Each year Richard Watling of Porsche Club GB organises visits to Porsche Assembly Plants in Stuttgart and/or Leipzig and surrounding areas. This particular year was significant as it was the 70th Anniversary of the first production Porsche. Three cars from R11 participated - Martyn Molyneaux, with his American friend Bill Tice (997 Turbo), David Burrows with Lynda (991 GTS) and Rodney Hyne-Jones with Gillian (996 C4S).
David and Rodney departed on Sunday 23 September staying overnight in Namur and Sedan respectively before driving down to Stuttgart the following day. Martyn did the whole journey on 24 September.
Eighteen cars from various parts of the UK and Ireland assembled at the Adler Hotel in Asperg, just outside Stuttgart, on the Monday evening. Models ranged from new GT3s down to 996s. Unfortunately, there were no air-cooled cars.
After a welcome reception we had dinner in the hotel, which gave everyone the opportunity to meet people from other Regions.
The following morning, we all made our way, through Stuttgart rush-hour traffic not unlike the M25, to the Porsche Museum, opposite the assembly plant in Zuffenhausen. We had the privilege of lining up all our cars on the forecourt. Opened in 2009, the architecture of the building is extremely innovative and spectacular. We were welcomed by the lovely Sandra, who is probably known to those who have done the trip before, and then split into two groups for a guided tour through the exhibits, which set out the history and development of the Porsche brand from the time when Ferdinand, as a young boy, first became interested in all things electric at the end of the 19th Century.
It is not generally known that Ferdinand worked on one of the first electric cars to be built in 1900 for Jacob Lohner, a producer of coaches for various royal families, in Vienna. Who says electrical power for motorcars is new? The fact that the range was only about 40km and it then took a week to recharge the batteries was beside the point. After military service he moved, in 1906, to Austro-Daimler in Stuttgart as Chief Designer before becoming Technical Director in 1923. Following difficult times after World War 1 he refused the demand to lay off hundreds of workers and, as a result, his contract was not renewed. He moved to what was to become Mercedes Benz but his designs were not popular with the board. He then returned to Vienna in 1929 to become General Director of Steyr but, owing to the Depression, his time there was short. It was in 1931 that he set up his own design business in Stuttgart. As a result of his work on various designs for small lightweight vehicles he received a contract from Hitler to design a ‘people’s car’, or Volkswagen, which went on to become the Beetle. The rest, as they say, is history.
In 1934 he was urged to renounce his Czechoslovak nationality and became a naturalised German citizen.
His wartime record is somewhat chequered, being a member of the NAZI Party and the SS, reaching the rank of SS-Oberführer. It is unclear whether this was for the convenience of developing his business or he was actively involved. He was, however, heavily involved in the production of the Kübelwagen and also the famous Tiger tank. A self-propelled anti-tank gun version (the ‘Elefant’) was known as the Ferdinand.
After the war his son Ferry, who also worked in the design business of the company, tried to keep it going whilst the French imprisoned Ferdinand and his partner, Anton Piëch. It was at this time that the design of what was to become the 356 was renewed. The first car was produced in 1948 in a small sawmill near the town of Gmünd in Carinthia, part of Austria. Only 49 cars were built there before the family returned to Stuttgart in 1949. The series production cars were then made of steel instead of aluminium and eventually more than 78,000 of this type were built over a 17-year period.
The prototype is normally on display in the museum however, owing to the celebrations marking the 70th Anniversary of its launch, it is on tour presently in California and a mock-up is on display.
Porsche was then taking a much more concerted interest in sports car racing, and in 1951, not long after the death of Ferdinand at the age of 75, an improved version of the 356 won its category at Le Mans. This saw the beginning of a long relationship with that circuit and wins at other events began to come.
During the 1950s demand began to gather strength for a replacement, and in 1962 the first of a new generation was launched, the 901. However, following threat of legal action from Peugeot, it became the 911 and, again, the rest is history.
All these various models from 1948 up to a concept version of the new Mission E are beautifully displayed in the museum together with their histories.
