Z356

Doubt it...but you never know! Just arrived in today to Stuttgart and took the S6 to Zuffenhausen. Staying at the Hotel Neuwirtshaus, just a few blocks away from the factory. Had dinner tonight with Jürgen Barth at his home in Sachsenheim! An informal affair as he cooked dinner for just the two of us! Great stories - both about his dad (Edgar) and about his own distinguished career! Coming back to the hotel tonight, the Porsche factory and Museum at night has a magic & color all its own! To be continued...

Saludos,
Eduardo

Mike in CA

Very cool Eduardo, thanks for sharing with us! Enjoy your trip and keep the reports coming.....

TRAKCAR

Please keep it coming!
Thanks for posting

Nan P

Very cool pics.....we need more!
It's a special place for any Porsche nut & one that must be visited.

Arth

Thanks for the pics! Keep us updated

917962

That must have been one interesting dinner.

Can't wait for your next batch of pictures.

Nick

Hopefully you will see a 991GT3 and post your impressions.

seapar

Very nice thanks for sharing. Was there at the factory with my wife last October. Very cool. Met you briefly Sunday morning a few months back in Issaquah having breakfast with our sun morning Porsche show and drive buddies. Have fun and find out about the PTS timelines.
Peter

Carrera GT

Thanks for the posts. Just like being there. Only with envy.

SoCalDan

I was just there last week. I highly recommend dinner at Christophorus, right above the museum. They also have an amazing selection of cuban cigars and rare scotch ;-).

There was one 991 GT3 sitting in the Porsche dealer parking lot one morning, right across the street from the museum. But it was gone fairly quickly. Perhaps one would have better luck at Leipzig?

Z356

I thought I posted this last night but can't find it here. So here is it again!

1) 10 AM - Factory Tour at Porsche Zuffenhausen. Cameras are not allowed. In fact they were 'collected' and 'stored' prior to the start of our tour! This is about my 15th visit to Zuffenhausen. First one was in 1981 during a PCA Treffen (first photo...when I had black hair!). I also did a European Delivery on a 944 in 1982 and a 944 Turbo around 1985! Everytime I traveled to Europe I managed to drop by Zuffenhausen for a visit! That is how I met Jurgen Barth in the 1980's - while picking up 'special parts' at Frau Bauer 'in-house' emporium at Werk 1! These were the days we could take cameras inside the factory and photograph at will! Weissach was open to group tours and we were taken on 'hot laps' by factory drivers! Not any more. Weissach is now closed to any visitors while construction takes place...I was last there in 1996...but some think it will never be re-opened to the public! The rest of the attached photos were taken after the tour was completed and from 'outside' the factory fences!

My last Zuffenhausen visit was in 2007 and some of the changes at the factory are dramatic. Of course, the Museum is now finished! The Porsche dealership across the street is open for 'business' (Porsche bought our Hahn years ago, which was the Stuttgart dealership we used to deal with prior to that at their various Stuttgart locations - never in Zuffenhausen). Engine construction is done at a new building! The gate near the 'European Delivery' area has been moved to embark more territory for the factory grounds. More parts are being sourced by vendors via 'just in time' deliveries. Porsche Zuffenhausen is literally an assembly plant - the vendors are the 'manufacturers' of the actual parts that go into the cars! Had the 'pleasure' of seeing a metallic dark blue Boxster assembled with a 'guards red' rear bumper...then pulled off the line to 'correct' the mistake. Never seen that happened. They felt it was better to do this than to disrupt the line...so they put the wrong rear on and then took it off the line to wait for the right part to show up. Why that wasn't picked up earlier by part tracking computers and Quality Control is a mystery to me...and to the tour guide too!

From memory (but remember Alzheimer has set in): Two shifts working at Zuffenhausen at present. Early one starts around 6 am and the other around 2 pm. Around 196 cars being built daily at present. Total time of a 991 in production is around 5/6 days from start to finish. Currently some of the Boxsters are still being built at Zuffenhausen. Maybe up to one third? Caymans and rest of Boxsters are built at the old Karmann plant in Osnabruck. All gasoline engines destined for every Porsche is built in Zuffenhausen (except hybrids or diesels, I think). Road testing a Porsche a thing of the past - although I saw a few 991's drive by on nearby public streets still with protection (hard clear plastic on panels or white plastic wrap), but not the front 'bra' type of olden years! Have no idea why these were being driven in the street...perhaps trouble-shooting!

Today's tours couldn't see the 'mating' of power train to body chassis because two prototypes were in the production lines and were considered 'off limit' to our eyes! 991 gt3? 991 Targa? Who knows. We didn't see anything out of the ordinary when we looked in the general direction of that section of the assembly plant!

Total tour time - 2 hours.

More of my activities today later in the week when I have more time! Need the sleep right now!

Saludos,
Eduardo

mdrums

Thanks Eduardo!

tetzlafh

Eduardo, what do you mean by the Stuttgart dealership being open for business since your last trip in 2007, Haven't they always been open for business?

zerosixtwofour

keep the pictures coming!!

Joe S.

Eduardo,

Did you get to see any of the new body assembly/paint shop area?

I was last there in 08 before they move the engine assembly location, what is the new location like and do you still get to see the room where the Mezgers are/were built/tested?