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Book Reviews for Porschephiles
BY BRUCE HERRINGTON, ORANGE COAST REGION
PORSCHE 75th ANNIVERSARY Expect the Unexpected by Randy Leffingwell, published 18October 2022 by Motorbooks.
This book is not an update/extension/expansion of the Leffingwell's series of Porsche anniversary books It is an entirely new book with lots of new material from the Porsche archives. Between these covers, the entire history of Porsche 'sports cars' (Cayenne, Macan and Panamera are included) is summarized, from the Gmünd coupes to the Taycans. There is plenty of interest for everyone: the air-cooled vs water-cooled types, two-seater vs 4-seater, rear-drive vs four-wheel drive, and of course, stick vs various types of automatic from Sportomatic to PDK. Turbo and race versions are discussed separate from their base antecedents, all covered in a fascinating level of detail. The introduction reminds us that Porsche, the engineer, produced a 'Hybrid' vehicle way back in the year 1900; the Foreword by Hurley Haywood gives a personalized summary of Porsche's racing history.
In addition to the cars, many key individuals and their involvement in Porsche's history are discussed. The turnover of CEOs is well covered in the description of the development timelines of the relevant vehicles. Leffingwell's presentation of Porsche's fascinating history from an almost hobby company to a major corporation was substantially assisted by the Porsche Museum and Archive.
There are 30 'bite sized' chapters of roughly eight pages each, tagged by the year-range covered and each given a creative catchy title, helpfully printed for reference at the top of the right hand page. Each chapter is focused on a specific model/ version. Turbocharged 911s have a chapter separate from that of the 911s. The GT1 gets its own chapter (GT2s and 3s are dealt with in the chapter on the base model), but the Boxsters and Caymans are combined into one. The Cayenne gets its own chapter, as does the Panamera, but the 996, 997, 991 and 992 are combined. The text is uses refreshingly large readable type font, and the semi-gloss paper makes the many pictures bright and crisp. The book coveris more elegant than the dust jacket. Front cover shows an overhead photograph of the front half of a '911' (identification of the exact model is 'an exercise left to the student'); the rear half is shown on the back cover. The end papers show 1992 design sketches of the 964.
PORSCHE 75th ANNIVERSARY is profusely illustrated, each chapter begins with a full page picture of an representative vehicle. Very few of the pictures seem familiar to this reviewer. Even the pictures of the early years in Gmünd and the Typ 356/1 are different from the ones commonly seen in other books. There is an index so comprehensive that there are two, three-column pages for “Typ – X” entries. There are four entries for Max Hoffman and eight for Roger Penske. A must have for any Porsche enthusiast and for any close associate of one afflicted with the Porschephile disease. An elegant, coffee table sized book it is well enough written and concisely organized that dedicated Porsche enthusiasts will read this book from cover to cover. It has enough gems of wisdom that those narrowly focused on a specific genre of Porsche will find this book worthwhile even if they only study a few chapters. For those not yet enlightened, it provides a fascinating and readable overview of the entire technical, social and corporate history of a major automobile company and the people that made the decisions that enabled the success. All in all, it is a comprehensive presentation of the story of Porsche automobiles. As the complete story in a single package, this book cannot be beat.
PORSCHE 75th ANNIVERSARY is hard bound and coffee table sized, with 256, 9-1/2 x 12 inch heavyweight pages. The 'arty', photographic cover is almost suitable-for-framing as they say. By the time you read this it should be available for $60.00 from your favorite bookseller, ask for it, or from Quartoknows.com
