Some Porsche Racing History

356 Porsche-related discussions and questions.
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ray nelson
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Some Porsche Racing History

#1 Post by ray nelson »

Here's a site with some photos of the 1960 Sebring race; http://www.barcboys.com/1960Sebring.htm

One of the photos shows the Carrera Speedster raced by Johnny Cuevas (wealthy Cuban playboy backed by family sugar plantation money). He was fairly successful in club races in Florida and I always loved to see him race and quite often win.

A couple of Eastern Airlines pilots also had Carrera Speedsters that they raced during the '60s in SCCA events in Florida and as I recall their names were Howard Fowler and Raymond Ruprecht.
Howard had a small garage in Hialeah where he kept his cars and occasionally I had him work on my S 90. Additionally I went to Junior High School with Ray Ruprecht's son and always wondered if his father was going to get him a Porsche once he got a drivers license. I had to wait until I was in College to fially get my used S 90, which I still have.

I really enjoyed those early days of SCCA racing, usually on abandoned WW II airfields that existed in Florida in those days.

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John Clark
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Re: Some Porsche Racing History

#2 Post by John Clark »

GREAT PHOTOS, Thanks for the post

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Larry Wilson
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Re: Some Porsche Racing History

#3 Post by Larry Wilson »

Ray,

Ditto on the great posts!
Larry Wilson
PCA since May 1, 1961
Registry member #4672

Henry Carter
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Re: Some Porsche Racing History

#4 Post by Henry Carter »

Hi Ray,

I'm trying to track down a 356 street car that was sold to Howard Fowler around 1970. Unfortunately, I don't have VIN. It was a red/black interior 1964 SC. It would have had a couple of holes drilled on the lower passenger dash to mount some gauges. Any information or people to contact would be a great help.

Henry

ray nelson
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Re: Some Porsche Racing History

#5 Post by ray nelson »

Henry
Sorry but I left Miami in 1969 and moved to San Diego. I lost track of Mr. Fowler after that but understand he passed away sometime in the seventies. I believe he had a son but I don't think the son continued the business. If you can find his son he may be able to help, but I don't remember his sons name.

As I recall Howard always had several 356's in his shop but I was never sure which were his or if they belonged to people getting work done.

You might get lucky finding the car in question by contacting the Florida DMV. They may be able to tell you the VIN if you could give them some very specific info like the year, model and color as well as when Mr. Fowler bought it. Then again even with the VIN the chances of finding the car would be slim unless it showed up on the Registry database.

Ray

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Mot Megan
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Re: Some Porsche Racing History

#6 Post by Mot Megan »

Terrific photos! Thanks for that post --

Interesting single strap on the hood of the Cuevas Speedster 8)

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By the work, one knows the workman -- La Fontaine

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Mike Klapac
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Re: Some Porsche Racing History

#7 Post by Mike Klapac »

The unusual yellow Porsche finished just one lap...then blew up! LOL!
Image

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Barry Brisco
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Re: Some Porsche Racing History

#8 Post by Barry Brisco »

Yes, I noticed that too. It looks like the upper part of the strap is attached to the area of the hood underneath the hood handle crest. With that 'centered' placement the strap obscures the Porsche name. Odd.

Fabulous collection of period photos! Thanks very much for making them available. Imagine seeing Moss, Bonnier, Hill, and other great racers up close and personal like that.

I wonder who the owner and driver of the yellow Porsche was...

Barry
moT Megan wrote:Interesting single strap on the hood of the Cuevas Speedster 8)

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Tim Herman
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Re: Some Porsche Racing History

#9 Post by Tim Herman »

Ray

You should enjoy the link below. The first 3 are related to Ray Ruprecht and his GT 84925

http://www.carreramotorsport.com/photo_gallery.htm

I have a lot of archives from that era and the regions drivers and cars. Race programs, news articles, SCCA mags and on and on....
Tim Herman #2197
www.carreramotorsport.com

ray nelson
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Re: Some Porsche Racing History

#10 Post by ray nelson »

Tim

Great photos and they really bring back some fond memories of racing in those days. I think the chubby young man in the photos could be Ray Jr. who would have been at the races with his father.

Until I went away to the University of Florida to study Architecture in 1961, I was lucky enough to help out in the pits for Walker Howren when he raced his MGA and later when he raced a Lotus XI. I believe his driver was a guy named Jack Landers who unfortunately was killed in an accident at a drivers school.

Racing in those days was so different from today that it's hard for me to get excited about the current venues. I went to Sebring a few years ago and after about 4 hours decided it wasn't what I remembered and left. I suppose I'm succumbing to the dreaded creepingoldfart disease.

Ray

Antoine Godschalk
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Re: Some Porsche Racing History

#11 Post by Antoine Godschalk »

moT Megan wrote:Terrific photos! Thanks for that post --

Interesting single strap on the hood of the Cuevas Speedster 8)

Image
And what about the light on the door to illuminate the race number during the dark hours of a race... 8)
 

Henry Carter
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Re: Some Porsche Racing History

#12 Post by Henry Carter »

Ray,

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, the Florida DMV's records don't go back that far. I do have a few other names to try, so I'm not giving up yet.

Thanks Again,

Henry

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Rink Reinking
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Re: Some Porsche Racing History

#13 Post by Rink Reinking »

Perhaps the Registry administrators would consider adding a forum category for old race car photos/stories. It would be nice to have one go-to place to have a look at all of these wonderful old photos. And, it would provide a great legacy for those to follow us.

I don't know how many photos I might have squirreled away (somewhere!). But, it is possible that I could scan in a few race programs from various California tracks from the '61-'67 era and might take the time to do so if there were a logical Porsche site on which to place them.

Anyone support this idea?

Rink

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Pat Daily
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Re: Some Porsche Racing History

#14 Post by Pat Daily »

Rink

I support your idea. See this:

http://porsche356registry.org/356talk/15/25145.html
Pat Daily
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Mark Cohn
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Re: Some Porsche Racing History

#15 Post by Mark Cohn »

Some of these cars were still being raced into the 70's. Here is a shot of an RSK with a 911 engine turning onto Riverside Drive in the Austin (Texas) Aquafest Race in about 1978. I believe it was being run out of the Jones shop in San Antonio.
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Austin Aquafest 1978
Austin Aquafest 1978

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