Ben Clymer Presents : Ep. 03 – The Porsche Episode With Ferdi Porsche¶
Published on Wed, 25 Oct 2023 17:00:00 +0000
Inside the world of Porsche, the brand's family ties to watchmaking, and the community that brings it all together.
Synopsis¶
In this episode of Ben Clymer Presents, host Ben Clymer sits down with Ferdinand "Ferdy" Porsche, grandson of Ferry Porsche (founder of Porsche) and nephew of Ferdinand Alexander Porsche (designer of the iconic 911 and founder of Porsche Design). The conversation explores the deep connections between automotive design, watches, and lifestyle through the lens of someone who literally embodies the Porsche legacy.
Ferdy discusses his childhood immersion in Porsche culture, spending summers traveling to Porsche parades and dealer visits with his father Wolfgang Porsche, current chairman of the board. He shares insights into his uncle's pioneering work with Porsche Design, including creating the first black watch in 1972 and the first titanium watch, designs directly inspired by the functional aesthetics of Porsche automobile dashboards. Now involved with the Porsche Lifestyle Group board, Ferdy has helped revive interest in the brand's design heritage while maintaining his career as an architect.
The discussion delves into Ferdy's watch collection, including recent additions like the titanium Rolex GMT and a rose gold Rolex "Ruth Beer" from his mother. He draws parallels between Rolex and Porsche, noting their shared values of approachability, technical excellence, and evolutionary design language. The conversation also covers his passion project, the GP Ice Race festival in Zell am See, Austria—a revival of 1950s-70s ice racing events that celebrates car culture in a visually stunning winter setting. Ferdy shares his favorite Porsches across different eras, from the modern Taycan to the legendary 1973 RS and the 964, offering advice for newcomers to Porsche ownership. Throughout, he reflects thoughtfully on navigating life with the Porsche name, maintaining authenticity and pursuing his genuine passions in architecture and design while honoring an extraordinary family legacy.
Links¶
Transcript¶
| Speaker | |
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| Ben Clymer | All right, so today on Ben Climate Presents, we are presenting the Porsche lifestyle with none other than Ferdy Porsche. What' |
| Ferdy Porsche | s up? So pleasure to be here. It's a pleasure to have you. So |
| Ben Clymer | I would say if there's somebody that understands what the Porsche lifestyle means, it's you |
| Ferdy Porsche | . I mean I've got introduced to it at a very young age. We used to spend almost every summer holiday somewhere where my dad could combine it with a with a Porsche Parade or a club or a dealer to visit. So um yeah this whole nerdiness about the brand and the the excitement around it and and just understanding how involved people are with it and how they make it their own and how it's generational and and how it's always like a father and son or a daughter and it's like oh almost always the full the the whole family is involved. Right. So I got introduced to this pretty at an early age and at one point I said, okay, I probably have to know more about these things as well. |
| Ben Clymer | Because you kind of I mean you you obviously pick |
| Ferdy Porsche | up things, but um when I got older people expected me to know um what car this is and what it does, et cetera. And I think at that point it was already way too late anyways and I was infected already. |
| Ben Clymer | Yeah. And I think for for the the the |
| Ben Clymer | readers and listeners at home. So you guys did a tal |
| Ben Clymer | king watches with James Stacey, who was right behind the camera right there, about a year ago. And I think you know everyone was so impressed with your love for for watches and kind of the the great history and I think if if you're okay with it maybe just kind of tell tell the viewers exactly your relationship to to the the the Porsche legacy who who your father is who your grandfather was et cetera if that |
| Ferdy Porsche | 's okay. So my grandfather was Ferry Porsche, who founded Porsche. Right. And my father is Wolfgang Porsche, who is um the chairman of the board. |
| Ben Clymer | Right. And |
| Ferdy Porsche | I'm me. I do all sorts of things in the car world and I'm an architect by trade. Right. But obviously talking about watches, my my uncle plays a big role. He was the designer of the 9-11. His name was also Ferdinand, um, so FA Porsche. Um, and he when he left the company in Stuttgart, he went out to start Porsche design and then did the first black watch in 72 um and the first titanium watch. Um and yeah, just experimented with watches. And I think like the car, I mean obviously it took a lot of inspiration from the car. So it was the first black watch because the the dial in the car or the dash in the in the car was also black and white for readability and functionality first. Um, and I think that inspired him. And I think he was someone who always pushed for the next thing. So I think one watch wasn't even out on the market yet. He started doing the next one |
| Ben Clymer | . Yeah. Um, and he was a very chill gu |
| Ferdy Porsche | y. He lived in Salamsee. He liked hunting. He was um a big nature l |
| Ben Clymer | over and a very calm guy |
