Book Suggestions

[Flieger]

Hi, I am looking for a good book detailing the technical development of the 911R, 911S, 911ST, 911RSR....

I have already read Fere's Porsche 911 Story and Ludvigson's Excellence was Expected, I have Porsche 911 in Racing and a few other books about driving and racing early 911s so I already know most of the history. I am looking for more of the inside information from the factory engineers. The little technical details that make subtle changes to vehicle dynamics....

I was thinking that Norbert Singer's 24:16 may be the best fit to what I am looking for.

Any opinions to guide me?

[John Z Goriup]

There's always John Starkey's "From R to GT3R - The Racing Porsches 911 & 930". This is actually a compendium of several books by the same author featuring the individual models, and was updated and combined into one volume in 2003 and now includes the water-cooled models.

It's not as technical and precise as Frere's book, rather it is written in a more anectodal style with heavy emphasis on the drivers, werks people and race results.

There is also a new, updated version of " The Porsche Book", Jurgen Barth's epic work, now in three volumes with never-before-seen or published photos and great insight into early history. I mean after all, who would have better access than Jurgen. I have been buying a lot of automotive books from David Bull Publishing, a specialist in the field ( www.bullpublishing.com ) and heartily endorse everything they bring out. Outstanding quality, great selecton of auhtors, subjects and lots of limited edition signed collectors copies. They also have a great print catalog, sort of like the ESSES, top quality work which I always read cover to cover. "The Porsche Book" is $ 300.00, but trust me, worth every penny.

There is one more very valuable scource: Blocks Books, in the Detroit area ( blocklab@aol.com ) Tel: 248. 672. 2637, a true labor of love run by Bill Block and wife. He invariably has the most sought after out-of-print books and sells at attractive prices. Extremely knowledgable and familiar with every single Porsche book ever printed.

Good Luck,

JZG

[Flieger]

Thanks for the tips. I had the impression that the Starkey book was more documenting each individual chassis' racing history as well as various race results from back in the day. I have the Porsche 911 in Racing book and these details do not interest me as much as the technical side as in Fere's book. I do like the photos, though.

Does the Starkey book also have some good technical information?

Thanks again.

[johns4949]

The Carrera RS book is a great information guide also.

[Mark Morrissey]

you can't beat this:
The Racing Porsches — A Technical Triumph by Paul Frere

My copy has the 1972 Can-Am champion George Fullmer at the wheel of the L&M 917/10 on the cover and back cover has the 1964 Targa Florio winning 904 GTS driven by Antonio Pucci and Colin Davis.


http://www.amazon.com/Racing-Porsche...mm_hrd_title_1

[John Z Goriup]

Neglected to mention another new title: "Mark Donahue, Technical Excellence at Speed"

Author: Michael Argetsinger, foreword by Roger Penske, 344 pages ( but a little skimpy in the photo dept.....only 18 b&w shots & 25 color photos.) Published by D. Bull Publishing, $ 39.95, ISBN-13: 978-1-935007-02-9.

An entertaining read, but contains very little in the way of specific 911 development, rather, concentrates on pure racing cars in general. Almost like a follow-up on the original "Unfair Advantage" but more technical.

JZG

[Homemade 911]

I'll second Goriup's comment about Bill Block. Bill's a good guy and really knows his stuff. Nothing wrong with D. Bull Publishing either...

Good Luck

cheers
r/Thom

[Frank Barrett]

Friends:

Hate to blow my own Bosch horn, but since 1978 my business, Toad Hall Motorbooks, has specialized in selling Porsche and Mercedes-Benz books. I try to stock every title available in English. See www.toadhallbook.com or contact me if you have questions about any book.

Frank Barrett
Early 911S Registry member
fbarrett@aol.com
303/237-0911 (Mountain Time)

[Flieger]

you can't beat this:
The Racing Porsches — A Technical Triumph by Paul Frere

My copy has the 1972 Can-Am champion George Fullmer at the wheel of the L&M 917/10 on the cover and back cover has the 1964 Targa Florio winning 904 GTS driven by Antonio Pucci and Colin Davis.


http://www.amazon.com/Racing-Porsche...mm_hrd_title_1

Already read it.

I have a first edition copy from back in the day. I agree, it has great technical detail about the development and racing of the prototype racers.

I am looking for something similar to this but for the 911 racers.

I think I will take the suggestion to just get all the books.

The comment to talk to the smart guys like Hugh H is very wise. I just do not like to feel like I am distracting them from serious business by posting in threads. I "lurk" often and am amazed by the knowledge of the members of this board.

[HughH]

Raj your comments are too kind and in my view overstate what I can bring to the table on these things.

In my view there are a number of people who contribute to this board that are WAY more qualified to talk about some of these intricate details than I am, and they do contribute generously. I am sometimes in awe of the knowledge and details that get posted on this forum.

I think the combined knowledge of the board, when working in a constructive way, will always be much better than any single individual can contribute.

That said Max has touched on an area that is not well covered by the books I am aware of. the books mentioned in the initial post, and subsequently do provide a lot of information but not really the inside story on the technical development of the 911R, 911S, 911ST, 911RSR.

You almost need a first hand insiders account. Tobias Aichele in his book, "Porsche 911 Forever Young", does this for the 911 in general, and where he touches on the competition side, he does put the development in context of what else was happening at the factory and who the main players were.

For example Aichele discusses how Helmuth Bott and Herbert Linge sketched out the first proposals for a light motorsport oriented 911 in November 1964 before the 911 had even been introduced to the market and the motivation behind that development.

However to fully cover Max's question an Aichele type book is really needed on the specific area from preparation for the the initial competition event for the 911 at Monte Carlo to the RSR and perhaps slightly later period.

While I like the 24:16 book and the insights it has, I really don't think that it goes to the heart of this area. There are a few gems but in reality not much of the book is focused on the 911 development that Max is asking about.

I therefore maintain that a forum like this, which has occasional access to factory information directly, and certainly to lots of information that has never been published, due to some members or people they know being there in the day, will probably provide a richer response to Max's questions than almost anything else short of free and open access to the Porsche competition achieves.