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NOW BI-MONTHLY! THE MAGAZINE FOR ALL CLASSIC PORSCHE ENTHUSIASTS
AUTOMOTIVE ARTFORM RALPH LAUREN’S 550 SPYDER!
FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF 911&PORSCHE WORLD No.7 September/October 2011
GO AL FRESCO! PORSCHE’S 911 TARGA: A BREATH OF FRESH AIR!
£4.75 US$11.99 Issue No 7
www.classicporschemag.com
PORSCHE
LIFE 50 YEARS WITH A SPEEDSTER
One family’s love-affair with their Porsche
MOTORSPORT: PORSCHE’S SECRET WEAPON Rallying hero: The mighty 911SC RS
HOW TO: DISC BRAKES FOR YOUR 356 Fitting modern brakes to an early Porsche
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Rebel with a Cause For the man in the street, Porsche’s 550 Spyder epitomises the ‘live fast, die young’ world of a Hollywood legend – for Porsche enthusiasts, it represents the greatest sports-racing car of its era. Britta Bau takes a personal view of a modern icon Words: Britta Bau Photos: Stefan Bau
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he story of the Porsche 550 Spyder has been written from many angles, the most popular concerning the tale of a ‘little bastard’ that took the life of James Dean, its most famous and yet most fated driver. He drove his 550 Spyder for only nine short days before his deadly crash in one of only 90 ever built. But there are happier tales, too, of how the 550 Spyder helped to forge Porsche’s destiny in racing… From the very beginning, Porsche has been writing racing history. Starting with the Berlin-Rome type 64, built for a race that was destined never to take place, Ferdinand Porsche had already planned to enter the sports car scene a decade earlier. It was not until 1948, though, that a Porsche – more precisely the 356 prototype from Gmünd – finished class winner at a street race in Innsbrück in Austria. Then, in 1951, Porsche made its debut at Le Mans,
Wendler-built body is supremely efficient, helping the 1500cc fourcam motor to propel the Spyder to an impressive top speed just short of 140mph
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a 356 finishing class winner, as well as gaining a respectable 20th place overall. Less than one year later, work started on the conversion of the 356 into a ‘proper’ racing car. Porsche was well aware of the risk entailed in this operation, for the company was rather small and vulnerable back then, relying as it did on one single model. Nevertheless, Ferry Porsche, considering the possible benefits for the company’s reputation, was convinced that the risk would eventually pay off. When the new Porsche 550 Spyder made its debut at the Paris Salon d’Auto in October 1953, it was still unclear if the car would remain a one-off or go into limited production. As it turned out, there was a huge interest in the new model, and Porsche fixed the price at DM24,600 (approximately £10,900) – an expensive luxury in those
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CLASSIC GUIDE: 550 SPYDER
Creature comforts were few and far between – even the passenger seat was clearly little more than a legal necessity. And as for luggage – what luggage?
days. You could hardly get less car for your money, though it offered impressive performance in return. If customers expected to find any signs of ‘convenience’, they would be disappointed – there was not even the smallest of luggage spaces. And the car had zero-weather protection, too. But look closely and those in the know spotted the outstandingly efficient drum brakes and the promise of impeccable handling, in spite of its chassis not being the most rigid. The 550 was indeed Porsche’s first fully-fledged racing car. The design process started in the October of 1952 and, by 1953, with the help of Wiedenhausen Karosserie in Frankfurt, Porsche mechanics had created two prototypes
of a new design, named Type 550. Based on the midengined 356 Spezial built by Walter Glöckler, the new model consisted of a light chassis of welded tubing, plus an aerodynamic light-alloy body. Although it would have been an obvious choice, the car was not named ‘550’ due to its weight, but allegedly because it was Porsche’s 550th design. The term ‘Spyder’ originates from the world of coachbuilding and describes a light, open carriage. The heart and soul of the car was, of course, its engine which – unofficially – used to be called the ‘drawer engine’. Why? Well the story goes that during the early stages of the development period, only a very small circle of selected staff were informed about the project. Thus, the
The term ‘Spyder’ originates from the world of “ coachbuilding and describes a light, open carriage ”
first parts of the engine had been stored away in a drawer underneath the workbench, which was quickly closed whenever a curious eye drew near. More widely-known is the official name of the 550’s four-cam motor: the Fuhrmann-engine, after Dr. Ernst Fuhrmann who came up with the design. Internally designated Type 547, the air-cooled 1500cc four-cylinder engine was equipped with four overhead camshafts, driven by a system of vertical shafts and bevel gears. When first put on a dyno on 2nd April 1953, it produced a power output of 110PS (109bhp) at 7800 rpm. The additional moniker ‘Carrera’ originates from Porsche’s sensational success at the 1954 Carrera Panamericana in Mexico, when Porsche wrote a new chapter in automobile racing history. The original aim had simply been to prove the new engine’s performance capability in the Spyder. Sponsor logos (from Fletcher and Telefunken, the companies supporting racing director Huschke von Hanstein for the event in Mexico) also appeared for the first time ever on a Porsche factory car. It’s common practice today, but at that time it was a novel idea. With the passenger seat covered, the Spyder achieved a sustained speed of more than 200km/h (124mph) on the long straightaways of the Carrera Panamericana. The vehicle’s low weight made it superior to most of its largedisplacement rivals. Hans Herrmann and Jaroslav Juhan came in third and fourth overall behind the two Ferrari factory cars, which was an impressive double victory for Porsche in the 1.5-litre class. Back home at Zuffenhausen, everyone was so proud of the success that henceforth all vehicle models equipped with a Fuhrmann-engine were CLASSIC PORSCHE