| Ferdy Porsche | . I could use some of that, but we all |
| Ben Clymer | could have it all. That's right. I I think the the the thing that I always think about when I tell people about Porsche design, and I I own more than one Porsche design, you know, Chrono Ones, is I mean that the the fact that your uncle designed the 911, the 904, I think, and this watch. I mean, I think like provides such like a great um clarity of lineage of like what this product means to probably your family, but also to kind of like the greater ecosystem of design. I think sometimes people don't understand the the quite literal direct direct connection between Porsche of the automobile manufacturer and Porsche design. And it's it seems like it in you know with with your kind of uh introduction to the world at large, I would say, it seems like there's a much greater clarity of connection between Porsche and Porsche design. Is that purposeful? I think |
| Ferdy Porsche | it's it's it's also because it's um because Porsche has decided to make the watches themselves nowadays again. So in the beginning it was Orfina and IWC and all these other brands who manufactured the watches for us. And since a couple of years, we have our own manufacturing. It's a small place still in Solothurn in Switzerland. And I think also from the from the company, there's more, they I think they realize okay, we have something really special there and we should probably highlight it more and bring it back to life. And um, I mean just also looking at what else is there apart from just Chrono One. I mean there's the compass watch, there's the ocean, there's the Titan So there's a lot of cool things in the portfolio that will probably um come back over the next few years. And I'm very excited to be a part of it. I mean I think um so in the end it's I'm also a bit lucky to be to be at there at the right time. And with Ice Race being in Cell as well. So that's the event I started five years ago. Ye |
| Ben Clymer | ah. Um Porsche design was right |
| Ferdy Porsche | around the corner. Obviously at a race, you need a timing partner. And so I went over. I I knew the guys from before um because I did an internship there when I was still in my university days. Yeah. And yeah. So |
| Ben Clymer | the the relationship got together. The the relationship bet between Porsche and Porsche design. And again, maybe I just it at sometimes I find it a little bit confusing about like, does Porsche own Porsche Design or what is the exact connection? They do. Ye |
| Ferdy Porsche | ah, they do. Okay. After my uncle passed away, um, the company bought it back. |
| Ben Clymer | Okay, got it. And so Porsche owns Porsche |
| Ferdy Porsche | Design, but it's its own entity inside. So we still have the the design office in Cell, which is exactly where my uncle went after he left the company in 72, um, to start his own thing because he liked Cell, he grew up there as I said he was a nature guy and and I think the the the design studio was was in GQ back then I think it was GQ as one of the most in 70s something yeah. as one of the most fun and and progressive design studios in the world. And you have all these pictures of like, I think five or six, seven guys standing there and like just having the best time. I think they they did all sorts of things. I think they were working like four days a week only. And sure. They were I I think they really had a good time back then. Right. Uh obviously building models and everything in this little studio there. |
| Ben Clymer | Yeah. So what were some of the things that that maybe your un |
| Ben Clymer | cle or your family is kind of most proud of from Porsche Design beyond the the watch? |
| Ben Clymer | I think beyond the watch, so |
| Ferdy Porsche | he basically looked at objects, whatever they were, and tried to make them better in a way. So there is obviously also always a personal connection to him. So for example, he loved smoking pipe. So there is a pipe that he designed that is actually also really cool and also has a connection to the car and then there's the sunglasses, which I'm a big fan of. I know that Kim Kardashian wears them all the time, which I think is pretty cool. |
| Ben Clymer | Yeah. And but originally Yoko |
| Ferdy Porsche | Ono made them famous, um the face shield ones. But there is also one where you can change the where you can um change or super easily change the the glasses, um the shades basically for whatever um for whatever situation you're in and also I don't know there's skiing gear as well ye |
| Ben Clymer | ah uh also with Oakley I think back in the day |
| Ferdy Porsche | so there's a lot of cool stuff um that is in the archives and um and that i think we will bring back in the in the in the next years |
| Ben Clymer | yeah when when i was 18 years old is a true story i i i've never smoked cigarettes in my life like it's just not something i did but i loved Porsche design titanium lighters. And I used to buy them on eBay of all places when I was like 18, 19 years old, all the time. I had like probably five of them. I just thought they were like really they were not super expensive and they were really beautiful things. And I just I still have a few of them now. And it's amazing like when you look through the Porsche Design Catalog, so many little objects like that that like at least in my my case, I wasn't necessary at all. Like I didn't need a lighter, but like I just thought it was such a cool thing. It was affordable to me at the time. Yeah. And it uh it was just something I wanted to have. |
