parham waddell | what’s new

Hamburg, get ready to welcome a new collection of (mostly) Porsche memorabilia in April of 2008. PROTOTYP - Personen, Kraft, Wagen will be housed on two floors of an unidentified historic building, and will showcase classic coupes, one-off racers and a variety of photos and curiosities (including Ferdinand Porsche’s personal watercraft).

[Pictured, middle] A race-prepped Porsche 356A isn’t the most ecological means to get around a racecourse, but it’s hard to argue against it being the classiest, and probably the most fun. It’s interesting to discover that a 1948-1951 production Gmund 356/2 could manage 27-35 miles per gallon of petrol. Nonetheless, it’s fair to say that most automobiles of this type and vintage are rarely driven more than a few hundred miles a year. If that still isn’t green enough, there are options for those seeking the ultimate in emissions-free performance wrapped in a classic package. A few companies offer custom conversions, including World Class Exotics in Florida and Electro Automotive in Seattle. These folks can electrify most anything, even a classic Speedster or 356 coupe (for upwards of $30,000.) Quite a few electric Porsches (and replicas) already exist, such as this torquey 550 Spyder repro built by Peter Ohler and Thunder Ranch.

Speaking of Porsche, the 1900 System Lohner-Porsche is credited with being the world’s first hybrid gas-electric vehicle. In this early iteration of the ultimate greenie status symbol, a Daimler and Panhard engine powered wheel-mounted electric motors (that’s right, wheel mounted!) The carriage itself could reach 35 miles per hour. Impressive, and represents a perfect example of regressive technological applications to solve new (old?) problems.

2.14.08 Update: A very nice 1958 356 outlaw similar to the racer above is available for purchase from Emory Motorsports in Oregon. The cabriolet’s asking price is $70,000 firm. *Disclaimer - we have no affiliation with Emory, but note that they tend to have some very nice track Porsches.

7.29.08 Update: Now that the museum is open, lots of great photos are emerging. Noteworthy images live at CarDomainBlog, Schiffbruch’s Flickr, and Manli’s Lange Nacht der Museum HH 08.