Porsche Factory Tour?

rhk109 · 03-09-2005, 05:28 PM

I am planning a trip to Germany this summer. Anyone know if factory tours are available?

LARRY SHARP · LARRY SHARP's Garage

the good tours are in a treffen ,, one is in june and the othe ris in sept .. I am going this sept 28. A treffen is the only way to get a indepth factory tour

pete911 · 03-09-2005, 06:35 PM

Of course the treffen is several thousand dollars while the "normal" tour is free. I did the free tour in Nov. It lasts about 2 hours and is fun. You can go to a local dealer and they can help you setup the tour. You need to make reservation in advance.

Pete

GeorgeM · GeorgeM's Garage

While you're here, give Ruf a call and take the nice 1+30 drive to Pfaffenhausen. They're very nice folks and are happy to show you around.

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

I second George's recommendation. Ruf was THE highlight of my most recent trip to Germany. Super nice people, hot ladies and .... oh yeah, cool cars too.

palle7688 · 03-10-2005, 06:04 AM

Gembella is around the corner also.

PorscheGuy79 · PorscheGuy79's Garage

I will be in Europe over the summer, I wish I would have a means and time to visit them all but I think im passing on both for... The Ring.

Grady Clay · 03-10-2005, 07:41 AM

Everyone that I have ever talked to has nothing but good things to say about the Treffen over the past 45+ years. One of my good friends (kindergarten on) got a new 356B Cab for a HS graduation present and picked it up at a Treffen in the summer of ’62.

My dad did the same thing with his ’66 912 in the summer of ’65.

You can get the Factory Tour for free and spend as much time as you want in the Museum. Well worth a day+. Many have taken a second tour on a second day and found they could then better understand what they were looking at. The quantity and unique quality is so intense many are overwhelmed by the information. Bring money because the goodie shop has things not available anywhere else.

Plan another day or three to visit the tuners and the several private Porsche museums. Take a camera and plenty of chips. Take a laptop so you can post here daily.

A friend and I picked up a new ’74 RSR 3.0 and got laps at Weissach test track. I got ushered into a locked lab/shop and shown THE 928 prototype with all the details and asked what I thought. Of course I was sworn to secrecy. I got put on one of the Factory teams for a race at Nurburgring that weekend as “volunteer crew.” All great fun. There are lots of opportunities to see and do cool stuff, make the best of every minute.

There are lots of websites to research; do your homework and post links here for others.

Best,
Grady

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Grady, you got very lucky. There were no photos allowed on the factory tour when I was there last year. I'm sure a trip to Weissach and Leipzig would also be a "no photos" tour nowadays as well. When I was standing on the engine assembly line and looking straight at a box of Mahle P's&C's with "Nur 997" written on it, the tour guide still denied all knowledge of the 997. Museum is worth a visit, but it's very small. The dealership across the street is probably better than the museum. The original spare parts dept. store is closed now, but was worth a visit back then. If you get to Austria, the museum at Gmuend is super. Even at Ruf, I was not allowed to take any photos that captured license plates. I got a ride along there I will never forget - 330 km/per hour on a back road. Again, Ruf was THE highlight.

Eric Mckenna · 03-10-2005, 08:03 AM

i AM GOING IN oCT MYSELF AND DOING THE FACTORY THING AS WELL AS ruF AND GOING TO RUN BY THE rING TO SEE WHAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE GOING ON THERE.. damn caps!

-Eric

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Eric, Hockenheim is much closer to Ruf than Nurburgring.

84porsche · 84porsche's Garage

I thought I just read somewhere that Porsche is building a bigger museum that will house many more cars and supposed to open in 2007. I believe it was in Panorama or Pandemonium.

kilodawg · kilodawg's Garage

Just did the Factory tour and the RUF tour 2 weeks ago both were excellent. Do the factory tour first if possible it makes the RUF tour all that more impressive.

klatinn · 03-10-2005, 09:52 AM

Hi,

Also while there, and if you have time, visit the 11th century monastery of Maulbronn (about 35 min west of Zuffenhausen, just follow the B10). The little pharmacy there is the oldest 'gas station' in the world. Gottlieb Daimler bought the gas there for his first car experiments, his finacee was the daughter of the owner. Also, with some time visit the Mercedes Museum (across town in Stuttgart Stammheim). Very large, very complete, and has some unique early grand prix cars and a large collection of very early cars (in running condition).

Regards,
Klaus

rhk109 · 03-11-2005, 06:46 AM

How do you arrange the RUf tour? I did some searching on the web and didn' have any luck.

GeorgeM · GeorgeM's Garage

Just call or email them:

http://www.ruf-automobile.de/

Claudia will likely respond to your email and accomodate your tour request. She'll also help you with any arrangements if you're staying nearby.

They're super nice folks.

Eric Mckenna · 03-11-2005, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rick Lee
Eric, Hockenheim is much closer to Ruf than Nurburgring.

Thanks Ricjk..
Yeah . but I wanna see the RING.. I have seen Hock already when I was stationed over there.. Asher and I have 3 weeks to run around.. so I plan on hitting lots of things....
I plan on taking LOADS of Pic's...

I miss Germany!!

rhk109 · 03-13-2005, 03:46 PM

Do you guys recommend renting a car or sticking to the rail/bus system?

Tim Polzin · 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by rhk109
Do you guys recommend renting a car or sticking to the rail/bus system?

Depends. I've done both. Parking is nearly non-existent in most larger centres. Trains are fast although not all that cheap.

My personal preference is the rail system. At Frankfurt, they have a rail station right at the airport.

Here is an english link to the DB.

http://www.bahn.de/pv/view/int_guest/subhome/international_guests.shtml

Tim

kilodawg · kilodawg's Garage

Car.

I traveled extensively throughout Bavaria this year and northern Germany last year. A car saves time and gives you ultimate flexibility. I never found parking to be that big of a problem (even at thge Porsche factory). If you are traveling with a family and all the bags even more so.

Now, if you are only staying in one city and planning only a few limited excursions local transportation will suffice but for anything more get the wheels.