Porsche Factory Museum Tour

[BSM]

Some pics from the Porsche factory musuem... I took these about 2 years ago at the "old" museum (the new museum had just started construction). Not great pics (weak camera), and I left out a bunch b/c of the 10-pic limit per post, but you get the idea... Can't wait for the new museum to open! The very first Porsche, #001... note pic in background (Dr. Porsche and son w/ this car). The 356 Light Alloy Coupe #46, Porsche's first Le Mans entrant in 1948... The 908/02 Spyder that won Brands Hatch in 1969 - 360 bhp weighing only 600 kilos! 1973 Carrera RSR that won the very last Targa Florio... 911 Carrera RSR Turbo 2.1, the first of all turbo powered Porsche's... The very first 911 shown at the Frankfurt Auto Show in 1963... 917 Long-tail Coupe that won Le Mans outright in 1970... 12 cylinders and 620 bhp of fun! The 956 C driven by Derek Bell and Hans Stuck - won Le Mans... this car along w/ others of same model won Le Mans 7 times. This 956 C won Le Mans in 1987. 911 GT1 from 1998 that won Le Mans...

[Dan98]

Are you allowed to take interior shots or you need to know someone there to give you a VIP or Press status ?

[BSM]

Originally Posted by Dan98

Are you allowed to take interior shots or you need to know someone there to give you a VIP or Press status ?

Not 100% sure... Anyone can go into the museum for a nominal fee at the door. You're asked to not touch the cars, but you can walk right up to them (no barriers). For interior shots I'm sure you would need some special status/permission, not sure if anyone other than Porsche employees can do this.

Also, I also did the factory tour that same day (reservations direct or w/ your local Porsche dealer are required) and was not allowed to take my camera inside (they claim for competitive reasons)... was really a shame b/c the factory floor tour was amazing, and I wish I could have shared the moments I experienced watching cars being built (even a 997 GT3 Cup car off to the side near the "exclusive" dept). Watching the engines being hand-assembled and tested was spectacular. The inventory management system and automated spot-delivery of each part to the car as its being assembled is an impressive sight...

[neijia]

Damn, I need to get away more. That 962 doesn't deserve to be caged up like a lab animal... set them free!

[Dino V]

Thanks for sharing the great pics!

[ZEMDOGG]

Wow beautiful pics love that GT1!!!!!!

[Tom(Atl)]

BSM - thanks for sharing. Did you sneak any pics during the factory tour itself?

How was the porsche factory different from other factories you may have visited?

[lilstan]

Thanks for sharing, nice pictures? Call me stupid, but where is the porsche museum?

[BSM]

Originally Posted by lilstan

Thanks for sharing, nice pictures? Call me stupid, but where is the porsche museum?

Porsche Museum is a small building right on the factory grounds in Zuffenhausen, a suburb of Stuttgart (which BTW means "stud garden" in German - the town was originally famous for raising coveted thoroughbreds - note that that black stallion shield inside the Porsche badge is in fact the crest of the city of Stuttgart). This museum is a bit small, can only house roughly 20 cars or so... which was disappointing in the past because the museum collection is actually quite large, so the cars have always been on rotation (I was sad they didn't have the "Pink Pig" 917 on display). The "new" museum (much bigger) has been under construction for couple years now, I think is soon to be open, or might already be - not sure. The new museum will be located opposite the factory, and I believe part of this structure will also house an actual Stuttgart Porsche dealership.

Details here for "old" museum, I think remains open until "new" musuem is complete...

http://www.porsche.com/international/faq/museum/

Here is a LARGE PDF (takes a while to download, be patient) previewing the '"new" museum...

http://www.porsche.com/filestore.asp...letype=default

Looks amazing. I've visited the Audi musuem (Ingolstadt) and just recently the Mercedes museum (Stuttgart). The Audi and Mercedes museums themselves are works of art - the archtecture is stunning for both, and looks like Porsche is set to do the same.

[BSM]

Originally Posted by Tom(Atl)

BSM - thanks for sharing. Did you sneak any pics during the factory tour itself?

How was the porsche factory different from other factories you may have visited?

Unfortunately I was unable to snap any pics from inside the factory... the tour guide was rather strict about their "no cameras" policy - they even asked the group to leave mobile phones aside (to avoid any camera phone shots).

Not sure how this compares to other factory tours as this is the only one that I have done... When I visited Audi and Mercedes I only had enough time to see the museums.

[Tom(Atl)]

Originally Posted by BSM

Unfortunately I was unable to snap any pics from inside the factory... the tour guide was rather strict about their "no cameras" policy - they even asked the group to leave mobile phones aside (to avoid any camera phone shots).

Not sure how this compares to other factory tours as this is the only one that I have done... When I visited Audi and Mercedes I only had enough time to see the museums.

Interesting. Actually the Corvette factory tour in Bowling Green, KY was the same way too.

[mr.rhtuner]

Very awesome...I'd love to go back to german and visit the museum's

[Enilder]

cool pictures
like to see more pictures if possible

[Tom(Atl)]

Originally Posted by mr.rhtuner

Very awesome...I'd love to go back to german and visit the museum's

Just make sure you book well in advance if you need the English tour!

[Cheyco]

Originally Posted by BSM

This museum is a bit small, can only house roughly 20 cars or so... which was disappointing in the past because the museum collection is actually quite large, so the cars have always been on rotation (I was sad they didn't have the "Pink Pig" 917 on display).

That one was on display when I was there in '04, along with a pearlescent white 959. There was also an employee screwing around with the Carrera GT and he started it up. What a racket! Instant wood...