| Ferdy Porsche | Yeah. There's also the pens and there's the shaking pen where you where you go like this and then the pen comes out of the of its case. |
| Ben Clymer | Yeah. And there's a lot of like cool, fun |
| Ferdy Porsche | and like really well made, um, detail oriented uh th |
| Ben Clymer | ings in the catalogue. Ye |
| Ferdy Porsche | ah. And so the the the watch that you're wearing here |
| Ben Clymer | is a special edition of the Chrono one. Yes. Can we talk about this one? |
| Ferdy Porsche | Yeah, we can. So what is it? I mean, so it's prototype. |
| Ben Clymer | Okay. It will come out at the end of this |
| Ferdy Porsche | year. Okay. Um it's the re-edition of the military. So back in the days of the chrono, there was another or or a part of the chronographs were were made specifically for the military. So there's for the German military, for the US Army, for UAE Air Force, literally for almost every military on the planet. I think because obviously functionality and readability was so well or so good |
| Ben Clymer | . And that's why it got adap |
| Ferdy Porsche | ted, obviously. And the one of the most famous ones is the is the US Air Force Tiger military edition, which had like a little tiger, a little shouting tiger in in in at four o'clock. And this is the re-edition of that. But it's a little marmot, it's a little mankai for our hut on Goldslachner, which is like Goldslachner is one of the best driving roads in Europe. It was built back then because the Austrian Emperor wanted a road to the highest mountain of Austria. Yeah, back in the day. Yeah |
| Ben Clymer | , of course. That's how it how it would go |
| Ferdy Porsche | . And it's literally one of the best driving roads. And my grandfather used to test cars there. So there's also a connection to our family. That's how he discovered Cell because Porsche back then was in Gmünd in Corinthia on the other side of Ghostlockner. And while testing brakes and how the car maneuvers on the road, he would discover cell. And so I think it's a kind of a cool knot nowadays to the new utility as we call it now. |
| Ben Clymer | Yeah. And so so tell us a little bit about kind of your your your day job, so to speak, with with the ice race and as an architect |
| Ferdy Porsche | . Yeah. Um so I always had a passion for architecture. I was kind of thinking, do I do product design or architecture? But in the end, I went for architecture because I like the scale a lot and I like that you could influence spaces and places and people. And I really like my studies as well. I studied in Vienna, um met a bunch of cool people um and we have an office now in Vienna as well where 10 people work on all sorts of projects from a little bar um that has the best cocktails in Vienna I think all the way to um a lung practice that we build now with two apartments on top, et cetera. So there's also now our first project in the States. And then by the side in the same office, I run ice race. Actually it's Fat International now, but it used to start out as ice race. It was more of a passion project back then. So um they had the original ice races on the frozen lake in cell from the 50s to the 70s. And I just when I when I heard up heard about that first and saw pictures, I I just thought the vibe of it was so cool. And that it was everything that like young people would want in a car event these days. Because it's not so much about split seconds or anything. It's more about the people. And the car is in the center, but in the end it's about the people having fun, the aesthetics of it. Everything just pops better in white. Ye |
| Ben Clymer | ah. So with a white background. |
| Ferdy Porsche | Um and so we decided to bring it back. So literally the first two years was more more of a can we do this? Can we actually and get through with it? And and literally bring that back. Um and that has developed more and more and um we looked for for something that would sit above that. So now we have a restaurant, our first location, we do track days, we do a bit of merch. So basically it's it's all that we like and enjoy. It's a bit like Hudinky, I think, for you |
| Ben Clymer | . Something like that. Yeah. Yeah, we're working towards that. |
| Ferdy Porsche | You guys are a bit bigger. |
| Ben Clymer | It's a bit like it's it's um it' |
| Ferdy Porsche | s still something that I think people feel that it's um out of enthusiasm and yeah, and I got to know so many cool people through this. Also you guys. And yeah, Fat International was just the perfect brand for it to sit on top of it. Because there used to be a logistics company out of out of France and Germany, France Allemont Transit. And they sponsored two Le Mans winning cars, 1994 and 1997, with a portion. And it just incorporates the whole coolness of 80s motor sports and the name is good. It works in German, it works in English. Yeah. Um yeah, so we have fun with that. So |
| Ben Clymer | let's paint a a word picture, so to speak, of what the the ice race really is. So it's like it's like a five fifty spider pulling people on skis behind it on a frozen lake |
