PORSCHE - Seven letters of the alphabet, so much more to me.
04-07-2012, 12:37 AM
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PORSCHE - Seven letters of the alphabet, so much more to me.
PORSCHE - Seven letters of the alphabet, so much more to me.
I've always had adoration for the brand largely for what they have brought to the racing community. Porsche made it possible for many independent teams to race in top classes against factory budgets including of Chevrolet, Ford & Ferrari – and WIN! Without the strategy Porsche used to build its sports car brand we would may not know many of the drivers as well as we know them today. Vic Elfford, Derek Bell, Hans Stuck, Al Holbert, Dan Gurney, all had successful Porsche drives early in their careers as so many more have done since.
Even before the car company we think of today was created in 1949 the Porsche family was in the engineering and manufacturing trades and cars among other things were often the subject of their design. After graduating from college Ferdinand Porsche (3 September 1875 – 30 January 1951 - well known for designing the “Peoples car” or the VW Beetle.), then just 18 years old, he wired his parents’ home for electricity - this is considered by many to be his first engineering project. He created the first electric car and worked for Daimler long before the earliest Porsche sports cars. He and son Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche (better known as Ferry) created the Porsche car company in the 1940s. A handful of Gmünd coupes and 356s were built in Gmünd Austria before the family came back to Stuttgart in 1949. Ferry’s son Ferdinand Alexander Porsche engineered, the 911, possibly the greatest sports car the world will ever know. The 911 has won more races than any other model of car ever produced and is widely considered the most successful car in motorsports.
As a fan of the brand from childhood I have learned about the older cars and followed the brand. Not only through research but from a firsthand experience I have studied the 911s progression from the earliest 901/short wheel base 911 through 993 TT.
If my father had not been such a fan of the brand I guess I would not have been either. I grew up in WI and early in my teenage years my father started a small business servicing Porsches. It grew and lead to a client who wanted to get experience in high performance driving of his Porsche but his life insurance policy would not let him race cars. We took some cars down to Black Hawk Farms near Beloit and brought in local driver by the name of Chris Beebe for some one to one instruction. From there we did noncompetitive Porsche track days for a few years until this one client was becoming an overwhelming part of the business and all but smothered the core of my father’s small business. We parted ways and went back to rebuild the family business but it was never the same. The Client went on to create Kelly Moss Racing which later gained factory support and won the championship in the USA in a 911. That was when I went To Ohio to work for a reputable Porsche independent out side Cleveland. I didn't realize at the time I interviewed for the job we had brokered a 944 Turbo cup car from the same company a few years earlier. Funny enough, I also came back in touch with a few cars my father and I had serviced in Madison while working there. It was like seeing an old friend; similar re-acquaintances happened again over time - cars that would leave and come back to me. Much of my experience with Porsche came in the 1990s in the Cleveland area where I was well known for turning up at the track during PCA events to support cars that were clients of my employers. I got to know most of the people if not everyone who was servicing, preparing or restoring Porsches in the area. In fact I lived with John Truman (member of the 924 Turbo LeMans team and well known Porsche mechanic) when I first moved to Ohio. He guided me through my first 911 engine rebuild. The rebuild had been requested by the owner to freshen up the motor for the Autocross competition at the Porsche Parade that year. He swore me to secrecy because the customer was paying good money to have “Truman” engine, I didn’t care I was learning and building engines. Sorry John my silence is finally broken after nearly 20 years. The engine was for a 1970 914/6 and the car won the national event, I was so proud. What a life we had – working on Porsche during the day rushing home to dinner and out to his garage to do side work on more Porsches. For many years every waking moment for me was somehow connected to Porsche cars and repairing them or making them go faster and corner better. I used to call it improving on perfection or making people’s dreams a reality. It was the time of my life. My coworkers and I were absolutely fanatical the care and preparation of our clients cars, as if they were our cars. This was exactly the way my father had taught me to work on the cars, with respect and attention to detail. Everything was tip top and the customers who we’re not in our way of thinking tended to not stay with us long so we never did any patch up jobs or band aids. All the work was as the shop at the factory would do no less. Near the end of the 993 era when Boxster was coming into the market in the USA I stopped working on production cars and strictly focused on purpose built racing cars. My experience with Porsche in this regard includes off season maintenance, preparing for competition and track side services on a range of Porsches including 935, FabCar Porsche powered GTP lights as well as 962 water/water and 962 water/air cars among many GT2 & GT3 cars. I have been involved in professional motorsports but most of Porsche history was around retired cars racing in HSR, SVRA and Porsche club racing. Over the years as the cars aged we improved on them not only in restoration work but also continued development and by using more modern materials and design practices that were not available when they were originally built. In doing so, in combination with modern tires, we could achieve or best lap times the cars set when cars were winning championships at places like Road America and Sebring that have changed little over the years. I think I was about 28 years old before I ever knew or cared about any car not carrying the Stuttgart inspired crest every Porsche brandishes. It was when I went to build CART engines for Mercedes my cherished relationship with Porsche was suspended. Not completely because I left Ilmor after about 2 years and went back to supporting vintage race cars where I was once again working on 962s among other wild creatures like the 1970 Shadow with an aluminum 454 big block & twin turbos. But after the economic destabilization following attacks on America toys and hobbies of the wealthy slowed. I was courted by an employment agency until I agreed to work for them in the offices of VW. In 10 short years I had left home to work for an independent Porsche center, became a Porsche Service manager and then a dealer technician's helpline consultant for a major manufacture. Fast forward 10 years: Two years ago while living in Europe I visited the Porsche factory in Stuttgart Germany. It was an amazing experience for me. Like coming home to a place I've never been. Yesterday the Creator of the car that has won more races than all other cars, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche a.k.a "Butzi", passed away. His spirit will live forever in the cars he gave us, many of the cars he gave us will be with us for years to come. Rest in peace friend we will miss you.
I've always had adoration for the brand largely for what they have brought to the racing community. Porsche made it possible for many independent teams to race in top classes against factory budgets including of Chevrolet, Ford & Ferrari – and WIN! Without the strategy Porsche used to build its sports car brand we would may not know many of the drivers as well as we know them today. Vic Elfford, Derek Bell, Hans Stuck, Al Holbert, Dan Gurney, all had successful Porsche drives early in their careers as so many more have done since.
Even before the car company we think of today was created in 1949 the Porsche family was in the engineering and manufacturing trades and cars among other things were often the subject of their design. After graduating from college Ferdinand Porsche (3 September 1875 – 30 January 1951 - well known for designing the “Peoples car” or the VW Beetle.), then just 18 years old, he wired his parents’ home for electricity - this is considered by many to be his first engineering project. He created the first electric car and worked for Daimler long before the earliest Porsche sports cars. He and son Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche (better known as Ferry) created the Porsche car company in the 1940s. A handful of Gmünd coupes and 356s were built in Gmünd Austria before the family came back to Stuttgart in 1949. Ferry’s son Ferdinand Alexander Porsche engineered, the 911, possibly the greatest sports car the world will ever know. The 911 has won more races than any other model of car ever produced and is widely considered the most successful car in motorsports.
As a fan of the brand from childhood I have learned about the older cars and followed the brand. Not only through research but from a firsthand experience I have studied the 911s progression from the earliest 901/short wheel base 911 through 993 TT.
