Porsche Sound Night “Next Level” If you don't know the Sound Night yet, we invite you to take a look back at 2018. In four weeks, the Porsche Museum will restart the engines of selected racing and series production cars from the company's collection – and this time they can be experienced worldwide: At 5 p.m. on Saturday, 18 September, the first digital Porsche Sound Night will take place under the name “Next Level”. The interactive live event will be broadcast free of charge in all countries around the world in German, English and French via the website soundnacht.porsche.de. It is not only with its cross-border approach that the Porsche Heritage and Museum department is setting new standards: For the very first time, the Sound Night will take place at two important Porsche locations simultaneously: the Porsche Museum in Zuffenhausen and the Weissach Development Centre, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. While presenter Anna Fleischhauer will be in the Museum together with various four-wheeled sound artists and their contemporary witnesses, former and active racing drivers and Porsche brand ambassadors, presenters Matthias Malmedie and Mark Webber will be in Weissach with race cars that have written successful chapters in Porsche’s motorsport history and never been part of the Sound Night before.

The numerous Porsche icons will include models that will be presented for the first time at the Sound Night. The Porsche 962 C, for example, will celebrate its premiere at this year's sound spectacle. Hans-Joachim Stuck won the Sprint championship with this race car in 1986, and at the same time put the new groundbreaking Porsche PDK dual-clutch transmission through its paces. At the Sound Night, “Strietzel” Stuck will also look back on the year 1987. In this year, he competed in all five Supercup races at the wheel of the 962 C with start number 17 and a further-developed PDK and ended the season by winning the championship title. Fans all over the world can also look forward to the two-time world rally champion Walter Röhrl. He will present the 924 Carrera GTS Rally, with which he won four overall victories in the German Rally Championship in 1981. To mark the 40th anniversary of the 1981 rally season, the Porsche Heritage and Museum department surprised Walter Röhrl at the beginning of the year with the newly restored gold-black 924 “Monnet” from the time.

Alexander Klein, Head of Vehicle Management and Heritage Experience, will present the 911 (901 No. 57). The red coupé was built in October 1964 as one of the first pro-duction versions of the sports car, still with the type designation 901. Almost exactly 50 years later, the Porsche Museum bought back the rare model – which had been discovered by chance – and returned the thus oldest 911 in the company’s collection to its original condition. The 907 KH, which was produced in the racing department in Plant 1 in 1967 as the successor to the Porsche 910 for endurance races, will also make its debut at the Sound Night. The former hillclimb specialist Rudi Lins will present the 907 KH.

But it is not only race and road versions from the past that will carry the typical Porsche sound out into living rooms all over the world. Current highlights from the motorsport world will also make an appearance. Presence and success in motorsport with electrically powered race cars is an important part of the company’s Mission E strategy. Formula E driver Pascal Wehrlein will drive the 99X Electric on the running-in and test track in Weissach. The TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team 2021 is competing with the Porsche 99X Electric in its second season in Formula E. This means that the Formula E race car joins the list of historic Porsche motorsport vehicles.

During the Sound Night, viewers can submit questions that will be passed on to the contemporary witnesses and automotive celebrities via the moderator team. It will also be possible to vote interactively on estimation and knowledge questions.

To the Sound Night

Special exhibition “50 years of Porsche Development at Weissach” Every Porsche model comes from the same birthplace: the Weissach Development Centre. The area, which covers around 100 hectares, is synonymous with cutting-edge technology as well as passion, engineering skill and innovation. On the occasion of the anniversary, the special exhibition “50 Years of Porsche Development at Weissach” will take place in the Porsche Museum from 10 August to 5 December. The Development Centre, which started operations in 1971, includes the areas of design, motorsport, various test rigs and the in-house test track. These will be highlighted in detail in the special exhibition. “Sports cars for the road and thoroughbred race cars have been developed in Weissach for half a century. Dreams are designed, created and tested in the middle of idyllic countryside,” says Achim Stejskal, Head of Porsche Heritage and Museum. The museum in Zuffenhausen is taking a look behind the scenes of the birthplace of all Porsche sports cars as part of the special exhibition. The exhibition is centred around a highlight exhibit where visitors can digitally experience various topics using Augmented Reality (AR) applications. Among other things, they can look back on the site development over the past five decades. The company owes the decisive tip for the later premises of the Development Centre to its then employee and racing driver Herbert Linge. In January 1960, he drew Porsche’s attention to the overgrown piece of ground in Weissach and Flacht, which appeared to be of no value for agriculture. The ground-breaking ceremony then took place one and a half years later. In 1962, a test track was put into operation there, and nine years later the Research and Development Centre was opened.
In order to honour the highly developed departments of the Weissach Development Centre, the special exhibition is divided into the following areas: First Steps, Test Rig/Wind Tunnel, Porsche Engineering, Design, Motorsport and Centre. The first steps cover the history of the Development Centre and the ground-breaking ceremony in 1961. Afterwards, young and old visitors pass by selected models, such as a bus from the Weissach works fire brigade from 1972. The test rig area starts with the wind tunnel and a Taycan AR app. At this station, guests also gain an insight into all the things that employees do at test rigs: from testing and developing keys through to vehicle safety, cold chambers and testing and development of innovative materials. Design, Porsche Engineering and the Motorsport detail area await with fascinating stories, vehicles and innovations for all those interested.

At the centre, visitors can get to know the prominently positioned Weissach model via iPads and AR software. Analogue interactions are also possible throughout the special exhibition. For example, there are shelves with exhibits, models and 3D printed items, as well as mechanical flaps behind which there is exciting information about the Development Centre. A few days before the start of the special exhibition, the summer holiday programme for children will start as part of Porsche 4Kids. Here, girls and boys can go on a journey of discovery and look behind the otherwise closed doors of the Development Centre.
Eveningtour We also open our exhibition exclusively for you after 6 p.m. Whether you have an event already in mind or you are looking for ideas, our event team is happy to advise you on your options for visiting the museum after the opening hours. For example, start with a champagne reception for your guests as a prelude to a special evening.
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