Rennsport Reunion IV

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The Porsche Rennsport Reunion IV was at Laguna Seca this year, largely because the organisers took the opportunity to hold the event the same weekend as the long-planned Porsche Race Car Classic show at Quail Lodge in Carmel. The result was four days of exquisite Porsche overload... pure car porn for the faithful. This was the first time Rennsport Reunion has visited the west coast and expectations were high, to say the least. From my perspective there was little disappointment. An awe-inspiring gathering of historic cars and their fans.

Compared to Daytona the facilities were rather cramped, but that didn't seem to matter to the estimated 60,000 that attended. For participants it meant limited paddock space and no personal vehicles, so everything was shuttled in and out. Track sessions were 20 minutes each, and amazingly the schedules ran on time. Kudos to the track and paddock staff for that.

We'll start with a few photos of the Porsche Garage display, from the first Porsche 911 that raced in the USA (#18, won it's class at Daytona in 1965) to the hybrid that ran Lemans, still battle scarred.

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More historic goodness under the big tent across from our paddock.

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The remarkable but never raced 917-16. Unwieldy, ill-handling, but still amazing.

[demonrunning07]

awesome pictures! Thanks!

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Some random paddock photos - do want a gravity racer... and once, long ago I got a ride from Mr. Akin in the #5 935. :cool:

[henk4]

nice, what is the car to the right of the 906? Is that another Platypus?

[clutch-monkey]

The remarkable but never raced 917-16. Unwieldy, ill-handling, but still amazing.

did the engine make it so? i wish i could hear the it go round the track.

also i really, really want that 904-(6?)

[Dino Scuderia]

A close friend of mine went and he was blown away by the gathering.

Great pics!

I suppose it will be back at Daytona next time...I went to Rennsport 3 there.

[csl177]

nice, what is the car to the right of the 906? Is that another Platypus?
Yes, another photo is below.

did the engine make it so? i wish i could hear the it go round the track.

also i really, really want that 904-(6?)
Had they even started it there would've been a crowd!! A bunch of things about the idea were wrong: the engine weighed too much, wheelbase was too long, and the flat-12 made enough power. It was never planned to be anything but NA, but was estimated if the 16 were turbo'd would make better than 2000HP. Didn't matter: the turbo 12 was cleaning up CanAm anyway.

A close friend of mine went and he was blown away by the gathering.

Great pics!

I suppose it will be back at Daytona next time...I went to Rennsport 3 there.
Kinda hoping for Daytona... I like Laguna, but close to home would be sweeeet. ;)

We didn't have much time to attend the happenings in the Porsche corral, so missed out on the autograph sessions, etc.
Would have liked to see the judging for the scale model concours. :)

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Random shots by others...

[henk4]

fog still there in October?

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Our Thursday and Friday sessions were shaking the car out as we hadn't time after it was finished. Basically, I drove a few laps around the industrial park road before we loaded it on the truck. First time out Thursday morning, I got three laps in and was starting to pick up pace, when the steering locked left entering the Corkscrew. :eek: Luckily it didn't happen at Rainey curve. Wish I'd remembered the vid cam! Anyway, a bolt had come loose; got it free, steering locked up turning back onto the track at the bottom of the Corkscrew... finally made it back into the pits. :( Second session, carb float on #'s 1 & 2 stuck shut, starving the engine, 3 laps only. Cleaned out some crap and session three the opposite happened: float stuck open FLOODING #'s 1 & 2. :o Frustrating.

As a result we never got a quali lap in, but the car felt good. For Saturday's race we started fifth from the end but everything worked right and we made up 5 spots passing, another 3 from cars DNF. Jurgen Barth drove my freind's #42 and was dicing hard, almost winning. When those guys showed up in my mirrors I just got outta the way! Me being lapped (on the final lap) at the Corkscrew... race pics by one of the Early 911S bretheren, otherwise I wouldn't have any. :o

[csl177]

fog still there in October?

Yeah... weather was different each day: sunny and warm Thurs, foggy/cool Friday, same on Saturday burning off by 2PM, clear and comfortable Sunday.

[Ferrer]

Nice to see the car in action, and that after some (truly minor ;)) issues the car came good. :)

[Cobrafan427]

Had they even started it there would've been a crowd!! A bunch of things about the idea were wrong: the engine weighed too much, wheelbase was too long, and the flat-12 made enough power. It was never planned to be anything but NA, but was estimated if the 16 were turbo'd would make better than 2000HP. Didn't matter: the turbo 12 was cleaning up CanAm anyway.


That answers the first question i had but my 2nd one still remains: do they ever run it out on track for special events? i searched wikipedia and there was no article about it and no vids on youtube of it.

Btw nice helmet, is that airbrushed? I have a hockey mask, plain white, that i wanna get painted someday but don't know how to go about doing it

[csl177]

Nice to see the car in action, and that after some (truly minor ;)) issues the car came good. :)
It did, though the steering issue could've made the weekend go pear shaped. Pretty scary, lucky turn in at the Corkscrew is just 30mph.

That answers the first question i had but my 2nd one still remains: do they ever run it out on track for special events? i searched wikipedia and there was no article about it and no vids on youtube of it.

Btw nice helmet, is that airbrushed? I have a hockey mask, plain white, that i wanna get painted someday but don't know how to go about doing it
No, it was never raced and as far as I know, not demonstrated (at least in the US). Maybe it has in Europe?

