On Mount Olympus

In addition to the two factory cars in the IMSA and the WEC, the first customer vehicles will also compete in the 2023 debut season. Expanding Porsche’s tradition of customer racing into this league is a great achievement, as anyone who purchases a Porsche receives extensive literature, user manuals, and catalogs, and needs to be able to order spare parts. Kuratle manages that with his team of five and with specialists in different areas of development.

Months before homologation, which refers to the 963’s official competition approval, JDC-Miller MotorSports (USA) and Jota (UK) were the first two customer teams to purchase a new prototype for IMSA and WEC campaigns. For the 2024 season, Porsche plans to double the number of customer vehicles in both racing series from two to four. There’s no shortage of requests, as the brand enjoys a high level of trust.

Trust is good, but understanding is better. “You can’t manage a company unless you understand every last detail,” says Roger Penske, whose nickname is the Captain. Another maxim: “The most important thing is to take good care of your employees. They need to work in an environment they can make mistakes in. We discuss them and then learn from them together.” And the Captain practices what he preaches. When he shows up in the pit, he knows all of his employees by name and asks for information about countless details. If he eats a hot dog, he cleans up his table when he’s done and thanks the kitchen staff. Penske is wide awake – even after more than 30 hours without sleep, 24 of which he has spent watching the Le Mans pit on two 60-inch monitors, which is exactly what he did last June during the long-standing endurance event. Tirelessly, he makes a mental note of average times, evaluates pit stops, and motivates his drivers personally by radio: “Hi. RP speaking. You are doing a great job!” At the same time, he follows his vehicles’ campaigns in the NASCAR and IndyCar Series and, out of interest, analyzes the Formula 1 qualifying and race on his smartphone. All of his questions are answered during the award ceremony for the 24 Hours race on the traditional French racecourse. Behind the main stand, he takes off in one of his six private long-haul airplanes for the next meeting. The father of five will be touching down again at this airport in June, as there’s one success still missing from his life’s work: an overall win in Le Mans with Porsche. ●

Real conditions: 95 degrees Fahrenheit, 90 percent humidity, rain, and thunder. The test was a true challenge – for both the team and the race car.

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First design:

The first sketch of the Porsche coat of arms was created in 1952 – a design for eternity.

Birth of a Quality Seal

Now a familiar symbol the world over, the sports car manufacturer’s coat of arms first adorns a Porsche in 1952. Inspired by the Stuttgart city seal, the coat of arms features a rearing horse in the center and is framed by the contours of a golden shield. The city name above is flanked by the state colors – red and black – and stylized antlers, which come from the Württemberg-Hohenzollern coat of arms. Above everything else, the Porsche lettering acts as a protective roof.

Less well known is how the quality seal came about. The hood of every Zuffenhausen sports car has featured the Porsche lettering since 1948. The idea of applying a genuine trademark to the 356 doesn’t come to fruition for another three years. In March 1951, Porsche and Ottomar Domnick, a Stuttgart doctor and original Porsche customer, approach German art academies with a design competition and the chance to win 1,000 deutsche mark. But none of the designs win them over. The idea then gains traction in New York City, far from the sports car manufacturer.

It’s ultimately Austrian-born Max Hoffman, the owner of the Hoffman Motor Company, who gives the final push. Hoffman specializes in the import of European sports cars and has already made a name for himself in the automotive industry. Whatever he presents in his showroom, which was designed by top architect Frank Lloyd Wright, usually develops into the next big thing on American roads.

Shortly after importing the first Porsche 356 to the US, he wins an award for the most interesting car at Concours d’Élégance in Watkins Glen, New York. But the aesthete sees more potential in the winning vehicle. At a business dinner with Ferry Porsche in New York in late 1951, the importer puts the topic back on the agenda: a quality seal needs to be developed that’s visually appealing – a symbol that creates even more identity.

His plea sets the wheels in motion. On December 27, 1951, Ferry Porsche writes down the following: “Steering wheel hub featuring ‘Porsche’ and the Stuttgart coat of arms or something similar.” Back in Germany, he commissions Porsche designer Franz Xaver Reimspieß to design a trademark that symbolically reflects the company’s roots as well as the quality and dynamism of the products.

The result lives on today. In 1952, the coat of arms debuts on the steering wheel hub of the 356, before adorning the hood of a Porsche starting in 1954 and the hubcaps as of 1959. Now in its fifth stage of evolution, the coat of arms has undergone minor revisions to keep it contemporary, but has never lost its essence – and will therefore endure for many generations to come. ●

New home: Mary Ricks (right), Catherine Blagden (left), and their daughter Arden have created their dream house, including the Macan GTS, on the Pacific coast.

A Question of Balance

Catherine Blagden and Mary Ricks have dedicated themselves to reconciling differences. The couple enhances their rural life on California’s exclusive coast with the urban lifestyle of Los Angeles.

By John CHULDENKO Photos by Marc URBANO

One life in two worlds – Catherine Blagden and her wife Mary Ricks have done what many only dream of. They left the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles for the coastal community of Montecito, California. After uprooting their lives, the two women had to tackle the question of how to maintain their connection to both urban and coastal life – and how to rediscover themselves. The answer: it’s all a question of balance.

