Rennenhaus artwork

[rs911t]

Rennenhaus was the Porsche shop in Denver that modified my 911 back in the mid-70's. The owner was Grady Clay. He sent me a few posters from the era a couple years ago. They've been safely stored in a shipping tube until about a week ago when I finally had them frame.

I don't have any info, so hopefully Grady will contribute some background. I'll apologize for the less than nice photos.

Enjoy!

The GTS and Carrera in the first print were Grady's.



This collage is awesome ... what's the story, Grady?



Finally, for the FEWC crowd.

[}{arlequin]

beautiful. you've got quite a bit of history in your car then huh? grady is a wonderful source of anything porsche, not to mention an accomplished driver. how many people can you chat with on a daily basis that have been allowed by the factory to drive a 917???

(even more so, i can't believe you were/(are??) contemplating on selling it)

[lateapex911]

WOW!
The first cars in that pic are...ummm. cool. yeah, that's it, "cool", he said, trying to be understated..

[wesayso]

Great pictures, would love to hear the story behind them...

[jester911]

Bump. I would like to here the story as well.

[philvb]

Better late than never I guess...

I was the Parts Manager for Rennenhaus (and German Equipment, Grady's Porsche salvage business) in 75, 76 so I can comment on the first poster.

The 904 was a car Grady bought from Bill Randle (who owned Eichorn's, the first independent Porsche shop in Denver, that was closing as Grady was opening his shop on Broadway) - it sat in our showroom most of the time with several other 4-cam cars Grady owned. Once in a while it was fired up and driven around the block).

I believe the Abarth is a customer (Bill Jackson) car that was purchased from John Bond Jr. I drove the shop tow rig to San Diego and met Grady and Bill at A Johnson Porsche in San Diego - then followed John to his house to pick up the car.

[philvb]

BTW, the other 4-cam cars I remember sitting around in the showroom were a 550 Spyder in SCCA trim (read in need of complete restoration) and a Carrera 2 (356, not 964) cab with a sunroof in the removable hardtop (this was a car Ferry Porsche brought to one of the Parades in Colorado - probably the first one at Aspen) - a very cool car.

[LuftWaffle]

Rennenhaus on Broadway was memorable. I was there only once - probably '79-'80 to pick up a gasket set for my '66 911. Left a huge impression on my 18 year old brain! Thanks for posting the pictures of the posters. Would love to have one for my garage. Has anyone talked to Grady lately?

[fbarrett]

Having been Grady's friend and customer since 1970, I guess I can admit that I shot the photo--at a PCA autocross near the Denver Coliseum at I-70 and I-25, in 1974 or 1975, probably with my old Minolta SRT and Plus-X b&w film. The Abarth did indeed belong to Dr. Bill Jackson, and the 904 was Grady's. I recall riding in the latter car several times. The Abarth had been restored for Bond and shown at the Parade in Monterey ('73?) but had later been neglected, so when it got to Denver it was given an Earl Scheib paint job in orange, because it had been owned by Ben Pon, from Holland (orange is the Dutch racing color). Earl's guys did a surprisingly good job on it, too! (Bill had an ex-Ben Pon 904, and it, too, was orange.) Dave Harris had his Chevy-powered 914/6 at the autocross, got airborne over a bump, and popped the stock transaxle when the rear tires bit again (he now has a Hewland in it). Funny thing was that after the autocross we ended up at a nearby dive bar with the cars parked outside; will see if I can find more photos, but don't hold your breath.

Rennenhaus was a local Porsche social center, and people would just stop by and shoot the breeze. I recall that every winter we'd rent a movie projector and show Le Mans or Vanishing Point there. That red Carrera 2 with the black sunroof hardtop was my favorite; I think it had belonged to a Mike Heishman in Denver. There were always interesting cars and projects in the shop. One involved widening a 911 by cutting it down the middle longitudinally and adding a slice. Another involved water cooling a 911 engine by sliding water jackets over the cylinders.

I don't know who did the drawing, but it might have been Greg Volan, who still owns a Troutman & Barnes-modified 911E or S originally done for Richard Reventlow, Lance's brother. Richard lived in Aspen and drove a blue RSR on the street with the Nevada tag "RSR". (I still have the license plate, found years later at the LA literature meet.) That car, which was at one time probably the most original RSR in the world, was later sold to Bob Ibbotson, who ketp it in great shape and sold it some years back.

