So, why does the key go in on the left side?
 

is there a logical reason?

In the immortal words of John Belushi...."BUUURRRPPPP....WHY NOT?":D

Ashley,
Good question. Switching hands all the time. Unlock with my right hand, open the door with my left, switch keys right to left, start car.
Do they want us to have one hand on the keys and the other on the gear shift, E-brake?
I wonder where the switch is for right hand drive cars.
Come on Australia and New Zealand, you guys are still up and running around.
America needs an answer.

Le Mans style start. Left hand cranking the starter, right hand getting it in gear......maybe??

Do 356's have it in the same place, because all of the old VW's that my family owned did not. Key was in the normal place. I will say this.....the Porsche location is a LOT better than the Saab center console key.

Porsche musta copied the early Toyota Landcruisers... I have 2 vehicles with the ignition switch on the left side...

Ding ding ding ding! We have a winner :p

x2SmileWavy

That's why they did it on the land cruisers too...

I believe 'left lainers' ie England, Australia have a mirror image with the key on the far right. Besides the Le Mans explanation, I am certain I have read there was another reason too. Can´t remember what though. Something about manufacturing cars for said left driving markets - easier to move the wheel to the right side.

Kiwi guy here. Yup the key is on the right.

Thanks Bill, now I can go to bed.

From early racing where rules demanded that the car would start the race with the engine stopped/not running. Left hand = ignition key, right hand = gear shifter.

Key on the right for Australia BUT the control stalks are the same way round - wipers on right and indicators on left - which is great fun if your other car is local made or Japanese with has them the other way round.

Lost cound of the number of times I have wiped the windscreen as I came up to a corner to turn left!

Tim

The racing heritage explanation is probably true, but it does seem a little ridiculous.

How many tenths of a second does it take to move right hand from key to gear lever ?? With the advantage of having the left hand already on the wheel.

And why is Porsche practically the only production car with that set up ? Or you mean thats the reason for Porsche being dominant at Le Mans in the eighties ? ;)

HI UK ignition key on the right with the light switch, wipers/indicators same, washer jets the same (water reversed) gear lever on the left (where it is supposed to be).;)

regards mike

Wouldnt proper race spec cars have push button start to save time?

Steve

My understanding is that the location was chosen so that the mechanic could start the car from the outside while the driver was strapping in.

I know them Ford trucks in the 60's and 70's had the key on the wrong side............:D ........

BTW, tell me once again the logical reason for mounting the engine in the rear. ;)

That Professor had a lot of peculiar ideas going:

Air / oil cooled
Key to the left
Engine in the back
Floor hinged pedals

911 racecars have keys
 

In response to 1972_911T,

I seem to remember being told that ALL factory 911 racecars have always had keys?
Not sure if it's correct, but when I built mine, I left the key switch in out of tradition?

Can someone confirm?

Jeff

Because that is where PORSCHE GOD intended it to be located.

To shift the weight off the centre line of the car so that it counteracts the rear weight bias of the engine......

RACING HERITAGE

Some of the Fords of the 50's had the key on the left. I seem to remember that my uncle's '59 Galaxie did. Le Mans? Harldy the case for the Fords. I have also heard the explanation about the Le Mans start as the reason for Porsche to put the key on the left.

Now, how about the dog leg 1st gear on the 901 transmission? I have heard that for racing reasons, the 2-3 shift and 3-2 shift being more used, to have these in a striaght line.

I'm not sure there is an answer to this question that's right. Porsche almost always used a key, as opposed to a button, but it wasn't always on the left. They raced at Le Mans for years with cars having the key on the right side. Ironically, when the driver's seat was moved to the right side, beginning with the 907, the key moved to the left. That's where it remained, through the 956/962 years. This was long after the Le Mans organizers abandoned the traditional start, and the cars started from a pace lap. The first car I recall that used a button was the CanAm 917.

JR

I think it was because they noticed a space there so that's where they stuck it, like most of their controls. :)

Close to the window so someone outside can turn it off quickly in an emergency.

That's always been my undertsanding. It's fun trying to explain to people not in the know..."you mean at one time drivers actually ran to their cars...what kind of racing was that...":rolleyes:

LeMans starts

I'd like to think that after Dr. Porsche had survived the scourge of National Socialism, he located the switch to the left, perhaps as a nod to the direction of European politics in general.

most aircraft that I have been in have mag key on the left for what it's worth so you can have right hand on the throttle quadrant.

I have heard old Land Rovers are the same way. For LR's it was so you could start the motor from the outside while you're operating the farming implement on the back .

With all due respect to those here who seem to know a LOT about 911s, I'm not buying the LeMans-start thing -- urban legend, or some equivalent.

Oooh Oooh I have one.. So you can save time turning on the headlights. :) I must say that my 05 magnum has the key on the dash and they put it on the right hand side. I don't like it. I like getting in the car clutch down, key turn, grab the shifter lever left hand to steering and go. The right hand side seems awkward for some reason. I might also be that there happened to be room there. On the right hand side the chain is alway dangling on my leg which must stay put for accelerator. Left leg can move out of the way when done shifting.

I was taught the above by PCNA when I became Porsche certified sales rep in 1988. Sorry JohnKo, this one is not Urban Legend.

Wonder if there was a connection here.... the 1964 Pontiac LeMans/GTO also had the key at the left. In fact it was at the top left dash, up near the vent/wing window.

Do the new "911s" have the key on the left side? Oh wait...we don't care.;)

I thought the Land Rover had the key next to the window so the mechanic could attempt to start it while outside the vehicle.