My visit of the Porsche Museum & more.. (lots of pics)

[EJ25RUN]

Nice pix!
Is it just me or does some of the cars appear dirty?
The Carrera GT looks dirty, the tires and wheel wells appear dirty - kinda odd for a museum.

It is motor racing tradition that a car that won either Le Mans or anyother important race not be washed afterwerd, its almost like battle scars from the event.

balsa?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balsa

Starting with the Bergspyder cars of the mid to late 60's when Porsche began studying every form of light weight material to use in their race cars, they began to use balsa wood in the shift knobs.

That's why the Carrera GT knob is balsa wood instead of tacky carbon fiber.

It's tradition, something Porsche knows a little about.

[speedminded]

It is motor racing tradition that a car that won either Le Mans or anyother important race not be washed afterwerd, its almost like battle scars from the event.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balsa

Starting with the Bergspyder cars of the mid to late 60's when Porsche began studying every form of light weight material to use in their race cars, they began to use balsa wood in the shift knobs.

That's why the Carrera GT knob is balsa wood instead of tacky carbon fiber.

It's tradition, something Porsche knows a little about.

http://www.seriouswheels.com/pics-pq...or-Console.jpg

That Carrera GT knob is laminated layers of birch and ash (light and dark) made "to remind drivers of the balsa wood shift knob in the 1970 Le Mans-winning Porsche 917".

[EJ25RUN]

That Carrera GT knob is laminated layers of birch and ash (light and dark) made "to remind drivers of the balsa wood shift knob in the 1970 Le Mans-winning Porsche 917".

well damn, even the balsa wood didn't get a comeback. Im sad now.

[speedminded]

well damn, even the balsa wood didn't get a comeback. Im sad now.

nah, I can't imagine balsa being durable or strong enough for something constantly being used...even with a hard lacquer finish. For a true manual transmission you don't want a lightweight shift knob anyways, it needs to be weighted & balanced for precise shifts.

[d_day87]

nice pics, looks like it was a good trip