Getting a look at the official Porsche Museum is pretty cool, or so we’ve been told. So we can only imagine how awesome it would be to take a peek inside the company’s secret museum. It’s the place where the prototypes and test mules are hidden away, some barely saw the light of day even when they were current.
Chris Chilton from Car magazine gives us a brief tour of the secret museum. You may recall Porsche has already done this, too, but we don’t think anyone will mind a repeat performance.
It only seems like yesterday Porsche opened its dedicated museum in Stuttgart and yet it’s about to celebrate its fifth anniversary.
With the current 918 hybrid serving as the current Porsche hero model, a piece of automotive serendipity has served to provide the perfect exhibit for the museum’s celebrations, in the form of a once lost 116-year-old creation called the Egger-Lohner electric vehicle, C.2 Phaeton model.
Known as P1 for short—Porsche number 1—it is the first automotive creation of Ferdinand Porsche and dates back to June 1898. The car was one of the first registered in Austria and had its first real test in September 1899 when it was entered in a 40km race for electric vehicles held in Berlin.
It’s no surprise to learn that Ferdinand Porsche, at the wheel of his creation, won the race with a handsome 18 minute cushion back to second place.
The car was recently found in an unrestored condition and returned to Porsche. How the whereabouts of the P1 became unknown is a mystery, it would appear, but all that matters is the P1 is about to take place in its rightful home.
The P1 will be presented at a special invite-only event tomorrow night before being on show for the public this weekend as the Porsche Museum birthday celebrations commence.
You can learn more about the P1 after the break.
Porsche Origin brings word that the company’s official museum in Stuttgart has welcomed its 2 millionth visitor since opening in 2009. Alas, we’re not in that number, but several AUSmotive readers have been lucky enough to visit the attraction.
Exhibits at the museum have ranged from the 1900 Lohner-Porsche Mixte Hybrid—the world’s first hybrid car—through many production prototypes and one-offs, such as the four-seat Porsche 928-4 presented to Ferry Porsche on his 75th birthday in 1984. Naturally, the company’s legendary racing successes are prominent, with many rare and historic race cars, such as the 1971 Porsche 917/20 ‘pink pig’, on display. Current highlights include the ’60 Years of Super Sports Cars’ exhibition, charting Porsche’s history of exceptional sports cars from the 550 Spyder through to the Carrera GT.
[Source: Porsche Origin]
We’re self-confessed Porsche fans. Although, as we’ve been late developers of Porsche madness, we have a bit to learn about the history of the iconic brand. These two videos from Porsche, introducing us to some of their ‘Museum Secrets’, have been a great way for us to help fill the void in our knowledge bank. We reckon you’ll like them too.
[Thanks to Chris for the tip]
Progress on a Porsche pavilion at Volkswagen’s Autosadt in Wolfsburg has just commenced and has a target opening in the first half of 2012. It’s a sign that the Volkswagen–Porsche merger is working reasonably well.
The Porsche Museum in Stuttgart will still be the best place to see the best the company has to offer. Although we expect the addition of a Porsche pavilion will certainly add to the experience at the Autostadt. It will join existing displays at the theme park which include Volkswagen Group car brands Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, Seat, Skoda and Volkswagen.
Doing the “German Car Museum Tour” is on the “to do” list of most petrol heads. In relatively close proximity you have Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. While, further north, in Wolfsburg is the superb Autostadt, Volkswagen’s celebration of itself and its multiple brands.
Stephen Williams from the New York Times is one guy lucky enough to have experienced this magical museum tour of late. He wasn’t able to fit in the Autostadt as well, but crossing the others off the list is a delight most would like to experience.
Here is a teaser of Williams’ findings, you can read his full article following the link below, “Devoting a day, give or take, to each museum and the accompanying attractions—usually a gift shop, bistro or cafe, and a delivery center for people who pick up their new toys at the factory—I came away with different impressions. ‘Cars are cars, all over the world,’ Paul Simon sang. But they’re not—and neither are car museums.”
[Source: New York Times]
Leading design magazine Wallpaper has taken a closer look at the Porsche Museum, which opened in Stuttgart last month. They have a basic interactive floorplan and cool slideshow as well. If you dig Ferry’s work, then the links are worth checking out. I bags the 1948 356/2.
The famous Porsche 917 racing car turns 40 this year. Porsche will hold special birthday celebrations for the 917 at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed (3–5 July).
The theme for the FoS this year is ‘True Grit – Epic Feats of Endurance’. It is appropriate then that among the 917’s many achievements are back-to-back 24 Hours of Le Mans victories in 1970 and 1971. These results marked Porsche’s first successes at the world’s oldest sports car race.
The 1971 triumph set a new record for the fastest ever victory at Le Mans, the Martini Racing Team 917, driven by Helmut Marko and Gijs van Lennep, completed 397 laps, or 5335.313km (3313 miles), at an average speed of 222km/h (138mph). That record still stands. (HERE is a full list of Le Mans winners).
For more on this epic 12 cylinder powered legend described by British magazine Motor Sport as the ‘greatest racing car in history’, read the press releases below, or check out Wikipedia.
Yesterday the new Porsche Museum opened its doors to the public for the first time. As you can see it is an architecturally stunning building, but just wait until you see what is on the inside!
Construction began in 2005 and the official opening took place last Wednesday with Chairman of the Board of Porsche AG, Dr Wendelin Wiedeking, declaring “This is our new business card on the Porscheplatz. At this meeting point, we welcome our international customers as well as numerous people from all over the world who themselves may not drive a Porsche but are nonetheless fascinated by our sportscars. We will not only use the museum as an exhibition, but also as a communication platform – as a permanent, integral part of the ongoing dialogue which Porsche conducts with the public.”
It costs around AU$16 to get in and is sure to entertain tourists and owners alike. During the construction phase Porsche was getting 80,000 customers per year to their temporary exhibition space which could only display 20 exhibits. Now, with space for 280 cars, one might suggest that their expectations for 200,000 visitors per year will be easily surpassed.
For more information about the museum check out the official website. Or you can just take a squiz at the location on Google Maps.
An extensive image gallery, starting with construction pics, and Porsche’s official press release after the jump.