Quote:
Carlos from Spain said:
I would like to know more about the picture...
"... one of the world's most famous journalists Doug Nye replied telling he was there.
Here's what he wrote :
I was there. I'm in the photo, the receding hairline just visible behind DSJ on the extreme right. It's Weissach test track of course, and the event was a Porsche Weissach open day, presenting the newly developed centre to the specialist press.
I think it was about July or August time, 1972 - the year that Penske introduced the Porsche Panzer CanAm turbo Spyder in the US? In fact we happened upon Mark Donohue there with the extremely tatty, lashed-up 917/10 prototype Spyder, on test. He seemed extremely surprised, embarrassed and diffident when he found himself surrounded by press men.
I wrote up the car with pix for the following week's 'Autosport' magazine, and heard later that Roger Penske went apeshit at Porsche because he had a major press launch planned for the US in which the car would be sprung upon the media there as a completely unheralded surprise - shock and awe!
The car in the photo is the works 'red fire engine' 917K driven by 'old Mimmler', the resident test driver who knew the entire selection of alternative test tracks at Weissach.
Reading from right to left amongst the right-side group that is Jenks (Denis Jenkinson) of course and the dark haired head just behind him is yours truly, with (facing left) Tony Curtis of 'Motor' magazine, then the tall figure of John Aldington, head of Porsche Cars (GB) and in the foreground with the camera round his neck is a journalist whose name I'm afraid I forget, I believe from 'Autocar'. then a fellow whom I really do not recall at all. Looking at this again, I think this is indeed Dr Helmut Bott, chief engineer, who has just photographed rather oddly in this shot), then Der Baron of course...Fritz Huschke von NSKK himself.
This photo was taken at the test-circle end of the Weissach grounds, just at the end of the rough-road area where lane-width strips of Belgian pavee, broken rocks etc are interspersed by strips of alternative smoother surfaces. This jump had been set up on one of the smooth-surface strips, I presume to demonstrate endurance testing in preparation for something like the Nurburgring, with yumps to be endured...(or perhaps just for a bit of fun on this open day????)
This was the day on which we were all ushered into the engine test house to see a new turbocharged 917 flat-12 running on the dyno, blammm!!...the dyno indicator needle wound round the dial like that on a weighing machine with me jumping on it off a wall, and Peter Falk I think it was - the engineer in residence - who announced flatly "Gentlemen - ein souzand horzpower!".
DCN
PS - Mimmler took each of us in turn for a lap or two of one of the circuits, and rather impressive it was too. I remember thinking as he tossed the 917 flat-out into one blind right hander for which I'd been braking hard, forcing my right foot against the pedal-less bulkead, 200 metres earlier, "Blimey, if this is what it's like with 'old Mimmler' driving, whatever must it be like with Seppi or Pedro on maximum CHARGE!...".
So I guess the problem is solved !
Luc"