The weird, wonderful world of Zuffenhausen in a nutshell: a 356SC cop car and a Carrera 3.0 RS homologation special.
For 2014, the Porsche Club of America decided to put its own concours on the full-to-burstin’ Pebble Beach–week docket. The first (presumably annual) Werks Reunion, held at the Rancho Cañada golf course, was the result. And while it didn’t enjoy the breadth of factory zazz as the show attached to the recent Porsche Parade, the casual and dedicated Zuff-ophile was sure to find plenty of iron to entertain. Below are five we especially enjoyed, plus a gallery full of others.
1957 Speedster: In prior years, Del Sessions’ 1957 Speedster might kindly be referred to as a hoopty. The Ruby Red paint is scuffed, oxidized, scraped, and in otherwise poor repair. The interior’s a messy jankfest. But just as the well-heeled now pay top dollar to have the Fender Custom Shop scratch up their brand-new Stratocasters, referring to the factory-abused instruments “relics,” patina is in, and this one’s got it in spades. It once belonged to Leo Levine, former Porsche and Benz racer, later the head of public relations at Mercedes-Benz of North America.
1968 911L Trans-Am Factory Lightweight: When one thinks of the 1968 Trans-Am series, the pony car wars come to mind. But battling it out in the lower-displacement category were cars like this ’68 911L. The “L” did not stand for leicht (light) as it often does with German cars. Rather, it denoted a lusso model. But there’s nothing lusso about a Trans-Am car. Only 15 of these stripper lightweights were built, and, according to the car’s owner, Spike Feresten, just four or five made it to the states. This particular car was campaigned by Fred Baker and Dick Smothers. No word as to whether Dick’s brother Tommy ever drove the car while in a state of yo. We like to imagine that he did.
1966 356SC: Although the Dutch are automotively known best for early deployment of the CVT in their endearingly poky DAFs of the 1960s, the Rijkspolitie (the Dutch National Police Corps) had need of a swifter sort of steed than local industry could deliver. And while Porsche had officially ended 356 production in 1965, it constructed a run of 10 Rijkspolitie 356SCs in the middle of 1966. This car was the tenth produced, making it the very last example of the bathtub that launched the company.
1995 911 GT2: If all 911 GT2s have a bit of a reputation as widow-makers, this 993-generation version is the reason why. With 450 air-cooled horsepower and rear-wheel drive, it featured very little in the way of electronic doodadery in comparison with later models. If Mad Max’s Ford XB Falcon were a factory-built Porsche, it’d be a 993 GT2.
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1987 911 Turbo Slantnose: Of course, the original “I have come to kill you” Neunelfer was the impact-bumper-era 930. The very pricey Flachbau option, designed to give the 911 Turbo a bit of racy 935 panache, ultimately became synonymous with the most powdery, sketchy, up-all-night elements of 1980s culture, bringing the staid 911 to debauched heights that allowed it to sit alongside the Ferrari Testarossa and the Lamborghini Countach with dubious pride. And oh yeah, Flachbaus are undeniably sweet. Bill Keegan is the second owner of this example—the very first car sold through Sacramento-area dealer Niello Porsche to top $100,000. That was in 1987. Walk into Niello’s showroom today and see if it’s possible to walk out with anything for less than that sum. And we promise you that nothing currently in stock has the full-badical vibe of this immaculately kept Slantnose.
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