Too many carmakers’ material history is either crushed, sold off, or left to molder. That is, the race cars, concept cars, prototypes, failed production cars, oddities, and dead ends that represent the work of a company, in addition to its successful production cars. If we enthusiasts are lucky, a carmaker will create a publicly accessible museum in which to show off its gems. But a company will often squirrel away its weirdest, most varied, and sometimes embarrassing vehicles in unmarked warehouses, where they live in perpetual quiet, rarely brought out for display, if at all.
This story originally appeared in Volume 30 of Road & Track.
Porsche is one such carmaker. Road & Track was granted access to Porsche’s warehouse on the condition that its location not be revealed. Hint: It is somewhere in mainland Europe. Figuring out the specific location is up to you.
(left) It’s hard to focus on the rows upon rows of production and sports cars when there’s a 907 staring you in the face. (right) Clockwise from top: The 919 Hybrid LMP1 racer earned three consecutive Le Mans victories, and its 919 Evo sibling set multiple track records; the 804, Porsche’s only F1 race winner from 1962; a view of the 907’s hindquarters; Porsche’s lightest racer ever, the 909 Bergspyder hill-climb car, which used titanium for both its fuel cell and its suspension springs.Will Crooks
(left) When Porsche needed a car for the 1981 24 Hours of Le Mans on short notice, it updated the ’76 and ’77 winner straight from the museum. Renamed the 936/81 Spyder, it took the overall win. (right) Somehow, the streetgoing 911 in the foreground looks worse for wear than the car beside it, a 911 SC Safari that took second at the grueling 1978 East African Safari Rally.Will Crooks
Top row, from left: A 959 spare body; the 2708 kicked off an unsuccessful effort in the CART series in late 1987; a pair of 911 GT1 spare chassis. Middle row: Two Porsche-powered, March-chassis cars from the CART era; unnamed design study; one more Porsche-March. Bottom row: An early variant of the 910/8 Bergspyder that won the 1967 and ’68 European Hill Climb Championship; a 906 Longtail, the first racer developed under then–R&D boss Ferdinand Piëch; the six-cylinder 910/6 was built for endurance racing and led to the 917; a Carrera GT Prototype.Will Crooks
(left) Revealed at the 1987 Frankfurt auto show, the 911 Carrera 3.2 Speedster Clubsport concept was, er, cozy. (right) Multiple generations of 911s intermingle inside the collection hall. That’s a 1992 Carrera 2 Speedster fourth from the front.Will Crooks
Many of the cars in the collection, like this 906 Longtail, fall somewhere between as-raced and fully restored, which is not the sort of condition you’ll find in an official museum display. Thankfully, Porsche still holds on to these cars for posterity, future rejuvenation, or historical reference.Will Crooks
(left) Some cars remain under wraps, known only to the curators. The 928 with a giant muffler on the rear hatch would be recognizable even with a cover. This vehicle was used to research drive-by noise characteristics. (right) The 550 Spyder won its class in the final Carrera Panamericana race in 1954. Subsequent road cars with the “Carrera” engine were given the name in tribute.Will Crooks
The variety inside the frosted-glass walls is staggering, with development cars that look like mad-science projects, prototypes of long-rumored future models, Le Mans– and F1-winning race cars, unremarkable examples of the most ordinary production models, bizarre concept cars lost to history, and, of course, a tractor. Welcome inside.
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