I was able to attend my first The Morning Shift Cars & Coffee event back in October. That weekend’s gathering focused on all Porsche 911s starting from 1974 and up through the end of the 964, whose time came to an end in 1993. 1974 was about midway through the original 911s 25-year production run and was the first year of the G-series 911, distinguishable by its trademark “accordion” rubber bumpers.
The event was held at the Porsche Experience Center in Carson, CA, also home to Porsche Motorsports North America, and was what inspired me to begin my series on the history of the original Porsche 911. There was a great turnout of Porsches old and new. This was the first time I really saw the power of the Porsche brand following at a social gathering – it was mind-blowing how many GT3s, GT3RSes, and immaculately restored classic 911s reside with owners in Los Angeles/Orange County, and equally astonishing the amount of wealth circulating to fund such endeavors.
As I made my rounds with my camera, systematically traveling through each row of displayed cars, something caught my eye that was not a Porsche: a red Lamborghini Countach, parked in one of the reserved spots near the front entrance of the PEC (turns out it’s the one Cindy Crawford modeled with). While some young ladies took turns posing in the front seat for their social media photo ops, I started snapping away furiously at the menacing red bull that sat before me. It was then that I noticed a familiar face, and went into my usual routine when I notice someone famous. I asked the gentleman, “Are you Matt Farah?” To which he replied, “Yes, I am,” and politely shook my hand while asking my name.
He explained the reason for arriving with his Italian girlfriend, rather than German, was that his off-road Safari 911, built by Leh Keen of The Keen Project based in Georgia, was being displayed inside the PEC. As it dawned on me that his success as an automotive personality had brought him enough riches to afford such cars, a bystander swooped in to introduce himself to Mr. Farah. I parted ways with Matt by telling him that he is “the car guy,” to which he modestly replied that “I’m just a guy with a bunch of GoPros.”
After the end of the meet, I attended a Tech Session with Porsche Motorsports North America (PMNA), a behind-the-scenes look at the motorsport’s facilities on-site in Carson, made possible by the Porsche Club of Los Angeles. I had put my camera away for the day, so no photos unfortunately, but I was able to look around the garage where they work on customer’s race cars, and learn a little bit about how Porsche’s customer racing program operates. As you would expect, the facility was immaculate.
Our tour group was reminded of the almost incomprehensible level of precision that has made Porsche so successful, as both a manufacturer and in motorsports, in an anecdote delivered by our tour guide, given while we examined the engine dyno room. He explained that all engine dyno results have to be approved by Porsche’s main motorsports branch in Germany. Our host then proceeded to recall an incident where an engine dyno reading was off by 1 horsepower, and that their counterparts in Europe refused to accept the slight discrepancy, checking every possible variable/error that might have caused it. I forget what it was exactly, but they eventually found out what was causing the reading to differ.
It was that story, and other similar tales of Porsche’s obsessive attention to detail (like how they have an official guideline for how to align the Porsche crest on their wheel center caps) that’s helped me understand grown men’s infatuation with Porsche, and why the manufacturer deserves to receive every bit of it.
Thanks for checking out my blog. If these cars were too tame for you, please check out my next post, The Ultimate RWB Porsche FAQ, where I answer lots of common questions about RAUH-Welt BEGRIFF Porsches, and their creator, Akira Nakai.