If ever a book was published to be viewed versus read, then Porsche The Fine Art of the Sports Car is the one. Photographer Lucinda Lewis is joined by author William G. Scheller, in this update to the original 1990 version, that showcases some 370 photographs over 384 pages. Porsche The Fine Art of the Sports Car, is one of the best pictorial documentaries on Porsche available today.
It doesn’t take a Porchefile to see why Ms. Lewis is considered one of America’s top automotive photographers. Through her lens and careful eye even the most mundane technical details pop from the page capturing the curves and sculpture that those in the know recognize as the hallmarks of Porsche design and engineering. Destined to become a coffee-table classic for the Porsche owner and enthusiast, each one of the many photographs is suitable for framing and prominent display.
Organized in chronological order, the book provides a brief background and cross section on the history of Porsche and each model presented. While well written and informative, this book is no means a comprehensive reference on all things Porsche. Instead, Ms. Lewis has presented us with what can best be described as a visual feast for the eyes.
Recently, I sold my Mercedes CLK AMG Cabriolet and the resulting hole in the garage is getting bigger as the weather turns warm. In an attempt to assuage my need for open air driving I have looked at a number of 914s (love the big open targa top) and I’m close to making a purchase. The car in question is a 1973 914 1.7 liter. With all of 80 hp sitting amid ship, she’s no speed demon but will make a great platform for a possible project and/or track car.
While I was looking around and researching my upcoming purchase (and possible mods) I stumbled upon a post at Carzi.com about a 914 with a Corvette LS1 V8 stuffed in it. While there have been numerous V8 variants packed into the mid-engine cavity of a 914 (Porsche even made two of them at the factory early on) this is the first time for a Corvette LS1 motor.
A Corvette Engine in a Porsche 914?
There aren’t a ton of details on the 914 conversion on the Toy-Jet site (where the work was done). But it you’re interested, there is quite a bit of information on a 911 Carrera SC V8 Corvette conversion for your enjoyment (or ridicule)
Update: Shortly after writing this post two things happened. 1. The 914 I was looking at was listed on Bringatrailer.com and, 2. I took the car for a test drive. Unfortunately, while the car was basically as described, it’s my opinion that it needs a new clutch, new synchros, new brakes, new tires and possibly a motor mount. While none of those things are surprising or show stoppers, the seller and I simply couldn’t agree on a price. My feeling is that his asking price was high (but not too bad given the condition of the chassis) for a car that was/is mechanically sound. However, with all of the work needed (and some of it major) we simply couldn’t agree on a value that worked for both of us. Does anyone know of a nice 914 for sale? If so, let me know!!!
Comfortable in my prediction that Porsche would Podium at VIR somehow, someway, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit disappointed that the results weren’t a little bit better. I don’t want to take anything away from David Donohue and Darren Law and their Brumos Racing Riley; they ran a great race. More importantly, Wolf Henzler, Dirk Werner and the rest of the FarnbacherLoles racing team made it through the entire race without serious mechanical issues earning valuable points for 4th and 5th place finishes. However, given the sheer volume of Porsche competing in today’s race, I would have like to see better results in the GT class.
Porsche is now the leading manufacturer in both the DP and GT Class and holds the overall lead with Donohue and Law in the DP series.
After their triumph at the Daytona 24 hour race to open the Grand-Am season, David Donohue (USA) and Darren Law (USA) also climbed the podium at round two of series. At the 250 mile race on the Virginia International Raceway, the pair with their Brumos Racing Porsche Riley secured third and, with this, now lead the championship.
“Winning in Daytona and now third place – the new season couldn’t have started better,” said Darren Law. “We’re now at the top of the points’ table and that’s where we want to stay for the rest of the season.”
After a strong performance in qualifying, Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France) took up the race from the first row with the Porsche Riley fielded by Penske Racing. In lap seven, Timo Bernhard took over the lead which he held on to until the first pit stop. But one of the four cautions cost the Porsche works drivers their chance at victory: During a race restart, Romain Dumas had supposedly pulled alongside an opponent before passing the finish line, which earned him a drive-through penalty. Through this, he fell back from sixth to 23rd position. After a stunning chase through the field, the #12 Porsche Riley finally saw the flag in seventh.
“We drove at our absolute limit over the entire race distance. What a shame that we couldn’t climb the podium,” lamented Timo Bernhard. “The drive-through penalty under green flag simply cost us too much time and we weren’t able to make it up again.” Romain Dumas believed: “Considering the circumstances we can be happy with the points we earned today. But we should have finished further up the field. In one week we’ll be in New Jersey and hopefully we’ll have more luck there.”
