May 10, 2018, was the 75th birthday of Dr. Wolfgang Porsche, youngest son of Porsche 356-creator Ferdinand “Ferry” Porsche. While he hasn’t played such a key role in the Stuttgart company as his father or his brother “Butzi” Porsche, the creator of the 911, Wolfgang has spent his time as the company’s spokesman upholding his family’s legacy and, of course, maintaining a huge collection of Porsche sports cars.
In the most recent episode of the Porsche Top 5 series, Dr. Porsche takes the brand’s Youtube channel through some of the highlights of his car collection at the family’s Schüttgut estate in Zell am See, Austria. As you might expect, the man takes care of a fair number of rare classics, including an Irish Green 1962 356 Carrera 2000 and California-optimized 1952 356 America Roadster.
While Dr. Porsche loves his vintage cars, he’s a firm believer that the newest cars are the greatest. He pokes fun at the “die-hard” 356 fans who turned their noses up at the 911 when it first came out but then fell in love with the new sports car when they actually drove it. That’s why he daily drives a 2017 Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid and owns a V-10-powered Carrera GT supercar as well as a Family Green 1993 911 Turbo S, which appears to be his favorite.
“My father would surely have wanted [the Panamera Hybrid] because he said: ‘The newest car is always the best.’ That was the theme for me,” explained Dr. Porsche. “Whenever I added an old car to my collection, he would have said: ‘Why are you driving an old car? The newer one is always the better one.'” Sorry, classic Porsche purists—both Wolfgang and Ferry Porsche aren’t really on your side.
Dr. Wolfgang’s reasons for the cars in his collection are echoed in the Porsche brand’s ideology, which continues to value refinement over total innovation to continue to perfect the quintessential sports car.
