James Dean
James Byron Dean was an American actor. The other two roles that defined his stardom were loner Cal Trask in East of Eden and surly ranch hand Jett Rink in Giant, Deans premature death in a car crash cemented his legendary status. He became the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, in 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him the 18th best male movie star of Golden Age Hollywood in AFIs 100 Years.100 Stars list. James Dean was born February 8,1931, at the Seven Gables apartment on the corner of 4th Street and McClure Street in Marion and his parents were of mostly English ancestry, with smaller amounts of German, Irish and Welsh. Six years after his father had left farming to become a technician and his family moved to Santa Monica. He was enrolled at Brentwood Public School in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, the family spent several years there, and by all accounts, Dean was very close to his mother. According to Michael DeAngelis, she was the only capable of understanding him.
In 1938, she was struck with acute stomach pain. She died of cancer when Dean was nine years old. Unable to care for his son, Deans father sent him to live with Deans aunt Ortense and her husband, Marcus Winslow, on a farm in Fairmount, Deans father served in World War II and remarried. According to Billy J. Harbin, Dean had a relationship with his pastor. Their alleged sexual relationship was suggested in the 1994 book Boulevard of Broken Dreams, The Life, Times, in 2011, it was reported that Dean once confided in Elizabeth Taylor that he was sexually abused by a minister approximately two years after his mothers death. Other reports on Deans life suggest that he was sexually abused by DeWeerd as a child or had a sexual relationship with him as a late teenager. Deans overall performance in school was exceptional and he was a popular student and he played on the baseball and varsity basketball teams, studied drama, and competed in public speaking through the Indiana High School Forensic Association.
After graduating from Fairmount High School in May 1949, Dean moved back to California with his dog, Max and he enrolled in Santa Monica College and majored in pre-law. He transferred to UCLA for one semester and changed his major to drama and he pledged the Sigma Nu fraternity but was never initiated. While at UCLA, Dean was picked from a group of 350 actors to portray Malcolm in Macbeth, at that time, he began acting in James Whitmores workshop. In January 1951, he dropped out of UCLA to pursue a career as an actor
Sports car
A sports car is a small, usually two seater, two door automobile designed for spirited performance and nimble handling. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the first known use of the term was in 1928, Sports cars may be spartan or luxurious, but high maneuverability and minimum weight are requisite. The basis for the car is traced to the early 20th century touring cars and roadsters. These raced in rallies, such as the Herkomer Cup, Prinz-Heinrich-Fahrt. These would shortly be joined by the French DFP and the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. In 1921, Ballot premiered its 2LS, with a remarkable 75 hp DOHC two liter, designed by Ernest Henry, capable of 150 km/h, at most, one hundred were built in four years and this was followed by the SOHC 2LT and 2LTS. The same year, Benz built a supercharged 28/95PS four for the Coppa Florio, duerkopps Zoller-blown two liter in 1924, as well. There was a clear cleavage by 1925, by the end of the 1920s, AC produced a 2-liter six, the 3. Benz introduced the powerful SS and SSK, and Alfa Romeo, hispano-Suizas Alfonso XIII is considered the first sportcar developed between 1911 and 1914.
Two companies would offer really reliable sports cars, Austin with the Seven, the drive train and engine layout significantly influences the handling characteristics of an automobile, and is crucially important in the design of a sports car. The front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout is common to cars of any era and has survived longer in sports cars than in mainstream automobiles. Examples include the Caterham 7, Mazda MX-5, and the Chevrolet Corvette, more specifically, many such sports cars have a FMR layout, with the centre of mass of the engine between the front axle and the firewall. In search of improved handling and weight distribution, other layouts are sometimes used, the RMR layout is commonly found only in sports cars—the motor is centre-mounted in the chassis, and powers only the rear wheels. Some high-performance sports car manufacturers, such as Ferrari and Lamborghini have preferred this layout, Porsche is one of the few remaining manufacturers using the rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout.
