We decided to visit the Porsche museum last week, now that it's open. If you've seen our previous post on visiting a Porsche museum, well, that was the OLD one. That Porsche museum was small, didn't have very many cars, and didn't really explain the Porsche story very well. In addition to these disapointments, the previous museum was hard to find, and parking was near-impossible.
The new museum is quite different. It's relatively easy to find, and is huge in terms of scale. It is, quite literally- a monument to modern German architecture, both inside and out. Parking is integrated into the basement of the museum, too.
Overall, the visit was fun. We enjoyed seeing all the cars. Visits to the Mercedes and Porsche museums are really helpful to make sure you spell everything correctly on your Christmas lists. The museum's disapointments were few, but major. First, there was only 2 floors (or thereabout- the floors went up in a kind of corkscrew-like ramp), and there wasn't much focus on the early history of Dr. Porsche or the brand.
Porsche started out working with various car companies, including Daimler of pre-Daimler-Benz fame, and was simply an engineer, making vehicles better. There were very few vehicles that highlighted these early achievements. One of the most interesting was the fire truck that Porsche designed. He liked more than anything to design straightforward, purpose built utilitarian vehicles. The fire truck was a favorite of his because it 1) Had to carry a bunch of people, 2) Had to carry firefighting gear, pumps, tanks, etc. and 3) Had to go fast. The one in the pictures below ended up serving in three fire departments for over 40 years of service.
Porsche eventually ended up designing his own sports car, because he went looking for his dream car, and didn't find it, so he decided he'd build it. I imagine he'd had enough exposure to various car companies that he figured he could do fairly well in the business, too.
The Museum wasn't nearly as impressive as the Mercedes museum, but that should be understandable when you compare the contrbutions of the two companies: Porsche is and has always been, more or less a niche car company, making exclusive sports cars. Mercedes literally invented the automobile, and has gone on to produce an extremely wide oeuvre of vehicles, from buses to garbage trucks, to tractors, to touring cars, to sports cars, to luxury automobiles. It's hard not to make comparisons between the two museums, but comparisons on content are unfair.
Porsche's designs have been a slow evolution following a similar design. The very first Porsche designs bear a striking resemblance to the latest 911. In his pursuit of being the best at building fast cars, Porsche constantly challenged himself and his engineers to build better engines, lighter cars, and create aerodynamic forms, while keeping a liveable, artistically beautiful design aesthetic. The museum does very well in highlighting the engineering that goes into these vehicles. A few favorite displays were one where a Porsche race car was mounted upside down above you while you read the explanation of what "downforce" is, and how, once the car above you achieved a certain speed, it could theoretically drive upside down, due to the downforce suction achieved between the car and the road. The other favorite display was a series of three pressure-sensitive circles in the floor where you could stand on them, and hear and feel the sounds of various Porsches. (The sound and feel of a modern 911 is a smooth low rumble that you can barely feel, but the sound and feel of a older 911 is very much like an old VW Beetle, with a similar slight but comfortable vibration.) I like the classic cars better, I think.
Some of our favorite cars were the tractor, the "pink pig," (a race car painted pink with white dashed lines to resemble a butcher's chart), and any number of early 911s.
Some of the interesting cars (for various reasons) were a German military scout vehicle, a tractor, an early concept version of the Boxster that had high wheel arches and an ugly zippered convertible top, and a 5-door station wagon concept car Porsche built.
BELOW: I think I like the coupes better than the silver speedster Kristin favored.
The level of detail and approachability (very few cars were cordoned off by sashes or cords) of the cars was great. We decided to take some artistic pictures of ourselves in the high-gloss paint and waxed finishes.
What gives? A VW in the Porsche museum? In contrast to the Mercedes' museum more honest-feeling approach, very little mention was made of Porsche's contributions to the Third Reich during WWII. A history of Porsche is incomplete without at least a passing mention made of the collaborative effort between Dr. Porsche and Hitler, however. On Hitler's request, they sought to make a basic, small, affordable car available to the people (or "Volk"). After several disagreements about quality of material versus price, the Volkswagen was born. It was initially called by it's type code, but eventually became known as the "Beetle," due to it's resemblance to the insect, especially when it had louvered rear windows.
