SEVEN AMELIA PORSCHES: NOW AND THEN

For the past 5-years T.J. Kessler (Grandson of Leonard and Betty Jo Turner, who for more than 40-years were the moving forces behind Porsche Panorama magazine) has gone on assignment to the Amelia Island Concours for FLATSIXES.com. This year, while on the Concours with his grandfather TJ got the idea to pair his shots of Porsches on the Concours with period shots from Leonard’s archives of the same cars in action on the track. We thought it was an excellent idea and Leonard was kind enough to add a caption for each image to provide perspective.

In the event it’s not obvious, the top picture in each two shot series is the “Now” picture by T.J. with the bottom photograph representing “then” by Leonard.

1. 1973 911 RSR #59

Resplendent at Amelia, the Brumos 1973 911 RSR gave Hurley Haywood the first of his record-setting ten endurance victories. Partnered by Peter Gregg he drove it to glory in the 24 Hours of Daytona that year.

2. Type 2708 Indycar

Porsche brought its Type 2708 Indycar to Amelia to celebrate honoree Al Unser, Sr. A radical departure for Porsche, the maiden appearance of the open-wheeler was at Laguna Seca in 1987 with Big Al at the wheel.

3. 997 GT3R

Returning to its roots, Brumos won the Grand-Am GT Championship in 2011 with its 997 GT3R Cup coupe. Hurley Haywood came out of retirement that year for Daytona: “I started my racing career on this track in a 911,” he said, “I’ve come full circle and will finish it here in a 911.”

4. Porsche-Riley DP Prototype

Looking pristine on the Amelia field, the Porsche-powered Daytona Prototype was not so immaculate as it fought through a gritty 24 Hours of Daytona in 2008. Vindication came the following year with victory for David Donohue, Darren Law, Buddy Rice, Antonio Garcia and #58.

5. Type 718 RS-60 Spyder

In 1960 Porsche claimed its first victory at Sebring aboard the #42 RS-60 Spyder featured at Amelia. Turner didn’t photograph a Spyder at Sebring until 1964: the #41 car, known as the W/RS Spyder, was the lineal descendant of the RS-60 and the last of its kind.

6. Porsche 962

The third of seven Holbert Racing built 962 chassis, this Copenhagen-sponsored example was raced by AJ Foyt, Al Unser, Sr., and Elliott Forbes-Robinson at Daytona in 1988. A crash, the loss of fifth gear and multiple pit stops for repair dashed Foyt’s hopes for a third Daytona win.

7. Can-Am 917/10

Porsche upped the ante with the 1000+ HP 917/10, a no-holds-barred racer built for the Can Am series for unlimited sports cars. At Road Atlanta in 1973, Hurley Haywood finished fifth and would go on to finish third overall in the Can-Am championship that year.

About TJ Kessler: In his fifth year of shooting for FlatSixes, TJ, now 18, was born into a Porsche family; the first car he ever drove was his parents’ 1974 911 Carrera. He is finishing his freshman year at Berry College in Rome, Georgia, majoring in Environmental Science/Geology. He has received a number of awards for his photography and is heading to Acadia National Park at the end of May, a milestone toward his long term goal of photographing every national park. His personal Porsche dream car is a 914.