As Tom Cruise in the 1983 movie ‘Risky Business’ pulls over to drop his
friend off in his father’s Porsche 928 , Tom Cruise quotes “Porsche, there is
no substitute”.
Ferdinand Porsche ‘Volkswagen’
In the 80’s my uncle lusted after the Porsche 928 big time, his ultimate object of desire.
That movie product placement hammered it home, so he did buy an 928 soon after.
This was just one of many of my families car memories that sparked a desire to maybe
one day get something equally as beautiful for myself. Here at Cars N Coffee Liverpool,
we frequently celebrate and drool over such magnificent machinery. We received a
touching letter from one lady member who wrote thanking us for educating her son
and drove him to knuckle down and do well in school, to aim high, as anything is
possible if you work hard. The awe in his eyes reminded me of myself when I was a kid
dreaming about Porsche.
If you are a car guy/girl, the question, just like football, is which tribe do you belong?
Are you into Japanese, French, American or German cars? Growing up as a child in a
VW loving family, Volkswagens were a no-brainer for me. My first driving lesson was
in a VW mk2 Golf, my first car was a 1983 Volkswagen Polo Boulevard 1.3 and my first
restoration project was a Mk1 Golf GTI Campaign. Top left pic is me in a Mk1 TT on
the cover of a VW magazine in 2007 - ‘Stormin’ Norman!’
But why my love of Porsche? You could say its a natural progression from Volkswagens.
Afterall, a Porsche 911 has the same DNA as a VW Beetle.
Porsche was founded in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche. The first assignments the new
company received was from the German government to design a ‘car for the people’, a
“Volkswagen”. This resulted in the Volkswagen Beetle, one of the most successful car
designs of all time.
During World War 2, Volkswagen production turned to the military version of the
Volkswagen Beetle, the Kubelwagen, Schwimmwagen and we believe even tanks.
At the end of World War II in 1945, the Volkswagen factory fell to the British and
Ferdinand lost his position as Chairman when was arrested for war crimes. During
his 20-month imprisonment, Ferdinand Porsche’s son, Ferry Porsche, decided to
build his own car. A sports car known as the 356. A lightweight and nimble-handling,
rear-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-door, available both in hardtop coupé and open
configurations. Engineering innovations continued during the years of manufacture,
contributing to its motorsport success and incredible popularity. Production started in
1948 at Gmund, Austria, where approximately 50 cars were built. In 1950 the factory
relocated to Zuffenhausen, Germany, and general production of the 356 continued
until April 1965, well after the replacement model The 911 made its autumn 1964
debut. Through 7 generations, the 911 model is still in production and still remains
the most popular supercar.James Dean, Jerry Seinfeld, Paul Newman, Steve McQueen,
George Harrison, Adam Levine all love(d) Porsches!!
Hopefully we can have a Cars N Coffee meeting at Chung Ku Restaurant soon, as
lockdown easing measures are happening much quicker than expected (I’ve even had
a hair cut). Can’t wait to see you again! Stay in touch [email protected]
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