(First published Jan 17, 2023)
About 10 mins via car or tram from Stuttgart train station in Germany, sits the heart of Porsche: a roundabout, where the Inspiration 911 Porsche sculpture lives, pointing in directions that signify Porsche's history.
Apart from feeding normal traffic to and from the A81 autobahn, the location is also the heart of Porsche, where a dealership, head offices and factories are found.
And, at Porscheplatz 1 Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, it’s also home to the Porsche Museum.
Home to almost 100 cars from Porsche's extensive car library and over 200 small exhibits, from the order books Ferdinand Porsche completed for customers way back in the Gmund factory days to the origins of the original Porsche crest Ferry Porsche was asked to commission, it’s a barrier-free exhibition that’s always changing.
Designed as a grand, meet, greet, eat and shop facility, plus workshop (visible through glass) and function centre, the 100 million Euro Museum opened in 2009 and is a must-see for any Porsche, car fan or motoring enthusiast.
For group bookings of 10, guided tours offer specialised insight into the cars and history, at 100 Euro per person. Otherwise, it’s perfectly fine to visit on a normal 10 Euro ticket and take your time.
Among the world-famous automobile icons are the Porsche 356 ‘No. 1’ Roadster, Porsche 911 models of various generations, not to mention examples of the both the Porsche 550 and the 917. The whole history of Porsche production and motorsport cars is presented in chronological order.
Walking past the basic but still very good Boxenstopp bistro at the entry, then past the large gift shop almost guaranteed to draw away from more Euros, the Museum tour starts with an escalator ride up the top, to be greeted by Porsche’s first electric car from 1898, the Egger-Lohner C2 Phaeton (top speed of 25km/h and took a week to recharge).
It then chronologically works its way through Porsche history, from the first 356 in 1948, to the early 901, before its name change to 911, road cars like the 924, 928 and 930 Turbo, race cars like the 917s to 919s, prototypes and many of the cars that have made Porsche famous and iconic, from one-off racecars and a live hanging trophy cabinet, to – when we were there – the evolution of the Porsche 959, from its clay prototype model, to the Paris-Dakar 4x4 911, the Rothmans 959 racecars and a number of gleaming road cars.
Porsche Design was celebrating 50 years with an exhibition, during our visit in July, though the key exhibitions rotate and change almost monthly.
There are multi-lingual guided tours for those with sight and hearing difficulties, and even factory tours of the nearby facilities where the Porsches literally come together. We went on a one-hour tour of the Taycan manufacturing plant during our visit, though no cameras are allowed.
For those who can’t make it to Germany, the website even has an excellent virtual tour that is truly the next best thing to being there, and offers a virtual walk-around the exhibition.
With the museum collection just part of Porsche’s catalogue of 700 cars that often travel the world, it also owns a secret nearby facility that the public isn’t allowed to see, just gusts and VIPs. But that’s a whole different story.
