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Automotive Lifestyle
VINTAGE: New Museum Houses Glory Of Porsche
The complete history of street and racing machines creates a stirring experience.
Wouter Melissen  | http://www.ultimatecarpage.com  |  Posted March 17, 2010   Zuffenhausen, GE
A 356 SL Coupe, Porsche's first class winner in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1951, leads the lineup of Le Mans racers at the Porsche Museum. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
Porsche first opened a museum in the mid-1970s in a side street next to the Zuffenhausen based factory. Despite being barely large enough to house 20 cars, this location was used for well over thirty years. By this time, the ever-expanding collection had reached 400 Porsches, so a new museum would be very welcome.

The decision to that effect was taken by the Porsche Board in the summer of 2004 and work on “Porscheplatz” was started little over a year later. Construction of the sizable building took the better part of four years, and it was not until January of 2009 that the new Porsche Museum could welcome its first visitors. It was an instant success and before the year was out, the 500,000th guest was welcomed by the museum's director.

The new Porsche Museum is housed in a spectacular "hovering" building in Zuffenhausen, Germany. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
Having visited the original and rather cramped museum some back in 2001, we were very keen to return to Zuffenhausen. Our much-anticipated visit happened early this month, and we were certainly not disappointed. The fruits of labor can be seen in this 100-shot gallery.

A spectacular design
About 170 European architects applied for the prestigious project. The 10 best ideas were entered in the final competition. Delugan Meissel Associated Architects of Vienna, Austria, was picked as the winner of the architects contest.

Their unconventional design features a “hovering” museum built on three massive concrete pillars. The base of the construction houses the lobby, the archive, the workshop and the museum store as well as a small bar and a bistro. Underneath there is a two-story parking garage that can accommodate up to 260 cars.

The Lohner-Porsche wheel intergrated an electric motor to power the world's first hybrid car. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
The connection between the base and the actual museum is formed by a partly glazed stairwell. White is the dominant color on both the outside and the inside of the body of the structure. On both ends of the monolith-shaped museum there are a walls of glass that provide an abundance of natural light. They also offer visitors a view of the Stuttgart skyline on one end and on the Porsche factory on the other. In addition to the museum, the main structure also holds a conference center and a restaurant. The imposing building is topped off by a generous roof terrace.

Although there are plenty of opportunities to take a short cut, there is a natural route through the museum that takes the visitors on a trip through Porsche's history. The walls are lined with production cars placed in chronological order. The center sections are reserved for the racing cars and special, rotating displays.

Professor Ferdinand Porsche
Production of the first Porsche-badged cars did not start until the late 1940s, even though Professor Ferdinand Porsche had already designed complete cars from the turn of the century. In the first years of this period he worked for the likes of Lohner, Austro-Daimler and Daimler proper.

The 1948 Porsche 356/1, the first Porsche-badged car, is displayed at Porsche's new museum in Zuffenhausen, Germany. Porsche arrived in the U.S. in 1950. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
For Lohner, he developed the world's first hybrid vehicle for the 1900 Paris World Fair. This ground-breaking vehicle is owned by and on display in the Vienna Technical Museum. It is represented in the Porsche Museum by a replica of one of the wheels complete with the integral electric motor.

The Lohner wheel is the first exhibit in a section of Professor Porsche designs. These include the hugely successful Austro-Daimler Sacha racing car and the Mercedes Monza driven to victory in the 1926 German Grand Prix.

Having designed some of Daimler's most legendary cars, Professor Porsche set up his own independent design studio in 1931. Here he designed the Kracht durch Freude or KdF Wagen, which was developed into the Volkswagen Beetle and also set the pattern for the first Porsche road cars. He also created the legendary V16-powered Auto Union racing cars during this period.

The Type 754 T7 of 1959 previewed the styling of the 911, although it had a much large back seat. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
In addition to the Beetle, the only other car on display from Porsche's years as a consultant is the Cisitalia 360 Grand Prix car. Developed immediately after the War, it was mostly the work of Ferdinand (Ferry) Porsche Jr. and Professor Porsche's old right-hand man Eberan von Eberhorst.

The sophisticated machine featured a supercharged flat-12 engine and four-wheel drive, but it never actually raced. A reconstruction of the Porsche Type 64 from 1939, which is generally considered as the first Porsche, is usually also on display but it was dispatched to the United States for a display in the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.

Fittingly, the final car in this section is the Porsche 356/1. This was the first Porsche-badged car, built in 1948 in Austria. While it shared the name and general styling with the company's first production cars, it featured a mid-engine layout that did not make an appearance on another Porsche until the 550 racing cars that debuted in 1953.

The production cars
Using Volkswagen mechanicals as a basis, production of Porsche 356 road cars began on a very small scale late in 1948. The numbers were boosted considerably when the factory was moved to the Zuffenhausen suburb of Stuttgart. The subsequent development of the model is perfectly illustrated by several 356s that are placed nose-to-tail along the wall of the museum. The first two are a closed and open example of the 50-odd cars built in Austria, followed by all the famous 356 incarnations, such as the Speedster and Carrera.

