1973 Porsche 911 Factory Tour Video

[dafischer]

Lots of longhood content, Kitschy 70's feel, and a good waste of a half hour.

[pwd72s]

Opening shot...pit crew guy wearing glasses. Hard to tell, so I could be wrong...but sure looks like Grady Clay to me.

[javadog]

It’s pretty dark, and I watched it on my iPhone, but it gave me the impression it was Peter Falk. Maybe I’ll watch it later on something bigger.

[shadowjack1]

Worth the time. Thanks

[devodave]

Neat video, but what is this factory team member Tig welding? Looks like a structural reinforcement behind the area he is working on, but the flange doesn't looks familiar. It appears he is working in a 911 area, whether it is regular production or specialty (i.e. racing) as opposed to an area for the 917 that was shown, but I'm not sure how cramped the factory really is! I've looked at heat exchangers, front struts, rear trailing arms, and torsion tubes. Any ideas?

[Baz]

Nice! Proud to have German blood in my veins! Thanks, Dave!

[speeder]

I’ve had that on a DVD for about 15 years. It’s a keeper.

[look 171]

I love how they made the adjustment with a big crowbar on that Targa.

[tdw28210]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Opening shot...pit crew guy wearing glasses. Hard to tell, so I could be wrong...but sure looks like Grady Clay to me.

Originally Posted by javadog

It’s pretty dark, and I watched it on my iPhone, but it gave me the impression it was Peter Falk. Maybe I’ll watch it later on something bigger.

Not sure about Grady or Peter Falk, but I definitely saw Peter Gregg during the video somewhere.

[speeder]

That video makes me want to run out and spend $200k on a perfect early 911S.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by tdw28210

Not sure about Grady or Peter Falk, but I definitely saw Peter Gregg during the video somewhere.

You sure did..."Peter Perfect"...Peter & Hurley were pretty much the unbeatable team back in the day. May Peter rest in peace.

The reason I suspected Grady is that he did a lot of pit crewing back in the day for various teams. With his skills he was more than a welcome addition. Hellofa driver in his own right, too.

Denis? Go ahead...spend the money. As for me? Been there-done that. Still have a few T shirts, too. But no matter how hard you try, those days aren't coming back.

[GH85Carrera]

I haven't seem that film in a while.

At War Bonnet Tech we had a 16mm movie of it. We had a projection room and tried to play it on the hour for an afternoon for the people there. We would play that film, and Rendezvous which was fairly new. The sound track from Rendezvous would bring in lots of guys, the sound of an engine screaming, tire sequel and lots of shifting was great.

[javadog]

I remember those days. I still have a copy of Rendezvous.

[astrochex]

There’s two more videos here 356 and 928, https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2021/01/17/to-rigid-specifications-porsches-behind-the-scenes-looks-at-the-356-911-and-928-production-processes?refer=news&utm_source=edaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2021-01-17

[Porsche-O-Phile]

That’s really cool... the way the cars were built by hand, seeing them set up all the machining / jigs, etc. is really awesome.

We’ve lost something since those days... aside from sideburns and bad fashion. These cars have soul unlike all the mass-produced, computer-designed, robot-assembled stuff today. Sure the new cars are “better” and more precise, etc. and the power is insane (500+ hp?!?!) but personally I’d rather have my lowly mid-year 911 any day just because it’s so visceral and imperfect and simple and unique. I don’t need to pretend I’m a race car driver, I just love the experience and the fact that driving actually can be FUN.

Thanks for sharing that video! It’s given me some long-needed inspiration to get my 911 out here and actually do something with it rather than just sit in storage for “someday”. I’ve gotten pretty complacent and rather indifferent about cars and driving and I’ll even admit I’d considered getting rid of my 911(“it’s not worth the hassle”, “it’s too expensive to fix up”, “I don’t have the time or anyplace to really work on it”, “I’ll be too afraid to drive it once I pour all that time / effort / expense into it “, etc.)

But that’s not the kind of mindset that won all them races now, is it?

Maybe it’s time to rekindle the love and reignite that spark... Once upon a time I just found the time and money and made it happen. No reason I can’t do that now. Those are just BS excuses and I know it.

Seriously - this video captures why I think the air-cooled cars are special and why I got one in the first place... now I’m gettin’ that itch back!

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by devodave

...........Looks like a structural reinforcement behind the area he is working on, but the flange doesn't looks familiar.

Exhaust? Maybe a wastegate mounting flange? The car in that sequence is not a production model but they were fiddling with turbos on the flat six since 1969 from this article. https://sportscardigest.com/history-of-the-porsche-911-turbo/

[speeder]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Denis? Go ahead...spend the money. As for me? Been there-done that. Still have a few T shirts, too. But no matter how hard you try, those days aren't coming back.

You may be correct wrt buying an old car not having the pleasure delivery expected, I bought a bucket list motorcycle last year that may or may not make me as happy as it cost. The cool thing is these days, though, is that if you buy the best, you can get out of it anytime and usually for a profit. A primo early 911, unless you really overpay, is a risk-free experiment.

What is stopping me is the fact that my $$ is making $$ right now.

[rusnak]

Originally Posted by javadog

It’s pretty dark, and I watched it on my iPhone, but it gave me the impression it was Peter Falk. Maybe I’ll watch it later on something bigger.

Could be the great man himself, Norbert Singer.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Opening shot...pit crew guy wearing glasses. Hard to tell, so I could be wrong...but sure looks like Grady Clay to me.

I'm with you.

Hair parted on left side
Heavy glasses
Tall forehead
Pronounced bone structure above eyebrows
Long thinner, but straight, nose bridge
Nose tip about the same.

Cant see if mustache due to shadow.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by devodave

Neat video, but what is this factory team member Tig welding? Looks like a structural reinforcement behind the area he is working on, but the flange doesn't looks familiar. It appears he is working in a 911 area, whether it is regular production or specialty (i.e. racing) as opposed to an area for the 917 that was shown, but I'm not sure how cramped the factory really is! I've looked at heat exchangers, front struts, rear trailing arms, and torsion tubes. Any ideas?

My guess is that was a prototype intake manifold for one of the blown flat-12s. That's not what the intake manifolds looked like on the race cars (they were cast aluminum) but maybe they were trying out some developmental idea.

The area pictured in that part of the video was the race shop out at Weissach; later shots were from the 911 production line at the Stuttgart factory.