The motors distributed weight across the wheels, in a Porsche 911, provides excellent traction, Porsche has continuously refined the design and in recent years added electronic driving aids to counteract these inherent design shortcomings. The front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout layout which is the most common in sport compacts and hot hatches, its conservative handling effect, particularly understeer, and the fact that many drivers believe rear wheel drive is a more desirable layout for a sports car count against it. The Fiat Barchetta, Saab Sonett, and Berkeley cars are cars with this layout. Before the 1980s few sports cars used four-wheel drive, which had added a lot of weight
Convertible
A convertible or cabriolet is an automobile body style that can convert between an open-air mode and an enclosed one, varying in degree and means by model. Convertibles evolved from the phaeton, an open vehicle without glass side windows that sometimes had removable panels of fabric or other material for protection from the elements. Historically, a retractable roof consisted of a frame covered with a folding. A lesser seen detachable hardtop provided a more weatherproof and secure alternative, as technology improved, a retractable hardtop which removes and stows its own rigid roof in its trunk appeared, increasingly becoming the most popular form. A semiconvertible known as a coach has a retractable or removable top which retains fully framed windows on its doors. A landaulet is a convertible with a fully enclosed front cabin. Other common terms include cabriolet, soft top, and drop top, and where the roof is more than emergency weather protection, open two-seater, rag top, spider. The erected top secures to the frame header with manual latches, semimanual latches.
The folded convertible top is called the stack, a tonneau cover provides a solution. A range of materials is available for soft tops, automakers had problems in securing raw materials to fulfill orders after World War II, including canvas in various shades for convertible tops and limiting their manufacture. Polyvinyl chloride material was used for many convertible tops, the material consists of two layers, a top layer made of PVC, which has a specific structure depending on the vehicle model, and a lower layer made of fabric. Side windows were not existent in open cars, which may have detachable side screens, rear windows have evolved similarly, with plastic rear windows appearing as late as the first-generation Porsche Boxster. Plastic windows can degrade, fade and crack over time, a windblocker or wind deflector minimizes noise and rushing air reaching the occupants. Mazda pioneered a version on the RX7 convertible which featured an integral rigid opaque panel that folded up from behind the front seats, current convertibles feature windblockers of various designs including detachable fold-up designs, vertically retractable glass, minimal flaps – or other integrated wind controlling systems.
According to the responsible for the 2008 Chrysler Sebring, its windblocker reduces wind noise by roughly 11 to 12 dB. Mercedes and Audi currently offer a heating duct to the area of the seat on SLK, SL. Windblockers are available on the aftermarket for use on convertibles that do not have them, the Volvo C70 retractable hardtop includes a door-mounted side-impact protection inflatable curtain which inflates upward from the interior belt-line – vs. downward like the typical curtain airbag. The curtain has an extra stiff construction with double rows of slats that are offset from each other
Valvetrain
A valve train or valvetrain is a mechanical system that controls operation of the valves in an internal combustion engine, in which a sequence of components transmits motion throughout the assembly. A traditional reciprocating internal combustion engine uses valves to control air and fuel flow into and out of the cylinders, the valve train consists of valves, rocker arms, pushrods and camshaft. Valve train opening/closing and duration, as well as the geometry of the train, controls the amount of air. Timing for open/close/duration is controlled by the camshaft that is synchronized to the crankshaft by a chain, camless This layout uses no camshafts at all. Technologies such as solenoids are used to actuate the valves. The valve train is the system responsible for operation of the valves. Valves are usually of the type, although many others have been developed such as sleeve, slide. Poppet valves typically require small coil springs, appropriately named valve springs and they are attached to the valve stem ends, seating within spring retainers.
Depending on the used, the valves are actuated directly by a rocker arm, finger. Overhead camshaft engines use fingers or bucket tappets, upon which the cam lobes contact, rocker arms are actuated by a pushrod, and pivot on a shaft or individual ball studs in order to actuate the valves. Pushrods are long, slender metal rods seated within the engine block, at the bottom ends the pushrods are fitted with lifters, either solid or hydraulic, upon which the camshaft, located within the cylinder block, makes contact. The camshaft pushes on the lifter, which pushes on the pushrod, which pushes on the rocker arm, camshafts must actuate the valves at the appropriate time in the combustion cycle. In order to accomplish this the camshaft is linked to and kept in synchronisation with the crankshaft through the use of a chain, rubber belt. Because these mechanisms are essential to the timing of valve actuation they are named timing chains, timing belts. Typical normal-service engine valve-train components may be too lightweight for operating at high revolutions per minute, valve float will damage the valvetrain over time, and could cause the valve to be damaged as it is still partially open while the piston comes to the top of its stroke.
