Dream An Automotive Dream With Me
Le Mans & A Tamiya Model

I want to take this moment to tell you a story of two boys. Both of them are born and bred in Vancouver, Canada. They’re interesting little guys, blessed with vivid imaginations and unbelievable levels of concentration. I wouldn’t say they’re the most social of creatures, but instead, show some typical character traits of the introvert, with a tendency towards occupying the world of thoughts and ideas.

I’d also say these two boys are passionate and focused. They both feel very deeply and are filled with overwhelming enthusiasm for the things and people in their realm. They are also both completely obsessed with cars.

Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-4998

Now, I might be giving the impression to you that these two boys are best of friends and spend every weekend together lost in a world of racing games and model cars. That is not the case. While they both live on the West Coast of Canada, they are separated by time and space.

Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-5061

The first boy was born in 1970. We pick up his tale when he’s nine years old. At this time, the boy has become completely captivated by motorsports. He’s already been racing go-carts for many years, and, spent many a weekend visiting racing tracks all over the Pacific North West. He’s also developed a deep fascination for a 24-hour car race taking place in France every summer – Le Mans. None of his friends or family know or care about Le Mans. In fact, he doesn’t know a single person with the slightest interest in endurance racing. This doesn’t matter though, because he can sit for hours, imagining his beloved sports cars racing through the Le Mans night.

Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-4956

It was a few years earlier, in 1977, when he first became aware of Le Mans while reading one of his dad’s car magazines. One magazine published a race report that detailed legendary racing driver Jacky Ickx’s victory with the Porsche 936. There was just something about this article that enraptured the boy; maybe it was the beauty of those Martini stripes, or maybe it was the romance of racing at 220 miles per hour on French public roads. Whatever the case, come summer each year, he just had to scour the magazine racks in his local library to find out what had happened to his beloved Porsche at Le Mans that year.

Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-5087

This was the pre-smart phone, pre-web, pre-always on, pre-always connected, always-distracted era. It was a time when finding out what motorsports’ happenings going down in far-away Europe was fairly hard work. It was the rarity of this information that only further ignited his passion for Le Mans and the Martini Porsches. By now, though, he had something else to focus his obsessive nature on.

Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-5081

It was a Tamiya plastic model kit of one of the most iconic sports cars of the day – the fabulously-radical Porsche 935-78, also known as Moby Dick. This car was the Porsche 911 race car of Porsche 911 race cars. Never had such a wild, production-based competition machine ever been conceived before

Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-5097

For many days and many nights he would gaze across to his Tamiya model, taking in that long tail, the Martini stripes and the low-slung silhouette. He couldn’t quite understand why the Moby Dick didn’t win Le Mans in 1978. How could such an amazing racing car have been defeated by some yellow cars called Renaults? Surely its 220mph top speed would have defeated all comers, no?

Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-5085

Well, apparently not. But it didn’t matter – he still thought the Moby Dick was the greatest racing car ever built.

Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-5010

Slightly less exciting to him were the 935s, which had taken the spoils at Le Mans the in 1979. The second-placed car had been driven by some guy named Paul Newman. The boy didn’t know who he was, but noted that most people made a big deal about him. Apparently he was some kind of movie star.

Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-5028

The boy also noted that the car carried something called Hawaiian Tropic. These logos were also worn by some girls who came to Le Mans wearing only bikinis. The boy was perplexed why the girls would wear bathing suits to a car race. Well, never mind that…

Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-5002

He also really liked the cones that most of the racing cars ran on their wheels. He had no idea what these cones did, but thought they looked cool, and to his nine-year-old brain, that was reason enough to love these 935s. Time passed, and the boy continued to race go-carts, build model cars, collect slot cars, as well as continually drawing and painting all sorts of machines. He was more or less completely engrossed in the subject of cars and motorsports.

From Dreams To Reality
Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-5118

A few years later, when he was 12 years old, the boy was given a very special present – a magazine about the 1982 running of the Le Mans race which was won by a new Porsche racing car called a 956. Unfortunately, the Martini stripes had long disappeared from the Porsche racing cars by this time, only to be replaced by something called Rothmans. The boy wasn’t sure what Rothmans was, though. In fact, come to think of it, he also had no idea what Martini or Hawaiian Tropic were either. Never mind that.

Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-5071

By this time a very special, unbreakable bond had been created between this boy and Porsches. It may have fostered by those magazine reports from some 24-hour race on the other side of the planet, or it might have been his 1/24 scale Tamiya Moby Dick model. All he knew was that whenever a Porsche took victory at Le Mans, he took pride in knowing that his team had just decimated the competition once again.

Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-4976

Fast-forward to the year 1996 and the boy had become a young man. He’d moved on from his life on the West Coast of Canada, stopped racing, and decided instead to relocate to London, UK, to pursue a career as a music video director. You see, he also had another passion in life, outside of motorsports – music. He was not gifted as a musician of any sort, so he decided to channel his talents into being a visual artist. The interest in racing took a back seat for a while.

Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-4974

But all that changed when he casually picked up a copy of Autosport magazine one day. In it, was a photo of a new Porsche racing car, which had been built to some kind of new endurance racing regulation called GT1. All of a sudden, all of those years of passion for the Porsche Le Mans race cars came rushing back. This was his team – Porsche – preparing to go back to Le Mans once again with a new machine called the 911 GT1. From then on he started buying Autosport magazine every week. Then he started going local race tracks to see these great Porsche racing cars.

Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-5032

He went to Donington to see the FIA GT series. This was followed the next year by a trip to Silverstone to see the great Porsche GT1-98 machines.

Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-5125

Not only was Porsche fielding some amazing GT1 machines at this time, but they also were taking the fight in the GT2 category too.

Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-5041

And of these GT2s, it was the Roock 993s, which always stood out. They looked far more aggressive than the other 993 machines, and often were Porsche’s only line of defence against the, then dominant, ORECA Vipers.

Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-5036

Now that the young man lived in Europe, it was now possible to watch the televised entirety of the Le Mans 24 hours. And this is what he did in 1998 when his team, Porsche, won Le Mans outright. So inspired was he by this development, only two years later he found himself trackside at Le Mans, as fully accredited film-maker.

The next year he was back at Le Mans again, creating a 24-minute film called Speedtribe. This was his first serious attempt to reconcile his talents as a media artist with his passion for motorsports. Unfortunately though, Porsche was now gone from the scene. And while our protagonist now took his first steps as an automotive media creator, he had arrived at Le Mans only to find himself at the start of the Audi era. His team were no longer challenging for outright victory at La Sarthe.

Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-5091

At any rate, there was no time to get sentimental. The young man now knew he had found his true vocation, to become an automotive media creator, and also, to craft virtual racing experiences in video games.

Many years later he started a project called Speedhunters. I’m sure you know the rest of the story. And I’m sure you know who this person I am telling you about is. It’s yours truly.

In The Porsche Museum
Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-4935

But I am not going to dwell on myself any further in this tale. Let’s now look at the second boy. He is the nine-year-old son of my wife’s best friend. He is completely obsessed with cars and has recently become a regular Speedhunters reader. His name is Ambrose.

Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-4926

I was thinking about Ambrose a lot the other week, as I found myself at the Porsche museum in Stuttgart, Germany. I was there with my boss, Marcus Nilsson, from EA’s Ghost Studio and Speedhunters’ own, Elizabeth White, to do a bit of Speedhunting at the new Porsche Le Mans exhibit.

Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-5022

There I found myself amongst all of the Porsche icons of my past. The very machines which had inspired me, in one way or another, to take a life-long passion as a motorsports fan and turn it into a full-time career as an automotive media creator and racing game developer.

Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-5147

I could look at these cars and feel a direct line to my little-boy self. All of those years of dreaming resulted into manifesting that very moment. It was now my job to be there, in the Porsche Museum. I couldn’t help but think of that other nine-year-old boy, living on the other side of the planet, who was just starting his journey of automotive dreams. Perhaps I could inspire him a little bit? I decided then and there to send him a book about Porsche’s new Le Mans campaign as well as a die cast model of their 991 race car. Who knows, what effect this little gesture could have on him.

Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-5107

Perhaps it will be as earth-shatteringly, inspirational as when I read a race report about Le Mans 1977, or when my parents bought me a Tamiya model of a Martini Racing 935 race car. I don’t know, but I feel it’s my duty to reach out to Ambrose to help foster his passion. Maybe 10 years from now he will embark on a path to become an automotive engineer or designer – it’s hard to know. But ultimately it’s the gesture that counts, yes?

Rod Chong Porsche Museum Le Mans Stuttgart-5020

Next weekend Porsche will embark on their Mission 2014 – Return to Le Mans. All of us who have followed our team and their domination of Le Mans in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s will no doubt be watching very closely. All those little boys around the world who watched the 917s, 936s, 935s, 956s, 962s, WSC-95 and 911 GT1s take on the world’s greatest motorsport event, will no doubt be watching the proceedings very closely too.

So do you have a message of encouragement you’d like to pass over to Ambrose? Can he just dare to believe that his automotive dreams can become a reality?

Rod Chong
Instagram: speedhunters_rod
Twitter: rodbotchong

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1

Niiiiiice access.  Sweet

2

Probably the best piece you've written dude. The veil of the rodbot comes down a bit more...

So excited to see Porsche back at Le Mans this year, just gutted that I can't be there to see it in person.

3
JustinJadunath

This is a great article Rod. The photos are top notch and the way you wrote the story was beautiful. I thought that you'd gotten into my head for a bit!!

4

It's automotive journalism like this that keeps me glued to Speedhunters day after day. Rod, my hat is off to you sir. I also just made the connection with your mention of Speed Tribe. Hands down my favorite DVD to show off my audio/visual to this day, more then 10 years after it was produced! Keep it up!

5

My advice to ambrose is the advice I had to learn for myself, being a young adult who has had gasoline in my veins since I was your age. First, I hate to tell you that no one else cares about your passion, it is a hard truth but @larry chen put it very well in his stories about Ole Orange Bang. Cars to most people are MOT's, or methods of transportation. but if you find a pal who is into cars, maybe a little bit, your shared passion can stew up some amazing and long lasting friendships.


I am also young, which means I have no money for a cool car or sweet modifications. What I did is I scrimped, saved and scrounged for a nikon DSLR camera and a nice and sweet prime lens. Through these two, I can live out each and every one of my car dreams. From being a classic hot rodder in a 69 chevelle to a street drifter in a slammed scion FRS to a lovely chap in a morgan three wheeler. I can embrace each and every scene and remember these great cars, and still feel like I am part of the automotive world.


I guess this is how the speedhunters where born, guys and girls who went around with there camera's pointing and clicking at fun things that make noise, trying to capture the moment and atmosphere of the world around us. It doesn't matter what scene it is, be it stance, muscle, time attack, drift, VIP, or what be you. All that matters is the joy you get from squeezing a gas pedal and going.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/75773714@N08/

6

That was my favourite article I've read to date on the site in a couple years as an avid follower. Thanks for creating the site, it's by a long shot the best automotive site in existence. 

Cheers,

A fellow YVR petrol head.

7

My automotive and motorsport obsession began in a similar fashion a family friend gave me a 1/24 scale model of a Bugatti EB110 for my 4th birthday, It was yellow and the doors, bonnet and steering all opened and worked. I remember playing with it for hours on end. I remember watching the V8 Supercars on TV with dad and later that year (It was '94 and I was still 4) he took me down to the V8 Round at Winton in country Victoria Australia. I hung off the fence the whole day, the noise, the colour, the passion from the other fans it all sunk right in. I was hooked and from then on it became a yearly tradition to attend.

From that young age my passion grew, I spent god knows how long drawing cars, watching dad make models, helping my grandfather work of his old cars and flicking through piles of car magazines. It was this way I discovered my dream car, a 1969 Dodge Charger which 3 years ago I was lucky enough to buy one and have it imported from the US of A.


