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In my P-car library, I have most of the usual 'must-have' books, including the more expensive among them, such as Ludwigsen's excellent references on Porsche (the man, the car and the company). And quite understandably, speaking as a chronologically old but knowledgeably 'tyro beginner', each is usually a real asset in terms of helping me gain the awareness and understanding that underlies the visible outer topography of the virtual Porsche iceberg.
One such very recent book is Michael Alan Ross's PORSCHE OUTLAWS: STUTTGART HOTRODS (2024, Motorbooks, hardcover) and I must say, aside from being a beautiful and highly informative work (with superb illustrations), reading it knocked me back on my heels and made me feel ever so humble!
Why is that? Several years ago, a paper was released by a panel of psychologists and sociologists researchers on the subject ofhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_quotient. Not along the lines of some of the more seminal or controversial works on this subject (such as Herrnstein & Murray's THE BELL CURVE (https://www.amazon.com/Bell-Curve-Intel ... 0684824299), the paper stated broadly that most individuals inherently believe themselves to be exceptionally intelligent (or at least 'above average'), when in fact they may be far more pedestrian in their intellectual capabilities. In other words, they are characteristically prone to think they're smarter and more astute than they actually are. I guess I fall into that category myself, so every now and then a reality-check is both needed and welcome...as Ross's book proved itself to be!
Although I feel I know quite a bit about our favorite marque and its historical backstory, reading Ross's recent book on Porsche 'Outlaws' stunned me with the realisation that despite my own vaunted knowledge, I am in fact just another one of those enthusiastic 'tyros' that suddenly pop up, seemingly out of the 'nowhere' woodwork, with a megaphone and pom-poms and start bubbling over about a subject they really know precious little about! What a humbling experience this was for me!
Despite living in Berkeley and studying there for decade or more (in the 70s/80s, I had absolutely no clue as to the existence of the East Bay's EASY Porsche community (and their 'R-Gruppe'), or its predecessor entity, the Parts Central Salvage Yard! Of course, I suppose I might attempt to excuse this appalling lack of Porsche Verständnis by claiming that my core activities were at that time focused exclusively on studying and working a civilian cardiopulmonary lab (in Oakland's Summit Medical Center area). My only acquaintance with Volkswagens was quite superficial, back then and as for Porsches, well...a buddy of mine claimed to be skilled private 356 mechanic, but that was about it. Even back in the late 60s, Porsche bathtubs were so far above my meager economic means that they might as well have been Hope(less) Diamonds!
To think that I was living and working in the immediate vicinity of such prescient Porsche people as EASY's Jim Breazeale back then still sets me back on my haunches when I think about it. I did have a close friend (a fellow roadbike cyclist) who fancied 356s (he acquired several, given his family's and wife's real estate-acquired wealth), but somehow he failed to bring me into his 356 circle. I was still in my FIAT phase then, also, having an X1/9 and a 128SL that I loved dearly, but as always, my dreams were necessarily adjusted to my financial means, and when the bank turned me down for a measly four/five thousand dollar loan to buy a new 914 in 1974, even that door seemed to be closed and locked.
But to continue, reading Mike Ross's beautiful book today, some half a century after my original 914 dreams vanished in a poof of banking loan officer vapor, filled in what clearly is a very conspicuous gap in my motorsports awareness and again made me feel like a retarded half-imbecile! Fortunately this realisation is therapeutic!
The beauty and masterful craftsmanship so apparent in the R-Gruppe outlaw cars is to me breath-taking, and it is ironic that only fairly recently have the sniffy mainstream Porscheophiles deigned to take an interest in this aspect of Porsche mania. What actually brought me to initial awareness of Ross's book was a beautifully illustrated feature article in a recent issue of PANORAMA (July 2024) that highlighted Hustwit's and Gonsalves' wonderful Kronberg Racing 911. Another article (also in PANORAMA) about Dean Jefferies' mid-50s 'Kustom Karrera' led to an announcement in PANORAMA of the publication of Ross's new book on Porsche Outlaws.
Of course, for a long time (well through the 50s and 60s), the vast majority of sniffy, self-proclaimed Porsche purists considered Jefferies a rank heretic and it is therefore ironic that today, more than 66 years after the Kustom Karrera was created, R-Gruppe 'Outlaws' are now the hottest Porsche rank-and-file rage. Jefferies' Kustom Karrera was and is, by my sense of automotive styling beauty, nothing short of a spectacular exercise in archetypal 'outlaw' Porsche artistry!
Ross's new book is therefore a fitting tribute not just to Jefferies' prescient vision, but to the impressive mastery of car-crafting that is so exemplified by the R-Gruppe creations, and it definitely belongs on the reference shelf of any serious P-car person. I have no doubt that it will in future be regarded as a classic and that those scum-sucker booksellers who specialise in books they deem pricey collectibles will make lots of money, selling them (like so many other now rare and 'valuable', out-of-print Porsche books; I mean $3,000 for a clean hardbound copy of Ludwigsen's EXCELLENCE?!). Get 'em while you can, folks, if you are a true air-sucker fan!
Meanwhile, still feeling appropriately humbled, I am going to go sit with all the other Porsche neophytes out there and start cultivating a more unpresuming attitude in the presence of these Porsche Meister Künstlerin Werke!
As Ross pointedly argues: After all, Ferry Porsche and a good many of the early Porsche people were 'hotrodders' of a sort, themselves! Point well taken, Ross!
Either way, I'm sure he'll be pickled pink with your kind words!
Of course, when you're more popular than Jebus, it no longer matters what you wear or what sort of affect you prefer...