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No problem! You have some excellent books. That Kremer book is very interesting. My book collection pales in comparison to yours. I ended up catching the 1/43rd bug years ago so I pretty much stick with little scale cars. Have you caught the art/print bug too? Be careful!

I take it you have seen this room? Not a bad collection they have. The archives themselves are nirvana. Sounds like you already have a friend at the museum. Having friends in the right places makes a world of difference.

Enjoy your collection my friend.

Lars T.

Unfortunately I have no personal connections in the Museum yet, but I go there five-six times a year - I can´t drive by Stuttgart without a visit :-) Also, unfortunately I didn´t yet have the chance to visit their literature collection (I´d really love too!). At least since earlier this year, I do own a "Collector Card" of the Museum, that´ll give me a 15% discount on anything in their great shop. Btw, this Sunday I´ll be in Ludwigsburg for the 911 Carrera RS World Meeting, an international event that celebrates 40 years of the RS with 80 of these great cars participating. Of course I´ll combine that with another visit to the Museum shop, so my collection might grow a bit further again :-)

Luckily I´ve been able to resist art prints so far, as I don´t have the space for them anyway. I do however collect Porsche postcards, of which loads are available in the Museum shop. And since last year the "Porsche Grill Badge"-bug has bitten me too, so now I also collect these - I think I have seven so far.

Apart from Porsche, I love Ferraris too, plus many other exotic cars and historic racing in general. So my Porsche books are actually only a part of a much bigger automotive book collection, I have about 900 in total - a bit crazy, but they make me happy (and my wife a bit less happy, but ok...) :-)

Oh yes, and I collect all the sales literature too - of Porsche and the other makes that I like. Plus 1000s of car magazines, mainly those dedicated to Porsche & Ferrari, as well as classic magazines like Octane and Classic & Sportscar. And club magazines too, of course... Space is currently my main problem :-)

I did start a 1/43 model Ferrari collection some time ago and have about 50 handbuilts of these (mainly BBR), plus maybe 30 Porsche 1/43 diecasts by Minichamps etc. They are really very nice, but I´m not certain at this moment if I´d like to continue, as my main passion is the literature. So I´ve stopped buying model cars since this year in favour of buying more literature - there are still so many books out there, waiting to be purchased :-)))

Ciao,

Lars

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How was the Carrera RS meeting? I bet you saw some beautiful cars. I love the simplicity of the older cars. I wish I could frequent the Porsche Museum as often as you do. The gift shop is definitely dangerous. Have you ever visited the Mercedes Museum? It is of a scale that emphasizes their heritage in great detail.

What's this about your liking Italian trash? I'm only kidding! There are so many automobiles to lust over. If you are ever in Eastern France make it a point to visit the automobile museum in Mulhouse. It's amazing.

I too have a special place in my heart for older racing cars. I was in France this year during the Le Mans Classic but was unable to attend. I would have loved to have witnessed such a vast collection of cars on track.

I hope you and your wife are still on speaking terms after your most recent visit to the gift shop. I have tested the wife's patience more times than I can remember.

Here's to having understanding wives! We never really grow-up.

Lars T.

Haha, first of all: yes my wife & me are still on speaking terms. All she did was take a deep sigh and roll her eyes as she noticed my Museum shopping bag
I purchased three more books, an old user´s manual of the 356 B (unsure if it´s a reprint or not) and 40 postcards. So, for me it was a successful visit again!

The Carrera RS meeting was very, very nice! All these old RS´s (plus a few modern 964 and 993 ones, as well as three 911 Sport Classics) were a great sight in all their colour variations. They were all nicely lined up in rows in the centre square of Ludwigsburg Palace. All cars were from Europe though, unfortunately none from further away, like the USA. Maybe at the 50th Anniversary then

I´ve not yet visited the Mercedes Museum, although I will on one of my next visits to Stuttgart. To me liking Italian trash, my Ferrari friends similarly usually make fun of me liking these "boring Porsches". Never mind, I like them all!

