I was in Stuttgart since yesterday and checked out the Porsche Museum and the big Porsche dealership, both next to the factory. I couldn't get a factory tour (you need to book that months in advance) but I did get some great shots of what's lying and driving around here.
We begin with the Porsche Museum. Truth be told, it's nothing spectacular a la Mercedes-Benz or BMW Museum: but they're building a new museum in the style of Mercedes and BMW, so that's something to look forward too. The museum is just a "small room" measuring about 50 meters by 15 meters with a handful of Porsche's on display. Some of the exhibits are not even labelled so you'll find yourself looking at a car or a transmission or engine and have no idea what it is about. Parking was also a major problem: Porsche didn't have a parking lot for visitors! I had to park at a local supermarket a few blocks down (and had to buy something at the supermarket to allow me to park on their lot for about an hour). Anyway, here are the pics! :ohyeah:
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Good 'ole Ferdinand. I was amazed when I read his biography that he had virtually no ENGINEERING BACKGROUND (technical night school, that's all) at all! The man was a friggin genius! His family owned a plumbing business and he actually made an apprenticeship to become a plumber - and then he began working with engines and designing them. Friggin amazing!
(http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/3979/ferdinandporschexr1.jpg)
1922 Austro-Daimler "Sascha": This car was designed by Ferdinand Porsche in 1922. It was powered by a 1089cc 4-cylinder engine with 45-horsepower and could reach a then phenomenal speed of 144 km/h. The car was very advanced for its time as it featured light-weight-construction making it a superb race car in its day. Austro-Daimler was an automative company in Austria that had links to the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft in Germany.
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1912 Austro-Daimler Firetruck: Ferdinand Porsche had a hand in the construction of this light firetruck, which was used by Austro-Daimler to safeguard its own factories. The car was capable of 55 km/h.
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1948 Porsche 356 Roadster "Nummer 1"
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No idea what this transmission was about. It lacked an info plaque...
(http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/620/porschem21kq5.jpg/img%5D%3Cbr%20/%3E%3Cbr%20/%3E%3Cbr%20/%3E1956%20Porsche%20356%20A%20Speedster%3Cbr%20/%3E%5Bimg%5Dhttp://img80.imageshack.us/img80/3686/porschem22vf3.jpg)
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1953 Porsche 356 America Roadster
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1986 Porsche 944 Turbo "Adler von Tirol"
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Modern Porsche suspension and brakes. I assume they're from a 996 or 997 Turbo because of the "turbo" inscription...
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1974 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Turbo 2.1
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1984 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 x 4 "Paris Dakar"
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1998 Porsche 911 GT1 - Le Mans Winner
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1992 Porsche 911 Speedster
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Random shot of the museum...
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No info on this engine, but it sure as hell looked cool inside and out!
(http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/1866/porschem170yj5.jpg)
(http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/6387/porschem171ht5.jpg)
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1950 Volkswagen Beetle
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END OF PART I