Sam Barris, Gil and Al Ayala, and Frank Sonzogni might not come to mind as darlings of the concours crowd, but in their own way, they had the same intentions as the celebrated coachbuilders regularly feted on manicured lawns: to create automotive art using manufacturer-supplied ingredients. Rather than Ferraris and other exotics, however, they plied their trade in more commonly available domestic sedans and coupes, and about a dozen of their most significant examples will get their turn in the limelight later this year when the Pebble Beach Concours celebrates postwar Mercury customs
While nobody could consider the 1949 to 1951 Mercury a commercial failure – it outsold much of its competition at about 300,000 cars a year – the E.T. “Bob” Gregorie design didn’t quite have the punch and flair that many other midsize American cars had at that time. No rocket motifs or portholes, no drastic body shapes, nothing to really make it stand out. But as designer Harry Bradley wrote, its “tentative combination of old and new that was not as fresh as its sister cars from Ford or Lincoln, or its competition from General Motors… [was] exactly what made the car so appealing to customizers.”
Those slab sides became big canvases for doodlers in chrome trim. The conservative front end easily adapted to new grille and headlamp combinations. The small windows and thick pillars gave it a tougher and, at the same time, more flowing look when metalsmiths dared to chop its top.
Who exactly was the first to take that plunge has been a matter of debate for some years now. Customizer Sam Barris typically gets credit: Only a few weeks after buying his 1949 Mercury coupe that year, he took a torch and welder to his car to lower its lid, dechromed it, altered the side sculpturing, lowered it, and painted it metallic green. At about the same time, Gil and Al Ayala had set about chopping and altering the sheetmetal on Louie Bettancourt’s 1949 coupe. Whoever did it first, more would soon follow, including Jerry Quesnel’s Barris-chopped 1949 coupe and Bob Hirohata’s 1951 coupe, which Barris chopped and hardtopped and which would go on to become perhaps the most iconic custom Mercury.
While many of the custom Mercurys of the Fifties – such as the 1949 coupe that starred alongside James Dean in the 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause – featured only mild alterations and still looked fairly stock, others – including the 1950 coupe that Leo Lyons modified over a period of nine years – so extensively reshaped the cars as to make them almost unrecognizeable as Mercurys. Persistent magazine exposure helped popularize the chopped and customized Mercurys coming out of the Los Angeles-area hot rod shops in the Fifties, but so did films such as Rebel and the 1955 Mamie Van Doren flick Running Wild, which included the Hirohata Mercury. They soon picked up the nickname “leadsled” for the vast amounts of body lead applied to their flanks during the customization process.
Leo Lyons custom Mercury. Photo courtesy Geoff Hacker.
Hot rod and custom collector and historian Ken Gross, who has helmed the biennial displays of prewar customs, sports customs, and other hot rods at Pebble Beach since 1997, said the 1949 to 1951 Mercury, to many enthusiasts, represents the definitive custom car. “The cars hail from an exuberant era when backyard mechanics and bodymen were convinced they could build stylish automobiles as well as any major automaker,” he said. “These cars are rolling proof that they did.”
To put the class together, Gross said he looked to Bradley’s list of 10 ultimate “Original Radical Custom Mercs” – which includes the Barris 1949 coupe, the Bettancourt 1949 coupe, the Quesnel 1949 coupe, the Hirohata 1951 coupe, Wally Welch’s Ayala-customized 1950 coupe, Ralph Testa’s Barris-customized 1950 convertible, Buddy Alcorn’s Barris-customized 1950 coupe, Fred Rowe’s Barris-customized 1951 convertible, Dave Burgarin’s Barris-customized 1951 coupe, and Sonzogni’s 1951 coupe – for inspiration. Four of those cars – Burgarin’s, Sonzogni’s, Quesnel’s, and Bettancourt’s – have gone missing in the decades since they were built, so Gross said he would like to include a few other noteworthy custom Mercurys in their stead, including the Rebel Without a Cause coupe, the Lyons coupe, and Darryl Starbird’s “Fabula” 1950 coupe. No cars on the list have yet been confirmed for the concours.
