Porsche has announced that it will take over the test facility at Nardò in southern Italy from next month. Take over means buy: Porsche Cars GB confirmed to me that that the company has bought the facility.
Nardò has been at the heart of European auto testing programmes for many years, and it sounds like that will continue. This will be a relief to the travelling technicians from many marques who like testing prototype cars and vans in the Italian sun! Some good Porsche friends among them.
The Proving Ground is famous for its 12.5-kilometre high-speed bowl, site of many Porsche speed tests over the years. One of the most impressive was the 200 mph run by the TechArt Cayenne Turbo in 2010. Equipped with 680 horsepower and a TechArt aerodynamic kit, the Cayenne was probably doing a true speed of closer to 215 mph, losing some of it through tyre scrub on the banking.
Nardò’s banking is designed so that there is no lateral force up to 240 km/h, almost 150 mph. Running at this speed in the outside lane of four, the steering wheel does not need to be turned. Interestingly, this is as fast as tests are allowed to be run unless the facility has been booked for exclusive use.
The stable climate at the facility, which is situated slightly inland from Italy’s southeast Mediterranean coastline, means the site can be used all year ’round. When Porsche takes over next month, the priority will be to update some of the facilities before opening the place for proper Porsche business, and making it available to other manufacturers. I look forward to visiting the place myself one day.
Here’s a nice little video of a Porsche 904 prototype from 1963/64 – serial number 904-002 – at the Cars and Coffee event in Irvine, California.
Developed as part of the new 100-car-a-year homologation rules introduced in the early 1960s, Ferdinand A. Porsche is down as saying that the 904 was his favourite Porsche design. Though 904s were initially equipped with the 2-litre four cylinder four cam RSK engine to compete in the under two-litre category, it sounds to me like this car now runs a flat six.
We can see that this prototype has some interesting features. The doors finish at the top of the sill lines: other 904s go down into the sills (see the model box pic above). That rear canopy also looks quite flimsy compared to the later 904 held in the Porsche museum (chassis number 008) which seems much less wavy on video.
My guess would be that early cars went as thin as possible, and the engineers added to the thickness of the fibreglass as development continued: something to read up on later. That said, the finished 904 was a light car. Weight was around 650 kilograms, so it could sprint to 60 in six seconds and on to 160 mph.
The blue colour is interesting: a change from the usual silver. I think metallic colours work better on 904s but a prototype is a prototype: if this is how it left the works, you don’t mess with it.
Ferdinand blogs my freelance adventure with Porsche at the centre. To support the blog or engage with me in other ways, you can:
Porsche friend Hans has just shared this video on Facebook. It’s a feature (in German) on the Porsche 956. Non German speakers, don’t let the language put you off – the video contains some great period footage of the 956 in build and at work. Well worth watching!
Derek Bell usually dominates 956 video. While I could listen to DB ’til the cows came home, it’s a nice change to have some new faces. Here we have the great Jürgen Barth,who won the ’76 Le Mans in the 936 with Ickx and Hurley Haywood, and finished third in 1982, sharing a 956 with Hurley and Al Holbert. Also interviewed are Harald Grohs and Hans Heyer.
Born in Essen, Harald is a veteran of fifty endurance races, and a former 935 & Carrera Cup racer. Former European Touring Car Champion, Hans Heyer will be familiar to anyone who followed DRM (Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft – German Racing Championship) back in the day, as his racing career throughout Europe was legendary. Hans drove just about every touring and sports car of note, up to his retirement from full-time racing in 1985.
Hans Heyer’s New Man Porsche 956 is above, from Rennsport Reunion IV last year. The interview looks to have been filmed at the Kremer works – rather apt as Heyer drove Kremer RSRs in his early years.
Anyway, enjoy the video. I seem to spending all of this afternoon on Youtube – been too long since I did that. Have discovered many wonderful previously unseen videos there (unseen by me) which I’ll share via the Ferdinand Porsche website and magazine over time.
Porsche legend, Hans Herrmann, has been inducted into the Sebring Hall of Fame. Herrmann’s award came this weekend, during the 2012 12 Hours of Sebring.
Hans Hermann, Juan Manuel Fangio, Karl Kling
2012 was the 60th running of the historic half-day race, an event Herrmann (seen above with Fangio and Karl Kling) won twice in his career. In 1960, he won at Sebring in a Porsche 718 RS 60 shared with Oliver Gendebien, winning the Targa Florio in the same year. Having raced in F1 with Maserati, Cooper and BRM, Hans also raced F1 for Porsche. Lack of success prompted a move to Abarth.
A few years later, Hans returned to Zuffenhausen. The team struggled with the 906 for a couple of seasons before finding their feet in 1968, with the awesome 908. Hans again won Sebring, this time alongside Jo Siffert.
The following year, Herrmann’s 908 missed a Le Mans win by a very narrow margin. In 1970, the baker from Stuttgart made up for it by clinching the first win for Porsche at Le Mans in the 917, alongside Richard Attwood. The car was one of just seven finishers in a race of total chaos.
Hans Herrmann was 42 when he won Le Mans: an age that many drivers of his era did not live to see. After the event, he retired from racing but continues to attend many European and US events.
Now the grand age of 84, Herrmann’s importance in the history of Porsche should not be underestimated. Nor should the affection he is held in amongst the Porsche cognoscenti: one chat with the major players at the Porsche Museum speaks volumes about how Stuttgart regards one of its all-time favourite racing sons.
Congratulations Hans! Well deserved, and many more besides.
Ferdinand blogs my freelance adventure with Porsche at the centre. To support the blog or engage with me in other ways, you can:
More great Porsche Rennsport Reunion video has just gone up on Youtube. Some of it is from Friday practice, some from Saturday and Sunday racing. All of it is COOL.
Check the skids, and the height that 911 inside front wheels get to when they’re sliding down the Corkscrew! Awesome!
Porsche Rennsport Reunion Video
About Porsche Rennsport Reunion:
Laguna Seca Raceway hosted Rennsport Reunion IV, the fourth installment of the world’s largest classic Porsche motorsport gathering. Rennsport Reunion is sponsored by Porsche Club of North America, and brings together automotive enthusiasts, owners and collectors of significant Porsche race cars, past and present.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
