris Stretton) to Porsche ownership started when I was still a teenager in the 1960s. My father, Lionel Stretton, was a serious petrol-head owning many different cars and competing...
Gulf 917 by Jay Gillotti – © Dalton Watson Fine Books There is little that you can add to the vast history that is already known about the Porsche 917, or so you might have thought. But the quietly spoken Jay Gillotti, has pieced together a valuable and mightily useful...
The Rennsport Reunion VI just concluded on September 30 in Monterey, California as Porsche celebrates its 70th birthday. Happy birthday, Porsche!! If anyone is wondering, Rennsport (renn-sport) translates into “race-sport”. Before the event began, it seemed that four days of event duration might be excessive. But that really is insufficient...
Porsche Turbo: The Inside Story of Stuttgart’s Turbocharged Road and Race Cars – by Randy Leffingwell © Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc. It may be a little after the official publication date, but I have only recently come across this book by Randy Leffingwell. As an expert and renowned author...
The Story of the Porsche 911 – A Timeline Porsche Prepares To Evolve Beyond The 356 By the early 1960’s, with the commercial success of the 356 (in all of its variants) over the past decade, Porsche had garnered a reputation for building quality, high-performance vehicles that handled equally well...
Goodwood Festival of Speed, 12–15 July 2018: Porsche GT1/98 (chassis #WP0ZZZ9RZXS100003) driven by Allan McNish/Stéphane Ortelli/Laurent Aiello to victory in the 1998 Le Mans 24-Hours, waits in the holding paddock before the run up the hill Without any doubt, one of the highlights of my year in motorsport in 2018...
It’s hard to know where to begin when writing a report on Porsche Rennsport Reunion VI. It was both an emotional and a sensory overload! A reunion with people not seen for a while, and the historical impact of all the rare cars. This was the sixth iteration put on...
Porsche’s sixth edition of the by now much-anticipated Rennsport Reunion kicked off on Wednesday 26 September 2018. You could have expected that this would be a really big one for Porsche, with it being their 70th anniversary year, but the Stuttgart manufacturer really pushed the boat out with this one....
The Spa 24 Hours – A History, by David Blumlein © Virtual Motorpix/Glen Smale There are a few major endurance races around the world that roll off the tongue quite easily and quickly, such as Le Mans, Daytona, Sebring and of course the Spa 24 Hours. It is perhaps an...
Sports Car Racing in Camera 1960-1969 © Behemoth Publishing There will be few who would argue that the decade of the 1960s was one of the most innovative and exciting periods in modern motor racing. It was a time that was both brutal and evocative at the same time, as...
I received the email inviting me to join the judges panel for the 2018 Concours Masters Celebration of 70 Years of Porsche on Saturday, 1st September. It didn’t take long for me to accept as this would be an opportunity to get up close to some stunning machinery, and to...
Porsche – It’s My World by Stéphane Coradi © Virtual Motorpix/Glen Smale Porsche – It’s My World: what is this book all about? Well, for starters, you won’t learn anything about Porsche’s cars, it doesn’t contain any technical specifications, and it has no narrative. So, you may well ask, what...
911 LoveRS: by Jürgen Lewandowski and Bart Lenaerts – © Virtual Motorpix/Glen Smale If the title, 911 LoveRS, leaves you with a slight question mark in your mind, turn the pages, and you will quickly get a feel for what the book is all about. 911 LoveRS by Jürgen Lewandowski...
Brian Redman – Daring Drivers, Deadly Tracks © EVRO Publishing Brian Redman is about as down-to-earth as they come, which for a top-flite racing driver, is not an attribute common to all who ply their trade in this field. I have had the pleasure of interviewing Brian on twelve occasions...
© Porsche Spyders 1956-1964: Type 550A, RSK and 718 With just 125 pages in total, this book is not a detailed narrative description of the Porsche Spyders between 1956-1964. But what it is, is a useful record of the Type 550A, RSK and 718 models, richly supported with period photography....
A great many of Derek Bell’s racing achievements were achieved while behind the wheel of a Porsche racing car and for this reason, it was perhaps inevitable that Derek Bell – All my Porsche races, would one day be committed to print, highlighting his extraordinarily successful career. Contrary to what...
It is unique in the motor racing world, and in historic racing circles, nothing comes close to the quality and quantity of machinery on track. The brainchild of Patrick Peter (he was the “P” in the BPR series of the 1990s) and the ACO, the 2018 Le Mans Classic is...
Although the temperatures have hovered around the 30° C mark each day of the event, it feels a lot warmer as a sunny 2018 Le Mans Classic got underway. As the clock ticked past noon on Friday, the grand stands were already beginning to fill up, as the classic Le...