Along with the postwar custom Mercurys, this year’s Pebble Beach Concours will feature classes dedicated to Preservation Ferraris and Ferraris that Raced in the Pebble Beach Road Races in the 1950s, duPonts, Pope automobiles, designs by Carrozzeria Touring, postwar Cunninghams, Japanese motorcycles, prewar British sports cars, Lincoln Continentals, and Shelby G.T. 350s.
Fifteen-year-old show coverage? Sure, why not, especially when it’s Richard Lentinello’s look (in SIA #199, February 2004) at the 2003 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance – specifically of the special classes the concours put together that year to celebrate Ford’s centennial, including pre-war coachbuilt Fords, GT40s, and woodies. While Ford products – particularly Lincolns – have before and since found their way to the Pebble Beach show field, this was the Blue Oval’s chance to shine at the world’s most prestigious car show.
A 1941 Chrysler Town & Country station wagon takes the field at Pebble Beach. Photos by the author.
Once again, the Hemmings editorial team has done our best to cover the extensive events on California’s Monterey Peninsula during the seven-day period that has become affectionately known as “Car Week.” With thousands of images to edit and numerous auction reports and show coverage stories to write, it will be a while before we have the opportunity to get through it all. Still, it was impossible to attend this year’s events without coming away with a few key observations.
1. If there’s a bubble in the collector car market, it hasn’t burst yet. We reported the $38.115 million sale of the 1962 Ferrari GTO as it was happening, and to be honest, I expected the car to reach $35 million before the hammer fell (before fees, the car sold for $34.65 million). While bidding stalled a few times during the car’s run to a record-setting price, it never entirely stopped, proving how much interest there was among high-end collectors.
The $38.115 million Ferrari GTO.
Top sales at other auction houses seem to serve as further evidence of market stability, as well. RM Auctions sold the first 1964 Ferrari 275 GTB/C for $26.4 million, while Gooding and Company auctioned a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder for $15.18 million. It wasn’t just the upper strata of the market experiencing robust sales, either, as Bonhams sold a 1972 Toyota Land Cruiser for $110,000, while the $99,000 Alfa Romeo Montreal sold by Bonhams was nearly identical to the price realized for a similar example at the Gooding and Company auction last year.
Even collectible Japanese cars appear to be gaining in value, or at least holding their own. While the 1967 Toyota 2000GT sold by Gooding for $1.155 million failed to set a record, it was a strong price for the model, and the $264,000 realized for the 1967 Mazda Cosmo 110 Sport was claimed as a new benchmark for the Cosmo by the auction firm. At RM, a 1972 Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R ‘Hakosuka’ sold for $242,000, an impressive price for a model that was never officially imported into the United States.
2. Though there’s no way to quantify this, the quality of cars offered at high-end auctions appears to be increasing. When gathering data to write auction reports, our job entails grading the cars photographed based upon their condition, much like a meat inspector grades a side of beef. In previous years, the majority of cars would receive theoretical “points off” for things like paint overspray on trim, pitted or dull trim and cracked weatherstripping, resulting in a potential downgrading of condition. This year, I saw fewer cars with such flaws, and overall the lots presented appeared to be much more carefully restored, preserved or maintained. On the other hand…
Though it went unsold, this 1962 Shelby 260 Cobra was a condition 1 car.
3. Patina is in. Several auctions had populations of cars complete with barnyard dirt, door dings, scratched paint and other obvious signs of long-term neglect. A 1953 Jaguar XK120 Drophead Coupe offered by Bonhams was encrusted with dirt on both the exterior and interior, yet the “project car” realized a price of $42,900. Gooding and Company offered an unrestored 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing coupe, complete with a sizable dent at the top of the driver’s door, but the lot failed to meet its reserve price; the pre-auction estimate was $1.4-$1.8 million. As the saying goes, a car is only original once, and for certain buyers, originality is more valuable than a concours-quality restoration.
4. Postwar cars can (once again) take Best in Show at Pebble Beach. It’s far too early to tell if there’s meaning behind a 1954 Ferrari 375 MM Scaglietti coupe taking Best in Show honors at Pebble Beach, but on the surface it signals a potential change in attitude at Pebble Beach. Not only was this the first time that a Ferrari won top honors, it was the first time since 1968 that a postwar car took Best in Show. In fact, only five times in the event’s history (1950-’53 and 1968) did postwar automobiles capture the top prize. Does this signal a change in attitude among Pebble Beach judges? Will this spur a shift in the market, driving prices for rare and pristine Ferraris even higher, or is it a one-time blip on the radar that carries no further significance with it? We’ll have more of an idea after next year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, but it may be years before any real pattern can be identified.