After the guided two-hour tour, we then had lunch at the magnificent Christophorus restaurant in the same building. Everybody agreed it was an excellent meal but somewhat too much for lunch. Had it been dinner it would have been superb.
At 2pm precisely we were again formed into two groups for a guided tour of the assembly plant across the street where all the two-door vehicles, namely 911, Boxster and Cayman, are produced. Of course, we all had to deposit our cameras, phones etc! There is one production line but all versions, from the basic Boxster to the GT3 RS, are assembled on it. Apart from watching our next ‘pride and joy’ coming to life it was also an amazing display of logistical expertise - over 250 trucks per day deliver components on a four-minute margin. It is highly labour-intensive with only two robots on the line but the whole place was spotless. All told it was a fascinating day and even the wives agreed!
That evening, fortunately, Richard had arranged a ‘light buffet’ back at the hotel.
The next day, Wednesday, the weather was perfect and we all set off in ones and twos to drive to our next stop in Anif, just outside Salzburg, via a couple of suggested routes. Some, including Martyn, visited the Hans-Peter Porsche Centre where one of Ferry Porsche’s sons has his car collection and the largest model railway layout in Europe. Others, including David and Rodney, having ‘exercised’ their cars on the autobahn to Munich, turned off and took the Deutsche Alpenstraße to Berchtesgaden. Despite being just under a total of 400km, this proved to be a beautiful drive through the mountains on good roads with little traffic and, having crossed the border into Austria,with many delightful chalets for refreshment. We all arrived safely at the Friesacker Hotel, a beautiful chalet-type hotel complex overlooked by the Austrian Alps.
On the Thursday Richard had arranged to visit the Fahr(T)raum at Mattsee, a 30-minute drive from Anif, where there is a unique collection of cars by Ernst Piëch, another grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, covering the early period when Ferdinand was designer and consultant to Austro-Daimler and many other companies. Our guide gave a very detailed and interesting explanation of the early days of Ferdinand’s career; despite it being the first time he had done it in English.
After a couple of hours people headed off in different directions for the afternoon. As the weather continued to show the area at its best, most headed for the beautiful Königsee. Set at over 600 metres above sea level between steeply rising mountains, this natural lake is over 7km long, about 1.7km wide and nearly 200m deep. It is overlooked by the Kehlsteinhaus (the Eagle’s Nest) but more about that later. We took a trip on the lake in a beautiful electric-driven boat during, which a trumpet was played to demonstrate the echo round the mountains reverberating up to seven times. We landed at the famous church of St Bartholomä halfway down the lake and, together with hundreds of others, took a stroll along the banks in the warmth of a calm September afternoon before having to queue for about 45 minutes for the return trip.
Some did not fancy the rolling of the boat on the flat calm of the lake and chose to visit the Dokumentation Zentrum at the Obersalzburg near the town of Berchtesgaden. This permanent exhibition tells the story of the Third Reich leadership’s takeover of the area and the rise of National Socialism before World War II, ‘warts and all’ – a fascinating, if sobering, couple of hours.
That evening we all gathered for dinner at one of the restaurants in the hotel during which there was much talk about our experiences of the day and the prospects for the following day.
On Friday we had the opportunity to drive over the Großglockner-Hochalpenstraße (Grossglockner High Alpine Road), the highest surfaced mountain pass in Austria. The highest point is just over 2500m and the road is nearly 48km built in 1935 to connect the state of Salzburg with Carinthia. Once again, the weather was perfect and the views from the top were spectacular where we were able to sit outside for a welcome coffee. The surface of the road was extremely good and there were several opportunities to exercise the cars both ascending from the north side and descending towards the south. At these altitudes it was interesting to note the apparent drop-off in performance. We then proceeded on to arrive in the small town of Gmünd around lunchtime where there were very pleasant cafés and terraces to take advantage of in the sunshine.
In the afternoon Richard had arranged for us to visit the Pfeifhofer Porsche Museum, a private collection which contains about 40 exhibits from the original Type 356 with aluminium body through to the rally and race cars where the name was really established. There is also a very large collection of Porsche model cars throughout the years. Afterwards some of us went to see the sawmill where the first 356s were built just outside Gmünd.