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TARGA
TALES Porsche’s open-top 911 was a big hit right from the start, yet many people look down on the Targa as being ‘less’ of a Porsche than a coupé. We trace the history of the fresh-air alternative Words: Keith Seume Photos: Michael Ward and Porsche archives
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hat could be more perfect? A six-cylinder rearengined Porsche which, with the release of a couple of catches, can be transformed from a weatherproof coupé (of sorts) into an opentopped sports car. It all sounds so perfect, doesn’t it? Yet Porsche’s innovative Targa has, in the UK at least, proved to be the bête noir of the family – a model which purists often scorn, and which commands a price up to ten, or more, per cent less than a comparable hardtop. To an outsider, it makes no sense, for as far as most other marques are concerned, convertibles of any kind usually command higher sums than their tin-top counterparts. Even old 1950s Porsches with flappy fabric tops cost more than equivalent coupés, so why does Porsche’s 911 Targa have such a hard time of it? Throughout the lifespan of the 356, sales of opentopped Porsches had remained buoyant. From the very beginning, Porsche had included a convertible model in its line-up, be it a simple canvas-topped deal like the Speedster, or a more sophisticated weatherproof design like the Cabriolet. Sales of the al fresco models never matched those of their coupé siblings, but they sold in sufficient numbers for Porsche to always include one in its line-up. Until the 911 first appeared, that is. In its final full year of production, sales of the 356C coupé accounted for 83.5 per cent of sales, but the remaining 16.5 per cent – the convertibles – were deemed to be an important part of the product range. If nothing else, they helped tempt curious potential owners into the showroom. But when the 911 was first launched in 1964, there was no mention of an open-top version, although it would surely only be a matter of time before one appeared. In his seminal work Excellence was Expected, Karl Ludvigsen describes the internal wrangling that led to the ultimately controversial design of the Targa. ‘It was logical that an open version of the 911 should be developed,’ he says, ‘Less certain, however, was just what form such an open car would take. Should it be a variant of the coupé’s form or should it be a pure cabriolet, with special lower body panels of its own at the rear?’ This conundrum was one with which Butzi Porsche wrestled for some time. He favoured the latter, a convertible in the more traditional style – a notchback design, rather than a soft-top that simply mimicked the coupé’s profile. ‘There has never been a successful rearengined cabriolet with a true fastback,’ he is quoted as saying. But he was alone in his feelings, for the rest of the management board felt that, as any ‘convertible’ would only account for a relatively small percentage of the total production, it would be a waste of money to invest in new press tooling specifically for one low-volume model. It would therefore be necessary to use as much of the coupé’s existing sheetmetal as possible. This created an interesting problem for Butzi, as he
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Above, left to right: Pre-production Targa shows the ‘soft-window’ design of the early cars. Zipped-in rear screen was prone to distortion; Guards Red Turbo Targa epitomises 1980s retro-cool; 1974 Carrera Targa was first to have blacked-out roll-bar
Targa’s styling will always be controversial – detractors feel the shape of the roof spoils the 911’s pure lines. Fans of the open-top model say that it is every bit a 911: a driver’s car, through and through…
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TARGA HISTORY
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SUPERCARRERA ‘The earlier the better’ seems to be the mantra of many in the Porsche scene, but Classic Porsche reader Julian le Maistre is anxious to argue the case for the impact-bumpered 911SC with his own modified example Words & Photos: Julian le Maistre
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‘CARRERA’ 911SC
