901 #5, vin 13325, Salon de l’Automobile, Paris, 03.-13.10.1963 plus more '63 pics

[haul]

Different cars? The 902 has a round fuel door, the TC 1 the more common one?

Richard

Richard,
http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...u-902-question

[Chris Romney]

Not really relevant to this discussion, but I thought it was funny that at the top of the Auto, Motor and Sport magazine they had a teaser for an article on "why do our autos rust?".

[one-two]

I think I have a picture that confirms 13325 appeared at the London Motor Show in 1963. It's from Autocar magazine 18 October 1963 - maybe a Motor Show supplement. If I can figure out how to post it I will. Meanwhile, a different car - with later, more familiar features - appeared at the same event in 1964. From the above, it seems this car was 300027? I am still trying to find which cars were shown at the London Motor Show in 1965

[haul]

moved the london earl court appearance to over here
http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...-10-26-10-1963

[haul]

[QUOTE=Bobs 67S;1040809]One-Two,
car number 300 027 was the car shown at Earls Court in 1964. There is a very good history of this car as part of the article in "Motor Klassic" after it's Ruf restoration. Mr. Ranta the first owner bought it from the display floor but it had to be removed from the country and re entered with changed paperwork for it to be able to be sold. This is his photo of it coming back to England.

Below #300 027 at the Earls Court Show London 1964.
Robert Barrie aka "one-two" find find this via VSCC Library

[haul]

Here the article in the Motor-Klassic for #300 027:
https://www.motor-klassik.de/oldtime...bereite-elfer/

translation:

The first test drive of the Porsche 901, as the pre-series 911 was then called, took place in 1962 on an anniversary that has not been regarded as the German date of fate since the fall of the Wall in 1989. It was 9 November on which the head of the Porsche driving test wrote on a memo late in the evening: “Doors rattle. Rattling windows. Heating stinks. Gearbox howls. Steering is tough and sluggish especially in the middle position, but poisonous when making corrections, has some play in the middle position. "

The secret of success
48 years ago, Helmut Bott also noted positive things about the Porsche 901: “Visibility and seating position are good. The vehicle is handy and has fully retained the character of the sporty car. The valves are easy to see, the seats are pleasant. ”This first test drive established a success story that has no parallel in the world of sports cars. In three years, the Porsche 911 will be 50, and its combination of driving performance, road holding, power, low maintenance, reasonably manageable maintenance costs, reliability and countable racing success has never been surpassed by any other manufacturer in the world.

In 1963, this whole unbelievable development was ahead of the new Porsche model, which was presented at the IAA at that time as the successor to the four-cylinder 356 - the Porsche 901. Series production started in autumn 1964. The first 82 copies and the accompanying sales literature still bore the name code 901; It was only after Peugeot's objection, where the zero in the middle of the type code had been used for a long time, that the new six-cylinder was renamed from Porsche 901 to Porsche 911.

Accident-free first owner for more than 40 years
At the end of 1964, the later 911 was still the Porsche 901 in London at the Earls Court motor show. Porsche is showing the new coupe for the first time in Great Britain, in white, with the characteristic checkered seats. It has the chassis number 300027, so it was the 27th original 911 - and has been in accident-free first ownership up to the hour. Sorjo Ranta, a native of Finland who currently resides in Canada, worked in the British aircraft industry at the beginning of the Swinging Sixties, more precisely: the British Aircraft Corporation BAC's Preston-based combat engine division.

The Finn, who had emigrated to Ottawa, has been driving a total of three 356 series coupes since 1955. Ranta: “I bought the first from the VW representative in Ottawa. I was building model airplanes at the time, and the largest was two meters wide. I said if the wings go in one piece I'll take the Porsche. They went in. ”Later Ranta then worked in England. There it goes to the Earls Court Show in 1964. “I absolutely wanted to have the new Porsche six-cylinder,” the Finn remembers. I did a seat test in the Porsche 901 at the stand of Porsche dealer Aldington, found the space and visibility good, and made an offer to Aldington. I spend $ 6,000, buy the car in England and later take it back to Canada duty free. That was my plan. "

But plans do not always run linearly according to the wishes of the person who forges them. Aldington accepts the bid for the Porsche 901, but makes no promise. Ranta goes on vacation to Finland, leaves a private phone number in Tampere - and the hoped-for call arrives a week later: "You can take over the Porsche 901 for $ 6,000." The sum at that time was equivalent to 30,000 euros today.

Ranta uses an import trick to get the only six-cylinder Porsche in England
Back in England. Aldington is already in a clinch with British customs there. The left-hand drive 911 was introduced by triptych only for the purpose of the exhibition. So it had to be carried out again. "No problem," says Ranta. His contacts in the BAC group also include a few friendly captains of the Bristol transport airlines. The Porsche 901 company is threaded through a short telephone conversation.