For the couple, both of whom are in their fifties, the move to Montecito was much more a return than a retreat. Blagden’s great-grandparents moved to Montecito from New York City in the late 19th century, and her grandmother was born here. Ricks’ grandparents lived here when she was little.

Rather than escaping the big city, they were returning to their roots. For Blagden, who has always felt connected to nature, this is true in more ways than one. Because she’s a winemaker and the founder of Blagden Wines, nature also plays a role in her professional life. “Just like my love of nature, community and social interaction have always been a part of my life,” she explains. “So I wanted to make a natural product that helps people connect.” Blagden is now going one step further by focusing her organic cultivation on biodynamic production: with a method based on lunar cycles and clean, sustainable cultivation practices.

On the surface, Ricks’ career couldn’t be more different. As president of a global real estate firm, she’s more concerned with growth in the building sector than in the vineyard. While transactions and market observation are a part of her everyday life, Ricks’ true strengths lie in design. When it comes to properties, she’s more interested in light, aesthetics, and a harmonious

An oasis of calm: Blagden and Ricks describe their new house in Montecito as a place of peace. It also allows them to maintain their connection to the nature around them. environment. According to Ricks, all these aspects combined form “the soul of a space” and expose its true identity.

When it came to choosing their private home, their areas of expertise played a key role in the decision. “The house has provided a place of peace,” says real estate expert Ricks. They’ve been slowly renovating their new home, which is just steps from the Pacific Ocean. “Being outside, hearing the waves crash, being connected to the beach and the ocean. This is where we find balance,” Blagden adds. Spending time with the family is what really matters to them. The decision to leave Los Angeles was also made for the benefit of their 12-year-old daughter Arden. Although they had built a life for themselves in the city, Blagden and Ricks ultimately came to the realization that something had changed. “Los Angeles was becoming too aggressive, too crowded, and too self-centered,” explains Blagden. “We looked for a place where we could rediscover ourselves.”

Though largely shaped by uncertainty, this phase of life also gave the couple valuable insight: “We just said to each other, thank goodness we have each other. Whatever happens, we need to hang on to one another,” says Blagden. “Raising a teenager is going to be a wild ride!” They found in Montecito what had been missing in Los Angeles. “Here, kids would rather go to the beach or be on a soccer team than go shopping,” says Blagden. “They’re surfing, hiking, or on bikes instead of on social media. That’s what’s good for us.”

“We needed to be in a place where we could rediscover ourselves.”

Mary RICKS

Excursion: On the weekend, the women enjoy driving the 911 through the hills of Santa Ynez, where Catherine Blagden cultivates her organic wine.

Harmony: Despite the different years and drives, the vehicles on the driveway have the same values. After all, what they have in common is Porsche DNA.

“We’re now more in tune with the nature around us – and with each other.”

Catherine BLAGDEN

While Blagden and Ricks work in different worlds, they’ve managed to bring them together on a personal level. “A harmony of contrasts is a very good description of us,” says Blagden, smiling. “Our values and interests are the same, but we’re totally different people.” A statement that extends to the garage located behind the house. The couple share a passion for driving – especially when it comes to Porsche. Shortly after moving to the California coast, they purchased their first aircooled 911 – a 1996 Coupé, type 993, in Midnight Blue Metallic. Blagden enjoys driving the 911 to her vineyard in nearby Santa Ynez. The winding roads and noticeable change in elevation have a calming effect on the winemaker. “An air-cooled 911 offers the perfect balance of an analog experience with just enough comfort.”

There’s a Macan GTS, also in Midnight Blue Metallic, parked on the driveway in front of the house, which they use for family trips and to drive their daughter to school. “I love the Macan. That was my favorite car that I’d ever owned,” says Blagden with delight. “But now I can’t decide between the Macan and Taycan. They’re both just too incredible in their own way.” She’s referring to the third Porsche, a Dolomite Silver Taycan 4S, which she and Ricks usually drive to Los Angeles.

“Making any move, no matter how great the place is you’re moving to, is hard,” says Ricks. “We miss LA sometimes. It’s where we started our family, after all.”

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Commuter car: When a visit to Los Angeles is on the books, Ricks and Blagden enjoy driving the roughly 90 miles in their Taycan 4S. So whenever they have a craving for their favorite Italian restaurant in the city of angels, feel like visiting friends, or need to go into the office, they drive their Taycan the roughly 90 miles along the Pacific coast back to the bustling city.

While it used to be the other way around, moments like these now represent a departure from their quiet life in Montecito. “We’ve definitely become more mellow, more in tune with the nature around us,” explains Blagden. “But more importantly, more in tune with ourselves as a family.” As the couple relaxes in the backyard after a long day, things get a little noisier in the courtyard. Their daughter Arden and her friends are splashing around in the pool and howling with laughter. Active, happy teenagers without a care in the world.

The family may have found their ideal solution here for reconciling differences: hustle and calm, internal combustion engines and electric motors, social and family life. A small, shared cosmos, a way of life – with an understanding of the contrasts that make life so special. ●