During a visit to Stuttgart, we take a stroll through the impressive Porsche Museum. In this building some of the most historically important and successful cars of this manufacturer can be seen, and there are even some activities for the kids.
Words and photos: Wilhelm Lutjeharms
Visiting one of your favourite manufacturer's museums should be on every serious petrolhead's bucket list. Actually, it goes beyond that, apart from the museum, it is also fulfilling to spend some time in the vicinity of the museum and/or factory in the specific town. It certainly helps you contextualize the brand you love.
Whether it is Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart, Ferrari in Maranello, Pagani in Modena or BMW in Munich, all of them are worth a visit. Think about the massive collection of cars in the Nissan Heritage Collection in Japan. So many places, so little time...
Another highlight is the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart. I have been fortunate enough to visit the original (very small) museum in 2001 before this modern and impressive new museum opened its doors in 2009. The original housed only a few cars and with a manufacturer with such a rich history, a larger museum was obviously required.
Apart from the obligatory museum shop, there are a few things you need to know about the museum to plan your perfect visit. It is advisable to book a tour, as you will hear interesting information that you otherwise might not be able to read about or find out anywhere else, and it will also give you the opportunity to ask questions about the models and the museum in general. This should also grant you access to the museum workshop, which is arguably one of the highlights during such a visit.
If you prefer to do things by yourself, the audio guide you can get from reception will take you on an auditory tour and you can walk through each car step-by-step.
The cars
A Porsche Museum technician confirmed to me that Porsche has around 800 cars in the company’s vast collection. Depending on the time of year, several of these cars (as many as 60 to 80) might be across the globe at dealerships, events or launches. A team of four full-time technicians works on the museum’s cars.
The cars on display consist of Porsche’s earliest cars up to its latest releases, as well as prototypes and race cars. It truly gives you an all-round visual story of the entire history of the company. The earliest prototypes educate you about the cars Porsche developed around half a century before the company was officially founded!
Each car is presented with a neat information board that has a short description of the car in both German and English. Thankfully there is also some basic specifications on this board, allowing you to be impressed by either the weight, speed or performance of the car – or in several cases, by all of them.
Some cars that stood out for me were rare road cars and most importantly the race cars.
The race cars
One of the real standout cars during my most recent visit was the 1969 Porsche 908/02 Spyder. This super-lightweight racer tipped the scales at only 600 kg! This is also the car with which Porsche secured the marque's first World Championship title. According to the description of the car, “the technical regulations stipulated neither a minimum weight nor a roof, luggage compartment or spare wheel.” Clearly Porsche made the most of the lack detail in the rules!
The result was an aluminium space frame, a 13 kg plastic body, titanium axles and a five-speed gearbox. The frame could be filled with compressed air to detect damage – how advanced is that! The result was 50 major victories and more than 100 podium places within four years, making the 908 one of Porsche’s most successful race cars.
The “pink pig” is a name that will make any racing enthusiast immediately think of the 1971 Porsche 917/20, fitted with a 4.9-litre, flat-12 cylinder developing 441 kW and able to run up to 360 km/h. Painted in a racing livery illustrating the labelled portions of meat, it has become one of Porsche’s iconic race cars. Sadly, it didn’t finish the race.
Other significant race cars such as the 1977 Porsche 935 “Baby” and the 1972 Porsche 917/10 Spyder also demand attention. After Porsche’s success in 1970 and 1971 in the World Sportscar Championship, the race department developed an open version of the 917 for the Can-Am series in North America. The result was an open-top 917 fitted with a flat-12 cylinder, turbocharged engine, developing an astonishing 735 kW. The result? It won six of the nine rounds against the American rivals that year.
There are a number of other special cars on display, such as the beautifully shaped Porsche GT1s, particularly the later 996-generations, in both street and Evo race car variants.
A special road car
In terms of road cars, it was the rare 1992 911 Turbo S 3.3 Leichtbau (964 generation) that stood out for me during my visit. The six-cylinder engine developed 280 kW and the car was capable of 290 km/h. What made it exceptional is that only 86 examples were manufactured by Porsche Exclusive. It was a full 180 kg lighter than the standard models with an unladen weight of only 1 290 kg. Features that were removed included electric windows, air-conditioning, power steering while carbon fibre/plastic composite material was used for the luggage cover, doors and the rear spoiler.
If, like most of us, you can’t just jump on a plane, visit this link to the museum where you can take the virtual tour. Also, if you happen to visit the museum, make sure to book lunch at the Christophorus restaurant to sample some of the best steak in Germany.
Finally, you can also rent Porsches here, or from a number of dealerships in Germany. Follow this link and you can scroll through the cars and daily prices. The range includes cars from Porsche’s SUV line-up to their sports cars, from €329 (R6 580) for a 718 Cayman up to €1 799 (R35 980) for the 992 GT3 RS. Start planning!