To this day every weekend is spent either traveling to car events, watching motorsport or working on my own cars. I attend track days down at Winton with my SIivia or Commodore, where it all started, smile from ear to ear, feeling truly free. I will drive 5hrs just to see a sprint car race, then when its finished at 11pm ill drive back home, just so i can spend Sundays finding online streams/videos of what I love, I dont care weather its DTM, WTCC, V8s, WEC, NASCAR, F1, GT racing, Speedway ill watch it and love it.
Car shows, the Bathurst 1000, Winton, car festivals like Top Gear, club meets and track days will my schedule. Wouldnt have it any other way.


Alot of people don't understand the passion and love for all things automotive. When they ask its the just the same simple response I give...... It makes me truly happy. And with Le Mans on next weekend, i simply cannot wait to sit down, find a good online stream and watch cars drive in circles for 24hrs.

Don't stop the great work guys and girls.

Brendan

8

Great article, Rod. Reminds me of being in Le Mans when I was nine years
old. And no... we didn't go to the race. We looked at the city,
churches and other boring stuff - when heaven was literally just around
the corner. My parents just couldn't be bothered. More than two decades later however... a
couple of friends and me are going to see Porsche return to Le Mans
endurance racing this week. And believe it or not - for each and every one of us
it's the first time attending the race! Gotta live your dreams eventually.

PS: Thanks for creating SpeedHunters. The most diverse automotive blog in existence.

9

Rod, thank you so much for this article. It connects to me deeply and you are probably partially responsible for my love of cars.

When I was 4 years old I got my first technical Lego and one of the first things I built was a vehicle. By the age of 6 I got te electric motor and now these vehicles could move. I even built a working differential.

When I was 10 my dad bought his first PC and the first two games we got was Red Alert 2 and, and this is why I made my earlier statement, Need for Speed: Porsche 2000. From that point onwards all I drew was Porsches. The Moby Dick was my favourite and I would spend hours upon hours trying to control the 911RS with its all-or-nothing handling!

Fast forward 12 years and I'm now graduating university with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. I have a 13B-swapped Mazda Miata and over time I have made many friends in the Automotive world. I've been a Speedhunters reader since 2010 and I'd hereby like to thank you for starting this blog and opening my eyes to the many facets within our community. Linhberghs KINOD Roadster post was the final piece of motivation I needed to buy myself a Miata and the worldwide content on this blog have been an inspiration for my own build.

Now let's see if Porsche still got it and hope they can perform well this year at Le Mans :)

10

Ambrose, if you wanna become a car designer, start sketching now. Plus have a look on sketches from professionals:
https://www.facebook.com/simkomdotcom" rel="dofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/simkomdotcom 
Below a sketch by Hakan Saracoglu, the designer of the Porsche 918 spyder. Here is the interview with Hakan:
https://www.facebook.com/simkomdotcom" rel="dofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/simkomdotcom

11

Rob, thank you for the magic words. Ambrose, if you wanna become a car designer, start sketching now. Plus have a look on sketches from professionals:
https://www.facebook.com/simkomdotcom" rel="dofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/simkomdotcom
Below a sketch by Hakan Saracoglu, the designer of the Porsche 918 spyder. Here is the interview with Hakan: https://www.facebook.com/simkomdotcom" rel="dofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/simkomdotcom

12

Been to the Porsche Museum twice already, last year for the 911 @ 50 special display, and in March of 2014, where from what I understand, I missed the Le Mans display by a few weeks? Feels like home to me :) 


Sure, I've been to BMW Welt and Museum, Mercedes-Benz Museum nearby and the Audi Forum Neckarsulm. Porsche Museum was the smallest but for me the most impressive (maybe because Iove Porsches!)


Great pics, brings back fond memories! Now my wife's bugging me to bring her there too!