Upgrading to high pressure valve springs could allow higher valvetrain speeds, high-output and engines used in competition feature camshafts and valvetrain components that are designed to withstand higher RPM ranges. These changes include additional modifications such as larger-sized valves combined with freer breathing intake, automakers offer factory-approved performance parts to increase engine output, and numerous aftermarket parts vendors specialize in valvetrain modifications for various engine applications
Porsche RS Spyder
The RS Spyder is a racing car designed by Porsche in conjunction with Penske to compete in Le Mans Prototype Class 2 racing. The car takes its name from the legendary 550 Spyder of the 1950s, the car marked Porsches first return to the top level of sports prototype racing since the firm abandoned its Porsche LMP in 1999. The RS Spyder made its debut in the event of the 2005 American Le Mans Series at Laguna Seca winning its class. Since the RS Spyder has won the ALMS LMP2 Championship in 2006,2007 and 2008, the RS Spyder was designed completely in-house by Porsche engineers. The chassis is a carbon fibre monocoque with both the engine and transmission being integral stressed members. The 3.4 litre 90-degree V8 racing engine was designed from scratch as was the six-speed electro-pneumatic sequential gearbox, braking is via six-piston caliper carbon-fibre brake mounted on suspension controlled by four-way, spring/damper units activated by pushrods with adjustable torsion-bar springs. The car has a dry weight of 825 kilograms in 2010 specification but was initially 750 kilograms, since its introduction in 2005 the engine, which initially produced 478 horsepower has been developed and modified to meet the changing regulations of both the ALMS and the ACO.
For 2008 the engine developed 503 horsepower using direct injection and 440 horsepower in 2009-spec with air restrictor limitations. The sole RS Spyder finished first in class and fifth overall, during 2006, Penske entered two RS Spyders in the ALMS and won seven class victories including outright victory at the Mid-Ohio race. This was the first LMP2 victory in a race since 2003, the results ensure victory for Penske in the LMP2 Championship and for Sascha Maassen in the drivers standings. For 2007, Porsche unveiled the 2007-spec RS Spyder, which included an increase in power to 503 horsepower, dyson Racing joined Penske in the ALMS. 2007 would be the most successful year for the RS Spyder with Penske repeating their victory in the ALMS series a further eight times. Penske again won the LMP2 class in ALMS and Romain Dumas won the LMP2 Drivers Championship, during the season the RS Spyder won eight races while the Audi R10 TDI from the largest P1 class won only four. Rule changes increased the RS Spyders weight to 825 kg and Porsche introduce a new direct injection engine developing 503 horsepower, Penske had another outright victory at the Utah Grand Prix and recorded an additional three class wins.
At Petit Le Mans a 3rd RS Spyder was entered by Penske in an attempt to out the manufacturers championship against Acura. Penske won both the LMP2 Team and drivers championship for Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas, Porsche won the manufacturers championship by 1 point ahead of Acura. Danish Team Essex together with Van Merksteijn Motorsport of The Netherlands, Team Essex and Van Merksteijn entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans, marking the debut for the RS Spyder at the event. A RS Spyder from Van Merksteijn Motorsport driven by Jeroen Bleekemolen, Peter van Merksteijn and Jos Verstappen, came first in class and 10th overall with the Essex team coming second in class
Porsche 718
The Porsche 718 is a racing car built by Porsche between 1957 and 1962. The 718 was a development of the successful Porsche 550A with improvements being made to the body work, the car is a RennSport build with a wheelbase shorter than typical of predecessors of the era and this led to the car being referred to as the RSK. It had a layout and used the 142 horsepower 1. 5-litre Type 547/3 quad-cam engine introduced in the 550A. The car made its debut at the 195724 Hours of Le Mans driven by Umberto Maglioli. The car failed to finish the race due to an accident, in 1958, the car finished first in class and third overall at Le Mans guided by Jean Behra and Hans Herrmann. Jean Behra brought one of the home second at the Targa Florio. In 1959, the car, driven by Edgar Barth and Wolfgang Seidel, a 718 won the European Hill Climb Championship in both 1958 and 1959. In 1961 Masten Gregory and Bob Holbert piloted a 718/4 RS Spyder to a win at Le Mans. Initially a two-seater 1. 5-litre sports car, the 718 was adapted to compete in a number of different formulas, for the 1960 season the FIA made changes to the regulation regarding the windscreen and cockpit size.