Thanks... helmet by a guy that does cars, too. I drew what I wanted, he does killer work.
Check around, there's probably someone local to you that airbrushes hockey masks and helmets. ;)

[clutch-monkey]

that is a shame, they break out the 917-30 for demonstrations, i guess if they break the flat 16 there is no replacing it?

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that is a shame, they break out the 917-30 for demonstrations, i guess if they break the flat 16 there is no replacing it?

That would be a very good reason... ;)

A few more track photos, provided by members of the teener and 911S groups. Van Lennep in Piper's 917.

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When the car returns next week, I'll edit the in-car and get it posted to YouTube. Here's some more paddock shots... teeners galore! :rolleyes:

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After Saturday's Eifel Trophy race, all the classes drove parade laps. We tossed a pad & moving blanket in for my wife to ride,
which was a big thrill for her. Then certain cars were selected for a track "concours"... we won a medal for 914/6 GT. :cool:

[Ferrer]

that is a shame, they break out the 917-30 for demonstrations, i guess if they break the flat 16 there is no replacing it?
If they haven't started it in decades, maybe it's already broken...

[henk4]

Was the 59 sister car as original as yours?

I love shot #3, never seen so many people in the pitlane...

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Was the 59 sister car as original as yours?

I love shot #3, never seen so many people in the pitlane...

Well, a very nice a car certainly but it sure isn't #0705... Bob S. built a ringer and most everyone knows it. The real #0705 happened to be at the event BTW, under the Porsche big-top >shhhhh< ;). EDIT: The MOST original GT at this event was undoubtably Jeff Zwart's... spectacular and he's owned it for ages. A great car!

Crowd was really great, exceeded the Daytona attendance. It's very likely RRV will be a west-coast affair, or at least in regular rotation. I'd be surprised if it weren't.

[NSXType-R]

Wow, it looks like a great event!

Thanks for sharing!

I need to post up the rest of my photos.

[Cobrafan427]

No, it was never raced and as far as I know, not demonstrated (at least in the US). Maybe it has in Europe?



That's a shame, i would LOVE to hear the sound of a flat 16, it's gotta be uber unique

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Sadly, the only in-car vid was a few minutes from garage to false grid... then the battery died. Bummer, no race footage.
So, one last gratuitous photograph taken by a friend at the corkscrew. I love this car.

[clutch-monkey]

haha i had a similar thing, mounted go pro, did an awesome lap, pull into the pits, find there is no memory card in it..

[Matra et Alpine]

I turned my vid on twice :)
So had great footage from paddock to start line --- and then presed the record button again :( so nothing !!!!

Back in the days of TAPE (!) I had two big accidents and EACH TIME the video camera had shut down run out of tape the lap BEFORE I had the accident. Swore then to keep an eye on it and if it ever ran out of tape again I was just going to pull in to the pits. Reckoned someone was giving me a message and I should listen :)

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Yeah, turned mine on twice a coupla times, too. I took your advice Peter and have a checklist, but still f#@*ed it up. :o Anyway, here's incar from a guy running through the field in one of the old Ginther 914 EPs. Car has great history, and it was really fun to watch him slice and dice... you can see me move over for him at turn 4 on lap two. It was a pleasure to follow him... such fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvTHJQcKzqQ

[Matra et Alpine]

Makes me want to come over for a season :)
How about - like holiday home swaps - you come to Scotland and compete in our races in mine and I come over there and do yours for a season ? :) Avoids the cost of shipping cars :) :)

Mate's just left to do Jamaican Rally in Ford Anglia and jealous at the idea of competing in the sun and warmth !!!

[chfrank]

Was a blast running with all the 914's, but I noticed in the reunion tv coverage that the 914's were not well featured which is a shame. So many GT's with such amazing historical significance to Porsche and almost no coverage.

[csl177]

Makes me want to come over for a season :)
How about - like holiday home swaps - you come to Scotland and compete in our races in mine and I come over there and do yours for a season ? :) Avoids the cost of shipping cars :) :)

Mate's just left to do Jamaican Rally in Ford Anglia and jealous at the idea of competing in the sun and warmth !!!
Great idea... time for a new business venture, Matra? Trust... but verify. :D

Was a blast running with all the 914's, but I noticed in the reunion tv coverage that the 914's were not well featured which is a shame. So many GT's with such amazing historical significance to Porsche and almost no coverage.
Welcome, chfrank! Yeah, no love for the teeners from the producers. Can't believe Speed didn't mention your amazing run, instead stuck on the BHR #42 and Brumos #58 911s. Besides which they got the drivers mixed up: one by going with the entry list (instead of Jurgen B), the other by confusing WHICH #58. Mine! :rolleyes:

[clutch-monkey]

those 914's look like a blast! i've never been able to get past their looks (call me superficial.. :o ) but they handle like little else.

[csl177]

those 914's look like a blast! i've never been able to get past their looks (call me superficial.. :o ) but they handle like little else.

As to looks, all I can say is glad my tastes coincide with appreciation for performance... behind the wheel, what matters is how it goes. ;)

I like fast toasters. Or picnic baskets. Plus: two trunks! :p

[clutch-monkey]

i spend too much time looking at my cars as they sit on jack stands to own one then :P