Doc V.

Unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1963, the 2-liter 901 was not designed as a Le Mans racer. The first 235 cars produced in 1964 were hardly race-ready. Bischof's claim concerning the position of the 911's ignition switch deserves reasonable consideration, at least--particularly when one remembers that Porsche has always used its race heritage as a marketing tool. The 911 did not race at Le Mans until 1968, when it placed first in the (Group 3) GT class.

Bischof's employment history with the Porsche factory is extensive. Those interested in some of his experiences with Porsche can start with Ludvigsen's Excellence Was Expected. Unfortunately, Ludvigsen provides no information about Bischof's role in the production of Bischoff exhaust systems for the 993 series cars.

TheOtherEric

To save 200g? B.S.

IMHO, it was probably for the same reason Saab put the ignition in the middle; just trying to be different, distinctive, and memorable. Plus PAG clearly enjoyed confusing people.

AOW162435

That was my pathetic attempt at humor.....


Andreas

Doc V.

"It saved...maybe 200 grams": irony.

Butzi

Call me confused, but the 001 was produced immediately after WWII ended, i.e. late '40s, not the in '60s... Prior to the 901 (911) all 356 had the ignition on the left, too, so I'm not sure what you're referring to here. The 550 Spyder=on the left.

I call B.S. here on the "Myth Buster"... The original quote I found was from a Dan Neal aticle in the LA Times, I believe. Maybe Mr. Neal ignored the dry-sarcasm of an aging German...my German relatives sometimes think they're being funny, but have horrible delivery. Shortest books in history? Famous German Comedians, Famous Russian Chefs, etc. etc...

Whatever the reason (I believe the Le Mans story), placing the key in my left-hand when I enter a car has become ingrained to a point of frustration when jumping into my wife's Lexus...

The Brewmeister

The LA Times is always my most trusted source for automotive history....
Puhleeze!....

Doc V.

The prototype 901 was presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show on 12 September 1963. The 901 became the 911 in October 1964 after Peugeot objected to the use of its 901 designation.

bart1

On the really cool 993 evolution video they state the LeMans reason. Sounds cooler anyway.

Bull

Pure BS. The ignition on the left began long before any 911 (project 901) was ever thought about, and many Le Mans wins were recorded prior to the 911 being entered there.

Makes for a good joke though!

Boston911fan

NOPE! The 356 Speedster, 356 Roadster D'Ieteren, and 356B Roadster all had the key on the right!

As for SAAB, don't forget that the 9000 had the key on the dash, and lots of SAAB fans complained.

As for the Boston Globe, I'm skeptical. Why, after all of these years, has this bit of information suddenly surfaced? There are SO many Porsche books that state that the key was on the left for Le Mans starts.

So getting back to the 356, why did they put the key on the RIGHT on the dash of the anorexic 356 Speedster? Again, I think the Boston Globe thing is a load of mularky.

993Maineiac

Butzi's post is right on. This is referring to the first Gmund-001, not the 901 nee 911 which was a Butzi Porsche design after Comedas was rejected by the management. So everyone is correct, although most are correct about the wrong car.

Boston911fan

While we're all being nit-picky (someone nit-pick me if I spelled that wrong), the correct name is Erwin Komenda. He was Ferdinand's body engineer from the beginning of the Beetle.

On a more serious note, where in TX is Laredo? I hope you didn't get hit too badly by the hurricane. My family in Houston is out of power, Austin and College Station folks are okay, but my cousin from League City (near Galveston for those of you who don't know) was evacuated, and hasn't been back to see her house yet.

993Maineiac

Thanks for correcting the spelling-I'm at work and getting on and off RL during a relatively long and boring project so don't have access to check names. Laredo is as far south as one can get on I-35, right on the Rio Grand about 145 miles SSW of San Antonio. We didn't get any of Ike-although I used to live in Clear Lake between Houston and Galveston very near League City and hope our old neighborhood is OK. We did get 3" of rain last evening in 25 minutes during a thunderstorm and lost electricity-but only for a couple of hours.

gonzilla

I think we may be talking about two different cars...

Porsche 001:


Porsche 901:


But apparently both saved massive amounts of weight and money by placing the key to the left of the wheel.

Boston911fan

Well, that's good that you're okay. I haven't talked to my cousin in League City since Saturday--tried to convince her that shoveling snow a few times a year was better than hurricanes. Plus, she has a BMW 335i convertible, and I told her that you can drive with the top down from April to October. Sorry about the nit-picking. I'm a HUGE Volkswagen history buff, and that obviously overlaps with Porsche's history.

As for the key issue, I'm very interested as to why the Speedster and Roadster had it on the right...was it just because of the shape of the dash????

Does anyone know?

Three GREAT must-read history books:
1. Ferry Porsche: Cars are my Life by Ferry
2. Porsche: the Road from Zuffenhausen
3. The 911 Story by the late great Paul Frere