Last month, I flew to Germany with a buddy to do a European Delivery on his new BMW 435i M Sport, and we also toured the BMW Museum in Munich. Being car guys, we decided we’d try to see both the Porsche and Mercedes Museums while on the trip. So the following day we filled up with gas and headed to Stuttgart Germany:
Gas in Germany is VERY expensive (we’re talking roughly 8 bucks a gallon in US dollars).
Stuttgart is only about a two hour drive from Munich at Autobahn speeds. Soon we arrived at our first stop of the day – the Porsche Museum:
It sits across from both a sizable Porsche dealership (left), as well as a building which is part of Porsche’s manufacturing facilities in Stuttgart:
Our visit happened to coincide with a special exhibit the museum had going to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Porsche 911:
The Porsche Museum was recently rebuilt (2009) and is located in the northern district of Zuffenhausen next to the company headquarters. It’s an extremely impressive facility that’s said to have cost 100 million euros. The interior looks extremely modern and is white everywhere:
In my previous article on the BMW Museum, I made the statement that old cars don’t really excite me that much – which is true. But something about Porsche is different – they have several classic models that I’d be happy to own and drive today. Like this early Porsche 356 America Roadster:
Or this gorgeous red Porsche 356C:
Much to my disappoint, they didn’t have any examples of the Porsche 356B on display – one of my favorite variants of the legendary 356. In fact, due to the 50th anniversary of the 911, most of the cars on display when we visited were 911 variants:
This “whale tail” 911 Turbo from the late 1980’s was an absolute favorite of mine growing up:
If I lived in a year-round warm weather part of the US, something like this 911 Turbo 3.8 would no doubt be my daily driver:
My very first German sports car when I was growing up was a 1987 Porsche 944 that my father bought for me back in college and I was REALLY hoping to see a 944 or two in the Porsche Museum. Alas, due to the 911 anniversary special exhibit, the closest I got to seeing one was this racing variant of the 924:
A display of some past Porsche engines:
The many trophies and awards the brand has garnered:
I was quite surprised to turn a corner and see this Porsche RS Spyder – a racing model.
Back in 2006 I covered an American LeMans Series race at Laguna Seca and saw the “#6” RS Spyder in action – my photos from that race:
Perhaps one of the greatest “super cars” ever made, the Porsche 959, was on display. It’s another car I dreamed about when I was kid in high school – never thought I’d ever get this close to one, much less see it in Stuttgart:
The museum also has a late model 911 convertible on display that visitors can actually get in and have their photos taken:
The museum also has a “historical archive/workshop” area:
Looking through the glass, I could see a couple of Porsche 356B models (yea!) and a white 924 or 944 up on the rack (double yea!). Alas, when I inquired about going in this area, I was told you have to have a special ticket to use on only special days, and they’re currently back logged/sold out for these tickets until 2014 (bummer).
Overall, I probably enjoyed visiting the Porsche Museum better than any of the three automobile museums I visited while in Germany. For me, there’s something special about Porsche….I’ll always have a soft spot for the brand. I’ll close the article with this photo of myself circa 1990 (I was 20 years old at the time) cleaning my beloved 1987 944:
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