What a pity you couldn´t visit Le Mans Classic! I was there for the first time this year and it was absolutely fantastic. One of the best events I´ve ever visited in the 20 years or so I´ve been doing that. The only problems were the terrible weather (lots of heavy rain) and too many good offers on car books (I brought home 20 pieces!). Maybe in two years, you can come to LM Classic too - it´s definitely worth it!

While you missed LM Classic, I deeply regret to have missed all editions of Rennsport Reunion in the USA. It´s now a must-do event in my agenda!

Ciao,

Lars

PS: next weekend Oktoberfest starts - it´s just 2,5 miles from where I live here in Munich, so maybe less Porsche and more beer for me during the coming two weeks

Lars T.

Here´s the 356 B user´s manual I purchased at the Museum yesterday. I asked the staff if it was original or a reprint and they were uncertain. In the end they said it was a reprint, which it indeed might be, judging from how perfect the condition is. However, inside the manual there is no notice of it being a reprint anywhere, something I´d normally expect Porsche to do. It just has the number 4601.10 and "Issue January 1963" on the first page, along with some other text. Is there maybe a 356 literature expert around who could let me know if this is an original 1963 manual or a later reprint? What should I check to be certain? Many thanks in advance!

Ciao,

Lars

PS: The colours look brighter than real on my pic because of the camera flash.

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The 356 manual looks very interesting. I wish that I could be of assistance. I too would think that there would be something inside indicating that it was a reprint, as is usually the case. You must have one heck of a library.

The RS meeting sounds very nice. I would have to say that my favorite is the 993 version. The Club-sport option is like pornography to me.

The Mercedes Museum is impressive. Towards the exit they have a streamliner that was designed by Ferdinand Porsche. I hope you know my Ferrari comment was merely a joke?

I envy your attendance at the Le Mans Classic. The sights and sounds must have made for some serious sensory overload.

I will have to live vicariously through you when it comes to Oktoberfest. I'm hoping the case of Samuel Adams Oktoberfest I have in the refrigerator will help in my desperate hours.

Enjoy!

Lars T.

There were three 993 RS present at the meeting, two of which had the Club Sport option (one red, one yellow) - very impressive cars indeed!

And sure I knew the Ferrari comment was a joke - no offence taken at all

Fun to see that the Americans also make an Octoberfest-edition beer. The real thing however would be one of these six Munich breweries, the only ones allowed to sell at the Oktoberfest:

- Paulaner
- Hacker-Pschorr
- Spaten
- Augustiner
- Löwenbräu
- Hofbräu

Maybe one or more of these are also available in NYC? If so, fill up a 1-liter glass (the only size available for beer at the Oktoberfest), wear a Lederhosen (leather pants) and it´ll almost be like being here

Ciao,

Lars

Lars T.

Thanks to the 356-literature site of Charlie White, I now know my manual is indeed a reprint. Still I´m very happy to have it, as it wasn´t expensive at 35 Euros and is a great item to look through.

Lars T.

By the way, here are the other three books I purchased last Sunday - all three are only available in German language as far as I know.

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You have a library on your hands. What's the price of admission? Can I check anything out?

Nice additions by the way. The 928 never gets enough love. I always considered it a sort of German hot rod.

Lars T.

Well, when in Munich, make sure to stop by - I´ll give you a discount for the admission

And yes, the 928 is a nice Porsche too - there´s too few of them on the roads nowadays!

Lars T.

Apart from books, I also collect Porsche postcards. The Museum currently has this very nice set available, amongst many, many others:

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Wow! I did not see those when I was there in July. I would have definitely bought them.

You have good taste Lars.

Lars T.

Pity you just missed these, they were (are) available from August onwards!

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Pity indeed! I wish the gift shop had a web site for ordering. One would think that with Porsche being so very good at marketing that they would seize an opportunity like this. It's not like everyone can go to Germany all the time in order to buy some of the wonderful items that the gift shop has.

Sorry for the rant and enjoy the upcoming festivities.