Frank

[philvb]

Hi Frank
Nothing like resurrecting a thread from 7 years back :-). The power of the internet. I just found an old photo of the shop "staff" at Rennenhaus which caused me to do some searches on Grady and Rennenhaus and came across this thread, which is why I replied above. Hope you're enjoying Boulder - miss seeing you when I'm over Al's house. Thanks for bringing up even more memories... if you recall, Grady was in Germany with Reventlow when he bought the RSR and had it flown to the US. Could easily be wrong, but my recollection is someone like John Eisenbud drove the RSR from old Stapleton Airport to Rennenhaus. In any case, I went by the shop once it got there figuring it might be my only chance to see a new RSR - turns out I did see another one later at Vasek's race shop. My wife was writing an article for AutoWeek on Vasek's passing and I tagged along - among many incredible cars, there was a '76 normally aspirated 3.0 RSR, which was never raced, in the mix - the car had just over 400 street miles on the odometer. I think Jeff Lewis bought it.

I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I have a stack of those old Rennenhaus posters in a box somewhere - also some Eichorn's rear window decals.

Could post a photo of the guys that worked at Rennenhaus if anyone cares.
Phil

[Jandrews]

I met Grady when he was here in Kansas City a few years ago. We had dinner and a great chat about his shop and many of his incredible cars. He also told many amazing stories like the rubbermaid solution, and the 914 and Ferrari stories. Just a memorable evening with one of the truly greats around the Porsche scene.

As I mentioned to Grady when he was here, I have a bit of an indirect connection with my car. I bought my '70 911E (has a '73S motor built to RS specs including MFI) in 1998 in Colorado Springs when I was still living there. I had the PPI done by a shop called On The Edge Performance in downtown COS, by a guy named Bill Rader. I believe he is now (or was) the Crew Chief for TRG, and I believe he also has participated in the Pike's Peak Hill Climb! He seemed VERY knowledgeable then.

Anyway, when getting the PPI (which turned out perfect), Bill mentioned that my S (RS) motor had been built by a guy named Dave Brown. I mentioned that to Grady when he was here in KC (some 10 years after I bought the car) and if I recall correctly, he mentioned that Dave Brown used to work for him! Possibly at Rennenhaus??

Anyone know the whereabouts of Bill Rader or Dave Brown these days? Some great stories here...thanks for resurrecting. And I hope Grady is still doing ok.

Thanks,

JA

[Jandrews]

Oh, and philvb, I'd LOVE to get ahold of one of those old Rennenhaus posters. Would you be willing to part with one?

Thanks!

JA

[Jandrews]

That's me on the right, and Grady's friend Rahulio(sp?) on the left.

[philvb]

Originally Posted by Jandrews

I met Grady when he was here in Kansas City a few years ago. We had dinner and a great chat about his shop and many of his incredible cars. He also told many amazing stories like the rubbermaid solution, and the 914 and Ferrari stories. Just a memorable evening with one of the truly greats around the Porsche scene.

As I mentioned to Grady when he was here, I have a bit of an indirect connection with my car. I bought my '70 911E (has a '73S motor built to RS specs including MFI) in 1998 in Colorado Springs when I was still living there. I had the PPI done by a shop called On The Edge Performance in downtown COS, by a guy named Bill Rader. I believe he is now (or was) the Crew Chief for TRG, and I believe he also has participated in the Pike's Peak Hill Climb! He seemed VERY knowledgeable then.

Anyway, when getting the PPI (which turned out perfect), Bill mentioned that my S (RS) motor had been built by a guy named Dave Brown. I mentioned that to Grady when he was here in KC (some 10 years after I bought the car) and if I recall correctly, he mentioned that Dave Brown used to work for him! Possibly at Rennenhaus??

Anyone know the whereabouts of Bill Rader or Dave Brown these days? Some great stories here...thanks for resurrecting. And I hope Grady is still doing ok.

Thanks,

JA

JA
Last I heard, Grady was doing fine - been a few years since I've spoken with him. I first heard of Dave Brown when he worked for Bill Randle and Al Lager at Storz Garage in Denver. Storz is now owned by Dave's brother Bob - maybe he still works there. Bill Radar is a guy I knew well in vintage racing - in fact, I just sold a 67 S track car that he originally built in Colo Springs - not sure on TRG but I know he moved on to Cup Cars years ago.

Have received a few PMs on the posters - will do some digging and see how many I have (ie. Can find).
Phil

[fbarrett]

You can e-mail Grady at gradyclay@hotmail.com.

[LuftWaffle]

There is a Dave Brown that advertises Targa top rebuilding in the PCA-RMR newsletter. Same guy?

Phil, thanks for the PM. Great to hear from you.

[philvb]

Re Posters - I've looked in the obvious places and not found them. Will post here when I do come across them.

[joefrantz]

I've had the collage on my garage wall for several years. I've also got a copy of the 904 & Abarth waiting to be framed.

Frank -- Thanks for the back story on the the 904/Abarth photo and Rennenhaus.

Frank & Phil -- Would love to see any more pics you can find.

Joe Frantz