| Ferdy Porsche | . Yes, that's what it was back in the days. Right. That's what it was back in the days, and it still is some of that. We're not on the frozen lake anymore. Right. Um we're on the airfield in cell, uh just for security reasons also. But it's still 550s. It's still people being towed behind on skis, which is dangerous. I actually tore my biceps doing it once. But |
| Ben Clymer | what car was pulling you at the time? A |
| Ferdy Porsche | 9ine five three, so the dark car winning nine five three. That was pretty it was pretty epic, but but it has a lot of power, so coming out of the corner, the the rope that was where I was attached basically um was not was not in tight it was not tight enough so so it was the typical I don't know water skiing accident I think um but you know you have to practice what you preach so um yeah that's ice race it's festival around the car is a cultural icon. Eyver brand is welcome. So it's not just 550s. It's a bit like back in the old days. |
| Ben Clymer | Yeah. Um, a festival for |
| Ferdy Porsche | the people in the car world, but also for those beyond and visually it's it's exciting and um yes. |
| Ben Clymer | So as as somebody that that's been, I can imagine or only assume that you've grown up around the greatest cars in the world, arguably, but when you go to the ice race, you probably see things that even you kind of have to step back and say, wow, like that is really a special thing to see |
| Ferdy Porsche | . What I think is so cool that people actually do use them in the snow. Right. Because I mean growing up and also going to a lot of the clubs, but also so so auto automobile clubs like Porsche Club North America, et cetera, et cet.era I always, and also in Germany, I think the vibe of collecting was very much taking care of the pieces, being super um, being super polite towards them in a sense. And the cool thing is that ice race, everybody brings their cars no matter what they're worth there is something there there's cheap things there there's super expensive um cars but everybody treats them the way they're supposed to be treated they use them they drive them uh fast they drive them with spike tires. Um and it's kind of cool to see that um no matter what the car is worth um everybody gets to enjoy it and and everybody's just smiling when you when you have the snow in your face from the car that just drifts by. |
| Ben Clymer | And what car do you bring to to ice race typically |
| Ferdy Porsche | ? So funny enough, I love driving the taekan on the ice |
| Ben Clymer | . Interesting. Um because you |
| Ferdy Porsche | have instant power all the time. You have a lot of power, you have four-wheel drive. Yeah. Um you can take passengers. Um and we also have our our electric skiering class, so that's the most competitive of them all because we give um all of the competitors in that class the same car and they have the same track. So it's the only the only class in Ice Race where everybody gets the the very same uh starting position, basically. Um so I enjoy that, but obviously also anything actually. Like I assume the new and 9-11 Dakar will be amazing on ice. Uh I can't wait to see that. Also the Starato Lamborghini |
| Ben Clymer | . So I I'm very curious to |
| Ferdy Porsche | see how many of those new uh off-road editions we'll see at the next ice. |
| Ben Clymer | Probably a few, right? I hope so. Yeah. Um so we're gonna come back to cars for sure. We'll probably end on cars just because I have so many questions to ask you about Porsche in general. But before we do that, let's talk a little bit about watches. So you showed us your your collection, uh you know, some really kind of imp personally important pieces, uh the Cartier crash, you know, some really special things. Yeah. Has anything come into the collection since then |
| Ferdy Porsche | ? Yes, I think the the |
| Ben Clymer | the newest edition after or the the edition that came right after Talking Watches, or almost right after, was the |
| Ferdy Porsche | first titanium Rolex. So yeah, I got that. Because I thought the the the connection to Porsche design was so cool. Because my uncle did a titanium watch fifty years ago. Yeah. And it's cool that Rolex, the arguably the biggest, the coolest, sure. The OG and watch making um goes to titanium so many years later and does it in such an extreme way. It's extreme. I mean the watch is I don't really wear it that much but when it's gigantic, yes. You can't wear it like underneath anything. It's a T-shirt watch but it,'s obviously out there. |
| Ben Clymer | Yeah. But I enjoy it. Every time I we |
| Ferdy Porsche | ar it, I I'm I'm amazed by how light it is, obviously. Obviously, because of that. |
| Ben Clymer | Yeah. Anything else in the collection these days |
| Ferdy Porsche | ? Another Rolex that I got from my mom that is |
| Ben Clymer | actually, I think, one of my favorite watches these days |
| Ferdy Porsche | , I must admit. Um, it's the Ruth beer. Yeah. Solid gold. Rose Gold. Rose Gold. Yes. Such a such a cool watch. |
| Ben Clymer | Yeah. Summer watch, obviously. I don't really |
| Ferdy Porsche | wear that to work. It's more like a I think I want to keep that like forever and like take care of it. |
