Three jubilees, one big birthday and a dynamic “Heritage Experience” – 2019 promises several high points for the Porsche Museum. With a commitment to making company history come alive, there will be legends from Porsche’s motorsport heritage exhibited at Porscheplatz in Stuttgart Zuffenhausen and a numerous events across the globe this year.
50 Years of the 917
It’s a jubilee celebration for one of Zuffenhausen’s most powerful model series: the Porsche 917. One of the best-known race cars of all time, the 917 made its public debut at the 1969 Geneva Motor Show. Just a year later Porsche brought home the first of 19 gold medals at the Le Mans 24-hour race.
In one of its biggest-ever special exhibitions, the Porsche Museum will have ten 917 models on display from 14 May to 15 September. “Colours of Speed – 50 Years of the 917” will give visitors the chance to see up-close a defining milestone in the proud racing history of Porsche, as the first Porsche 917 ever built – with chassis number 001 – will be on show following years of restoration work by the workshop museum.
50 Years of the 914
In the autumn of 1969, the 914 was presented at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt as Germany’s first mid-engined series sports car. There were two variants: the 914 model with four-cylinder engine, as VW Porsche, and the 914/6 with six-cylinder boxer, as Porsche. Fifty years later, the Porsche Museum is dedicating a special exhibition to this series. You can visit “50 Years of the 914 – typically Porsche” from 2 June to 7 July. Furthermore, on Sunday 2 June, 914 owners’ clubs have been invited by the museum to a get-together on the courtyard, with over 120 privately-owned 914 models.
Closer to home, Porsche Club GB is celebrating the anniversary on Saturday, 20 July at Brooklands Motor Museum in Surrey. 914 owners (and enthusiasts!) can enjoy a series of anniversary displays within the historic motorsport grounds with the event culminating in a commemorative photo on the famous Brooklands banking. Tickets are priced at £12.50 per person and can be bought in advance here.
10 Years of the Panamera
Ten years ago, the sports car manufacturer entered an entirely new market sector with the Panamera, the first four-door Porsche saloon. Presented to the public for the first time in 2009 in Shanghai, the Panamera made use of numerous technical innovations that had never before been available in a luxury series model. The Porsche Museum is working together with the Porsche factory in Leipzig, which is responsible for the entire production process including body production and paint shop, to commemorate the “10 Years of Panamera” jubilee, with a special exhibition. Eight exhibits will be on show at the Customer Centre this spring, from the first prototypes to the current model.
Members of the Panamera Register are invited to join the 928 Register at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon on Saturday, 18 May. As well as enjoying display parking and discounted entry into the museum, Panamera owners can compare notes with Porsche’s GT predecessors. Register your interest here.
Exclusive Tours for Porsche Club members
For more than ten years, Porsche Club has been running tailor-made trips to the Porsche Factory and Museum in Stuttgart. Entries are now open for our first visit of 2019 which gets underway on 6 March. As well as VIP tours of Zuffenhausen, this five-day tour includes a visit to the much acclaimed Retro Classics show at Stuttgart exhibition centre as well the Technik Museum Sinsheim, which is home to an unrivalled collection of cars and aircraft.
To find out more, please email events@porscheclubgb.com with your membership details.
Goodwood Festival of Speed
If you can’t make it to the Porsche Museum then thankfully they’re happy to bring their exhibits to you. Festival of Speed has always allowed Porsche to flex their motorsport might and 2019 is no exception. This year’s theme of “Speed Kings – Motorsport’s Record Breakers” certainly plays to Porsche’s strengths and while for now the museum is keeping their cards close to the their cards close to their chest, they have confirmed the first model in the roster for the festival will be the 1968 909 Bergspyder.
With its thin plastic skin, aluminium frame, beryllium brake discs and spherical fuel tank the Bergspyder weighs in at just 384 kilogrammes, making it Zuffenhausen’s lightest race car. Porsche entered the race car category of the European Hillclimb Championship with the 909 Bergspyder in 1968. Competing in just two races, it came in second and third.