Can you see me in a VW?
The Mercedes Garbage truck comes close, but what's cooler than a Porsche fire truck?
The new museum is quite different. It's relatively easy to find, and is huge in terms of scale. It is, quite literally- a monument to modern German architecture, both inside and out. Parking is integrated into the basement of the museum, too.
Overall, the visit was fun. We enjoyed seeing all the cars. Visits to the Mercedes and Porsche museums are really helpful to make sure you spell everything correctly on your Christmas lists. The museum's disapointments were few, but major. First, there was only 2 floors (or thereabout- the floors went up in a kind of corkscrew-like ramp), and there wasn't much focus on the early history of Dr. Porsche or the brand.
Porsche started out working with various car companies, including Daimler of pre-Daimler-Benz fame, and was simply an engineer, making vehicles better. There were very few vehicles that highlighted these early achievements. One of the most interesting was the fire truck that Porsche designed. He liked more than anything to design straightforward, purpose built utilitarian vehicles. The fire truck was a favorite of his because it 1) Had to carry a bunch of people, 2) Had to carry firefighting gear, pumps, tanks, etc. and 3) Had to go fast. The one in the pictures below ended up serving in three fire departments for over 40 years of service.
Porsche eventually ended up designing his own sports car, because he went looking for his dream car, and didn't find it, so he decided he'd build it. I imagine he'd had enough exposure to various car companies that he figured he could do fairly well in the business, too.
The Museum wasn't nearly as impressive as the Mercedes museum, but that should be understandable when you compare the contrbutions of the two companies: Porsche is and has always been, more or less a niche car company, making exclusive sports cars. Mercedes literally invented the automobile, and has gone on to produce an extremely wide oeuvre of vehicles, from buses to garbage trucks, to tractors, to touring cars, to sports cars, to luxury automobiles. It's hard not to make comparisons between the two museums, but comparisons on content are unfair.
Porsche's designs have been a slow evolution following a similar design. The very first Porsche designs bear a striking resemblance to the latest 911. In his pursuit of being the best at building fast cars, Porsche constantly challenged himself and his engineers to build better engines, lighter cars, and create aerodynamic forms, while keeping a liveable, artistically beautiful design aesthetic. The museum does very well in highlighting the engineering that goes into these vehicles. A few favorite displays were one where a Porsche race car was mounted upside down above you while you read the explanation of what "downforce" is, and how, once the car above you achieved a certain speed, it could theoretically drive upside down, due to the downforce suction achieved between the car and the road. The other favorite display was a series of three pressure-sensitive circles in the floor where you could stand on them, and hear and feel the sounds of various Porsches. (The sound and feel of a modern 911 is a smooth low rumble that you can barely feel, but the sound and feel of a older 911 is very much like an old VW Beetle, with a similar slight but comfortable vibration.) I like the classic cars better, I think.
Some of our favorite cars were the tractor, the "pink pig," (a race car painted pink with white dashed lines to resemble a butcher's chart), and any number of early 911s.
Some of the interesting cars (for various reasons) were a German military scout vehicle, a tractor, an early concept version of the Boxster that had high wheel arches and an ugly zippered convertible top, and a 5-door station wagon concept car Porsche built.
BELOW: I think I like the coupes better than the silver speedster Kristin favored.
The level of detail and approachability (very few cars were cordoned off by sashes or cords) of the cars was great. We decided to take some artistic pictures of ourselves in the high-gloss paint and waxed finishes.
What gives? A VW in the Porsche museum? In contrast to the Mercedes' museum more honest-feeling approach, very little mention was made of Porsche's contributions to the Third Reich during WWII. A history of Porsche is incomplete without at least a passing mention made of the collaborative effort between Dr. Porsche and Hitler, however. On Hitler's request, they sought to make a basic, small, affordable car available to the people (or "Volk"). After several disagreements about quality of material versus price, the Volkswagen was born. It was initially called by it's type code, but eventually became known as the "Beetle," due to it's resemblance to the insect, especially when it had louvered rear windows.
Can you see me in a VW?
The Mercedes Garbage truck comes close, but what's cooler than a Porsche fire truck?
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