Some of you may know the name, for others this may be the first time you’re hearing it. Either way, on November 24, 2010 the Porsche community lost a great friend and patron when Matt Drendel unexpectedly passed away. Here at PorschePurist we only recently came to know Matt over a series of emails and discussion on how best to create a tribute to his wonderful collection of Porsches and the shop he created to support them (Heritage Motorwerks). Despite his busy schedule Matt was always generous with his time and accommodating to a fault. For that we are grateful!
By the young age of 35 Matt was friends with many of the most influential people in the Porsche community. As steward of a superb collection, his Porsches were known far and wide. When the time came for Porsche to film their now famous Panamera Family Tree commercial, it was Matt (and Heritage Motorwerks) who supplied many of the historical race cars. As recently as this past October, Panorama (the monthly magazine for PCA members) featured Matt’s TAG McLaren-Porsche MP4/3. Perhaps one of the rarest and least well known of Porsche race cars. This open wheeled F1 racer took McLaren to three Grand Prix World Championships in the 1980s, while powered by a Porsche V6.
It came as a great shock when I learned of Matt’s passing and I’m still trying to process it. We owe a special thanks to Dede Seward for letting us know of this untimely loss and to Paul Powell for the use of the tribute video above. Our thoughts and prayer go out to all of Matt’s family and friends. If you’re interested in sharing memories or passing along condolesces you can do so here.