Exciting starting grid at the Le Mans Legends 2007 This coming weekend sees the running of the ninth Le Mans Classic on the famous Circuit de la Sarthe. The event, created by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest and Peter Auto almost two decades ago, has become the jewel in the...
Porsche 930 to 935: The Turbo Porsches – by John Starkey © Veloce Publishing Ltd Much has been written about Porsche’s racing exploits over the years, but there is perhaps one model that has served, more than any other, as the pillar of the company’s achievements. Prototypes have come and...
© Hurley – From The Beginning (cover) There are just a handful of racing drivers that can list the number and quality of achievements that Hurley Haywood can. True, there might be more than a handful in total, but within each discipline of the sport, there are just a few...
PORSCHE WERKS/TEAM: Porsche at the top 24-hour races – Nürburgring/Le Mans/Daytona © Delius Klasing & Co. KG Bielefeld So, what is this book, PORSCHE WERKS/TEAM, all about? Basically, renowned photographer Frank Kayser teamed up with journalist Heike Hientzsch, to capture the pain and the glory experienced by the Porsche crew and team...
1974 Porsche 911 Turbo #1 chassis no. 911 560 0042. First owned by the late Louise Piëch (older sister of Ferry Porsche), the car is now on display in the Porsche Museum In 1973, the Porsche 911, by now a decade old, was ready for a make-over. The 3-litre engine...
Can-Am 50th Anniversary: Flat Out with North America’s Greatest Race Series 1966-74 © Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc First impressions – Can-Am 50th Anniversary is a big book! It’s not that it is so thick, but dimensionally it is large in length and breadth, so you had best find yourself...
000 Magazine (issue #002): dedicated to in-depth Porsche topics, from 1948 until today So, you think that $250 is a lot of money for an annual subscription for just four issues of a magazine. On the face of it you could be right, but then you would be comparing 000...
Goodwood 76th Members’ Meeting, 17/18 March 2018: #58 Porsche 935 K3 (1980) driven by Urs Beck in the Group 5 ‘Special Production’ event over the weekend I know that motor racing circuits around the UK are renowned for being cold places, and that’s because many of them were built around...
Porsche 935/78 “Moby Dick” Coupé, photographed at the Porsche Warehouse in May 2017 Set for this weekend, 17-18 March, the 76th Members’ Meeting at the Goodwood Motor Circuit is bound to be an absolute humdinger. If you are a Porsche enthusiast, then I hope that you have your ticket safely...
Le Mans: The Official History Of The World’s Greatest Motor Race 1980–89 This edition, spanning 1980-1989, covers one of the most exciting post war periods in motorsport. The 1960s and 1970s were of course both decades that were every bit as exciting, but the 1980s perhaps represents the final decade...
Porsche 959 Coupé (only 292 models produced in 1988 in order to obtain Group B racing homologation), 6-cylinder boxer turbo, 2849cc, 450bhp Open to visitors from Wednesday 7th to Sunday 11th February, the 2018 edition of Rétromobile held in Paris at the Porte de Versailles Exhibition Park has been a...
1972 Porsche 911 2.4 S, Inchydoney Hotel, West Cork, Ireland – we were peppered with heavy rain showers on the day of the photo shoot. You could almost draw a line from the clouds above past the back of the car, and see that we were getting drenched, but just...
Porsche Sport 2017 – Gruppe C Motorsport Verlag If you follow Porsche motorsport around the world, then Porsche Sport 2017 is not a book you want to be without. In fact, if you read this book from cover-to-cover, you would be one of the most knowledgeable people around concerning the...
Porsche Victory in Le Mans 2017 The latest edition of the Porsche Victory in Le Mans series is out and it is as good, if not better, than any of the other editions that have gone before it. The publishing house, Gruppe C Motorsport Verlag, has a long history in...
The fabulous story of this car’s life begins in 1970 with the construction of chassis #021, one of the first batch of twenty-five 917s to be built. In April 1970, the newly completed chassis #917-021 was sold to the Finnish AAW team, finished in the red and yellow colours of...
Porsche 911R book plus slip case (English) by Christoph Mäder, Thomas Gruber and Georg Konradsheim A large package landed on my desk just before Christmas, and being weightier than normal my interest was aroused, so I immediately tackled the packaging to reveal the contents. It was the latest offering from...
If your favourite sports car comes from the Porsche stable, then you will want to know about this product – the Porsche 911 flat-six boxer engine scale model by Franzis. This quarter scale, working model is just the thing to bring your Porsche passion into your home, office or den....