13

Wonderful story, Rod. Thank you. Great background and great pictures.  I'm  about 10 years behind you in that cycle, but have a similar obsession with Porsches and endurance racing from early childhood. Laguna Seca was & is where I stoke the Porsche passion, and only a month ago I worked for my first professional Porsche team there, a GTD 991 squad.  I haven't yet made the pilgrimage to Stuttgart, but the passion for endurance racing is taking me to the 'Ring in a week, as a professional mechanic with an Audi team in the N24.  So, though there have been diversions & delays, I've found my way on to the path I've always wanted to be on, one that I hope leads to Le Mans.  

Which leads to the message for Ambrose: 

My simple passion for German sports cars has led a pretty average kid from a "non-car" but supportive family to a career working on them, and next week to a career defining race at a Bucket List place, as a professional.  It doesn't get much better than that for a car-obsessed CA kid who just decided at a young age that he liked German cars.  With all the doom & gloom about the decline of car culture, the world needs more young enthusiasts. Your generation's Porsches may be hybrid-electric, but they'll be as good as ever, and their race cars will never fail to inspire, especially at Le Mans.  As Rod has ably demonstrated to us all, there are numerous paths to your dream, but if you never lose sight of your stoke, it'll take you where you want to be, even if your life finds you doing other things along the path. You're well on your way, and I wish you all the best.  See you at the track!

14

R32RennSport Hey I know you! Bring your copy of Speed Tribe to work tomorrow. Not my monkeys, buddy ;)

15

I need to put this story in my bookmarks, for sure. That's truly inspiring, thank you!

For Ambrose:

It's ok to focus on a certain car maker or kind of cars. But my advice is: always respect every car of every era and every maker, no matter if Porsche or Chevrolet, Ferrari or Mini, import or muscles, everything has his own history and it is our duty to keep it alive. Passion is a powerful thing. The whole Automotive world is a powerful thing. Unite this two things and you get an even more powerful thing (sorry for the repetitions), which can bring you everywhere, which can help you to reach your targets.

16

awesome story rod!  porsche was also what got me into following motorsports, including le mans.  i had just finished tinkering (and breaking it in the process) my 1/10 tamiya thundershot RC and was hoping to buy replacement parts at a local hobby shop but as a kid (11 years old back then), i was only given a certain amount of money, which as fate would have it, was too little for the repairs and parts for the thundershot, but just enough for a tamiya 1/24 kit of the porsche 962c [fromA].  the kit's still alive but multiple soaks in hardware-grade thinner have left the plastic brittle and cracked, but i hope i run into another kit of this and i'll build another one.

to ambrose: don't stop following your dreams.  the car community is always there to help you out.

17
LukeEVOLUTIONVIII

Nice post rod! Its the same story with me! I grew up watching mitsubishi in early rally, and here I am! 14 years old and I want to own an evo 8 fq340 voltex and also bring mitsubishi back to rally

18

vancouver!! my hometown. im completely obsessed with cars but it seems like my generation is losing petrolheads and car culture is dying. But stories like this are what inspire me to build my e30, and restore a first gen '77 celica. im 17 years old and im preaching the speedhunters religion and its starting to catch with some of friends. Car culture will never die!

19

Thank you Rod for posting this great article and to all the Speedhunters foe inspiring and helping me pursuing my dream with their words and images. I hope even Ambrose will ne inspired as I am by reading you guys. Dream big and work hard to achieve your dreams.

20

Rod you should visit the Mercedes-Benz Museum as you're in Stuttgart already. Well you probably already know about it but yeah, it's great. I actually enjoyed it more than the Porsche one.

21

Thanks for everything you've done Rod. The automotive world is a better place thanks to you. You've done such a great job of bringing all spectrums together under one roof. You should be nominated for a noble peace prize.
Great write about the Porsche museum as well. Keep it up

22

prazzi Noble peace prize?? What are u talking about man?? It is fine to be thankful to this dude for creating SH but all this inspiration you guys get from just one post...it is mind bending. In fact, I am going to orcherstrate a fart melody due to eating bad tacos and blame Rod for inspiring me so much. 

Rod, you should be nominated for president or prime minister of a nation of your choice. I will vote you.

