It’s no secret that Porsches are an important and treasured part of Revs Institute’s Collier Collection. So when Porsche announced it would be holding the fifth edition of its famed Rennsport reunion at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Revs was certain to be involved.
We took four cars: the 1953 550 Coupe, 1959 718 RSK Spyder, 1960 Abarth-Carrera GTL and 1969 908 LH. We were proud that Revs came away from the Saturday pit lane concours with two awards, the RSK Spyder winning the Heritage Class Award while the long-tail 908 came away with the Best in Show prize.
That was out of some 270 cars that were entered for Rennsport and just about every one was a winner in its own way. So was the event, drawing some 57,000 fans for the three days.
Our only question after packing up and heading back to Florida from California is when’s the next Rennsport?
This is the type of Porsche 919 Hybrid that won the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans.Bruce Canepa in a 1990 Porsche 962C.Christian Zugel heads up the front straight in his 2008 Porsche RS Spyder.Gunnar Jeannette at speed in Revs’ magnificent–okay, we are prejudice–1969 Porsche 908 LH.So when you combine a Cooper chassis with a Porsche engine, what do you call it? A Pooper.One of the oldest cars to race, Bob Baker’s 1955 1500 550 RS Spyder.Okay, you know that is a 917K, but what’s that in the background? A Porsche Panamera camera car with carbon fiber boom being used by renowned cinematographer, Jeff Zwart.Porsche ran two races for the GT3 Cup Challenge and among the racers was Revs’ Andrew Longe.Always one of the wildest Porsche race cars, the GT1 that won Le Mans in 1998.A Porsche 936 in the concours that was held on the pit line straight.A car that set Porsche on the road to racing, a 1952 Glocker Porsche.Michael Malone’s 1968 Porsche 908 and Richard Girot’s 1969 Porsche 908/02 Spyder at the concours.Two legendary Porsches, a 1959 RSK on the track, the 1978 Porsche 935/78 Moby Dick on the poster.Revs’ 1953 550 Coupe headed out on a parade lap.Ranson Webster out of the Corkscrew in his 1976 Porsche 935 K3.The only open-wheel car on the track, Thomas Downey’s 1965 Autodynamics Porsche Formula B car.One of the Flying Lizard 911s.A Porsche RS Spyder in the well-known paint scheme used when raced by the Penske team.This Jägermeister paint job on the Porsche 962 was quite famous in the day.A rare Porsche, a 1952 America Roadster.George Follmer on a parade lap in the Porsche 917/10 Can Am car that he raced.Mark Donohue ran the first sub-1 minute lap of the old Laguna Seca track in a 1973 Porsche 917/30 Can Am car like this one.David Donohue raced a Porsche RS Spyder done up in the same color scheme as his father’s Can Am 917/30.Porsche drivers contributed to charity for a chance to drive their cars on a parade lap of the track.Cameron Healy coming out of Turn 5 in his 1970 Porsche 908/3.Racing for the lead, Gregory Campbell’s 1955 Devin Porsche 356 (356) chases Cameron Healy’s Pooper (55).Dener Pires’ 1977 Porsche 935.A 1990 962 Porsche leads a 2012 997.Porsches a few generations apart. In the foreground a 2008 RS Spyder, in the background a 1990 962C.A pair of Porsche RSKs, a 917 left hand drive and a 918 center steer version.Patrick Long raced this well-known 1983 Porsche 935. This is another car from Dave Klym of Fabcar that was so customized the only non-custom made parts were the Engine & Gearbox.Two Porsche 935s coming out of Turn 6 headed for the Corkscrew.Fabcar created the chassis for this 1985 Porsche-powered racer that was in the IMSA Camel Lights series. (We should mention Dave Klym the founder of Fabcar is now part of the Revs team.)Among the honored driver was Belgian Jacky Ickx.Gunnar Jeannette pulls out of the pits in Revs’ 1969 Porsche 908 LH.Revs’ 908 LH being warmed up.Honoring Porsche’s wins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.Revs’ 1953 550 coupe heads a row of Porsches in the display of historic models.This was the huge display of Porsches.Plenty of Porsches in the parking lot, though there were few of the front-engine models.A pair of Porsches from Revs Institute, a 1959 RSK Spyder in the foreground, a 1960 Abarth-Carrera GTL in back.