| Ben Clymer | Yeah, I mean I I think m myself and and and many like me, I think would would equate Rolex to Porsche in in many ways, right? Uh you know, simil like purity of design, obviously technical excellence. I presume. |
| Ferdy Porsche | I see that a hundred percent. And I also think another conne |
| Ben Clymer | ction between Rolex and Porsche is the |
| Ferdy Porsche | approachability of the brand. So I think for a lot of people the, first um watch that they buy if they achieve something great or if they achieve something in their in their career is a Rolex to manifest that, but it's also um they they last a long time. They have a classic that evolves and evolves and evolves. The design language evolves more than they do something completely new. That's why I think the titanium one was so special because it's something completely out of the box for them. You have the same thing with the nine eleven evolving over sixty years now. So yeah, I see this this comparison. I like it. |
| Ben Clymer | Any new Rolexes you have your have your eyes on |
| Ferdy Porsche | ? Um obviously the Lamar one I would love to have, yes. You think you |
| Ben Clymer | get one? Um, I I don't know |
| Ferdy Porsche | . I hope so. I think it might I |
| Ben Clymer | think it might work out. Um, the thing |
| Ferdy Porsche | is, I mean, obviously with Porsche's history in Le Mans, it would be great to have that watch. I saw it in the wild twice already. At Ransport? At Ransport. One time at Ransport and one time in Monza. |
| Ben Clymer | Yeah. So two race events where |
| Ferdy Porsche | it belongs. Yeah. But I just think um it's one of the coolest and more special modern Rolex is ever. |
| Ben Clymer | I I want a bad. I really do. I don |
| Ferdy Porsche | 't have a Daytona. I never had one. Oh |
| Ben Clymer | man. You haven't lived? I haven |
| Ferdy Porsche | 't lived apparently. No, it's uh I me |
| Ben Clymer | an as I'm well documented I'm a I'm a Daytona lover and this one this one hit hit pretty hard for sure i've haven't been that excited about a new Rolex in a long time for sure still don't have it so Rolex if you see this you know give me a shout um but no that yeah for both of us you got two two uh two friends right here. Um but uh no that that's that's gonna be a good one and I I was |
| Ferdy Porsche | in Lamar when it came out sorry no no I was in Lamar when it came out and everybody all of a sudden was on the phone |
| Ben Clymer | . The race stopped and the people |
| Ferdy Porsche | the race stopped for like a second and everybody was like have you seen this? Oh my god yeah and I was actu |
| Ben Clymer | ally I was not a Lam but I was driving a Porsche actually truly with with friends um that weekend up in the Catskills which is like a mountain friendship here and pretty much the same thing happened we all kind of pulled over and just said, okay, like we all texted everybody we knew, and including James, who's behind the camera and wrote the story on it. Great job, James, on that. Uh yeah, that is that's kind of like a holy shit moment. You know, I've I've talked a lot about this watch with with with John Mayer, who's obviously a huge you know, Rolex fan. And it's like the watch in some ways is almost like a uh you know, George Bamford, who I'm sure you've met somewhere along the way, it almost feels like a Bamford watch from like 10 years ago, like a 2008 Bamford Daytona or something like that. But like the fact that they made it is so crazy. The fact that they did the puzzle dial, like there's so many things that Rolex is doing now that like I just can't imagine Rolex of five years ago doing it all. I'm looking at James here. He's nodding. I mean, just wild stuff. And the the Le Mans is right up there |
| Ferdy Porsche | . Yeah, with the open case back and just the history of it. |
| Ben Clymer | Open case back, the red references to like |
| Ferdy Porsche | the Paul Newman ones. I mean it's like everything is in there somehow. |
| Ben Clymer | It's it's it's bananas. Yeah, it's like. And James |
| Ferdy Porsche | 's article made me even more like made me want it even more. |
| Ben Clymer | That means I think James should get one too. Um Yeah, we just need to read, exactly. No, it's uh yeah, it's the I have it on some good authority, unofficially of course, that it's gonna be I mean we know it's all Rolexes are hard to get, but I think this one will be particularly hard to get for for most people, which is a bummer because it's you know it's a great seriously made watch, but uh yeah, it's a special one for sure |
| Ferdy Porsche | . I actually started out my my very first uh proper watch was a um was a Pepsi um GMT. Um but at the time I I didn't like I didn't dare to wear it much because I was still in school. Um |
| Ben Clymer | and it never really made it on my |
| Ferdy Porsche | wrist back then. And then actually that that Porsche design changed that. So my first Chrono one that I got two years later or one year later from my dad, that was the one, that was the the watch that actually got me into wearing watches on a daily basis. Because I felt like it had the connection to my family. It was it was |
| Ben Clymer | something that like just rem |
| Ferdy Porsche | inded me of this whole thing. But it was not flashy at all. Nobody really knew what it was |
| Ben Clymer | . So yeah, I think that was the advanta |
| Ferdy Porsche | ge of that makes sense. Makes sen |