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have always liked the impact-bumper 911 launched in the 1970s. It was a time when the company was focused on dominating Le Mans and very much a competition-led car manufacturer. To me, the impact-bumper 911 seemed to reflect the company’s motor racing direction of the day – wider, more flamboyant, and faster. These cars had much of the feeling and lightness of the early 911s but with more grip, better acceleration and better brakes. Officially introduced to comply with American safety standards, the new 1974 911 range included the narrowbodied 911 2.7 coupé, the 911 Carrera 2.7 with its RS body shape, and the stylish 911 Targa. In 1976 the 911 Turbo joined the range, the first model of what has become an automotive legend. It featured a more aggressive body shape inspired by the racing RSRs, and benefited from the world’s first true production turbo engine, developed directly from Porsche’s racing programme. I decided to buy and restore an impact-bumper 911, rather than back-date, because I think these cars look great: they come with a fabulous range of engines and they span an illustrious period for Porsche. I wanted to be able to get a classic, air-cooled 911 to mint condition and I knew that the only way to do that was to buy a sensibly-priced car in the first place, which ruled out a pre-impact-bumper Porsche. To me, the idea of back dating an impact-bumper car seemed a bit questionable and the company which I approached to restore the car agreed. Their advice to me was ‘Don’t backdate. We will make your SC everything it was meant to be, and a bit more.’ This approach was adhered to throughout the rebuild and the end result is, to my mind, amazing. The history and authenticity of an outstanding car is more valuable in the long run than something pretending to be something it is not. I didn’t actually go out searching for an SC. A 1981 version came up for sale locally and it wasn’t until I’d looked into the history that I realised it to be a model that was important for the Porsche company. I had a good feeling about the SC, although I didn’t really know much about it. Perhaps it was the advertising I saw when I was young but I just had a very positive image of the model. It seemed to be a good car that had been overlooked in recent years while the world went crazy about bigger and better RS models and Turbos, and the like. I had been thinking of buying a classic 911 for some time, so I had plenty of books to refer to. The most valuable of these by far was Paul Frere’s on the entire development history of the 911. The further I delved into the SC, the more interested I became. Here was a car produced in the late 1970s and early ’80s when Porsche was still a racing led car manufacturer. Production engines were a direct development of its racing and rallying programme, and the 930-series 3.0litre engine, which powered the Carrera 3.0, the original 3.0 Turbo and the SC, was a direct descendant of the earlier 2.7 RS built for group 3 racing. This engine powered the RSR 3.0, one of the most iconic of all 911 Porsche models. To have found such a direct bloodline to Porsche’s racing heritage in an affordable 911 seemed incredible. Hasn’t anyone done their research, I thought to myself! These cars ought to be much more sought after. To me the whole thing about owning an air-cooled Porsche was to feel I was driving a classic 911. Nothing seemed to be more affordable or came closer to achieving this than buying a good SC. Then I discovered that the car I was interested in was known internally within Porsche as the 911SC (B series), also referred to as the ‘high compression SC’. After reading Paul Frère’s interesting and detailed account of this SC and its series designation. I realised the significance of the model. As Jeremy Clarkson once said ‘Nothing remains more complicated and difficult to fathom than the Porsche 911 range.’ I had however fathomed enough to realise that I’d found a great 911 whose merits seemed largely unpublicised. My research led me to understand that Porsche launched CLASSIC PORSCHE
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Smoke gets in your eyes Back in the mid-’80s, the big tobacco companies dominated the motorsport sponsorship scene. Belgium’s Bastos brand funded the Gaban team’s successful assault on their national Rally Championship in 1984 and ’85, with this mega-rare 911SC RS. Now freshly restored, we got the tyres smoking at an Abbeville trackday Words: Johnny Tipler Photos: Antony Fraser
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Archive material: Unknown
s it an SC? Well, sort of. Is it an RS? Well, yes. Actually it’s a bit of both – a 911SC RS, created for rallying in the mid’80s as a wide-boy 911 in broad-arched faux-turbo bodywork. Every so often a Porsche appears that’s had a glowing career as a race or rally car, and now we’ve been invited to the Abbeville Circuit in northern France to review this particular SC RS. It belongs to a Belgian collector, a long-standing friend of Classic Porsche who wishes to remain anonymous, so we’ll call him ‘OBF’ – Our Belgian Friend. This Bastos-liveried car is number 10 of just 21 units built – OBF’s commitment to the model needs no affirmation, since he already owns another example, chassis #12. Before we go any further, let’s place the SC RS in context. From 1982 to 1986, the World Rally Championship was dominated by formidable Group B cars like the Audi Sport quattro and Lancia 037. Cigarettes were never far away back then; Rothmans tobacco, who sponsored Porsche’s endurance racing 956 and 962 Le Mans winners, and its 953 Paris-Dakar campaign, as well as backing Walter Röhrl’s WRC title-winning Ascona in 1982, asked Porsche to come up with a car to contest the 1984 European Rally Championship. It was then a question of Porsche finding something that fitted the regulations, because the 930 Turbo in Group B trim incurred a severe weight penalty. Weissach sages Jürgen Barth and Roland Kussmaul targeted a loophole in the FIA homologation rules which allowed 20 units derived from a redundant showroom model to be produced, and the 911SC was the ideal candidate since it had just been replaced by the 3.2 Carrera. Though issued with a Group B certificate, it never ran as such, being essentially a heavily-modified production Group 4 car.
