From Zuffenhausen With Love: The New Porsche Museum
When your niche sports-car company rises to become the most profitable automaker in the world, turning a preposterous $28,000 profit on each unit sold as of 2007, it's nice to give back to the community of automotive aficionados that got you there. That's the idea behind the new Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, a $100 million monument to Porsche's illustrious past and present that opened to the public in on January 31, 2009. For a mere eight euros per person (four euros for students, senior citizens, the disabled and the unemployed), the Museum allows first-hand access to most of the company's notable creations through the years, from 24-year-old Ferdinand Porsche's electric wheel-hub motor unveiled at the 1900 Paris World Fair to the incomparable Porsche Carrera GT supercar. If you care about automotive history, this is a holy site -- do yourself a favor and make a pilgrimage the next time you're in Germany.
I attended a special media event at the Museum in advance of its grand opening, and for the most part, I was duly impressed. The "hovering" exterior design is imposing, to put it mildly, dominating the humble skyline of Zuffenhausen, the suburb of Stuttgart that Porsche calls home. Snide comments involving Star Trek and space stations were overheard, but I'll give this much to the architects at the Austrian firm Delugan Meissl: it sure is distinctive. At any rate, you don't have to look at it when you're inside, and that's where the Museum proves its mettle. With the unfortunate exception of my favorite Porsche of all time, the 968 Turbo S, of which only 15 units were produced, just about every Porsche that matters is present and accounted for. Typ 64, 550 Spyder, 917 racecar, 959 -- they're all here, along with more 911s than you can shake some lift-throttle oversteer at. It's like a world-class Matchbox car collection, except they're all real, and almost all of them remain drivable. The Porsche people refused to estimate the value of the collection during the press conference, but one told me off the record: "Priceless."
If your curiosity is piqued, scroll on for more photos.
Josh Sadlier, Associate Editor, Edmunds.com
The first 356 roadster -- "No. 1" for short. Built in the spring of 1948. If you're looking for pricelessness, here's a good place to start.
As a young engineer, Ferdinand Porsche produced this electric wheel-hub motor for display at the 1900 Paris World Fair. We tend to think of electric vehicles as newfangled contraptions, but in fact they have an extensive history stretching back more than a century.
Porsche's adjacent corporate headquarters are visible from inside the Museum.
The Typ 64 was an early Porsche design intended for use in the Berlin-Rome road race. Dubbed "the forefather of all Porsches," it was used frequently by Ferdinand Porsche and could attain a speed of 130 km/h. Due to a lack of original parts, this is one of the few Museum pieces that can't be driven out the door.
A motley collection of eye-wateringly valuable Porsches.
Ferdinand Porsche presented his "Plan Concerning the Production of a German People's Car" in 1934, shortly after the Nazis had come to power. The eventual result was the Volkswagen Beetle, an early version of which is depicted above. In the foreground is the 1947 Typ 360, a one-off special that never made it to the road due to financial problems. The specs are stunning though: roughly 380 horsepower from a supercharged 12-cylinder engine.
"130" signifies the weight, in kilograms, of the Porsche 908's fiberglass-reinforced plastic body.
This ungainly 1970 design study, code-named 915, was an attempt to turn the 911 into a genuine four-seater. The project continued for four years without coming to market, perhaps because it looked really weird.
Another design study, the Panamericana was a Carrera-4-based creation for the 1989 Frankfurt Auto Show. Not clear what they were thinking with this one.
Porsche engineers have a tradition of giving the company CEO a special Porsche on his birthday. This four-door 928 was presented to CEO Ferry Porsche when he turned 75 in 1984.
Yep, it's a Porsche -- the C 88, an economy car developed for the Chinese market. Fortunately for Porsche's international image, the Chinese authorities never cleared it for production.
The iconic 917 racecar.
No Porsche museum would be complete without a 959, which memorably broke the four-second barrier in the 0-60-mph sprint -- over two decades before cars like Nissan's GT-R and Chevrolet's Corvettes Z06 and ZR-1 replicated the feat to great fanfare.
The instant-classic Carrera GT, followed by the 911 GT1 Strassenversion, a road-going iteration of the 911 GT1 racecar.
The 911 Turbo, generations one through five.
The dearly departed 993 Turbo -- still the best-looking 911 of all time.
- Posted by
- Josh Sadlier February 12, 2009, 3:30 AM
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- Life with Cars
"four euros for students, senior citizens, the disabled and the unemployed"
This is a side issue, but I think it's great they're offering a discount for the unemployed. :) Thoughtful.
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I was never a big Porsche fan but this is amazing. And that is some sweet architecture
No photos of the 962 race cars? :( :tear:
So, so awesome. Would love to visit there. Great photos.
Amazing looking cars and lots of history. I must visit when I'm in Germany.