by John Glynn | Feb 23, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog
The name Ferdinand comes from an old Spanish conjuncture of faro, meaning journey and nano, meaning brave. Brought to Austria by the Habsburg dynasty, it spread from there to France, but the origins of Ferdinand are rooted in Iberia, as a traditional name in the house of Castile. In Spain and Portugal, the name is Fernando.
Of course we always have Ferdinand in mind, but we remember a different Fernando today. He is Adolf Ferdinand (Fernando) Roy Stock (above, in the shades): Portugal’s first ever rally champion, finished third in the Tour of Europe and was an Iberian champion in Porsche and Mercedes. Born February 23, 1914, Fernando was celebrated by his family today. Brother Jose sent me a note for his anniversary, and so we remember him too.
Seen here on the 1953 Monte Carlo Rally, Fernando was given the number one plate as lead car on the event. One of 112 participants to depart for Monaco from Lisbon, Fernando and co-driver Pinto Basto drove their early 356 1500 Coupe as one of a record 404 total starters and a highly appropriate 356 finishers.
For all the appropriateness of the finishing tally, Monte Carlo ’53 was not kind to the Porsches. Several of the 356s entered were excluded for being 2cm too low overall, the subsequent furore compounds the mockery earned by Monte organisers over the years. Remember the Mini Coopers.
So many people confuse great Porsches with pristine, ultimate speed machines. But real Porsche is here in these pictures. It is hope and ambition, struggle and risk, joy and pain. Motorsport teaches us highs and lows: don’t forget that all Porsches are born of racing.
Obrigado Fernando, and all those Porsche pioneers. Still a big part of our family!
by John Glynn | Feb 3, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Porsche News
Excellent email from a Ferdinand reader in Brazil, who shares this picture of his family’s Porsche 356 Speedster. This 356 Speedster was originally owned by Ferry Porsche.
Bought by his dad in 1981, the car came via a young Brazilian Porsche racer who was sadly killed at Le Mans, then a local businessman and through a series of family friends. Eventually found unloved and in need of restoration, the Speedster was brought back to life and has been enjoyed as a living, driving entity ever since.
“It’s not a concours car by any means,” says the owner, “but it is in good shape. We like to drive it on weekends, and go to our local events, so we prefer to have a road-going car, than just a piece of art standing still.”
I’m getting a few more details. It’s an early chassis number for the Type 2 models, shown on the Porsche Kardex as a “Versuchwagen” fur T-2 (T2 prototype), and listed as first owned by Ferdinand Porsche Junior (Ferry Porsche).
Absolutely super cool. Colour changed from Aquamarine to Red somewhere down the line, but easy change it back if you consider that important. Ferry would be happy that it’s still in use and bringing joy.
by John Glynn | Jul 15, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
I love the daily drivers used by some of my Porsche friends around the world. The Californian climate allows the use of proper oldies, as is the case with this 1965 911, just pressed into service by a SoCal superstar: Hans Lapine at Kundensport in Camarillo, CA.
“It’s a 1965 2.0, with a bit more ooomph,” says Hans in his Facebook thread announcing the car. A bit more ooomph is right, as bluey runs an Andial-built engine. “The add-ons will be original rollbar, Scheel seats, my old Britax harness and maybe an old Momo steering wheel.” Soaked in the patina of a fascinating history, this 302-numbered chassis will provide some smiles in the months ahead.
Someone once said “time is a great healer, but a lousy beautician”. Based on what we see here, I’m inclined to disagree. Sun-bleached short wheelbase cars are the way forward!
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by John Glynn | Mar 24, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Race and Rally
The intrepid WEVO Porsche team has reached the tip of South America in the 2013 Great South America Challenge.
The month-long rally drew to a close in Ushuaia, with landing-craft transport across the Straits of Magellan, from Patagonia to the southernmost tip of this epic continent. High winds and dirt roads kept the teams honest in Argentina, but WEVO’s Hayden Burvill reports the rally as much tamer than previous marathon events including Peking to Paris, and London to Cape Town.
“Not much to report, no challenge for Lola, me or Steven. Great scenery and a lovely introduction to Argentina, that will lead to future visits, hopefully on better rallies! The event is now officially finished: we finished 1st in class, 2nd overall. Good fun being with my two drivers thsi time out and great to be 54deg South.”
Not sure what marathon is coming up next. Porsche friend Alastair Caldwell is just back from a month-long thrash through India in his Pagoda Mercedes and his in-house mechanic has finished refurbing a classic Rolls Royce after its last rally event.
Tuthill Porsche is working on cars for the next Peking-Paris and the forthcoming London-Sydney, which should both be interesting. I’m looking forward to more desert miles to blog about.
by John Glynn | Mar 2, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Porsche News
Day 17 of the WEVO Porsche 356 South America rally and the boys are driving from Cusco to Arequipa: around 600 kilometres.
Thanks to Yellowbrick GPS technology carried on board the cars, you can track their progress on the rally home page under ‘results‘. Here are a few screen shots demonstrating what is possible.
Time now in Cusco is 08:22, and here is their current position. Untick everything except the Class C box to see the cars in their group.
This is a wider view of the route so far plotted by GPS: it likes to use a straight line to minimise data points stored. Bit of a pain when map data is overlaid but not much choice here.