These rules changes together with a larger Type 547/3 engine, developing 160 horsepower, the RS60 brought Porsche victory at the 196012 Hours of Sebring with a car driven by Hans Herrmann and Olivier Gendebien. 1960 saw Porsche win the Targa Florio with Hans Herrmann being joined on the podium by Jo Bonnier. The RS60 ensured that Porsche successfully defended their European Hill Climb Championship for the year in a row. For 1961 the model name was changed to RS61 although it was almost identical to the RS60, an RS61 won the European Hill Climb Championship. A two-litre version, the W-RS was developed in 1961, initially fitted with a 4-cylinder engine, the car was fitted with an enlarged flat-8 air-cooled engine from the Porsche 804 Formula One car which was developed to produce 240 horsepower. A W-RS finished 8th at Le Mans in 1963, the W-RS continued Porsches success in the European Hill Climb Championship with Edgar Barth claiming the title in 1963. Porsche would go on to win a European Hill Climb Championship every year until 1982, the W-RS continued racing until 1964 when it was replaced by the 904.
A Coupé version was developed from the RS61, initially fitted with a 4-cylinder engine, this car was upgraded to an 8-cylinder F1 derived engine which produced 210 horsepower. The car was fitted with disc brakes
Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren is an American fashion designer and business executive, best known for the Ralph Lauren Corporation, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He has become known for his collection of rare automobiles. Lauren stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of the company in September 2015 but remains its Executive Chairman, as of October 2016, Forbes estimates his wealth at $5.5 billion, which makes Ralph Lauren the 233rd richest person in the world. Ralph Lauren was born in The Bronx, New York City, to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants and Frank Lifshitz and he is the youngest of four siblings – two brothers and one sister. Lauren attended day school followed by MTA, before graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School in 1957. He grew up playing basketball and baseball and he wanted to be Joe DiMaggio, and he wanted to be a movie star. Lauren constantly draws inspiration from his heroes including Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant and he went to Baruch College, at the City University of New York where he studied business, although he dropped out after two years.
From 1962 to 1964 he served in the United States Army, the Ralph Lauren Corporation started in 1967 with men’s ties. At 28 years-old, Lauren worked for the tie manufacturer Beau Brummell, drawing on his interests in sports, Ralph Lauren named his first full line of menswear ‘Polo’ in 1968. He worked out of a drawer from a showroom in the Empire State Building. By 1969, the Manhattan department store Bloomingdales sold Lauren’s men line exclusively and it was the first time that Bloomingdale’s had given a designer their own in-store boutique. In 1971, Ralph Lauren Corporation launched a line of tailored shirts for women, the first full women’s collection was launched the following year. 1971 marked the opening of Ralph Lauren’s store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and this is the first freestanding store for an American designer. In 1972 the Ralph Lauren Corporation introduced a signature cotton mesh Polo shirt in various colors, featuring the polo player logo at the chest, the shirt became emblematic of the preppy look—one of Ralph Laurens signature styles.
The tag line for the ad campaign was, Every team has its color -- Polo has seventeen, in 1977, Diane Keaton and Woody Allen wore Lauren’s clothes throughout their Oscar-winning film, Annie Hall. The first Ralph Lauren fragrances, produced by Warner-Lauren, Ltd. were launched at Bloomingdales in March 1978, Lauren, a fragrance for women, on March 12 and Polo, cologne for men, on March 26. This was the first time that a designer has introduced two fragrances – one for men and one for women – simultaneously, Ralph Lauren opens his first flagship in the Rhinelander mansion, on Madison Avenue and 72nd Street in New York City in 1986. Lauren re-creates the buildings original opulence with a design consultant named Naomi Leff
Targa Florio
The Targa Florio was an open road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, after 1973, it was a national sports car event until it was discontinued in 1977 due to safety concerns. It has since run as a rallying event, and is part of the Italian Rally Championship. The race was created in 1906 by the wealthy pioneer race driver and automobile enthusiast, Vincenzo Florio, alessandro Cagno won the inaugural 1906 race in nine hours, averaging 30 miles per hour. By the mid-1920s, the Targa Florio had become one of Europes most important races, Grand Prix races were still isolated events, not a series like todays F1. The wins of Mercedes in the 1920s made a big impression in Germany, especially that of German Christian Werner in 1924, rudolf Caracciola repeated a similar upset win at the Mille Miglia a couple of years later. In 1926, Eliska Junkova, one of the female drivers in Grand Prix motor racing history.