23
JustinJadunath

I'm in full agreement with you. I also have very few friends that are as into cars as I am. But after going into the Lamborghini Vancouver dealer I learnt about the local cars and coffee events. I've been going every month now and as I go I find that I am discovering new friends and people to talk to and connect with. I'm happy to have taken the chance and walked into a place that's normally reserved for the folks with a lot of cash. Doing that has given me an opportunity to get together with fellow gear heads and it's been awesome.

24

I'm from Nova Scotia and I fell in love with cars when I was 8 when I saw a Shelby 427 cobra, the classic blue with white stripes turn in front of me at an intersection. My dad is a car guy and at that moment I got it. I learned the history of the car and learned of Le Mans and then the 911, the 911 gt1 98 is still a car that I just stare at when I see pictures of it.
So this story is something I can relate to. The passion that is generated by cars is amazing, but more so is the life changing ability that passion has. My son is seven and there is nothing better then when he asks if we can go to cruise night at the local A&W on Thursday nights in the summer. It's a time for just me and him to bond, have a burger and a root beer and walk among the cool cars. He loves it, I love it and the old guys with there cars love having him ask questions and telling him stories.
I think sending him that book and model will be a huge influence on Ambrose and it will probably not only fuel his passion for cars but be a bond builder between the two of you. Good work Rod. You're helping build the next generation of car lovers. Keep it up, and thanks for building this monument to fuel our collective passions.

25

Best story ever, on the best automotive website in the world.

Author26

Thanks! Glad you like!

Author27

Lol

Author28

Sean did a report on it one or two years ago..

Author29

It will change but never die no :)

Author30

Enjoy the N24!

Author31

A great story yourself! Tx for sharing :)

Author32

Cheers! Much more than a blog though now?

Author33

Cheers!

Author34

Looks like you have been shooting a lot of Porsches!

Author35

Cheers! I don't think I've watched it in around 8 years haha.

Author36

Cheers bro.

Author37

:)

38

It's Stories like these that almost every car enthusiast can relate too ... The very thing that keeps them inspired , keep them moving , no matter what job they have ,there is always a soft spot that will be dedicated to cars , and when that one person watches a car and u see a smile from them you know that a memory that was lost in the brain has just suddenly re appeared with much more !!!
I read this 3 times and I must say thank you so much for this story .. And I have always say to each of the speed hunters team .. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK !!!

39

RodChong Yeah actually, If you ever need a good subject for a speedhunters article one of the most legendary porsche clubs meets 10 miles from my house. The R-Gruppe. Featuring mostly pre74 911's, all modified in some way save for specials like the three member 1973 2.7 Carrera RS's. 

I am blessed to live in a place that gets this much action, but the quality of the cars there is unreal. to those that don't know what I am talking about, here is a link to last weekends show.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/75773714@N08/sets/72157645061446565/

40

bigeastbay  I had a chance to go on a drive with the R-Gruppe when they visited the central coast a few weeks ago. I have a mixed opinion regarding the owners though, the cars are obviously stunning. Being a local I had helped lead the group to a local route as I was tagging along as somewhat of a spectator and they were somewhat unorganized. Half way through the drive I was asked, by way of poor excuses I might add, to take my lowly R32 elsewhere. Though quite a few of the driver's were sociable and even had kind words to say about my outcast VW, it still left a sour taste in my mouth.

41

RodChong Have you produced any new material like Speed Tribe since that I am unaware of or plan to in the future?

42

Rod, Speedtribe is still one of my all time favorite films, the music, and the visuals fit the tone of Le Mans perfectly. The reason i purchased Speedtribe when it came out was due to the musical talent of Front 242, but the visuals made it such an emotional experience for me. I typically do not post on internet blog websites, but feel that i needed to express my appreciation and admiration of the work you have done on this website and with Speedtribe. 

Thank you for sharing your amazing talents.