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BASTOS 911SC RS The SC RS was built at Weissach from 1983 and was in active competition until 1987. Five cars went to Dave Richards’ Prodrive-run, works-backed Rothmans WRC squad, 15 were delivered to private customers, and a single car was created retrospectively at Weissach from leftover components – and all 21 were originally finished in white. One further chassis was built up in 1985 as a circuit racer for French veteran Raymond Tourol, using Weissach parts, including an SC RS twin-spark engine, and although given a unique chassis number it’s generally accepted that it merits the SC RS designation. Of the privateers, Belgian tobacco companies Belga funded two chassis and Bastos sponsored one: #10. It was bought by Jean-Pierre Gaban, a well-known Porsche 911 racer in the 1960s. The Gaban team was based in a Brussels race shop and the SC RS was prepped to contest the Belgian National Rally Championship. In 1984 Patrick Snijers and Dany Colebunders won five events to clinch the title, and in 1986 Jean-Pierre’s son Pascal Gaban won the series, sweeping the board with co-driver Eddy Chevalier. Meanwhile, the SC RS was smoking them off on the European rally circuit. Rothmans’ aim was to win the European championship, and so hired top gun Henri Toivonen to do the business. Co-driven to four victories by Juha Piironen and Ian Grindrod, the flying Finn’s Prodrive SC RSs placed 2nd in the 1984 European standings, though to be fair
his main focus was the WRC in the Lancia 037 and he injured himself mid-season. Another Rothmans/Prodrive SC RS won the Middle East Rally Championship in the hands of the unbeatable Saeed Al Hajri, bringing Prodrive’s winning tally to seven. The SC RS was clearly a car to be reckoned with, but for 1985 the chassis and transmission were further beefed up and the engine’s oil ducts improved. On the European stage, three Prodrive crews vied for the European Championship, achieving high placings but no outright success, though Saeed Al Hajri once again took the Middle Eastern title. So, what’s special about the SC RS? The 911SC shell is broadened with welded-on wheelarches and endowed with a whale-tail spoiler, and its Weissach nativity means it merits its own factory type number, 954. So, the 954’s chassis numbers run from WPOZZZ91ZES110001 to 21. There’s no turbocharger – the SC RS’s flat-six is a 3.0-litre 930/18 SC unit, using 935 cylinder heads, twin-plug ignition, the earlier Kugelfischer fuel injection and a special petrol pump instead of the standard SC’s K-Jetronic system, plus an air pump to promote more efficient exhaust. The compression ratio rose from 9.8:1 to 10.3:1, with re-profiled forged pistons, higher-lift cams and appropriate valve timing. Oil lines are channelled differently, and the SC’s twin oil coolers are located in the front right wing behind the headlight. A transmission oil cooler is located within the rear wing mount on the engine lid.
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Life-long
friend
Something quite peculiar sets this Speedster apart from its siblings. If you guessed the quality of its restoration, you would be only partly correct. Because there is much more to this car, having been in the hands of the same family since purchased in 1955... Words: Stephan Szantai Photos: Stephan Szantai, Pascal Giai and the Mac Collection
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he name Pascal Giai might ring a bell with a few of you, being the main character of a fantastic adventure depicted in Classic Porsche #5 – a journey through California’s Death Valley in his 1958 Speedster. Over a year ago, Pascal informed us about a car he was restoring, a Speedster of 1955 vintage owned by a wonderful lady living in his home town of San Diego. This 356 seemed quite interesting to photograph, especially since the quality of Pascal’s work is second to none. Yet, he definitely got our attention when he began describing the old Porsche... It features a few unique period-correct parts and had been prepared for a dual-purpose street/road race, shortly after being purchased. And most importantly, it has remained in the same family since 1955! Before digging deeper into this story, we need to introduce you to a couple of key characters, who became involved with the car not long after it left the German factory: Francis Joseph McGrath, a.k.a. ‘Mac’, along with his daughter Jean Froning – the current caretaker of the lil’ tub. Born in Idaho in 1922, Mac was fascinated with mechanics from an early age, but following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he longed to quickly join the forces fighting for his country. He entered the Aviation Cadet School in 1942, graduated in March 1943 and went on to fly 51 missions with P-38 planes, mostly in North Africa, as well as Sicily and Italy. He married his wife June on June 19, 1944 – less than two weeks after D-Day. After the war, the family settled in Southern California’s Imperial Valley (hence the cool, original license plate frame on the Porsche), located east of San Diego. He first worked as a mechanic on planes designed to spray fields;
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1955 SPEEDSTER
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