5. Concorso Italiano is back, and in a big way. When we attended the 2013 Concorso Italiano show, it appeared to be a shell of its former self, then located at the Laguna Seca Golf Ranch (where the show had been held since 2009). Access to the show’s field and parking lot required navigating an impressively steep hill that made no accommodations for sports cars with limited ground clearance and, in some cases, stiff clutches and manual transmissions. Worse, the event was held on a Friday, which meant it conflicted with The Quail, forcing attendees to choose between one or the other.
Ferraris on display at the 2014 Concorso Italiano.
For 2014, Concorso Italiano moved to Saturday and relocated to its former home (from 2002-’07) at the Bayonet Black Horse Golf Course. The changes had a dramatic effect on the population of cars displayed, as well as the crowds in attendance, and Concorso Italiano is once again among the week’s must-attend events. To the event’s organizers, we say “bellissimo,” and we’ll see you next year.
6. Even with a ticket price increase, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance has lost none of its appeal. In 2012, the price of a general admission ticket, purchased in advance, was $200. In 2013, the price had risen to $225, and in 2014 the price climbed once again, to $275 ($300 on the day of the show). Despite this, the crowds show no real sign of shrinking, and traffic on the peninsula (throughout the entire week) was significantly worse than in years past. Pricing for lodging has reached near-absurd levels, with even two-star chain motels commanding upwards of $400 per night on Friday and Saturday nights; those planning on attending next year’s events would do well to book in advance.
A helicopter takes off from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. This is, by far, the best way to navigate the peninsula during car week.
If attending the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is on your automotive bucket list, make plans to attend next year’s show. The variety of car-themed events spread throughout the week makes Car Week on the Monterey Peninsula unlike any other series of events in North America, and it’s certainly worth experiencing firsthand if your time and budget allow.
The 375 MM, chassis number 0402 AM, started out as a Pinin Farina-bodied spider when its first owner, Italian film director Roberto Rossellini bought it, but when Rossellini ran the spider into a tree about a year after buying it, Sergio Scaglietti got the nod to rebody it as a coupe. Though Scaglietti had worked with Ferrari on racing cars in the years prior, this would be his first shot at a road car for Ferrari. Scaglietti decided to form the aluminum panels over a metal lattice work, taking a year to finish the one-off body.
Rossellini then kept the coupe, now painted gray, but still powered by its 330-hp 4,522-cc V-12, until the mid-1960s. It then passed through at least a couple of owners in Italy and France over the next few decades, eventually falling into disrepair and suffering from a half-hearted attempt to restore it, until current owner Jon Shirley of Medina, Washington, bought it in the mid-1990s and commissioned a full restoration. He then debuted the freshly restored car at the Ferrari Club of America’s meet in 1998 before presenting it at that year’s Pebble Beach concours, taking first in class and reportedly coming within a hair’s breadth of Best of Show that year. In the intervening years, he did come back to Pebble and take the top prize – in 2008 with a Touring-bodied 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Berlinetta – but this year returned to complete what he started with 0402 AM more than 15 years ago.
The coupe again took Best in Class this year in the Ferrari Grand Touring class on its way to the overall win. Not only does the win represent the first for a Ferrari in the history of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, it also represents the first win for a postwar car since 1968 – when a 1964 Maserati Mistral coupe won Best of Show – and only the second win for a postwar car since the concours began recognizing prewar cars in 1955.
To win Best of Show, the 375 MM beat out a 1934 Packard Twelve Dietrich Convertible Victoria owned by Frank Ricciardelli of Sarasota, Florida; a 1934 Hispano-Suiza J12 Fernandez et Darrin Coupé de Ville owned by Robert M Lee of Reno, Nevada; and a 1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III Vanvooren Sports Cabriolet owned by Lord Bamford of Gloucestershire, England.
