AUTHOR Leffingwell

    Hard

    ENGLISH

ISBN 10     0760320926

ISBN 13     9780760320921

OUT OF PRINT -- Currently Unavailable @ BLOCKS BOOKS

TITLE     Porsche 911 Perfection by Design 

AUTHOR Leffingwell

    Soft

    ENGLISH

ISBN 10     0760329753

ISBN 13     9780760329757

PRICE             $22.00

LIST PRICE     $27.95

STOCKED @ BLOCKS BOOKS

FROM MY REVIEW IN THE 356 REGISTRY:

Porsche 911 Perfection by Design, a recent and excellent history with Randy’s usual superb photographs, I thought it to be a very reasonable buy at $49.95.  It has been reissued as a slightly smaller format with soft cover at $27.95 – making it a superb value.

AUTHOR     Leffingwell

    ENGLISH

ISBN 10         0760334836

ISBN 13         9780760334836

PRICE             $48.00

LIST PRICE     $59.95

AVAILABLE @ BLOCKS BOOKS

FROM MY REVIEW IN THE 356 REGISTRY

Porsche Sixty Years is Randy Leffingwell’s latest reasonably priced lush coffee table entry.  At $60.00 for 346 pages of beautifully photographed, reproduced and printed images, it is a steal on a pound per dollar basis.  Even better at least half of the photographs are new.  Randy himself is one of the big time Porsche photographers and the opening of the factory Arkivs continues.  However, the photographs are separated by words. As first seen in his Porsche Legends, the words are best when expressed as quotes. 

In spite of two closely printed pages of acknowledgements the history is replete with errors some blatant – the Typ 60 10K was the 10 car built – actually it was VW’s 10th design derived from the Typ 60 and was Porsche’s Typ 64.  Or that it originally was to have a V-10 – that was the Porsche Typ 114, which was mid-engine – not even Porsche would try to stuff a V-10 behind a VW axle.  On the other hand, without any prior expert to contradict, we have a fascinating, previously untold account of Porsche’s first external financing.  Bernhard Blank, among other things a hotelier, advanced his architect Richard von Senger 50,000 Swiss Franks; which von Senger used to buy 10 Porsches, establishing himself as the Swiss importer for Porsche.  Anton Piech met Blank and deduced the money source (Porsche had probably drained von Senger) and Blank became Porsche’s world-wide distributor.  Blank “didn’t like to drive the bloody things” but even had car bodies refinished by Pilatus, an aircraft manufacturer.  Having no luck at Geneva in 1950, Blank did not book for 1951.  August Veuillet set several speed records in 1951 at Monthlery.  It was too late for Blank to book Geneva, but he did rent a nearby showroom.  Porsche set more records Monthlery.  Veuillet displayed the 1500cc Gmund coupe on his stand in Paris and became importer for France.  Max Hoffmann (still with two nn’s) saw the car and applied for the US rights.  What about Blank?  He had failed to display Porsches at Geneva and lost his world-wide rights.

Given that many fascinating stories are told by a now dead raconteur (Bott, Fuhrmann) it is not surprising that some have previously been printed in Randy’s prior books.  Still they are worth telling and perhaps retelling.  Again the photographs make the book – including those of the photographers taking some of the famous photographs.  Just don’t get me started on the old canard of Zagato building the Carrera Abarth.  If Ferrari, who wasn’t using Zagato during this period, in any event, didn’t complain when Aston Martin, with whom they were in direct GT competition, used Zagato, they certainly didn’t care if Porsche did – they didn’t.  Almost as bad, is the confusion between the Dreikantschaber (a special bodied Carrera GS/GT coupe – hence rear engined) and the contemporary Spyder (mid engine) coupe.

The first 79 pages of 346 pages total are devoted to the 356 period.  In spite of concerns about the accuracy – and that does improve as Randy deals with later periods, Porsche Sixty Years is an absolutely beautiful book.  It is well worth the $60.00 list price and well belongs on your coffee table, if not as your first line reference.