Auto shows

Beyond Cars & Coffee at your local auto club, if you are an ardent Porsche fan, I believe that there are a couple of key global venues, shows, and events that you must attend at least once in your lifetime. Think Luftgekühlt, and Rennsport Reunion; the kind of shows that are all about pure air-cooled bliss, historic racing heaven, and a deep dive into Porsche’s DNA. While not exclusive to Porsche, events like the Goodwood Festival of Speed and 24 Hours of Le Mans allow you to witness some of the German brand’s most noteworthy cars up close in all their glory.

Porsche has a long tradition of participating in the annual Monterey Car Week. One of the biggest car events on the automotive calendar. It dates back to 1950 when it was held for the first time, as a supplementary event to the Pebble Beach Road Race. Like other automakers, Porsche’s iconic sports cars were an expected sight at the Monterey Car Week, and this year, we got to see a great number of highly original, reimagined, and downright crazy builds, based on Porsche’s greatest sports cars ever made.

Porsche has no shortage of iconic race cars that have dominated in motorsports, and one very race 911 model is about to be the main star at the upcoming, Monterey Auction (August 14 and 15). We are referring to the only mid-engine Porsche 911 in existence – the GT1. The low-slung supercar was developed by Porsche for endurance racing like the 24 Hours of Le Mans. What’s special about this particular 911 GT1 is that, unlike, most cars that were used in endurance racing, this mid-engine Porsche was kept in surprisingly good condition, even after scoring many racing wins. The Porsche race car was freshly listed (on July 16, 2024) on Broad Arrow Auctions, and judging by the car’s estimated value, this 911 GT1 has the potential to become one of the most expensive Porsches ever sold, at an auction.

Auto Union, which eventually became Audi was formed in 1932 by the conglomeration of four companies - Audi, DKW, Horch, and Wanderer. This is how the logo of 4 intertwined rings came to be, each representing a founding member company. Auto Union wanted to build race cars, to quickly establish its credentials as a reputable brand. As luck would have it one of the directors of the company had previously worked with Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, who had helped him develop a prototype racing car known as the P-Wagen (the P stood for Porsche).