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46: The Birth of Porsche Motorsport
Publisher's Edition
AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE
The Publisher's Edition is only available through Dalton Watson.


Click here for Regular Edition

by Randy Leffingwell, Doug Nye, Sean Cridland, Will Edgar, Gary Horstkorta, Rod Emory, Chris Greenwood
with Jeff Zwart, Cameron Healy, Patrick Long, Bill Wagenblatt, Tony Hatter, Herbert Linge

46: The Birth of Porsche Motorsport tracks Porsche’s successful rise after World War II. Porsche overcame multiple setbacks and went on to break records in their first year of racing at Le Mans, the Liege-Rome-Liege Rally, and Montlhéry. The success of SL 356/2 063 launched the competitive juggernaut that is Porsche Motorsport today.


After arriving in the US, the car enjoyed racing victories under John von Neumann, and its resultant body shape helped predict and define Porsche’s future commercial success. In 1982, SL 356/2 063 became a mainstay at the Monterey Historic Races.

When Cameron Healy acquired the car in 2010, he gathered the experts who confirmed that SL 356/2 063 was Porsche’s first Le Mans combatant and class winner. Over several years, Rod Emory and his team restored the car to the moment it sat on the starting grid in 1951 for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

46: The Birth of Porsche Motorsport tells the complete story with never-before-seen photographs and documentation.

• Limited 250 copies, signed and numbered by Cameron Healy and Rod Emory
• Includes a 20-page supplement with additional studio photography by Ted7
• Total page count 356
• Herbert Linge digital signature and photograph
• Hard cover with dust jacket in slip case

Thank you, Jürgen Lewandowski and MotorWorld Bulletin, for the great review!
September 2023

English Translation:
There are hundreds of Porsche books, and there will certainly be more to come in this anniversary year (75 years of Porsche / 60 years of the Porsche 911). It should be said that the books also include a lot of casually compiled books with frequently seen archive images and press releases that have been copied many times. But every now and then great books appear that shed light on and explain a particular aspect of the house's history.

The 336-page work “46: The Birth of Porsche Motorsport,” which contains more than 500 images, is one of these books completed by Dalton Watson Verlag in Deerfield, Illinois. “46” stands for the starting number of the Porsche 356/2 SL with chassis number 063, with which Porsche took part in the “24 Hours of Le Mans” for the first time in 1951. A particularly light coupé with an aluminum body, a racing engine and two Frenchmen at the wheel: Auguste Veuillet and Edmond Mouche - who finished the race as winner of the 1,100 cc class and 20th overall. Porsche ended its first race at Le Mans as a winner – “The Birth of Motorsport”.

The fact that the car survived is thanks to the US importer Max Hoffman, who purchased it along with two other racing cars at the end of 1951. After many victories and the conversion to a faster and lighter roadster, it was then brought into Le Mans form and was first seen at Pebble Beach in 2016. Written by several authors, the book shows the first 356 racing car from its first race through a fascinating life as a racing car, various conversions and an extensive restoration to today's jewel in an American collection. Highly recommended for Porsche aficionados – a German translation would be desirable.

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English Translation:
On the weekend of 23/24 June 1951, an aluminium coupé with chassis number 356 SL-063 established Porsche's motorsport legacy. At the instigation of race director Charles Faroux, a German factory entered a major international race for the first time after the war. Even though the competition in the 1.1-litre class of the 24 Hours of Le Mans was manageable – a Simca and a DB – the victory of the Gmünd Coupé, driven by the Frenchmen Auguste Veuillet and Edmond Mouche, was the big bang of a success story that continues to this day.

In this new masterpiece by Dalton Watson, an illustrious team of authors (Randy Leffingwell, Doug Nye and others) spans the arc from Porsche's beginnings in Gmünd to the rediscovery and restoration of the historic model. After Le Mans, SL 063 was used in Liège-Rome-Liège and world record speed attempts in Montlhéry. It then went to the USA, first to Porsche importer Max Hoffman, then West Coast distributor John von Neumann, who transformed the coupé into a red roadster in the summer of 1952. After several changes of ownership, Chuck Forge acquired the "red little Porsche" in 1957, kept it for 52 years, and was a regular at the Monterey Historics from 1982 to 2009. After his death, the Porsche came to the attention of Cameron Healy. He bought it in 2010 and – once its identity was established – had it restored to Le Mans '51 condition by Porsche expert Rod Emory.

The volume fills a gap in every Porsche library and ends with pictures from the 2016 Pebble Beach Concours and a studio production of the number 46. Porsche veteran Herbert Linge (94) has his say as a contemporary witness. Although he was not at Le Mans, he was involved in the turbulent preparations. Twice there was scrap metal: a mechanic destroyed a lightweight coupé during tests on the motorway, and operations manager Paul von Guillaume destroyed another during "tests" in April 1951 on the Le Mans circuit, which had not yet been closed.