Butzi

That's what I was telling him...!

Cincy_Ron

All I know is that after a couple of days driving the Porsche it's always great fun jabbing my F-150 key into the left side of the dash trying to get the truck started. ;-)

FisterD

I liked it..............

Doc V.

I made consistent references to the 901 (which eventually became the 911), Jeff; you introduced the reference to the 001 car. If I am the "him" whom you were "telling," then for some reason you decided supplement a discussion of the ignition switch placement on the 901 with several claims about the 001 car.

Bull

Please check post #1, which contains the original quote from the Globe that I, and others, were responding to. Then report back again.

Butzi

??? Please reread the quotation in the original post (i.e. post #1). I did not introduce anything...

EDIT: Beat by Bull. now THAT sounds strange...

Bull

Sometimes the Bull wins....but not often!

Doc V.

I see it now, Jeff and Bob W., and I understand your point, Jeff; thanks for the redirect.

Butzi

No problems.

And just one more point to contradict this "myth buster". The Speedster was introduced as a lighter & cheaper 356-variant; so then why, as pointed out earlier by Boston911fan, would the ignition be put to the RIGHT side of the steering column? According to this "myth buster" it would have more sense to keep it on the left to "save" weight (albeit saving only 200g!!!).

End of story...? I'm done.

MarkD

but of course you did. It was muffler humor

Boston911fan

I love it when I'm right. I know too much random stuff about VW and Porsche history, but it did pay off when I won 200 bucks at a huge VW show this summer from VW of America themselves for winning a VW trivia game! Woo hoo!

As for the 356 Speedster, Roadster D, and Roadster, there certainly was enough room on the left to put an ignition switch, and it would have looked fine. There were two white buttons to the left of the wheel and one white button and the key, so maybe they were looking for symmetry.

As for Pre-A 356's, I have found pictures of dashes with the key to the left of the wheel AND in the middle of the dash! Look up the aluminum Pre-A 356 SL if you can. Looks like there were some inconsistencies in the early years. SL means Sport Leicht, which means Sport Light. These cars were built for racing, were entered in Le Mans in 1951, and did not have the key in the Le Mans spot! I dunno, 200 grams really adds SO MUCH to the weight guys...ALSO, the Pre-A had a starter button and choke **** on the right of the wheel, so you had to put the key in with your left hand and press a button with your right...so much for Le Mans! According to my books, the button was eliminated when the dash was redesigned on the 356A in 1956, and it was a combination ignition and starter on the left.

Here's an AWESOME coffee table-sized book I recommend: Porsche Speedster by Michel Thiriar. It covers all of the 356 Speedsters and Roadsters as well as the 911 Speedsters.

Boston911fan

Factoid of the day. Betcha didn't know this. Reutter Karosserie of Stuttgart, who made most of the 356s, was bought by Porsche in the early 60s so they could make the 911 in house. What happened to the leftover pieces of Reutter?. Take the "Re" from Reutter and "Karo" from "Karosserie" and turn the k into a c, and you get Recaro! Furthermore, even though the standard seats in my 993 don't say Recaro, they were made by Recaro.

gonzilla

Wow! That's awesome!!! Didn't know that.

Butzi

Actually, I did know that, told my wife the other month shopping for child car seats (Recaro makes those, too!), but I love factoids & Porsche history, keep 'em coming....wait, I said I'm done, what am I doing here?

Smiles

Some comments and a couple of questions about the Le Mans style start.

In 1969, Jacky Ickx broke tradition by not doing the fast scramble to climb into his car. He walked rather calmly to his Ford GT40, although he was almost hit by a less patient driver. Ickx, his first time at LeMans, went on to win the race outright.

When you look at it rationally, and not through the red mist of racing, trying to save a few seconds at the start of a very long 24 hour endurance race, at the potential expense of an accident, certainly doesn't make sense. In fact, 1969 would be the last year for the traditional LeMans start.

Also, from a driver's perspective (and mine is very limited) the laps that are actually the fastest may seem the slowest. Calm, slow and deliberate is a good way to go fast, and certainly a good way to endure the full 24 hours.

This point was made very clearly by the 917 entry driven by John Woolfe. The 917s, which were fastest in practice, could have won. Woolfe was a private entrant, but the factory works 917 led the race for hours, but failed to finish. Hans Herrmann's 908 was only barely beaten by Ickx's GT40. Woolfe, however, doing the hurried start, couldn't take time to properly fasten his restraints. He crashed on the first lap, and died.

Most of the above cars, along with the 512 Ferrari of 1970, were right hand drive for clockwise circuits. I believe Ickx's ignition key was on the left of the steering wheel. Was there an actual key? How about the Porsches?

So in 1970, or any time afterwards, when the fast start was no longer necessary, did any of the prototype cars change the position of the key? Or, if the LeMans style start was the reason for the left-of-the-wheel position for the key, why wouldn't Porsche change? The sake of tradition seems a little too emotional for Porsche, doesn't it?

To some degree, maintaining the left key position would be similar to maintaining RHD for road cars like the 911.

This has always made me think that there was a different reason for the left position, although I have no explanation for what that reason would be. Any insights?