In short, it’ll be a whirlwind five days that doesn’t allow for much detailed, on-the-ground coverage, which is why we’ll be attempting to bring much of the experience to you live via the Hemmings News Facebook page, with more in-depth reporting forthcoming in the Hemmings Daily and on the Hemmings Blog.
What can you expect to see at Pebble Beach this year?
While much of the field remains a mystery, we know the show will feature the pair of Fernandez et Darrin-bodied Hispano Suizas seen above, including a K6 Coupé Chauffeur, with its distinctive open driver’s compartment, and a J12 four-passenger Coupé de Ville. Both were ordered by financier Anthony Gustav de Rothschild in 1934, with the Coupé Chauffeur reserved primarily for his wife, Yvonne’s, use, and the more athletic Coupé de Ville serving as Anthony’s regular driver.
The coachbuilding firm of Fernandez et Darrin was founded in 1932 by Gino Fernandez and Howard “Dutch” Darrin, and for five years produced dramatically styled automobiles (generally featuring flowing, skirted fenders; split V-shaped windshields; low rooflines; and high beltlines) from its Boulogne-Sur-Seine workshop. As evidenced by the Hispano-Suizas ordered by Anthony Gustav de Rothschild, its clientele were among the wealthiest (and some would say, most powerful) men of the day, and the bold designs created by Fernandez et Darrin perfectly reflected the personalities of its customers.
Another class of interest at this year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is Streamlined Tatras, and one of the automobiles to be featured is a T77 fresh from a two-decade restoration in its native Czech Republic. It is owned by Pavel Kasik, who located the car in 1991, but spent three years negotiating its purchase. The lengthy restoration was prompted by Kasik’s determination to use original parts wherever possible. Work on the car was completed just days before it was shipped to the United States, and its showing at Pebble Beach will represent the restored car’s public debut.
Tatra is one of the world’s oldest automakers, and the revolutionary designs of lead engineer Hans Ledwinka incorporated a streamlined body (produced under license from designer Paul Jaray) with a rear-mounted, air-cooled engine. Many of Ledwinka’s ideas were later used by Ferdinand Porsche in the Volkswagen KdF-Wagen and Type 1, prompting a 1939 lawsuit between Tatra and Volkswagen that would finally be settled in 1961, when VW paid Tatra a sum of 3,000,000 Deutsche marks.
This year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance marks the debut of the Streamlined Tatra class, an honor perhaps overdue for these revolutionary automobiles.
On Sunday, August 17, the 1937 Chrysler Imperial Town Car once owned by Walter P. Chrysler will make its first post-restoration appearance at California’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
With enthusiastic owner Howard Kroplick by its side, along with restorer Steve Babinsky and renowned Classic car historian and Hemmings Classic Car columnist Walt Gosden, this one-off gem will be proudly be displayed on the lawn for all to admire.
As noted by Howard on , Walt has been documenting the car’s rebirth during their regular visits to Automotive Restorations, Steve’s shop in Lebanon, New Jersey. Walt’s photos are quite comprehensive, and show the extensive and detailed work that has gone into bringing back the beauty that this one-off Chrysler once possessed.
For well over a year this historically significant Town Car has been undergoing an incredible ground-up restoration to exacting, factory-correct specifications. Upon its return from Pebble Beach, we will be photographing the car for an upcoming feature in Hemmings Classic Car magazine. Watch for it.
On the greens at Pebble Beach, 2013. Photo by the author.
Those who’ve attended the Pebble Beach Councours d’Elegance understand that it’s nearly impossible for automotive enthusiasts to get bored on the Monterey Peninsula in the days leading up to the event. From auctions through car shows and swap meets, the area is chock full of car-related things to do, and another has now been added to the list. On Thursday, August 14, and Friday, August 15, the Pebble Beach Classic Car Forum will bring seminars and speakers focusing on the collector car hobby.
The event will take place in its own pavilion, and is open to the public without admission fee. Though the forum topics have not yet been finalized, the list of speakers recruited for the event will include motorsport legends Jochen Mass, Sir Stirling Moss and Sir Jackie Stewart; designers Chris Bangle, Andrea Zagato, Ed Welburn, Shiro Nakamura and Moray Callum; vintage racers and appraisers Leigh and Leslie Keno; and collectors Miles Collier, Derek Hill and Manvendra Singh Barwani.