| Ben Clymer | se. I I think I think in many ways Porsche and Rolex have kind of become uh I I I I don't want to say mainstream because that's not the right connotation in in my mind, but so this is a 14270, you know, kind of uh you know early uh uh sapphire uh explorer, and this was not this one, but this reference was my first Rolex. And I remember thinking when I bought it with my own hard-earned money that like, wow, like I had made it because I had a Rolex. It cost me $2,500 or something like that. But I was bashful about wearing it, you know, especially back home where I'm from, which is kind of a small town upstate. And now I know people that that are just so unabashed about the Rolex ownership that it's like it really has changed. Like the the the baseline of like luxury now is Rolex. And I think to some degree, the same would be true with Porsche, with Boxter, you know, Tycon, Cayman, Cayenne, like all the other all the other nine non-911 models have made uh Porsche ownership kind of so much more approachable uh in some way. |
| Ferdy Porsche | Yeah. I think luxury is cooler if it's approachable, actually. |
| Ben Clymer | Yeah. Um I think um that' |
| Ferdy Porsche | s what makes those two brands so cool. Like in with with Porsche, it's probably something like sit l |
| Ben Clymer | ower to the ground, um, make it quicker |
| Ferdy Porsche | . So I think that's that's the the beauty of of Porsche as a brand that everyone who owns one can make it their own or should make it their own. |
| Ben Clymer | So since since you bring up the nine twelve, I mean this is something I've I've truly always wanted to know this. Like the 912, you know, in the vintage community is construct the the poor man's Porsche. I mean that was like the idea that, you know, it took the motor of the 356. You you obviously know what it is. Um how how does how do you view it? How does Porsche themselves view the 912 |
| Ferdy Porsche | ? That's a good question. I me |
| Ben Clymer | an I can answer that for me. I think it's a cool |
| Ferdy Porsche | it's it's the coolest thing. I mean um I think a lot of my dad, for example, had one before before um or I think it was his his first his first Porsche was a 9-12. So it was an entry entry car in a sense. But I think |
| Ben Clymer | it it it it added |
| Ferdy Porsche | so much to the brand's reputation in a sense by by opening the brand up to to a younger and uh to younger audience and an audience who could um who could buy into the brand like this for the first time and obviously tweak it and and put different engines in at one point. So I think a lot of 912s are 911s now and and and and so forth. |
| Ben Clymer | Th there there is kind of a whole like resto community around around nine twelves |
| Ferdy Porsche | . Yeah. Uh and there famously Jer |
| Ben Clymer | ry Seinfeld I'm I'm sure you've met somewhere along the way. Uh I |
| Ferdy Porsche | met him the first time last weekend. No kidding. Y |
| Ben Clymer | es. Interesting. I feel like we would have known him for a long time for some reason. |
| Ferdy Porsche | Yeah, no, I met him at Ransport. I would talk it was cool |
| Ben Clymer | . It was with with together with my dad. Ye |
| Ben Clymer | ah. He asked my dad what his what his favorite car |
| Ferdy Porsche | was. My dad's at the 993 Turbo S. Um he replied too heavy |
| Ben Clymer | . But it was a it was a |
| Ben Clymer | cool conversation. He's a very uh fun guy |
| Ferdy Porsche | , obviously. I grew up watching his stuff and being a fan, |
| Ben Clymer | but it was it was fun talking cars with him. |
| Ben Clymer | He's a big nine twelve lover. I mean he f famously is is loves the nine twelve. Thinks it's among the best cars Porsche's ever made. |
| Ferdy Porsche | His favorite car is a five fifty though, apparently. |
| Ben Clymer | Well he said I mean you know. Yeah, maybe yeah, that that's that's the real truth. Exactly. So since since we have it here, we we have to ask. These Porsche. Your favorite Porsche |
| Ben Clymer | ? It's difficult because I think ever |
| Ferdy Porsche | y era has a has one of my fav.orites |
| Ben Clymer | So I would say modern day, I m |
| Ferdy Porsche | ust admit I love the taekwond. I drive it on a daily basis. Coolest cars you drive on a daily basis. You arrive and you're more relaxed than when you get into the car. |
| Ben Clymer | Somebody just said that. That guy. That guy said that to me less than an hour ago. Yeah. |
| Ferdy Porsche | I love it. I love the looks of it. Yeah. I think |
| Ben Clymer | it's so it's so cool on the road. And |
| Ferdy Porsche | then obviously every era, I obviously I think you're you're uh drawn towards the cars that you grow up in. So I love the 993 Turbo S that my dad talked about. It's the first car that I co-drove over 300 kph in with my dad going for |
| Ben Clymer | like a boys trip on a weekend. That |
| Ben Clymer | 's amazing. Still sitting in the back because I was |
| Ferdy Porsche | too small. It's a great car. It used to sit in the museum for a while as well. |
| Ben Clymer | Yeah. So he lends it every every now and then |