In 1953, the FIA World Sportscar Championship was introduced, the Targa became part of it in 1955, when Mercedes had to win 1-2 with the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR in order to beat Ferrari for the title. They had missed the first two of the 6 events, Buenos Aires and the 12 Hours of Sebring, where Ferrari, Jaguar and Porsche scored. Mercedes appeared at and won in the Mille Miglia, pulled out of Le Mans as a sign of respect for the victims of the 1955 Le Mans disaster, stirling Moss/Peter Collins and Juan Manuel Fangio/Karl Kling finished minutes ahead of the best Ferrari and secured the title. Several versions of the track were used and it started with a single lap of a 148 km circuit from 1906-1911 and 1931. From 1912 to 1914 a tour around the perimeter of Sicily was used, with a lap of 975 kilometres. The 148 km Grande circuit was shortened twice, the first time to 108 km, the version used from 1919-1930. From 1951-1958, the coastal island tour variant was used for a separate event called the Giro di Sicilia.
The start and finish took place at Cerda, the second version of the track went south through Caltavuturo and took a shortcut starting right before Castellana to Collesano via the town of Polizzi Generosa. There was a circuit called Favorita Park used from 1937-1940. To put that in perspective, most purpose built circuits have between 12 and 18 corners, and the longest purpose built circuit in the world, the 13-mile Nurburgring, has about 180 corners. Like a rally event, the cars were started one by one every 15 seconds for a time trial, as a start from a full grid was not possible on the tight
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the Stuttgart Cauldron an hour from the Swabian Jura. Stuttgarts urban area has a population of 623,738, making it the sixth largest city in Germany. 2.7 million people live in the administrative region and another 5.3 million people in its metropolitan area. Since the 6th millennium BC, the Stuttgart area has been an important agricultural area and has been host to a number of cultures seeking to utilize the rich soil of the Neckar valley. The Roman Empire conquered the area in 83 AD and built a massive Castrum near Bad Cannstatt, Stuttgarts roots were truly laid in the 10th century with its founding by Liudolf, Duke of Swabia as a stud farm for his warhorses. Overshadowed by nearby Cannstatt, the town grew steadily and was granted a charter in 1320, the fortunes of Stuttgart turned with those of the House of Württemberg, and they made it the capital of their County and Kingdom from the 15th Century to 1918.
Stuttgart prospered despite setbacks in the forms of the Thirty Years War and devastating air raids by the Allies on the city, however, by 1952, the city had bounced back and became the major economic, industrial and publishing center it is today. Stuttgart is an important transport junction, and possesses the sixth largest airport in Germany. Such companies as Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Daimler AG, Stuttgart is unusual in the scheme of German cities. It is spread across a variety of hills and parks and this is often a source of surprise to visitors who associate the city with its reputation as the Cradle of the Automobile. The citys tourism slogan is Stuttgart offers more, under current plans to improve transport links to the international infrastructure, the city unveiled a new logo and slogan in March 2008 describing itself as Das neue Herz Europas. For business, it describes itself as Where business meets the future, in July 2010, Stuttgart unveiled a new city logo, designed to entice more business people to stay in the city and enjoy breaks in the area.
