Porsche Turbo: The Inside Story Of Stuttgart's Turbocharged Road And Race Cars

Porsche Turbo: The Inside Story of Stuttgart's Turbocharged Road and Race Cars

Review"For those looking for a book focused on Porsche's turbocharged racing, and street cars, veteran motoring author Randy Leffingwell has put together a fascinating tome in Porsche Turbo: The Inside Story of Stuttgart's Turbocharged Road and Race Cars that covers everything the company ever put a turbine on, from the sports cars to the Panamera sedan, Cayenne, and Macan sport utility vehicles. Leffingwell backs up his well-written text with a plethora of photographs, factory archive material, technical, and conceptual drawings. This book is a recommended addition to any Porschephile's library." - Petrolicious"This book examines the compelling backstory of how the Stuttgart-based sports car maker got to where it is today." - Automobile Magazine"You expect 911 authority Randy Leffingwell to be thorough, but this exhaustive study of Stuttgart's forced-induction models is remarkable." - Classic Sports Car (UK)"Anyone who loves these German performance icons will find plenty to like in this lavish book."-Hemmings Sports & Exotic CarCelebrate the rebirth of the world's most stunning high-performance automobile.Porsche made history when it brought turbocharging to the racing world in the form of the 917. When strict regulations regarding engine displacement took away the option of bigger engines, manufacturers turned to forced induction. In its wildest trim, the original 12-cylinder turbocharged Porsche racing engine yielded as much as 1,400 horsepower! Porsche's official philosophy was that racing cars must have a connection to street cars, so it was preordained that Porsche would eventually produce a turbocharged version of its air-cooled flat-six cylinder engine.The resulting 930 Turbo appeared in the spring of 1975 in Europe. Acceleration from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour took a scant 5.5 seconds, and its top speed was 155 miles per hour. The Turbo's distinctive rear wing let the world know that this was something very special. It was nothing less than the rebirth of the high-performance automobile. At a time when the big-block engines in America's so-called "muscle cars" were putting out 180 horsepower and the engines in exotic supercars weren't much more ambitious, the lightweight Porsche was a genuine rocket.Porsche Turbo: The Inside Story of Stuttgart's Turbocharged Road and Race Cars celebrates Porsche's five decades of turbocharged supercar performance, both on the track and on the street. It covers all of the major racing cars as well as the turbocharged street cars, including the 930, 935, 924, 944, 968, 911, and Cayenne Panamera. Don't let this one fly past you!About the AuthorRandy Leffingwell wrote his first book, American Muscle, in 1989 while still on staff at the Los Angeles Times. Since then, he has authored more than 50 other titles, covering subjects from sports cars to motorcycles to farm tractors. Leffingwell is considered one of the top transportation photographers and historians working today. Some of his previous best-selling Motorbooks titles include Art of the Corvette, Porsche 911: Fifty Years, John Deere: A History of the Tractor, and The Harley-Davidson Motor Co. Archive Collection (with Darwin Holmstrom). He lives in Santa Barbara, California.Leffingwell has earned a reputation as one of the best Porsche historians working today.