What do Porsche 911s, surfboards, bicycles and coffee have in common? A lot, it would seem. South African entrepreneur, Gavin Rooke, hit on a common thread that runs through all of these products above…that is as brilliant as it is simple. Sometimes, things or events that we are exposed to in our youth, often helps to shape our future. Perhaps we don’t realise it at the … [Read more...]
Pic of the Week – 1966 Porsche 911
Designing and developing a new model to replace an already popular and successful one, is for any manufacturer, a difficult and stressful procedure, especially when the model being replaced is the much-loved Porsche 356. But with the benefit of hindsight, the 911 would shape the company’s future, as the new platform created by Butzi Porsche was sufficiently flexible as to allow … [Read more...]
Working for Porsche in Stuttgart in the 1960s Part II
Between the years 1962-1964, South African André Loubser worked for Porsche in Stuttgart. In Part I of this two-part mini-series, we saw how the author came to work for the Stuttgart manufacturer, and some of the humorous antics that he and his colleagues would get up to. In Part II, the author explains how his responsibilities grew which saw him rubbing shoulders with some of … [Read more...]
Motorsport Prospects 2020
After the music had died down, and the last of the revellers had left the party that had just a few hours earlier welcomed in a new decade, little thought was given to life much beyond the next day or perhaps the next week, at best. And yet here we are, barely two months into the new year, and it seems that the whole world is in lockdown over the outbreak of a microscopic virus … [Read more...]
Working for Porsche in Stuttgart in the 1960s Part I
For two years in the early 1960s, South African André Loubser had the time of his life, working not just for Porsche in Stuttgart, but for Huschke von Hanstein, one of the most colourful figures in the company's history. Von Hanstein’s death, in early 1996, prompted Loubser to recall those far-off days and to write this remarkable account of his time at Zuffenhausen, … [Read more...]
Riviera Blue Porsche 993 Carrera RS
If any two letters have encapsulated Porsche’s sporting prowess over the years, it is these – RS. It is now forty-seven years since the introduction of Porsche’s first RS, the iconic 911 Carrera RS 2.7, back in 1973. For Porsche, the letters RS, which stand for Rennsport, brings to mind today rich images of sporting achievement and excellence, and of impressive roadgoing … [Read more...]
Porsche 356: Made by Reutter
When the second edition of this fine publication was released back in April 2019 in German, I enquired immediately as to when the English edition would be available. I was told it would be coming onto the market in late autumn 2019, so I waited patiently for it to arrive. The reason I wanted to get the English version was because this book, in my view, would cover an extremely … [Read more...]
Scarlet the 1957 Porsche 356 A Speedster
It was Max Hoffman, the New York-based Porsche importer, who was instrumental in getting the factory to produce a lightweight sports car for local competition in the USA. Hoffman’s clients were demanding a stripped-down factory version of the 356 to compete in the rapidly developing sports car racing scene in America. At less than $3000, the Speedster, which took the form of a … [Read more...]
PORSCHE 993 “25 YEARS” 1994–2019
Berlin Motor Books, a boutique book publisher located not far from the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) in Berlin, has been steadily raising its profile on the quality automotive book scene since its inception in 2011. The authors, Andreas Gabriel, Manfred Hering and Thomas Nehlert are all Porsche enthusiasts and deeply knowledgeable in the heritage of the brand. Other … [Read more...]
A whale of a tale – maintaining an ‘89 911 Carrera Sport in Zimbabwe
As I’ve explained on the few occasions I’ve burst into print in Porsche Road & Race, my enduring love affair with the Porsche brand was developed and nurtured from the late 1950s. My father, a dentist by profession, was very mechanically-minded and owned Beetles – and Mercs – from the early ‘50s, but it was our family doctor who raced VW-powered single seaters at the … [Read more...]
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