Helmuth PFEIFHOFER Porsche Museum GMUND

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By mid September this year on my way to Greece I was travelling with friends from Brussels to Triesti in Italy where we were due to take a ferryboat to Patras in Greece
The route choosen to go from Brussels to Triesti took us through Stuttgart and Munich in Germany, Salzbourg and Villach in Austria, Lubliania in Slovenia and then to Triesti in Italy
Driving through the mointains toward Villach I first saw a sign post Zell am See and few kilometers after another one indicating Gmund with a huge sign post Helmuth Pfeifhofer private Porsche museum
Having time to spare I convinced my friends to leave the motorway toward Gmund

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Helmuth Pfeifhofer, to day in his seventies, was born and lived in Gmund
In the 50 's he was in school with Ferry Porsche boys
He became a very wealthy Antique dealer alwayss in Gmund
He bought his first 356 in 1965 and then decided to built a private collection
His second buy was a VW Kubelwagen and on and on
In 1982 he had enough cars to open a private museum

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Gmund as everybody knows is the village where Ferdinand Porsche started to built cars in an old farm equipment plant in 1948
Helmuth Pfeifhofer museum is not located in the ex-Porsche buildings but in a large old farm

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As many of the cold countries farms, cattle was occupying the ground level and the family was leaving in the upper floors to benefit from the cattle heat
To day bthe entrance museum is at the ground level when cars are displayed on the ground and first floor levels

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To day Helmuth is helped by his son Christoph who his a wellknown historic race pilot
With the years Helmuth has tied up close links with the Stuttgart Porsche museum
Cars on display reflect this situation and are :
Helmuth originals cars example the Gmund aluminum 356-020 + several 356 + Ferdinand Porsche creations such as the VW Kommand car or Kubelwagen etc
Christoph race cars : 2.7 RS/ 914/6 racing/906/ 993 RS Cup etc
Choice of exceptionnal cars from the Stuttgart Porsche museum
These cars will be changed on a regular basis which mean that visitors could come on a regular basis and never see the same cars

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To be continued tomorrow with

[JTR70]

Thank you Gerard! What an amazing collection! Same museum Pat visited a while back. Justin

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Of course Helmuth Pfeifhofer has not forgotten his first job
The cars are displayed in a very nice surrounding
Old pictures everywhere on the walls
An amazing collection of Porsche toys
Old Porsche parts

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When we entered the Museum hall, Helmuth Pfeifhofer himseklf was at the desk to give tickets
The entrance hall (sorry I have not taken any pic) is entirely dedicated to Porsche glory
Many many books (most of them in German) describing the Porsche story
Porsche maquettes (new ones) from all over the world (Spark, Minichamp, Schuco, GT Spirit and many others)
Porsche umbrellas
Porsche key holders in leather
Porsche posters and so and so
Next to the entrance hall is a cinema room where old movies and videos on the first years of the Porsche adventure at Gmund are run without stop
On the wall a old pictures as said previously
A well known one represent the 4 Ferry boys in a 550 spyder

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May be our experts could tell which one it is (certainly one of the
first built )
Note the special exhaust not seen frequently
The first room is dedicated to the Porsche maquettes collection and Porsche parts

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A wood maquette of the Cisitalia race car (designed by Ferdinand Porsche)
with pictures of the first Porsche cars built in Gmund

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Sorry for the quality of the pics taken with my e phone with very low light
Herewith photos of the first Porsche ever (356-01)still under the chassis form and before receiving her aluminium body
At the back of the pic you may see Ferry Porsche

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Along the whole a line up of motors from the very first VW engine to the 911 flat six
In the middle 2 Fuhrmann engines a 1500 GS and a 2 liter

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On the wall behind the engines row a pic showing the Fuhrmann assembly line (Stuttgart plant 1954)

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Next to the engoines display, a small part of the Gmund plant in the early years (1948/49) has been reconstituted with the wood racks full of parts, wheels on the floor, gaskets on the wall, rack etc and etc