Stuttgart is a city of mostly immigrants, according to Dorling Kindersley Publishings Eyewitness Travel Guide to Germany, In the city of Stuttgart, every third inhabitant is a foreigner. 40% of Stuttgarts residents, and 64% of the population below the age of five are of immigrant background, the reason for this being that the city was founded in 950 AD by Duke Liudolf of Swabia to breed warhorses. Originally, the most important location in the Neckar river valley as the rim of the Stuttgart basin at what is today Bad Cannstatt. As with many military installations, a settlement sprang up nearby, when they did, the town was left in the capable hands of a local brickworks that produced sophisticated architectural ceramics and pottery. When the Romans were driven back past the Rhine and Danube rivers in the 3rd Century by the Alamanni, in 700, Duke Gotfrid mentions a Chan Stada in a document regarding property
Porsche in motorsport
Porsche has been successful in many branches of motorsport of which most have been in long distance races. The Porsche 917 of 1969 turned them into a house, winning in 1970 the first of over a dozen 24 Hours of Le Mans. With the 911 Carrera RS and the Porsche 935 Turbo, Porsche dominated the 1970s, and even has beaten sports prototypes, Porsche is currently the worlds largest race car manufacturer. In 2006, Porsche built 195 race cars for international motor sports events. Some aspect of the car almost invariably, was being developed, notable early successes in the USA included an overall win in the 1964 Road America 500 for an under-2-litre RS-60 driven by Bill Wuesthoff and Augie Pabst. The 90x series of cars in the 60s saw Porsche start to expand from class winners that stood a chance of overall wins in tougher races where endurance and handling mattered, to likely overall victors. Porsche first expanded its 8-cyl flat engine to 2.2 litres in the 907, developed the 908 with full three litres in 1968.
Based on this 8-cyl flat engine and a loophole in the rules, the 4. 5-litre flat 12917 was introduced in 1969, eventually expanded to five litres, and even to 5.4 and turbocharged. Within few years, Porsche with the 917 had grown from underdog to the supplier of the fastest and most powerful car in the world. Even though introduced in 1963, and winning the Rally Monte Carlo, the water-cooled Porsche 996 series became a success in racing after the GT3 variant was introduced in 1999. The Porsche 917 is considered one of the most iconic racing cars of all time and gave Porsche their first 24 Hours of Le Mans win, Porsche scored a couple of unexpected Le Mans wins in 1996 and 1997. A return to racing in the USA was planned for 1995 with a Tom Walkinshaw Racing chassis formerly used as the Jaguar XJR-14. This is a feat Porsche had achieved in the 956 era, between 1998 and 2014, Porsche did not attempt to score overall wins at Le Mans and similar sports car races, focusing on smaller classes and developing the water-cooled 996 GT3.
Nevertheless, the GT3 and the LMP2 RS Spyder won major races overall during the period, in 2015, a Porsche 919 Hybrid hybrid car driven by Nick Tandy, Earl Bamber and Nico Hülkenberg won the 83rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Porsche LMP1 program went on to win the victory in the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship. The 919 program has gone on to win the 84th running of Le Mans in a 919 driven by Neel Jani, Romain Dumas. In the 1960s, Porsche grew into a competitor in sports car racing. In CanAm, Porsche cooperated with Penske, while in Deutsche Rennsportmeisterschaft, customers like Kremer Racing, Georg Loos, after appearing as Martini Porsche in the mid-1970s, the factory entered as Rothmans Porsche in the mid-1980s
Hans Herrmann
Hans Herrmann is a former Formula One and sports car racing driver from Stuttgart, Germany. In F1, he participated in 19 World Championship Grands Prix and he achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 10 championship points. In sports car racing, he scored the first overall win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Porsche in 1970. The racing career of Herrmann, who is a baker by trade and he took part in now legendary road races like Mille Miglia, Targa Florio and Carrera Panamericana and is one of the few remaining witnesses of this era. Hans im Glück escaped from several spectacular incidents or accidents, Herrmann had a remarkable Mille Miglia race in 1954, when the gates of a railroad crossing were lowered in the last moment before the fast train to Rome passed. From 1954 to 1955, he was part of the Mercedes-Benz factory team, as a driver behind Juan Manuel Fangio, Karl Kling, Hermann Lang. When the Silver Arrows came back for the 1954 French Grand Prix to score a 1–2 win, a podium finish at the 1954 Swiss Grand Prix was his best result in that year as he had to use older versions of the Mercedes-Benz W196, or the least reliable car.