The Panamaricana show car was built as a gift from Porsche workers to Ferry Porsche on his 80th birthday. (Photo: wouter Melissen)
The first indication of the future direction of the Porsche design is found around the corner where four prototypes are placed. One of them is the Type 754 T7 launched in 1959. Its Ferry Porsche-designed lines show how long the 911 had been on the drawing board. The early prototype still featured a four-cylinder engine and a much larger rear seat than the 911.

The idea of a four-seat 911 was given a new lease of life in the early 1970s, which is apparent in the Type 915. After four years, the project was apparently shelved for handling and comfort reasons. The most extreme of the four prototypes is the Panamaricana, built in honor of Ferry Porsche's 80th birthday and first shown at the 1989 Frankfurt Motorshow.

A gift from the workers, the metallic green machine was a showcase of their ability and would inspire the subsequent Targa models. The fourth show car is the Porsche Boxster concept, which was received so well, a production version followed in 1996.

The five generations of Porsche 911 Turbo are shown on synchronized turntables. (Photo: wouter Melissen)
The line of production cars carries on with the original 911 and includes many of the company's most famous products. Featured are examples of the subsequent four-, six- and eight-cylinder machines. The final two 'historic' road cars in this display are the 911 GT1 Strassenversion and the Carrera GT.

On the top level of the museum there are five turntables. During our visit, they displayed five generations of the Porsche 911 Turbo. Spinning completely in sync, this display was described to us as the “Turbo ballet.”

Racing
A crucial element of the Porsche legacy is the very rich racing heritage. Many of Professor Porsche's designs for others were successful on track, and a competition version of the 356 followed hot on the heels of the road car. By 1951, the 356 SL had already racked up Porsche's first class win in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

A 550A RS Spyder won the 1955 Targa Florio for Porsche. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
Porsche focused the following years on the smaller displacement classes. While this yielded numerous successes, it rarely left Porsche in contention for outright wins. There were notable exceptions starting with a win in the 1955 Targa Florio for a 550A RS Spyder and a victory in the 1960 Sebring 12 Hours with a 718 RS 60.

In the following years, the four-cylinder engines were gradually replaced by more powerful six-, eight- and twelve-cylinder units, which brought overall victories in the major races on a regular basis. What did not change was the availability to customers of the Porsche racing cars. This of course increased the chances of Porsche success and helped cover the vast expenses required by the racing program.

Many of the racing cars retained by Porsche are displayed in the museum, ranging from the 1950 Le Mans class winner to the current Porsche RS Spyder. Other competition cars of note include the 1969 Targa Florio winning Porsche 908/2, Le Mans winners like the 936, 956 and 962C, the Dakar winning 959 and a TAG-Porsche equipped McLaren Formula 1 car.

One of our favorites was the little known 909 Bergspyder. Built specifically for hill-climbs, it features a 275-horsepower flat-eight engine, yet it weighs only 845 pounds. The 956 that won the 1983 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is mounted upside down with 321.4 written on the wall behind it. This is the speed in kilometers-per-hour where it generates enough downforce to defy gravity.

40th anniversary of the 917
The opening of the new museum coincided with the 40th anniversary of one of Porsche's most legendary racing cars, the 917. Launched at the 1969 Geneva Motor Show, this was the first Porsche designed specifically to finally conquer Le Mans. In its original guise, the 917 was incredibly unstable at speed with the low-drag body generating lift. The car was so bad that most factory drivers refused to drive it.

For the 40th anniversry of the famed Le Mans-winning 917 race cars, the Porsche museum has mounted a special display, including this 917K in Gulf livery. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
In the second half of the season, the services of the experienced John Wyer/Gulf team were needed to sort the car out. A new short tail was devised that made the 917 far more stable. The modifications made a night-and-day difference, turning the horrendous machine into a winner.

The icing on the cake came in June 1970 when Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood drove the 917 to outright victory at Le Mans. That feat was repeated by Gijs van Lennep and Helmut Marko a year later with a special, lightweight version of the 917. In various forums, the car would remain competitive until 1973.

To honor the 917 legacy, there is a special display with six distinct versions of the car. On the wall behind the cars, historical footage and additional information is shown. Included are the unique 16-cylinder Spyder and the 1971 Le Mans winning example, which ran at an average speed over 222 km/h, a record that has yet to be beaten.

Naturally, the final and most potent evolution, the 917/30, is part of the lineup. With in excess of 1,200 horsepower available, it dominated the 1973 Canadian-American Challenge Cup, better known as Can-Am. Elsewhere in the museum, a seventh example is on display painted in the colors of the 1970 winner.

With the new museum, Porsche finally has a worthy facility to show off the company's fabulous collection. From the outside, it is a very imposing place but once inside, the focus is almost completely on the cars. The simple white and black colors and the complete lack of barriers of any kind provide visitors with a very pure experience.

Open every day, except Monday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., the Porsche Museum should appeal to all car enthusiasts.

For a 100-photo gallery, see Porsche Museum.

Read more articles like this at Ultimatecarpage.com.

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Wouter Melissen

UltimateCarPage.com

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