“This new forum… brings to the fore some of the people who have created, or made history with, or spent a lifetime caring for these cars,” Pebble Beach Concours Chairman Sandra Button said. “We hope this forum is a place where we can come together as a community, tackle some of the tough questions facing the car world and draw knowledge from experts… while encouraging new automotive enthusiasts.”
Also added to the schedule for the 2014 event is the Pebble Beach Classic Car Expo, which will feature collectible automobiles for sale by selected dealers on the grounds of the Spanish Bay Tennis Pavilion. The Classic Car Expo will join Pebble Beach RetroAuto, which features sales of rare collectibles, automobilia, fine art, literature and luxury goods, now in its 10th year. RetroAuto will relocate to the ballrooms of The Inn at Spanish Bay, and like the Classic Car Forum, will be open to the general public with no admission fee.
The years preceding World War II saw an emphasis on the development of high-performance automobiles on both sides of the Atlantic. In Europe, motor racing was a source of great national pride, and when an endurance race between Berlin and Rome was suggested, Mercedes-Benz was entrusted with producing a car that would capture victory for Germany. With less than a year to develop a suitable entry before the race’s proposed 1938 running, the engineers at Mercedes-Benz turned to a well-established high-performance platform, the 540 K. Equipped with a supercharger to increase the output of its 5.4-liter, inline eight-cylinder engine, the 540 K’s 180 horsepower could produce speeds approaching 145 KPH (90 MPH) when the 540 K chassis was fitted with a more aerodynamic body than the automaker’s standard offering.
An aero-bodied Mercedes-Benz 540 K. The Streamliner produced significantly less drag.
To capture victory in the Berlin-to-Rome run, even more speed would be needed, so the engineers at Mercedes’s “Special Car Construction” shop turned to aircraft design for inspiration. The body sketched by the group featured a low greenhouse, with a curved windshield and roof that tapered to a teardrop shape as it flowed to the rear of the car. Headlamps were integrated into the front fenders to reduce drag, and the center-mounted “Autobahn light” was recessed into the grill to minimize wind resistance. Door handles were flush with the body, panel gaps were minimized and even the iconic three-pointed star on the car’s grill was replaced by a painted image on the Streamliner’s hood, all to reduce the effects of the wind flowing across its surfaces. The effort produced the desired effect; while other aerodynamic 540 K bodies produced a drag coefficient of 0.57, the effort put into the design of the Streamliner reduced the coefficient of drag to just 0.36.
Rebuilding the Streamliner’s 5.4-liter, inline eight-cylinder engine.
This, however, created problems for the powertrain team, as the standard differential gearing would run the risk of over-revving the engine at the car’s top speed. To compensate, the 540 K’s gearing was changed from 3.08:1 to 2.90:1, trading acceleration for a higher top speed. In testing, the changes produced the desired effect, delivering a top speed of 185 KPH (115 MPH) and a comfortable cruising speed of 170 KPH (106 MPH).
Building the car’s ash wood body frame.
Though the 540 K Streamliner seemed powerful enough to capture a victory in the proposed Berlin-to-Rome race, no one knew if the tires of the day would prove capable of carrying such a heavy load at sustained speeds over long distances. Instead of further developing the Streamliner for competition, Mercedes-Benz opted to focus on a more proven variant of the 540 K for the event, which turned out to be a moot point as the 1938 running was delayed until 1939.
Meanwhile, tire manufacturer Dunlop had contracted with Mercedes-Benz for a high-speed variant of the 540 K to advance its racing tire design. Completed in the spring of 1938, the special construction 540 K Streamliner was delivered to Dunlop in June by a Daimler-Benz dealership in Frankfurt am Main, and for nearly a year the car was used for its intended purpose. The newly-constructed (and sparsely traveled) German Autobahn proved ideal for high-speed tire testing, and the Streamliner reportedly racked up miles at speed in a variety of conditions, proving the car had the potential its engineers had envisioned.
