FROM DAVE SEELAND’S REVIEWS IN THE 356 REGISTRY:

Porsche Panorama: The First 25 Years, edited by Frank Barrett.  Why a book review?  I was bribed! Frank gave me a copy and asked me if I would review it for the Registry. I have a hard time justifying books; I collect cars and parts rather than books.  I do collect one type of Porsche literature.  I collect greasy Elfrink and Clymer manuals.  "Buy my car, get a free manual", so I buy the car.  Frank is a 356 nut and has leaned toward the 356 end of the spectrum of Porsche models in choosing the collection of reprinted Panorama articles that make up this book.  In fact, 256of the book's 511 pages are 356 and four-cam related material.

The book is organized into chapters covering "new" Porsches (Spyders to the 928), people, events, competition, features, humor, and historical notes.  An overall introduction and introduction to each chapter have been carefully crafted by Frank.   In Frank's words, "The reader learns not only what a Porsche is, was and will be, but also how it is used and by whom".  I've looked at mounds of old Panoramas, but missed a lot of the gems that Frank has extracted and reprinted in this collection.  For example: Harry Mersheimer's '53 1500N cabriolet that did 0-60 mph in 9.8 seconds and Herbert Dramm's "hat-trick".  In reference to running the engine over the red-line, Dramm stated that you should place your hat over the exhaust pipe. When asked why, he answered, "to catch the pieces of valves as they come out." Bruce Jenning's garage probably would be a close description of heaven to most 356 enthusiasts: 4 Carrera speedsters, a Super-90 coupe and a Super-90 roadster with rows of spare engines and transaxles.  Could you imagine driving and racing a Super-90 in Uganda?  If you don't appreciate your floor jack you will after seeing the photo of Peter Taylor installing an engine Uganda-style.  People are probably at least as important as the automobile itself in the development of the Porsche mystique.  Winter in Omaha, Nebraska - Howard Shoemaker, wife, three kids and their only car, a Speedster, bundled up pretending they are in a sleigh.  Len Turner with 40 rolls of film from the Porsche Parade in his darkroom.  Betty Jo Turner in the closed trunk of a 91 1E.  Count de Beaufort dieting to speed up his formula 1 Porsche.  Steve McQueen's desire to restore a Speedster. Ferry Porsche in a supercharged VW cabriolet in 1945 (an idea that was to develop into the 356). Peter Gregg worrying about his wife Jennifer's reaction to racing: too dangerous for a hobby and too trivial for a profession.  Bill Sholar, founder of PCA, describes the Porsche and the people that own it with a single word - integrity.  The non-356 parts of the book are also enjoyable.  Chuck Stoddard's article on the development of the 917 is fascinating.  A 911 that went 186,000 miles before any engine work and 225,000 miles before splitting the case shows that some good cars were built by Porsche after 356 production terminated in 1965.  The only complaint I have is the lack of pre-1956 information (Panorama, vol. 1, no. 1 is dated December, 1955).  Christophorus and early sports car magazines are necessary to fill in this gap making this book (and Pano) even more appreciated.  This new volume is about one-half 356 so it is really about one-half "Registry" (when the most popular U.S. publication on the 356 was known as Panorama).  Complete your Registry collection by buying "Porsche Panorama: The First 25 Years".

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