Porsche Factory Tour
Hi,
well here is the story and comments about our visit to the Porsche
factory during our recent trip to Europe. Most of this is what I remember from the tour, so I may be corrected!
- Gary Faas
Before we went I made contact with the German Porsche 928 club to try
and arrange meeting with a couple of the members. Unfortunately it was a bit
late notice once I eventually got onto the right person, and also most of
the sharks were still in hibernation (end of snow season and licences are much
cheaper if you only register for part of the year). Anyway, we managed to meet up with one owner
and his girlfriend (Dieter and Sandra) who met us at the hotel and
presented us with a 928 Club cap, a 928 badge (hand sewn by one of the members) and a large poster-sized photo of a
group of 928s during one of their outings! It made us feel a little embarrassed as we only had a couple of pins from the Porsche Club of Western
Australia - but they were still very surprised and delighted with this.
They both took the day off work to show us around Stuttgart including the
cogwheel tramway and on the various public transport systems, and then to the
incredible Mercedes Museum. This is a huge Museum inside the Merc factory
that has a free shuttle bus and free entrance including a personal self-guide
audio tour device in various languages. This was the best display of old
and new cars I have seen including some of the first cars ever made and the fastest car
ever on the German Autobahn - 427km/hr!
After that they took us to the TV Tower which overlooks Stuttgart
and has a Cafe up top. Here we had a coffee break and met another 928 owner,
Oliver. We were quite pleased that both of them were about 30 years old (similar age
to us) as we were half expected a couple of old guys (you know, the ones in
their 40's) :-). I showed them some photos of my 928 (including the burnt out wreckage of my
previous one) and the Porsche Club over here, and they showed us an album of
photos including a 928 outing to Alsace in France. I think they have about 200
members in the club.
They had left their 928s at the TV Tower, so afterwards we had a good look
at their cars - both '87 S4 models (the same as mine). The guy that met us
there had special body fenders with very small in-set headlights that don't
pop-up. Quite unusual, and sure to spark some controversy amongst the purists. I will see if I have a photo to post to the list later.
After that we went with them (in Oliver's 928 - me in the front right hand
side - 'where is the steering wheel?' and Maureen in the back) to a local
restaurant and had a great meal.
At the end of the night they asked if we would like to go to a club or
something - but we had to wake up very early the next morning, then he suggested maybe dropping us back via the
Autobahn!! After the couple of milliseconds it took me to decide we were off!
Yep, Mo in the back seat and me in the front onto the Autobahn
we went. He said he would have to be a bit careful because it was quite foggy
and the roads were damp. Anyway he cruised around 220-255, peaking at about 260kph
woohoo!! I think we were half way to Moscow before he turned around ('because there was a speed limit in the next bit'...). We were flashing
past trucks and 'normal' cars like they were standing still (probably only
doing 180 - why would you bother) :-) . Just then he proved that the ABS
worked as a Japanese Roller-skate (not quite what he said) pulled into our
lane - doh - had to slow to under 200.
What a hoot - it took weeks for the grin to disappear
...!
During the Porsche factory tour the next day one of the guys commented on
what it must be like on the Autobahn - so I casually mentioned my escapade
as a guest of a Porsche club member the night before.
Anyway, have a look at their web page http://www.porsche-club-928.de/ it is
in German, but it has a translate button down the bottom of the page which
uses Babelfish
and is not too bad.
OK, how many other members have an exclusive German 928 Club
cap? Maybe
I'll just have to drive over east and show you .... =)
Cheers, Gary and Maureen ('Mo') Faas (still with cheesy grin)
'87 S4 Perth Western Australia
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