The onset of World War II put an end to the proposed Berlin-to-Rome rally and soon after an end to non-essential travel by automobile. To preserve the 540 K Streamliner’s functional life, it was converted to run on LP gas, and it remained in the possession of Dunlop until late in the war. Records show it was later pressed into service by the United States Army, sprayed a standard-issue shade of olive drab in compliance with military regulations. In the postwar years, the car was returned to Dunlop, which later returned it to Mercedes-Benz; then, in April of 1948, the car was de-registered and most of its aluminum body was scrapped. The car’s frame and running gear were preserved, however, entering the collection of the Mercedes-Benz Museum in 1950.
The 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Streamliner as it looked in 1938.
It was this frame and unique rear axle that ultimately alerted Mercedes-Benz historians to the overlooked gem in their collection, and when a full-scale drawing of the car’s original body was discovered in the archives, interest in recreating the car grew. The project was given a green light in late 2011, but rebuilding such a car from the ground up would prove challenging even for the craftsmen at Mercedes-Benz Classic. Ash wood would need to be precisely formed to shape the frame for the car’s aluminum body, which itself would need to be created panel by panel. Mercedes-Benz estimates that the forming and construction of the body alone required more than 4,800 hours of work, making the restoration an expensive proposition even for the German luxury automaker. Original components and period-correct parts from Mercedes-Benz’s vast inventory were used wherever possible, but many items had to be fabricated in-house as part of the restoration process. Even the car’s original silver bronze color, discovered on a few scraps of the original body, was painstakingly duplicated to be as accurate as possible.
The 540 K Streamliner as it looks today.
Today, the 540 K Streamliner looks much the same as it would have when delivered to Dunlop for tire testing. Its gray leather seating and walnut-trimmed dash belie its utilitarian purpose, and it’s likely this particular Mercedes-Benz must have been the most oft-requested car of its day among Dunlop engineers. Out of the public eye since the late 1940s, the restored 1938 540 K will makes its official debut at the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
The Porsche Museum in Zuffenhausen, Germany, is an ultra-modern facility housing roughly 80 of the most influential and historic models in this company’s history. But the majority of those cars don’t live out their days as static artwork – they’re fully roadworthy, and go on the road each year to participate in classic car events around the world. The museum’s 2014 traveling display season will begin shortly.
The museum will enter a 550 Spyder, two 356 Coupes and a 356 Speedster in the 1,000-mile Mille Miglia event, which will take place from May 15-18; those cars will be driven by luminaries including Dr. Wolfgang Porsche, chairman of the supervisory board of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, and racing legend Jacky Ickx.
Italy’s Mille Miglia will include four entries from the Porsche Museum this May.
The next stop for the “Rolling Museum” will be the Paul Pietsch Klassik, in southwestern Germany. World rally champion Walter Röhrl and Le Mans winner Hans-Joachim Stuck will drive a 911 Carrera 2.7 RS and a 911 Speedster over a 280-mile course.
Rally legend Walter Röhrl will drive a 911 Carrera 2.7 RS in the Paul Pietsch Klassik.
The world-famous Goodwood Festival of Speed, held on Lord March’s estate in West Sussex, England, will see plenty of Porsche action this year. From June 26-29, the Museum will display a number of cars to suit the event’s “Turbo” theme, including a Porsche 959 Group B, a 964 Turbo, a 993 Turbo and a Porsche 935, known as the “Baby,” due to its 1.4-liter engine. Additionally, two 917s will be present: the Porsche 917 KH, representing the first overall Porsche victory at Le Mans, and the Porsche 917/30, developed for the Can-Am race series.
“50 years of the 911″ was a key celebration of the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The storied automaker’s new 919 Hybrid will mark its official return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, and in celebration, the Museum will bring a 911 Carrera RSR Targa Florio, 935/77 Group 5 racing car, a 911 Turbo Cabriolet and a 911 Turbo 3.0 to join in the Le Mans Classic from July 4-6.
Porsche cars are the main theme of the July 10-12 Ennstal Classic. Combining a hillclimb, Tauern Mountain driving tours and the “Chopard Grand Prix von Gröbming,” this is a genuine motoring festival for drivers and spectators. Numerous Porsche 356s will participate – one of which will be driven by Dr. Wolfgang Porsche – and other important cars and drivers will include Walter Röhrl in a 718 WRS, Jacky Ickx in a 550 A Spyder and current Porsche works driver Marc Lieb will pilot a 911 GT1 from 1998.