Ranta: “We loaded the Porsche 901 into the Bristol, had the export documents stamped, flew over the canal to Le Touquet in France and went for lunch. Then we got a customs certificate, started the return flight and had officially reintroduced the Porsche 901 in England. The customs guys wanted to make trouble first because the whole number was Aldington, but formally everything was fine, so they had to agree. I had the Porsche, but I wasn't allowed to drive because it still belonged to Aldington. I was only able to take over the Porsche 901 in the dealer's yard. ”

Film appearance - Ranta can be seen with his Porsche in "Grand Prix"
But then. “The first drive in the Porsche 901 from London to Preston was simply fantastic,” Ranta enthuses today. “There was no speed limit, I let the car run at an average of about 100 miles an hour. Incredible. For a long time I had the only six-cylinder Porsche in England. ”However, the conditions of use of the Porsche 901 remain moderate afterwards. Weekend trips, a few trips with other Porsche enthusiasts.

There was big cinema in 1966 on a tour to the Monaco GP. John Frankenheimer is currently shooting his famous epic "Grand Prix", and the crew still needs extras in the film stands. Ranta: "Aira and I play in the film for about half a second." Back in Canada, the Porsche 901 actually runs as a family coupe. “Our sons Jouni and Petri were born in 1967 and 1972,” says Ranta's wife Aira, “and they grew up with the Porsche 901. I was allowed to drive, but when I turned on a freeway entrance when it was raining, I wasn't so keen on it. ”

Five in the Porsche 901 "as fast as it could be"
The Rantas take Porsche and the family friendliness of the 2 + 2-seater, which also recurs in advertising, literally. The head of the family: “When we had to take my mother to the airport in Toronto, we had made a mistake in time. We were three adults and the two children in the Porsche 901, plus luggage, and then we covered 550 kilometers in three and a half hours. No problem. I used to drive as fast as I could. It wasn't that expensive in the old days. ”

The Porsche 901 never let him down mechanically, not on any of the approximately 50,000 miles completed to date. At some point a tread block flew off the tread, the heat exchangers of the heating had to be replaced early, and the bell crank in the fuel filler flap was modified. Not more.

Nobody wanted the Porsche
In the eighties the two Ranta boys started karting. The Porsche 901 is getting out of focus, because modern racing eats up all spare time reserves. "At the end of the nineties I advertised the Porsche 901 for sale in the American club magazine Porsche Panorama," says Ranta, "but I didn't get a single offer. Nobody wanted it. "

So the flying Finn decides to keep the white coupé very simple - until the end of his life. The worry about necessary restoration work and the due maintenance of his Porsche 901 relieves him of none other than Alois Ruf. The man from Pfaffenhausen in Bavarian Allgäu has also been a brilliant Porsche whisperer for almost 50 years. His knowledge, his skills and that of his team, his developments and the current Porsche series are legendary. But the Allgäu also loves the early Porsche of his youth, the Porsche 901 especially. His personal copy is ten chassis numbers younger than the Ranta car: 300037.

At the end of the story, Ranta invites us to tour the area around Pfaffenhausen on the steering wheel of his Porsche 901; it should be quick. The first gear in the left rear slips smoothly into its catch, the clutch supports the tendency to stall when starting off, as does all early Porsche clutches due to the non-linear operating forces around the pressure point, and the second gear hooks a little ... yes, that Guide bushes are now made of modern steel and no longer made of the old sintered material, there are now tighter, more precise fits, but this becomes apparent through use.

From 2,000 rpm, the six-cylinder boxer hangs cleanly on the throttle.
The rack and pinion steering of the Porsche 901 works lively on bumps, but never scary, the travel is long, the damping is not too hard; the Porsche 901 sails through swift curves at an appropriate incline. That was how the cars were back then. From around 2,000 rpm, the six-cylinder engine hangs very cleanly on the gas, and the panting Porsche symphony of suction, burning and singing the fan wheel seeps into the ear like a intoxicant that is addictive even in muffled doses for more and more. From around 5,000 rpm, the two-liter in the Porsche 901 hits the table acoustically, so to speak, hold on, and off you go.

The basic melody of this conjuring song, which Porsche has fortunately been able to preserve to some extent in the reservoir for genetic noise inheritance, takes up all of its reserves in the Porsche 901. You don't just have to drive this sports car, you also have to be able to play it.

Ranta sits almost wistfully in the passenger seat. The wild days of his Porsche 901, in which every trip was a small race against the world's traffic restrictions, are history. “But,” says its owner, “if I were young again, I would do the Porsche 901 again. Just the way it was. "

[mfitton]

Isn't 901 #5 currently in the midwest here near Milwaukee, WI?

[Bobs 67S]

Mike, there was 13325 the fifth prototype and then the production 901 which is serial number 300 005.
Different cars.

300 005 is in Wisconsin.

[mfitton]

Mike, there was 13325 the fifth prototype and then the production 901 which is serial number 300 005.
Different cars.

300 005 is in Wisconsin.

Ok, misunderstood. Thanks!

[Speed-Star]

Mike, there was 13325 the fifth prototype and then the production 901 which is serial number 300 005.
Different cars.

300 005 is in Wisconsin.

There are new pictures of "Quickblau", the famous prototype that Ferdinand Piech sold to Hans Mezger.

You can see Helga Mezger and the two kids Oliver and Daniela in front of 901 number 6.

https://berlinmotorbooks.de/en/first...oliver-mezger/

best,
Andreas