On Saturday we all left early to drive in convoy to the famous Roßfeldrennen historic hill climb near Berchtesgaden, an event involving classic cars of all ages and designs. These ranged from a 1908 Brasier Voiture de Course (sporting a 9.5-litre four-cylinder engine developing 96hp) and a 1909 Lion Peugeot Racing Voiturette (with a 2.5-litre one-cylinder engine of 45hp) to a 1994 Ford Mondeo STW (with a two-litre six-cylinder engine developing 300hp). In between there was a vast array of sports and racing cars from all decades, especially pre-war. There were several classic Porsches participating, with one being driven by the legendary driver, Walter Röhrl. This is a recreation of the historic hill climb of the 1960s, which was part of the European championship. Many attending were dressed accordingly, not unlike Goodwood Revival. There were, of course, many classic motorcycles also participating.
We had privileged parking at the top of the climb which would have been a great vantage point had it not been for the thick fog through which we had to drive and which also had the effect of delaying the whole event. We all took the classic buses down to the paddock and start line where we could wander round and really take in the atmosphere. Eventually the fog did clear and we could watch the cars go off.
In the evening we all went by coach into the centre of Salzburg for dinner at the famous St. Peter Stiftskulinarium within the walls of St. Peter’s Abbey, which claims to be the oldest inn in Central Europe dating back to the 9th Century. The surroundings were spectacular and the food was certainly the best we had had.
On Sunday morning we gathered in the centre of Salzburg for a two-hour guided walking tour of the old city during which we saw where the leaders of the EU had gathered the previous week. We then went over the Salzach River by the Markartsteg where couples declare their love by engraving their initials on a padlock, attaching it to the bridge and throwing the key into the river. There must be thousands of padlocks there. We then continued our walk through the small streets and alleys of the old city, once again in brilliant sunshine, passing by the birthplace of Mozart – a very pleasant morning.
Some remained in the city for lunch whilst the Essex contingent went to visit Hangar 7 collection of aircraft and motor cars owned by Herr Mateschitz of Red Bull. The architecture of the building itself is spectacular and the exhibits are worth seeing. It was also very pleasant enjoying a drink at the outside lounge in the autumn sun.
That evening we boarded a specially modified bus to take us to a very privileged private tour of the Kehlsteinhaus (the Eagle’s Nest) above the Obersalzburg. This was a Third Reich-era building erected at 1834 metres was commissioned by Martin Bormann for use exclusively by members of the NAZI Party for government and social meetings and presented to Hitler for his 50th birthday. Just to get to it is a feat of engineering, especially at the time, given that the whole project, including the road climbing 800 metres in 6.5km with five tunnels, was completed in 13 months. We arrived at the entrance tunnel just as the sun was setting for some wonderful photographs. From there we walked along the 124-metre tunnel to the very ornate elevator, which rises 124 metres to the building itself. All of the party were able to go up in one go, which indicates the size. The views from the top were amazing, to say the least, despite it being dusk by that time. Our guide, John from the north east of England, and proud of it, has lived in the area for 30 years, and gave us a very comprehensive, and amusing, insight into the construction and use of the site during the war years.
We were then invited to have a ‘mountain dinner’ in the large meeting room, which has the famous marble fireplace, reputedly presented by Mussolini. The dinner was of ‘mountain proportions’ and must have been the sort of food given to the construction workers. It certainly defeated most of us. During the dinner a presentation of wines from the area was made to Richard by the group in appreciation of what, I think, everyone agreed was a fantastic experience over the whole of the week.
The following morning everyone departed to their various destinations in the pouring rain. Of the Essex group David and Lynda stopped overnight in Namur, Martyn and Bill in Germany and Rodney and Gillian in Dinant. By chance the next day we all met up again at the Shuttle, which, of course, was delayed by over an hour and then we had to endure the delights of the M20 road works. All had been great up to then!
Overall it was a great experience with an opportunity to meet with a very friendly group of members from all over the Great Britain and Ireland and fully recommended as long as one does not mind that amount of driving covering over 2000 miles in nine days.
For a full gallery of the event, click here.