SOMETHING OF A PILGRIMAGE
In October this year, no fewer than 32 early Porsches descended on the spiritual – and literal – home of the marque, Gmünd in Austria, as part of the Pre-a International meeting. Fred Hampton is your guide to this magical event…
Fred Hampton reports back from a memorable Pre-a International meeting
Whilst there have been forty-three annual European 356 International meetings, the first in Switzerland in 1975 and the most recent in 2018 in England, International meetings restricted to the Porsche models designated ʻ356ʼ and built from 1950–1955 prior to the advent of the ʻ356Aʼ were first started fourteen years ago, thanks to the effort and enthusiasm for the early production Porsches of founding organiser/co-coordinator, Albert Haefner.
With the arrival of the 356A in September 1955, the early 356s eventually adopted the prefix ʻPre-aʼ, and this has passed into common use to identify the model as a 356 built in the timescale prior to the A-model.
These now annual events have usually attracted between twenty-five and thirty-five cars, establishing a community of owners and friends well known to each other. As a result, over the years they have always proved enjoyable for that reason, supporting the theory that ʻsome is good, more may not be better ʼ.
In early October, thirty two intrepid owners brought their early 356s from France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Holland and Belgium, along with five more from England, to Gmünd in south Carinthia to mark the 70th Anniversary of Porsche, and to participate in the 14th European ʻ356 Pre-aʼ meeting.
Gmünd being located in the south of Austria and only twenty-five miles north of the Italian border, reaching the venue was certainly a long haul for almost all of those participating. For the cars coming from England this was, including the mileage on the event, a round trip of over two thousand miles. Such is enthusiasm.
The participating 356s covered the complete span of production, with the Gmünd being the oldest and a very late August 1955 Coupé being the youngest. These were complemented by cabriolets, including a rare right-hand drive example (very useful on the high mountain roads), coupés and Speedsters. However, the stars of the event were the three black cars transported from Holland, comprising two 1950 split-screen coupés and the Gmünd. These three were certainly the most photographed and admired wherever they stopped, even by bemused Japanese tourists in the parkplatz at the top of the Grossglöckner.
The schedule of the event included a visit to the Porsche Museum and the Porsche Saw Mill Werks office at Gmünd, a drive up the Katchberg pass, one of the steepest hill climbs in Europe which Porsche originally used as a chassis test route for the first cars before fitting the bodies and, last of all on the final day, driving the Grossglöckner Pass to the Franz Josef Höh at an elevation of 9844ft.
Most cars arrived to sign in at the hotel on the Thursday afternoon and then had the opportunity to visit the Porsche Museum, which housed amongst other 356 and 911 exhibits the wooden buck first used to create the body panels of the Gmünd-built Porsches.
A short drive away was the Werks sawmill office last seen twenty years ago, but now over restored. The group then moved on to receive an enthusiastic welcome in the main square by the Mayor of Gmünd.
Day one started with a clear blue sky and sunshine to encourage an exhilarating 132 kilometre drive for the pack of thirty-plus 356s up the Katchberg Pass. Some of the inclines were significantly steep – easy to understand why it was used by Porsche as a test route – and understandably the Gmünd did appear to struggle a little slowly on some uphill sections but persevered to reach the top. For the local observers, the sight of an unbroken stream of thirty Porsche 356s hurrying by brought waves and cheers from the bystanders in the villages.
A timely stop at the Alpengasthof Bacher provided a welcome break and an excellent lunch with memorable views of the landscape from the dining room windows; this was followed by the downhill run back to base at the Koller ʼs Hotel in Seeboden. This five-star hotel, located on the edge of the Millstätter See (actually a lake), delivered caring and attentive service to the group throughout the three days of the event, as well as organising a most memorable cruise around the lake. This was courtesy of Herr Koller, himself a Porsche owner, who kindly arranged the cruise in the hotelʼs own boat prior to the evening dinner.
On Saturday, under clear blue skies and sunshine once again, we had an early start and the longest drive, being a round-trip of 219 kilometres, to the top of the Grossglöckner and back to Seeboden. Although there were some steep inclines, none were as challenging as some of those encountered on the drive up the Katchberg Pass on day one, and all returned without incident or breakdown.
Finally, as a thank you for a most enjoyable event, Albert was presented with a large illustration of the Black Gmünd by the Brits at the farewell evening dinner. Where it will be happening next year is yet to be revealed, but no doubt the ʻmeeting of Pre-a friendsʼ will be in the calendar for 2019.
Many thanks and respect to Robert Bröcker whose ʻHave Gmund – will driveʼ philosophy was a memorable highlight of both International meetings in 2018. CP
“THE LONGEST DRIVE, A ROUND TRIP OF 219 KILOMETRES…”