In the GT class, Dirk Werner (Germany) and Leh Keen (USA) narrowly missed out on a podium result with their Farnbacher Loles Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. The pair occupied fourth place in front of their team mates Wolf Henzler (Germany) and Eric Lux (USA). Ted Ballou (USA) and Spencer Pumpelly (USA) crossed the finish line sixth in the 911 GT3 RSR of the TRG squad. In the GT championship, they rank third as the best Porsche pilots.
Round three of the Grand-Am Series takes place on 3 May in Millville in the US State of New Jersey.
Grand-Am Race Results from VIR
Gurney/Fogarty (USA/USA), Pontiac Riley (DP), 81 laps
Want a Porsche with a celebrity past but can’t afford to pay the price that comes with a Seinfeld, Beckham, Rodman, Ralph Lauren or Metallica provenance? No worries, your opportunity awaits on eBay. This 1982 Porsche 911 Carrera SC Targa was once owned by Gerry Mathers, that’s right, the Beaver himself.
I spoke with the owners today and here’s the back story in their own words.
We purchased the Porsche from a man who’s son knew a guy that lived in CA and was Jerry’s mechanic (the Beaver, not Seinfeld). His friend introduced him to Jerry and they ended up going to his house. Turned out that Jerry wanted to sell the [Porsche]. The son (Thomas), was a student at the time, told his dad he wanted to buy the car. So he flew out to CA, bought the car, and drove it home.
Thomas kept the car for a short period of time but when it came time to go back to school he couldn’t leave the car at home and didn’t want to leave it sitting in a parking lot so he decided to sell it. This is when I found the ad in the Milwaukee journal and Dennis (my husband) bought it.
The pictures they sent aren’t the best, but the Porsche does appear to be in good shape. In addition, the current owners have all the past paperwork (including the title chain) that shows the Beav’s ownership and his autograph on the title signing it over to the party they purchased it from.
The auction just started today and already has one bid. The car was previously listed on Craigslist with an asking price of $12,500 so that should give you and idea of where you’ll need to be to own this piece of Hollywood history should you decide to bid.
I could have gone so many ways with this post. The title, the subject, the innuendos. In the end, I decided to play it straight. I didn’t want to go to hard on the Beaver…
I don’t want to jinx things, but I feel comfortable in my prediction that Porsche will take the checkered flag in some way, shape or form this coming Saturday during the second Grand-Am race of the season at VIR. Where does this confidence come from? Simple, Porsche’s not so secret recipe for success (lots of cars, the best drivers in the world and amazing support teams). In other words, take three Porsche Riley’s, mix in current and past Daytona champions, combine with at least seven Porsche GTs, sprinkle in world class support from teams like TRG and Farnbacher Loles and you have a recipe that pretty much guarantees podium placement for Porsche come race day. Full details are below.
After the triumph at the famous 24 Hours at Daytona, the season-opening round of the 2009 Grand-Am Series, Porsche now wants to continue this success streak on the Virginia International Raceway. Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France) have big plans for the second race of the season: After their bad luck in Daytona, the Porsche works drivers want to keep their title chances open with a top placing.
“For us the season really takes off now. It’s just a shame that we’ve been handicapped again by the regulations,” says Timo Bernhard. After a change to the technical regulations, the Porsche-Riley must from now on race with five gears and a lower rev limit. “That, of course, makes everything more difficult. The gearing is no longer optimal and, of course, we also notice the power loss. Now we have to see how we and the team can best cope with this.”
The 5.26 kilometre race track in the US state of Virginia is extremely demanding, which suits not only Timo Bernhard. Romain Dumas also hopes he can compensate, at least a little, for the disadvantages resulting from the rule changes. “It’s a drivers’ track that’s difficult but huge fun,” he says. “Timo and I feel particularly good on such circuits.”
Porsche Powered Rileys and Porsche GT3s to dominate the field at VIR
Aside from Penske Racing, who fields the #12 Porsche-Riley, Brumos Racing again brings two Daytona-Prototypes with the 510 hp Porsche six-cylinder engine to the start. Driving for the customer team from Florida in the number 58 vehicle are David Donohue (USA) with his compatriot Darren Law – the overall winner of the 2009 Daytona 24 hour race and current points’ leader in the championship – as well as Joao Barbosa (Portugal) and J.C. France (USA) with the number 59 racer.