With a company like Porsche developing powerful and efficient race engines, it was inevitable that other body and chassis builders would plant a Porsche engine into one of their own creations. With so many builders doing this, it was therefore inevitable too, that an author would sooner or later pick...
Porsche Carrera – front cover. ©Seidldesign Simply entitled Porsche Carrera, this monumental work by Rolf Sprenger and Steve Heinrichs is nothing short of sensational. The two authors are to be congratulated on the length and depth to which this impressive works goes. This book will live on as a significant...
Classic Car Auction Yearbook 2016-2017 front cover – © Classic Car Auction Yearbook/ Historica Selecta The 22nd edition of the Classic Car Auction Yearbook 2016-2017 (covering the 24th season of auctions), can comfortably be regarded as one of the most complete and authoritative publications of its kind available. Classic Car...
Classic Car Auction Yearbook 2016-2017 front cover – © Classic Car Auction Yearbook/ Historica Selecta The 22nd edition of the Classic Car Auction Yearbook 2016-2017 (covering the 24th season of auctions), can comfortably be regarded as one of the most complete and authoritative publications of its kind available. Classic Car...
The story of Mark Donohue’s racing achievements has been told in numerous magazine articles over the years. His achievements too, in the famous #6 Sunoco Porsche 917/30 in the 1973 Can-Am series, have been similarly covered many times. But until I read The Unfair Advantage, I had little knowledge of...
There can be few people better qualified to write about a race car than those who drove that car in competition. When you add into the formula, the fact that the racing driver in question also worked in the motorsport department of the manufacturer responsible for building that car, then...
In the early 1950s, Porsche was still a very young company, and they certainly did not have the budgets enjoyed by the bigger motor manufacturers with which to splash out on expensive public relations campaigns. Well before the idea of ‘Corporate Design’ or ‘Corporate Identity’ became a household term, Erich...
Officially licensed with the ACO, the organisers of the annual Le Mans 24 Hours race, this lavishly illustrated book is the seventh title in this decade-by-decade series. The series covers what has become the most important and celebrated endurance race on the international motorsport calendar, from its very beginning to...
This book not only describes the huge success of Jochen Mass as a racing driver, but it also reveals more about the man himself, apart from his motor racing career. The review below is divided into English/German, for those readers who would like an insight into this fine work in...
Without any doubt, one of the most exciting classes or motor racing during the 1970s was the GT class, which included the Group 4 and Group 5 or ‘Silhouette’ classes. It wasn’t just the cars that were exciting, but the gallant combatants had character and guts, making this one of...
Not only Porsche enthusiasts all around the world, but rallying aficionados too, will appreciate the skills and achievements of Walter Röhrl. An unpretentious man who lets the race and rally reports do the talking for him, Walter Röhrl mastered many different types of motorsport in his time, from rallying to...
As their race director and one of the leading figures in their experimental department, Peter Falk contributed significantly to the character of the sports cars from Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen – both on the race track and on the road. From the first 901 right through to the very last air-cooled Type 993,...
This last weekend’s 2017 Silverstone Classic was a triumph in many ways, but probably most of all for the spectators who were treated to some spectacular racing. Of interest to our readers though will be how the Porsche cars fared over the weekend in the wide variety of race classes....
The Ultimate Book of the Air-Cooled Porsche 911 – Standard Edition When Brian Long’s latest 911 tome arrived, I could see the postman physically relieved to be handing over the package. But, in all seriousness, this is one very impressive piece of work. Brian Long has written many books, but...
© One More Than 10: Singer and the Porsche 911 It has been said before that there have probably been more books written on the Porsche 911, than almost any car model. In this case though, it is no ordinary 911 that is being unpacked and revealed between the covers...
It is by now well known that Porsche won the prestigious Le Mans 24-Hour race in 2016, the company’s 18th such victory in this classic French endurance race. To put this achievement in perspective, Audi have won the title thirteen times and Ferrari nine times. Just as they did in...
Front cover of The Cobra-Ferrari Wars: 1963-1965 (2nd Edition) by Michael L. Shoen © Glen Smale This is the second edition of the well-known and much loved book by Michael L Shoen. The Cobra-Ferrari Wars: 1963-1965, is the account of the battles, both on track and off, that raged between...
Porsche pavilion in Autostadt Park, Wolfsburg Porsche AG reopened its pavilion at the Autostadt park in Wolfsburg 15 November 2016, after a significant expansion programme. The exhibition area inside the pavilion has been expanded from 65 m² to 504 m², and going forward, this new exhibition space will house two...
Blue cover – Limited Edition Much has been written about the Porsche 911, in fact there are few manufacturers in the world, that could boast as having as many books written about one of their models. But as can be expected, many of these books cover selected top models, and...