| Ferdy Porsche | again. Um every now and then. And I think it's it's the greatest car. It has a little Christopherous uh thing on the on the dash on on the side, um, next to the passenger seat. It smells amazing, it drives amazing. Um I I I drove the 959 the other day, and comparing this to the 993 Turbo S, it's crazy because actually the 959 obviously being a hypercar or a supercar back in the days, the nine ninety three turbo S is kind of the better car to drive. I mean it came quite a bit later. Yeah. |
| Ben Clymer | And a lot of it was based on the the nine. Yeah. You obv |
| Ferdy Porsche | iously know. |
| Ben Clymer | Yes. But I mean a lot of it came from Bat 9 bugs. |
| Ferdy Porsche | Yeah. And then what else? 550s, obviously, because of the ice race connection, because um they're great cars to drive. Yeah. Also 718s just because the the next next generation of the 550 and it's only a few few years between those two, but the 718 drives so much better already. Does it really? It's such a more like it's so much quicker |
| Ben Clymer | . Huh. It's crazy. The comparison |
| Ferdy Porsche | of the two cars is is really is really crazy and like shows how how how the progress like |
| Ben Clymer | they're both using the four cam, like effectively the same motor, obviously modified to some degree. Ye |
| Ferdy Porsche | ah, I think it's it's m first and foremost the ride and how how the car handles and the brakes are a little better I feel. And I'm not sure but it feels like they got more out of the out of the engine as well |
| Ben Clymer | . Interesting. Yeah interesting. It dri |
| Ferdy Porsche | ves a bit higher. Where's the seventy |
| Ben Clymer | three RS in all this? |
| Ben Clymer | The 73RS is |
| Ferdy Porsche | an icon, I would say. Um It' |
| Ben Clymer | s like the Paul Newman Daytona of Porsche. It is |
| Ferdy Porsche | like the Paul Newman Daytona of Porsche for sure. Um I had a lot of fun in that car already. Um it drives amazing. It's obviously the first fast Porsche car and I think just its significance um when you when you consider what came in the in the racing um because of it or what it was the homologation car i in the end it was a homologation car so um or at least some of them I think there's twenty homologation cars of the of the of the two point seven RS and then obviously the RSR is coming after that and all of the all of the great Porsche race cars. I think it basically started it kickstarted that whole thing |
| Ben Clymer | . And I think it's a usable |
| Ferdy Porsche | car that feels a bit like a race car. You could daily drive it in a sense. Probably wouldn't but Ye |
| Ben Clymer | ah, I I I have several not several a small handful of friends that that own them and they always say it's the last vintage car they would sell ever. Like if if they only had one vintage car, it would be a seventy three yard. That would |
| Ferdy Porsche | be a good pick. Yeah. Yeah. I maybe would go for the 964 OS instead |
| Ben Clymer | . European, obviously. A bit |
| Ferdy Porsche | more usable. Yes, here. I mean, |
| Ben Clymer | 964s, I think you know. I really love the short wheelbase, like 65, 67s. Yeah. The 964s, which I've had, really remind me of those early short goal base cars. I'm a big 964 fan |
| Ferdy Porsche | . They're really great. I love them. Everything, like the design, this the the bucket seats in them. Like it's just more usable already. It's it it works, but you sit in it in a nicer, like you sit in it nicer. So it it fits your body basically. It's like a it's like wearing a s wearing a good suit. |
| Ben Clymer | Yeah. Yeah. And and for for some of the the the audience that is is just getting into Porsche. Yeah. Where would you should, by the way, at retail. Where would you start on the journey? Like if if you're, you know, if you're looking at a budget of below $30,000, something like that |
| Ferdy Porsche | . Boxsters? Original bo |
| Ben Clymer | xers maybe? Yeah. Pro |
| Ferdy Porsche | bably original boxers if you have some good driving roads around uh around the back of your house or somewhere around your air your area. What I also really like is the 996s |
| Ben Clymer | . I mean they they've been a slee |
| Ferdy Porsche | per for a long time. Yeah. I don't know where they stand price wise right now, but I pre |
| Ben Clymer | fer maybe a little bit more, but I mean still affordable. A little bit more, but I think it |
| Ferdy Porsche | it's probably one of the coolest ways to buy into the 9-11. Um the 9-11 as a thing. |
| Ben Clymer | Yeah. Um I love them. I also grew up |
| Ferdy Porsche | in them. My dad had a yellow turbo S that he sold to Michael Balak, who was back then one of the best footballers and or soccer players in Germany, which was so cool because he came collecting the car |
| Ben Clymer | . And I was the biggest Bayern |
| Ferdy Porsche | . I am still a big Bayern fan, but I I used to be completely nuts over it. And obviously I was ready, prepared. The football was already there and we played a little bit, which was fun. That's amazing. That was maybe 10 or so. It was cool |
| Ben Clymer | . And if you were, if you had to whittle the collection down to one, well, say 9-11, what would it be? If you could only drive one-nine eleven for the rest of your life, what would it be? |
| Ferdy Porsche | Ooh, you oui. Um probably in 991 R. R. Yes. Because it's that one is really usable. You can drive it every day. It goes under the radar if you don't know, you don't really know. Um 500 horsepower naturally aspirator drives to almost 9,000, um, sits on the road, perfectly, looks great, um, sounds great. Yeah, that would probably be it. |