43

R32RennSport bigeastbay I find this to be disappointing, but I am not surprised. I have experienced similar attitudes from every "aging" car crowd. Younger people are generally more lenient to different things, but I can see how this would be disappointing. I must say, after attending 3 of their meets that I have only met great enthusiastic car people but I am very disappointed by this. Some people are just more crotchety than others. I hope you can forgive or forget, as their are some genuinely great dudes and women in this club, and I would hate for a couple of bad seeds to mar you entirely.

44

bigeastbay R32RennSport The good out weighed the bad, I hold nothing against the club as a whole as that would be ridiculous and immature. I was just happy I had the opportunity to be driving with such wonderful sounding machinery.

45

True that, thanks for a great article. Let me know if you ever visit Vancouver! I'd love to meet you guys

46
JasonPhillips

Great Article!....I was lucky enough to visit the Porsche museum last year, such a fantastic place. Hope you got the chance to visit the Mercedes museum too whilst in Stuttgart.

47
Speedhunters_Bryn

RodChong Swonz I was there a couple of weeks ago, great museum. Trucks on the third floor? History of the Magic tree air freshener? Cool place :)

48

I just love the Moby Dick. It was love at first sight when I first saw it in "Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed". That tail is just ridiculously cool!

49
bill_240rs_maxi

Rod, awesome article.  Porsche's GT motorsport heritage is second to no other.  The Roock GT2 have always been the pinnacle of 911 for me (that and 934)

50

Very great story Rod!  It is always cool hearing about where we all draw our inspiration from.  I know that this place (SH) helps drive me to finish my Mustang build and I am sure Ambrose has been inspired and driven as well.  Your gift will mean the world to him and it could indeed be the push he needs to full pursue a career in the ever exciting automotive world.  

If you are reading Ambrose, work hard and chase your dreams!

51

Oh  thanks RodChong now you've got me listening to Captain Jack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj4QH0af5PY

52
PauloRebordao

In Porsche we trust...

53

RodChong great story! Also from Vancouver, also can relate to growing up loving cars. Hope little Ambrose can absorb some of the great car culture here in BC: All-British Field Meet, Weissach Coffee and Cars, Thursday Night Meets at Market Crossing, Revscene meets, Autocrossing in Pitt Meadows, etc, etc.

54

What a terrifically well written piece!  This is one of the best stories I've yet read on Speedhunters.  What's truly amazing to me is that you almost completely described my youth (as far as LeMans and Porsche are concerned)!  Thank you very much for your words and your images.  Spectacular both!

55

Forget Paul Newman, I was trying to find out how come that Steve McQueen was allowed to drive the Porsche 917's for the movie LeMans, and could not get over the sound of that car... I know that there are louder machines, and more powerful, but the symphony of that car will always give me goosebumps, and make the hairs stand up on my forearms.

For Ambrose (very cool name), I would say start with something that you can handle, and perfect it. Then move up to bigger, and more powerful toys as you learn all you can of the safe limits on your current equipment. It worked for Senna, Loeb, and many others who we idolize today. Don't underestimate the use of simulators either... If you look to a post from last year, showing Mad Mike's pad, you'll notice front and center in the living room is a custom simulator rig. Practice daily and we'll see you from our seats in the stands.

Author56

Very cool. Did you see any of these legendary Porsches rage back in the day?

Author57

Indeed

58

Gave me chills reading that

59

It's like you could see into the heart of another west coast (Seattle) little boy. I would be entranced for hours at any chance to admire and to dream of driving those wonderful cars.

To Ambrose I say. Remember the great minds don't conform to the norm. They make the norm conform to them.

Author60

Great quote

61

Racing game developer? nice story Rod

62

@SIMKOM He is incredibly inspiring guy. I had a chance to have lunch with him while at Weissach. Great mind.

63

Always fascinating to get a peek inside your mind from time to time Rod :)

65

Some amazing cars in there! Would love to pay a visit...

66

Speed hunters has to be one of the best car sites on the web..and surly the best photography! !

67

I remember reading about the Porsche 917 being so fast that the drivers used to back off at the end of the Mulsanne straight because they didn't want to go any faster. Needless to say, that got me hooked on Porsche early as a kid.

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