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Hidden Champion - A visit to Marco Marinello

Name: Porsche 356 B Roadster 1962
Brand: Porsche

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Created on April 14, 2023

Text:

Wolfgang Blaube

Photos:

Wolfgang Blaube

Bruno von Rotz

Wolfgang Blaube

Bruno von Rotz

Marco Marinello shows the industrial engine from Porsche

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Take two: Marco Marinello in the 356/1500 convertible with (here well concealed) split windshield

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Hardly any smoke for much: some of the items that make up Marco Marinello's impressive collection of souvenirs were once almost disposed of - like the pressurized ashtray from the customer reception at Porsche Plant I

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One stuck on: starting numbers once worn by Marinello's racing cars adorn the garage wall after their retirement

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Travel souvenirs: self-made signs from countless rallies and Porsche Club meetings spanning five decades

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Yard goods: steering wheels and trophies fill the shelves like file folders elsewhere

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Even Marco Marinello can't do without a file folder: repair guides for air-cooled rear-engine and water-cooled front-engine vehicles

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Colors and interiors for the Porsche 911

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You could use this tool to put together "your" Porsche at the dealer

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A look at the cash book from back then, when a Porsche 356 was worth less than a round of coffee

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Scrap metal for some, gold dust for others: 356 Carrera engine parts. A head unit for two cylinders costs up to 20,000 euros with camshafts - in need of overhaul

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Perfection is enough: replica parts from Elevenparts - slightly to significantly more expensive than the competition for good reason

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Hard currency: 917 twelve-cylinder crankshaft, 908 eight-cylinder cylinder head and distributor. For the equivalent value of these parts, you can almost get a Porsche annual car

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Well-groomed racing: Marco marinello in the 1962 Porsche he bought 32 years ago - and has since driven 182,000 kilometers and through around 50 countries.

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The 356 B/T6 Roadster, which never underwent a full restoration, will soon receive a tuning heart with 1.9-liter displacement and an angry, hopefully durable 150 hp

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Close the door - it draws: The car is usually driven with the top down, except on long journeys. Then the roadster driver raises the soft top, but leaves the rear section open

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Old masters in modern plastic: original Porsche 910 replacement bodywork. High-end collectors know where to find them - and Marinello knows who needs them.

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Easy pickings: Marco Marinello sold his featherweight magnesium wheel for sporty 356s around 1500 times. He used the black 968 as a long-distance machine for years

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Bobsleigh of the ski champions a few years ago: Marco Marinello on Porsche ski bob "Arona 212". As a backdrop in the picture: Porsche gems from the 356/1500 Cabrio (1952, split windshield) to the Junior 108 K tractor

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In the red and white area: aluminum hood of a 356 Carrera GT (sold for 7500 euros), Plexi cover from the Carrera 6 (906) of the famous Swiss Porsche racing driver Claude Haldi.

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Polstergeist: ready-to-ship four-camshaft four-cylinder type 547/4 (1587 cc, 160 hp), suitable for a Porsche 718/RS 60 Spyder

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Patient paper: operating instructions from the early days of Porsche. Bottom left: the first one from 1948 from Gmünd (Austria), made entirely by hand. Supposedly another copy exists worldwide...

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Colorfully driven: Real paint sample cards with seat cover and carpet snippets, once only distributed to salespeople at large dealerships

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Passion page turner Marco Marinello with picture album for original photos of the retouched illustrations in operating manuals, repair guides, special tool catalogs and advertising motifs

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Four of these albums are known worldwide. This cheerful gentleman owns three of them

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A breath of fresh Giza air: Carol and Marco Marinello with 356 B on a visit to the pyramids

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That's how it started back then: Advertisement of the European NLA branch in the Automobil-Revue 1978

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That was a few years ago, when prices were different to today

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Designed ad with Porsche 935 and 917 on offer from Elevenparts, also several years ago

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More badges than radiators: Marinello would need a few more cars to accommodate all the enamel plates in proper styleJPG

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Electrical circuit diagram of the Porsche 356 B on the wall

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Heuer Cavallino - Alarm clock in the shape of Clay Regazzoni's helmet

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Instruments for early Porsche models, more collector's items than spare parts

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Marco Marinello clearly enjoys the cutaway model of the Porsche industrial engine

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Cutaway model of the Porsche 356 industrial engine

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The cutaway model provides an insight into the innards of the Porsche industrial engine

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You can even look into the ignition of the industrial engine

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This industrial engine was reworked as a cutaway model for exhibition purposes

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Exhaust system of the cut-open Porsche industrial engine

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Nameplate of the Porsche industrial engine

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Rally signs from back then, when Marinello was still more active

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Poster designed by an artist especially for Marinello

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Appropriate company car: this Porsche 968 served Marco Marinello as a long-distance car for a long time

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Hardly any smoke for much: some of the items that make up Marco Marinello's impressive souvenir collection were once almost disposed of - like the pressurized ashtray from the customer reception at Porsche Plant I

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Summary

In the north of Zurich, where the A1 grazes the last foothills of Affoltern, Porsche enthusiasts' hearts beat faster - if only they could see what is hidden behind an inconspicuous row of garages. From here, Marco Marinello not only runs his spare parts shop "Elevenparts", but also has a spectacular collection of historic Porsche memorabilia. We visited him in his hideaway and heard all about it: from its humble beginnings to its growth into the factory's own classic department in Zuffenhausen.

This article contains the following chapters

Disorder from own slaughter
For a handful of croissants
From NLA to PSP
Original parts and reproductions
Souvenirs from the early days
Just dreaming?

Estimated reading time: 11min

Preview (beginning of the article)

"75 years of Porsche sports cars": For many, this is a good reason to make a pilgrimage to the magnificent Porsche factory museum in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. However, if you want to admire the early history of the famous manufacturer not through sports cars in the flesh, but through contemporary devotional objects, you would be better off a good 200 kilometers further south - on the northern outskirts of Zurich. That would be because the address is not officially open to the public. This is extremely regrettable. After all, behind the camouflage of the unadorned, easily overlooked row of garages located here resides the holy grail of historical testimonies to the global Porsche brand. Or at least a good part of it. Marco Marinello, the owner of this spectacular collection of devotional objects, deserves at least as much attention: after all, the jovial-looking Swiss man is nothing less than the forefather of Porsche's own classic car department. The fact that he runs a highly specialized trade in spare parts for historic Porsches with his company Elevenparts AG is almost a minor matter.

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