The Club convoy en route to the Porsche’s 70th celebrations.
Words: Matt Master
Photos: Mark Fagelson
As committed owners and enthusiasts, Porsche Club members often talk about a sense of belonging. It’s an impression that comes from the top down too, for like no other manufacturer past or present, Porsche appreciates, supports and encourages its owners’ clubs. They have been in existence for almost as long as the brand itself, after all, and now represent a vast worldwide community rightly regarded as a vital part of the family.
To usher in the 70th anniversary celebrations this summer, Porsche’s Community Management team organised a Club convoy to descend on Stuttgart on June 8 2018, the very day, 70 years ago, that the No.1 Roadster was given its operating permit.
Porsche Clubs from all over the world came together, with the United Kingdom, China, Australia, the USA and Japan all represented. And as eclectic as their owners were the cars that made up the fields, from early 356s to the latest 911 GT2 RS, from perfectly restored transaxles like the 928 GTS and 944 Cabriolet, to time warp 914/6s and battle-worn track day regulars in the 996 GT3.
For three straight days the fast, empty roads that weave haphazardly through this part of northern Europe were filled with that unmistakable aroma of vintage motoring, of Castrol and petrol fumes, the burble of sports exhausts and the familiar chunter of air-cooled engines.
From the medieval castle at Vaalsbroek in the western Netherlands to the ancient border town of Triers on the banks of Germany’s Moselle river, in closely knit lines we snaked through forest and farmland, through towns and villages, to a final meeting point just north of Stuttgart city centre.
Temperatures were regularly passing 30-degrees with an oppressive humidity that could only mean one thing. Operatic rumbles of thunder played a dramatic prelude to frequent, sharp and supersized rainstorms. The 356s on skinny cross-ply tyres steered gingerly around the fast and greasy bends. Little more confident were the three 991 GT3s, shod in unforgiving summer rubber better suited to the bone-dry track work.
Closer to Stuttgart, usually dull stretches of congested autobahn became a spotter’s paradise, with museum-worthy 356s sitting in crawling traffic beneath the bug-spattered screens of giant HGVs, eye-popping GT cars with their massive wings and vivid paintjobs peppering the lines of grey three-box saloons and small SUVS. On the slip road from the motorway, two 1973 Carrera RS 2.7s joined us, driving in close and rapid tandem around the tight access road that lead abruptly to our final destination.
This was Burg Stettenfels, just north of Ludwigsburg, another medieval castle in whose grounds the entire Porsche Club representation would soon assemble. Car after car rolled slowly in, bearing the hallmarks of days on the road. Cars had come from all over Europe and beyond – a time warp early 911S, a dusty 996 GT3 from southern Italy – and most astonishing of all – a 356 driven all the way from Tokyo, its driver some 50 days alone at the wheel.
In the rarified world of sportscars, Porsche remains the great leveller. Its absolute integrity, relative attainability and ready accessibility has created a culture of openness and acceptance where so many marques find themselves mired in elitism and exclusivity. Wandering around the castle grounds, you couldn’t count the number of languages being spoken, but the universal patois was Porsche. And the different social strata were as varied, from wealthy collectors sitting on stockpiles of scarcely driven GT cars to nervous first timers with high-mileage transaxles, every one united by a common bond: a consuming passion for Porsche.
The next two days were packed with meticulously organised events to celebrate this milestone year, with the main focus for guests being the crowning international meet known as ‘Sportscar Together Day.’ This was followed by a gala dinner for all the club members, attended by Porsche CEO Oliver Blume and Wolfgang Porsche himself. The softly-spoken 75-year-old received a long, heartfelt standing ovation from the assembled diners, a moment that reduced the modest chairman to tears.
This extraordinary sense of good will was evident across the weekend, but nowhere more so than at the end of the convoy itself. After an epic drive an historic homecoming, with hundreds of exhausted but deeply satisfied Porsche-philes forming firm friendships and unforgettable memories under the setting Stuttgart sun. If you had to choose a single moment that defines what it is to love Porsche, you could do a lot worse than that.