By the late 1950s, the German Wirtschaftswunder was well underway and as the economy grew, so traffic density increased. This was particularly noticeable around Stuttgart often making testing on local Autobahnen inconvenient and it caused Ferry to think about creating his own test track. Thanks to its close relationship with VW, Porsche could always use the vast Ehra-Lessien … [Read more...]
Porsche’s 70th anniversary – we look back 30 years to 1988
Last month we looked at some of Porsche’s milestones around the time of the company’s 50th anniversary in 1998. This month we track back a further ten years to 1988, and we look back 30 years at what was happening in the world of Porsche around the year. With the Type 2708 CART, Porsche ventured into unchartered waters as it sought to test the American CART racing scene. … [Read more...]
Porsche’s 70th anniversary – we look back 20 years to 1998
This year, 2018, Porsche will celebrate its 70th anniversary. Although the official date for the registration of the first car, 356-001, is on 8 June, Porsche Road & Race will be bringing you a snapshot into the timeline along the road of these seven decades. Starting in 1998, six milestones covering seven decades will bring us back to when it all started, on 8 June … [Read more...]
Tilman Brodbeck remembers
To be able to write on your résumé that you worked for one of Porsche’s CEOs would be quite an achievement. Tilman Brodbeck can however do a little better than that, for in a 40-year career, he was assistant to no fewer than five successive Porsche presidents. But, as he tells us, he held other posts too. When he started at Zuffenhausen, the company was still ruled by Ferry … [Read more...]
Martini Porsche 917-042 – Le Mans record breaker
From 1964 through to 1969, Porsche lifted its game from being a class winner to setting international lap speed and endurance records that were beyond the reach of other manufacturers, by quite some margin. In May 2017, I was afforded the opportunity of photographing eight race cars in detail at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, and one of the cars on my list was the #21 Martini … [Read more...]
