Porsche: 24 Hours for Eternity

TGR Staff

The Porsche Museum in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen is getting ready for the return to Le Mans with a comprehensive special exhibition from March 26 to July 13, 2014. Porsche is taking a look back, not only to its multiple previous successes at the French endurance race but to the present-day Le Mans commitment for 2014. For the first time, the Porsche 919 Hybrid will be presented to the public at the Porsche Museum. The car celebrated its premiere only three weeks ago at the Geneva Motor Show.

The exhibition at the Porsche Museum has been transformed to look like the racetrack, paying homage to the famous endurance race. Porsche Le Mans history in 1951 marks the beginning of the “24 Hours for Eternity” special exhibition. Re-enactments of racing situations from the victorious racing years on life-sized wall art and track sections, such as the Hunaudières straight, will guide the museum visitor through the special exhibition.

More than 20 different racecars tell the unique and exciting history of this legendary 24-hour race. Alongside the 919 Hybrid, the 1969 Porsche 908/2 Spyder long tail, the 1971 Porsche 911 T/R, the 1974 Porsche 911 3.0 RSR as well as the 1981 Porsche 936/81 Spyder and many more will be on display for the first time at the Porsche Museum. The Porsche 936 won in 1976 and 1977 and reached a top speed of 223 mph, the fastest vehicle in the field on the Mulsanne straight. Drivers Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell brought home the sixth overall victory with a 14 lap lead.

Other racecars on display include the 1979 Porsche 935, the Porsche 911 GT2 Le Mans, the 1994 Porsche 962 GT Dauer Le Mans as well as the WSC LMP1 of 1998. With the 962 GT Dauer Le Mans, Porsche competed in the 24-hour race under the direction of the Joest team in 1994. With this car, Mauro Baldi, Yannick Dalmas, and Hurley Haywood took home the 13th overall win for Porsche. The model that Hans-Joachim Stuck, Danny Sullivan, and Thierry Boutsen drove awaits the visitor here in the museum. This and other historical tales of the famous race will come alive in the special exhibition. Various historical and technological small exhibit pieces such as helmets, a brake disc from the Porsche 956 and the diary of Ferry Porsche, from the collection of the Porsche corporate archive, complete the historical journey of Porsche at Le Mans.

On the weekend of the race, the Porsche Museum will be open for the first time for more than 24 hours straight, from Saturday, June 14, starting at 9:00 a.m., until Sunday, June 15, 6:00 p.m. Visitors and fans of the endurance race can follow the race live as part of a public viewing program on several monitors inside and around the museum building. Entrance is free of charge on this racing weekend.

For the special exhibit, the museum shop has a selection of specific items for sale to the public: including posters, postcards, polo shirts and all 16 outright winners of Le Mans will be available as model cars in 1:43 scale.