Issue link: http://digital.nexsitepublishing.com/i/673582
MAY 2016 48 Willkommen in Deutschland A work trip to Stuttgart. A long Lufthansa flight, a rental car, a hotel in central Stuttgart, and a few days of work in the Swabian suburbs. Leaving the hotel in Stuttgart and driving to work in the morning, I merge onto the A8 autobahn and head west. After a few minutes, rush hour traffic melts away, and speed limit signs are history. It's unrestricted speed on the autobahn, the holy grail of driving in Germany. I move the rental car into the middle lane and pick up the pace. I hear a voice, "How fast are we going?" Jolted out of my reverie, I look to the work-mate next to me. He's never been to Germany before and looks nervous. "We're going 160 kilometers per hour." At that moment, a white 991 Porsche Carrera S flies past us in the left lane. "How fast do you think that car was going?" "It's hard to say, probably 220 or 230." "How fast is that in miles per hour?" I put the hammer down, curse that we're not in a Porsche, and move to the left lane. Looking over to my mate, I say, "Willkommen in Deutschland." The Porsche Museum It was a surprise to my work-mate, but we survived driving around Stuttgart except for a few speed cameras. On our last evening we visited the Porsche Museum shortly before it closed. The building is impressive, new, modern, and is located next to a Porsche Centre selling cars, along with the Porsche factory in Zuffenhausen building cars. The cars were amazing to see and were from all eras of the company. The pictures accompanying this article are a humble reflection of what is in the museum. The experience for me, as a fanatic for Porsche, is that the Porsche brand, the Porsche family history, and the Porsche vehicle history are linked together in a way such that—as you move from car to car, as you move from era to era—you cannot escape the passion. Porsche gets under your skin like no other car manufacturer. They had to throw me out of the museum as they closed up that night. Germany: der Autobahn und der Porsche Museum Article and Photography by Curt Smith Am Anfang Schaute ich mich um, konnte aber den Wagen, von dem ich traumte, nicht finden. Also beschloss ich, ihn mir selber zu bauen. Ferry Porsche "In the beginning I looked around but couldn't find the car I dreamt of, so I decided to build it myself." Ferry Porsche .. " "