In the 1955 Argentine Grand Prix his team mates Kling and Moss had to abandon due to the extremely hot conditions on the southern hemisphere in January. Herrmann was called in to share his car with them for a 4th-place finish, Fangio won with two laps more. Hans was quick in the 1955 Mille Miglia with the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR, comparably or even faster than Moss, a crash in practise for the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix put Herrmann out for the ill-fated 1955 season, even though a comeback in the Targa Florio was intended. The next years saw Herrmann racing for many marques, in F1 for Cooper, Maserati and BRM. With different versions of the Porsche 718 being used as a sportscar and as a Formula Two car, Herrmann scored some wins for Porsche, mainly both the 196012 Hours of Sebring and Targa Florio. When the open wheeled single seater version of the Porsche 718 became eligible for Formula One in 1961 due to the rule changes, Herrmann finished 15th in the 1961 Dutch Grand Prix, which was one of only two races in F1 history to have no retirements.
Gurney scored two F1 wins with the new Porsche 804, but Porsche retired from F1 anyway at the end of 1962, with the small cars of the Italian Abarth marque Herrmann spent 1962 to 1965 driving in minor races and hillclimbing events. He only took outright wins in lesser sports car racing events, the Abarths were hard to beat in their classes from 850cc to 1600cc, though. Being the only pro in a small team Hermann learned a lot about testing and developing, being dissatisfied with the preparation of his car for the 1965 Schauinsland practice, Hans went home to witness the birth of his son, Dino. At the end of the year he left Abarth for good to return to the closer to his home. In 1966 he returned to Porsche for a comeback in the World Sportscar Championship and he was assigned to Porsche Salzburg, the Austria-based factory-backed team owned by the Porsche family, which mainly entered cars painted red and white, the Austrian colors
Porsche
F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche AG, is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans. Porsche AG is headquartered in Stuttgart, and is owned by Volkswagen AG, Porsches current lineup includes the 718 Boxster/Cayman,911, Panamera and Cayenne. Ferdinand Porsche founded the company called Dr. Ing. h. c, F. Porsche GmbH in 1931, with main offices at Kronenstraße 24 in the centre of Stuttgart. Initially, the company offered motor vehicle development work and consulting, One of the first assignments the new company received was from the German government to design a car for the people, that is a Volkswagen. This resulted in the Volkswagen Beetle, one of the most successful car designs of all time, the Porsche 64 was developed in 1939 using many components from the Beetle. During World War II, Volkswagen production turned to the version of the Volkswagen Beetle, the Kübelwagen,52,000 produced. Porsche produced several designs for heavy tanks during the war, losing out to Henschel & Son in both contracts that ultimately led to the Tiger I and the Tiger II.
However, not all work was wasted, as the chassis Porsche designed for the Tiger I was used as the base for the Elefant tank destroyer. Porsche developed the Maus super-heavy tank in the stages of the war. At the end of World War II in 1945, the Volkswagen factory at KdF-Stadt fell to the British, Ferdinand lost his position as Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen, and Ivan Hirst, a British Army Major, was put in charge of the factory. On 15 December of that year, Ferdinand was arrested for war crimes, during his 20-month imprisonment, Ferdinand Porsches son, Ferry Porsche, decided to build his own car, because he could not find an existing one that he wanted to buy. He had to steer the company through some of its most difficult days until his fathers release in August 1947, the first models of what was to become the 356 were built in a small sawmill in Gmünd, Austria. The prototype car was shown to German auto dealers, and when pre-orders reached a set threshold, production was begun by Porsche Konstruktionen GesmbH founded by Ferry, many regard the 356 as the first Porsche simply because it was the first model sold by the fledgling company.
After the production of 356 was taken over by the fathers Dr. Ing. h. c. In 1952, Porsche constructed a plant across the street from Reutter Karosserie, the main road in front of Werk 1. The 356 was road certified in 1948, Porsches company logo was based on the coat of arms of the Free Peoples State of Württemberg of former Weimar Germany, which had Stuttgart as its capital. The arms of Stuttgart was placed in the middle as an inescutcheon, on 30 January 1951, not long before the creation of Baden-Württemberg, Ferdinand Porsche died from complications following a stroke. The 356, had several stages, A, B, and C, while in production