| Ben Clymer | That's a good car. What about you? U |
| Ben Clymer | h yeah. I mean, I look, I I think if if if I had to use it daily, it would probably be some like a C2964. Yeah. Like just a car that I I had a really I had a Japanese market 964 C2 that you know I put the the Apple CarPlay in and I really I drove it into the city all the time. I use that. I drove it in the winter. That is a great car that's like not so expensive that you have to really be precious with it but does it had an airbag, which is nice, you know. Um that I really like addition. It is I really like that car. I had a 991 GT3 Touring, so kind of an R, you know, R-ish, that I foolishly sold uh and wish wish I hadn't. That was that's the best driving car I've ever driven, inclusive of all modern Ferraris and supercars. And that's just the perfect thing. Um but yeah, that the the 964 C2, I think is uh it's just as as a guy that likes like, I'm not like a speed guy. I'm much more of like a back roads kind of twisty kind of vibe guy. And I think the 964 is just epic, uh for sure. I'd I'd actually love to find a 964 RS touring. You know, there's not that many of them, but that that's the car that I've always I've always wanted for sure. Because the the seats are |
| Ben Clymer | the the European seats are a |
| Ben Clymer | little aggressive for me. Yeah. Um I had the bucket seats in my GT3 touring and I found them just in getting in and out of the city and in and out it was a little bit tough. Um but yeah, the the touring uh nine six four RS Euro would be Ye |
| Ferdy Porsche | ah, if the seat doesn't fit it,'s always uh it's always difficult to drive the cars. A friend of mine owns um one of the works cars 960 or 9146s uh that drove the Rally Monte Carlo and it has Gerard LaRoosse's seat in it, and I think the guy um is tiny and so you barely fit in into the car. It's cool that it's the the original the original seat in it. Obviously there's so many cool cool things with the car. So for example there is a there's a uh uh a wooden like pick to like get rid of the snow in the tires if it if it if it like collects in there like literally in the back of the car. There's so many like that's a that's a great car |
| Ben Clymer | . That's crazy. God I I like honestly I could just ask you about portions all all day long but i won't do that for for your sake um i mean uh g going through life uh you know as as kind of uh you know really the physical embodiment of you know a legendary brand is it is it something that that that you you struggle with in any way? Is is there a a pressure on you that that you feel sometimes that you is challenging or is it uh is it all fun in games |
| Ferdy Porsche | ? In school I found it a bit challenging every now and then because obviously growing up you don't really know so much you don't even recognize that there is like a significance to it so much. But |
| Ben Clymer | in school growing up like maybe from like 10 |
| Ferdy Porsche | to 10, 11, 12 at that age, you kind of realize that for the teachers actually were kind of different. Um so there was always a bit of a um of a feeling that I have to behave and like I have to be more proper than others, maybe, but in a sense, I try to like get rid of that. And my parents were also always really cool telling me that I should do what I like and that if I find something that I like, I will probably gonna be good at it |
| Ben Clymer | . And so I think you have to like |
| Ferdy Porsche | get rid of that and see yourself. I see myself as Ferdy and like um so it's cool to have that last name, obviously, and it's it's uh like the heritage of the brand is so cool, but um there is, |
| Ben Clymer | I think, more of a um |
| Ferdy Porsche | like it probably teaches you a lot of things on like how to how to be your own person and it otherwise I I assume that there would be a lot of pressure, yeah. Or I I I can see how that how there would be pressure. |
| Ben Clymer | Yeah. I mean uh I try to like |
| Ferdy Porsche | just push it away. I understand. Yeah |
| Ben Clymer | . I mean I I I can imagine. Uh I mean you you're a very in a in a loving way, like a normal down to earth person. And I think that that that's really admirable. I mean, it it's I can imagine again without without knowing your family really that that there there might appear to be pressure from from our vantage point as outsiders, but it seems like you've dealt with it, you know, kind of very well. Uh is there a plan for you to get more involved with the business or is that kind of a another thing for for down the road? |
| Ferdy Porsche | I'm the board now of Porsche Lifestyle Group, which I think is a good fit. Um so obviously I care about architecture, I care about design. I work at Porsche Design for a while. So I think that's a good fit. I mean obviously if if there is if there is something cool to do, I'd be more than more than happy to. But I will continue to to keep doing the things that I like. I will for sure not say goodbye to architecture because I think it's a cool, cool place to be and I I love the office. And so yeah, let's see, let's see where the road uh takes me in that in that regard |
| Ben Clymer | . Amazing. Very |
| