In very early 2007, we had the great good fortune to be invited to Weissach — famous for its R and D, but also where racing Porsches were actually made — to see the newly transformed facility, double the size of the previous one. Those were the days of the RS Spyder; 001 was on the test track that day, 005 was almost completed, and work was starting on 006. There were two assembly lines — rather a misleading term for cars involving so much hand work — running side by side, one for the Spyders and the other for the RSRs, which, we were told, could be assembled in “one long day” compared to the 2-weeks needed for a Spyder. The RSR in this image was on a lift, nearing the end of its birth process. I thought that getting up under the rear of the car, close in, with a full-frame fisheye lens would give an interesting result, and I wasn’t disappointed. But an image with this degree of unreality cooked into it wasn’t right for the story that Editor Betty Jo was writing, so it never got published. Until now.
About Leonard Turner and “The Last Turn”
With a background in photography spanning more than 5 decades, Leonard Turner was Porsche Panorama’s chief photographer for some 40 years, shooting several hundred covers for the magazine and countless feature spreads involving racing, new car introductions, portraits, technical illustrations, and a plethora of other topics. In the course of doing this, he has traveled widely over the United States and Europe, visiting the Porsche factories and shooting at many venues, including a portfolio of the world’s greatest race tracks.
Leonard’s photographs have been published in many books including Porsche: Portrait of a Legend; Porsche Specials; Porsche, the 4-Cylinder, 4-Cam Sports & Racing Cars; Sebring, the Official History; Carrera RS; and Porsche: Prototype Era 1964 to 1973. His magazine credits, other than Panorama, include Autoweek, Road & Track, Automobile, Christophorus, and Excellence.
It was with this background in mind that we asked Leonard to open up his archives to share with you here on FLATSIXES.com. His personal files, both digital and film, contain tens of thousands of images of Porsches, Porsche people, and events they shaped and which shaped them. Our plan is to share one of Leonard’s images with you every other week, and the story behind it, in this newest feature, “The Last Turn” here on FLATSIXES.com.
Other Porsche Blog Posts You Will Enjoy
The Last Turn – Jo Siffert At Sebring In 1971
The Last Turn – Press Intro Of The Porsche 993
The Last Turn – Porsche GT1 Le Mans 1996
The Last Turn – Derek Bell Fixing A 917
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