Porsche Factory Visit

[OZCarrera3]

On a recent trip to Europe I was fortunate enough to be able to visit the Porsche factory, along with some mates of mine from the Porsche Club in Qld. As you can imagine, this turned out to be a highlight of my trip. As well as visiting the museum and taking in the factory tour, through a series of events we were also lucky enough to be taken through ‘Werks 1’ (the old Motor Sport building), where the Porsche restorations department is now located. I’ll come back to this a little later in the post.

Here's some pictures of the factory from outside the grounds. The car bodies are constructed in the building on the right and then are transported across to the other side by elevator/conveyor belt:



Firstly I must say that a visit to the factory is a must for any Porsche nut that gets to Europe. It was a brilliant day which started with a visit to the Museum. The museum itself is only small and currently has sufficient space for about 20 cars. This will expand to about 60-80 cars when the new museum is completed in about 1˝-2 tears time. As expected, there were a number of very special cars on display including those following:

1971 Le Mans Winning 917


The ill-fated Flat-16 917 Engine


As the Museum is only small it took about an hour to view and then we joined the tour of the manufacturing factory. Unfortunately, we could not take any photos during the tour, so all I can do is tell you that it is very worthwhile. We were taken through three major areas including (dash board assembly, engine assembly and final body work assembly. The engine assembly line was clearly the most interesting and we were able to view all engine types including Boxster, 997 Carrera, 996 Turbo, GT2 and GT3. The only engines we did not see were the Cayenne and Carrera GT – although examples were provided in a display area. The manufacturing process itself is a mix of robot automation and good old humans. It is very interesting to witness and one has to keep an eye out constantly for the robots maneuvering about the factory (on designated paths marked with yellow lines). When walking between the building, its interesting to see the mix of modern and historic buildings and to daydream about all the amazing cars and people that must have been through them over the years.

Following the factory tour we met up with Volker Spannagel, the 2IC for global Porsche Club management for lunch at the Porsche Casino (Yes casino! They explained that Casino is the German term for meal and recreation area. I guess I have to accept this seeing as I did not see any roulette tables). Volker, who has worked for Porsche for over 30 years, was a very interesting and charming host, who made us feel right at home. I think it is amazing (and a great credit to both he and Porsche) that someone in his position in organisation such as Porsche, can devote so much time and effort to a trio of visiting enthusiasts. In any case, following lunch, Volker asked if we would be interested in visiting ‘Werks 1’ to see some of the restoration projects they have underway at the moment. Porsche offers a full repair and restoration service to any Porsche owner with the desire (and obviously funds) to restore their cars to as-new condition. As their clientele includes anyone from “Jo Almost-average” right through to Middle-East Oil Sheiks, there some pretty amazing vehicles to be seen, the most amazing being the following:

A 906/8


Up to 6 959’s


A 356 with Abarth bodywork



Volker Spannagel and the boys from PCC


We were also fortunate enough to be able to have a first hand viewing of a Carrera GT up close and personal. Unfortunately no test drive /ride was offered

All in all it was a fantastic day. Once again I urge anyone heading over to Europe to contact the

[tangerine911e]

Sheldon,

Looks great. I was over there at the end of June - just a fantastic place to visit. Unfortunately I missed the Porsche Factory tour (only saw the museum) - I had to get to an appointment at Ruf (so worth the missed opportunity ).

Any more pics of the Abarth??

Ash

[OZCarrera3]

Unfortunately there was limited space around the Abarth and I did not want to take advantage of Volker's generosity (the security staff were not too comfortable with us taking photos even with Volker present) and given that it was a customer's car, I did not take anymore shots.

Did you take any at Ruf and more importantly did you get to sample any of the products?

[tangerine911e]

No pics permitted at Ruf (they were not overly happy with pics previously posted of customers cars on the net - understandable). They were the nicest people you could hope to meet.

The Ruf facility is incredible - the only thing more incredible is the amazing array of cars. Eveything from Speedsters under restoration to the RK Spyder (that was something special - as I understand it the supercharger is now available for for 996 and 997s).

If you are ever across in Europe again - go there. I'd make the journey across to Germany just to see Ruf again. The country side around Pfaffenhausen is just beautiful.

Ash

[Wil Ferch]

The cited picture indicating Lemans winning 917 for 1971 is not true... a long tail , silver Martini 917 never won Lemans..always a 917K...

Also, the reference to 906/8 is wrong too...looks like a 718 or RS-60.

Details, fer sure.....but the rest of the report is V. nice.

- Wil

[Rick Lee]

Geeze, I hope Ruf's displeasure with web-posted photos wasn't aimed at me. They were truly the nicest folks in the world and only asked that I not photograph any license plates, which I did not. I have seen plenty of such shots here or on RL though.

[limble]

My wife and I also had lunch with Volker. I agree a wonderfully engaging fellow and terrific host.

[OZCarrera3]

My apologies for the inaccuracies Will, thanks for the corrections.

As for the 718/RS-60, maybe these photos will help to identify its true designation. The car had a flat-8 (from an early F1 ?), my understanding is the 718 was only a four?

[Early_S_Man]

Amazing pics, Sheldon! Must have been a thrill to see those cars in person.

The RS60 was an evolutionary descendant of the 550 Spyder, and originally used the same 718 twin-cam four cylinder engine as the Spyder and 356 Carrera models. At some time the factory racing department started using enlarged variants of the 771 F1 engine in the RS60 and RS61 ... and that appears to be one of those examples.

[Zeke]

Originally posted by Early_S_Man
At some time the factory racing department started using enlarged variants of the 771 F1 engine in the RS60 and RS61 ... and that appears to be one of those examples.

I had never heard of those. I guess I better find a copy of Excellence Was Expected and start studying. Can you imagine.....???? Those little things can't weigh 1200 lbs and with a flat 8. On those skinny tires.

Once, there were men who walked this planet.