The 914 is the Porsche that most sports car enthusiasts turn up their noses at. Let’s face it, the 914 isn’t the most beautiful Porsche in the world, with its flat surfaces and angular styling. It looks unpretentious, unattractive, and was generally unloved by many. But is that a fair...
Fitz – My Life at the Wheel: by John Fitzpatrick © Autosports Marketing Associates, Ltd. John Fitzpatrick needs little by way of an introduction. He learned his trade the hard way, by racing his own private road car, a Mini, in local races. But we are getting ahead of the...
Most people, even those only vaguely interested in motor sport, will have heard about the Porsche 917. The first of Porsche’s race cars to truly dominate the world of sports car racing, the 917 project was in 1969 almost a step too far for the small Stuttgart manufacturer as it...
The Porsche Book, The Complete History of Types and Models by Jürgen Barth and Gustav Büsing The clue is in the sub-title, The Complete History of Types and Models, as this three-set volume will provide the reader with a convenient, in-depth coverage of all road-going and racing models. While that...
Every now and then a truly good book comes along, one that is not only excellent in its content, but is also significant due to the rarity of the subject it covers. Roy Smith’s book on the Porsche 924 Carrera is one of those books because it covers a worthy,...
The author starts his book, The Monza 1000km: 1965-2008, by calling the first chapter, the years between 1965-1971, the ‘Golden Years’ and he is not the only one to do so. While the cars were rather ‘explosive’ in their performance, drivers and team personalities could also be rather explosive in...
This is an autobiography by a man who enjoyed what many would describe as the perfect job. A talented mechanical engineer, Horsman worked first for Aston Martin under the legendary leadership of John Wyer on such projects as the DP214. After Aston Martin, Horsman moved to Ford Advanced Vehicles where...
The very existence of the Porsche sports car must rank as one of the more unlikely histories in the automotive world. Yet such was the pioneering spirit of Professor Ferdinand Porsche and his son, Ferry, that the irrepressible 356 eventually saw the light of day, produced behind the doors of...
Porsche Sounds is another fine publication to have been produced by the Porsche Historical Archives in Stuttgart. But why, you may ask, do we need another book on Porsche’s long and well covered history, and what makes this book any different from the many others out there? Valid questions indeed....
Author Brian Long needs little introduction to the serious motorsport enthusiast, and in particular, Porsche racing. This title covers Porsche’s motor racing achievements between 1953 and 1975, and is the first of two volumes (the second volume covers 1976 to 2005). Offering a brief historical look into the company’s origins,...
Porsche’s domination of sportscar racing in the 1960s and 1970s by the 917 is well known, but the manufacturer’s rise to the top would not have been possible had it not been for the existence of several highly successful race cars that were created before it. Bill Oursler, who needs...
If there was one Porsche racing car that set the Stuttgart company on the road to motor sport stardom, then it must surely be the 1970 Le Mans winning Porsche 917. For many years it had been the sole aim of Porsche’s Director of Research & Development, Dr. Ferdinand Piëch,...
Every once in a while a man or woman comes along who wants to shake the tree, turn convention on its side, or just to improve the way we do things. Having written several books on the Porsche marque, when the opportunity arose to review Karl Ludvigsen’s book, Ferdinand Porsche:...
For starters, when you pick up your copy of Kussmaul Chronicles, you can jettison any preconceived ideas of reading a ‘normal’ book on the story of an engineer and his years spent at Porsche. That way, with a clear mind, you will be better prepared for the unexpected when you...
VIDEO: 1986 Porsche 962 At Laguna Seca During Monterey Motorsports Reunion Porsche 962 chassis 122 helped Dyson Racing to propel its team to the peak of IMSA’s GTP class in 1986, and with Skylar Robinson behind the wheel for the 2016 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, another interesting chapter has been added...
Porsche 918 Pictures With the Rennsport Reunion taking place in Monterey this upcoming weekend, we thought it was prudent to show off the 918s we spotted there just a month ago. With the production run completely ended, the Porsche 918 was as abundant as it will ever be for the...
Porsche Museum The new Porsche-Museum will be opened on 31 January 2009. Enjoy a close-up experience of the history of Porsche. Encounter legendary racing and sports cars, fascinating production models as well as unusual prototypes. More than 80 vehicles will take you from the early years all the way to...
This year Gooding and Company sold a total of $128 million at Pebble Beach including the one-of 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Bertone Speciale which sold for $16,500,000. With this type of auction comes record sales and Gooding broke some incredible Porsche numbers including top prices for the Porsche 956,...