Since October 29, 2013, Porsche has been celebrating its super sports cars with a special show at the Porsche Museum.
With timeless classics such as the 356 and the 911, the sports car manufacturer from Zuffenhausen has built up a unique reputation in the automotive world since 1948. But over the past six decades, Porsche has also repeatedly presented particularly exclusive super sports cars, which will be on display until March 16, 2014 as part of the new special show "60 Years of Super Sports Cars" at the Porsche Museum.
On display for the first time - Ahrens-Porsche 550 from 1955
Among the exhibits are items that have never been presented to the public before. For example, the first 550 Spyder sold to a private customer, which was handed over to racing driver Kurt Ahrens in January 1955, will be on display.
The 550 Spyder's engine, known as the "Fuhrmann engine", is as legendary today as the vehicle itself. The four-cylinder boxer equipped with four overhead camshafts is considered one of the most successful Porsche engines ever and will also be on display in the special show.
Another legendary super sports car is the 904 Carrera GTS. As an all-rounder, it proved its sporting prowess on all terrains of motor racing and achieved over 300 race victories between its presentation in 1963 and the mid-1970s.
Karajan-911 Turbo RS
Visitors can also look forward to a 911 Turbo RS that is unique in the world. This special vehicle is the only 911 Turbo to be given a lightweight Carrera RS body at the request of star conductor Herbert von Karajan and will go down in music history as the title motif of the album "Famous Overtures", which is recorded with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
The milestone Porsche 959 S
Among the high-horsepower exhibits, it is probably the best-known technology bearer and far ahead of its generation: the Porsche 959 S, which emerged from a study presented at the 1983 IAA, which demonstrated what was technically feasible and pointed the way for future generations of sports cars. The multitude of its innovations and technologies is so impressive that the 959 should not be missing from the special show as a milestone in automotive history.
The 911 GT1 proves once again that there is a racing car in every Porsche: as a small homologation series of just 21 units, a road-going version of the GT1, which first raced at Le Mans in 1996, was created whose performance eclipsed everything that had gone before. The technical ingredients of the 911 GT1 came directly from the race track.
The Porsche Carrera GT, which was initially presented as a study in Paris in 2000, rounds off the special show. This super sports car was primarily intended to transfer the character of a racing car to that of a production car and thus enable maximum driving pleasure, while the special design transferred the Porsche design language into the new millennium.
The Porsche Museum is open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm. Admission costs eight euros for adults and four euros for concessions. Further information is available on the museum website.
