Today, a Porsche 356 SL, the racing version of those legendary “Gmünd Coupés,” sits in the parking lot of the Porsche factory in Zuffenhausen. It barely turns heads among employees and visitors. But in truth, they should be on their kneesin admiration. Maybe we should have brought this grandfather of all Porsche sports cars to Weissach—where the true Porsche Motorsport soul resides.
Weissach, mind you. Not Zuffenhausen.
In 1960, Ferdinand Porsche, encouraged by his friend, racing driver Herbert Linge, purchased 38 hectares of rocky farmland in the economically struggling community of Weissach. There, he began constructing a “driving test station”, complete with a skid pad. The rest, as they say, is history.
The only resident at the time was the local shepherd, who was promptly hired as Porsche Weissach’s first official employee. His sheep remained on the still-unused fields. The shepherd’s hut still stands today, and a pink 917, affectionately called "Die Sau" ("The Pig"), now rests beside it—rather fittingly.