Porsche also enjoys strong representation in the GT class. Four Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Grand-Am sports cars are deployed by the TRG team from the USA, for whom the Porsche works drivers Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) and Patrick Long (USA) competed in and won the 24 Hours at Daytona (GT) in January as guest drivers. Farnbacher Loles Racing fields two of the 428 hp near-standard sports cars from Weissach. One of the pilots is Dirk Werner (Germany), who contests both the American Le Mans Series and the Grand-Am Series for the team. The Synergy Racing squad runs one 911 GT3 Cup Grand-Am.
The race in Alton takes off on Saturday, 25th April, at 14.30 hours local time (20.30 hours CEST) and runs over 250 miles.
Facts and Figures of the Grand American Sports Car Series
In the year 2000, the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series replaced the United States Road Racing Championships. For the 2009 season, twelve races are contested in the USA and Canada. A traditional highlight of the season is the 24 Hours of Daytona. Most races run over a distance of 250 miles. The grid is made up of two different vehicle categories: Daytona Prototypes and GT vehicles. With one exception, both categories race together but are separately classified.
Daytona Prototypes (DP)
Special manufacturers, like Riley, supply the vehicle chassis. To ensure equal chances for all, large manufacturers are not permitted to enter their own team, but may supply engines. Two Porsche teams, Penske Racing and Brumos Racing, compete with the Porsche 3.99-litre six-cylinder fitted in a Riley chassis. In the Daytona Prototype specification, the engine delivers ca. 510 hp. Minimum weight of the vehicle is 1,021 kilograms.
Grand Touring (GT)
The GT class is similar to the FIA GT3 class, where the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup is one of the most successful contenders. Equality of chances is attained through tyre size, rev limitations and weight. The minimum weight is between 1,043 and 1,270 kilograms.
A balanced starter field ensures thrilling racing. Porsche has won the GT championship seven times in nine years, most recently in 2007 with Dirk Werner at the wheel of a Farnbacher Loles Racing 911 GT3 Cup, and with this is one of the most successful manufacturers in the Grand-Am Series. Porsche works driver Joerg Bergmeister claimed the Prototype class title in 2006.
It was not a good day to own a black Porsche Cayenne in Russia this week. Imagine for a moment that you had the good fortune to overcome the odds, make a few Rubles and enjoy a slice of the good life by purchasing your very own Porsche Cayenne. Now imagine you’re sitting in traffic, minding your own business, when your world is suddenly turned upside down. BOOM, a “flash-bang” grenade explodes in your lap, you’re yanked from behind the wheel and on the ground before you even know what’s happening. Russian SWAT teams are that efficient. Unfortunately, they aren’t that good at telling one Cayenne or plate from another. That’s right, it’s the wrong car!!!! See the video after the back-story.
Here’s the back story according to a post on thatsjustnotright.com.
“The Russian SWAT team is called out after a robbery in Moscow in which one person was sadly shot dead and another injured. The robbers escaped before the team arrived, but reports came in saying they where driving down Lenin Ave in a Porsche Cayenne with the number plate 177-177. The SWAT team raced to a junction on Lenin Avenue and waited.
They see the Porsche, attack it, break the windows, throw light grenades inside the car but then notice that instead of the gang of Southerners there are only two Slavic dudes………. which, as they explained later, were going into downtown Moscow for lunch!
While police were processing those first guys they get a message by radio that another black Cayenne with 177 plates has passed by. As you see the second one was correct. They had the same numbers on the plates but different letters.
So the second Porsche is hit, and right guys get caught……… but seriously worked over for the inconvenience they caused.
As an after note, the first innocent guys had the car repaired and given a sincere apology. Sadly, prior to this, someone had been shot dead by the gang in the second Cayenne, but bejayus, imagine going out for lunch and that happened to you.”
Video of a Russian SWAT Team Attacking a Porsche Cayenne
Seriously, I know that Porsche has sold more than 250,000 Cayennes, but two (2) black ones, in Moscow, on the same street, with similar license plates…. If I were the guy in the first Cayenne I’d be thanking my lucky stars and buying a lotto ticket. He’s gotta be due for some good luck!!!
As if the Cayenne doesn’t get flamed enough as it is, someone had to go and throw gold fuel on the already burning fire. To date, I’ve seen “murdered out” Porsches (flat black), Porsches covered in camouflage, 911s covered in Tweed and other things that defy description, but this is the first time I’ve seen a Cayenne completely covered in gold foil (including the wheels).
I know I’m going out on a limb here, but I kind of like this. Let me explain, I’m not a fan of the look, but rather the quality of the craftsmanship required to create this look. The wheels, I could do without those. What are your thoughts?
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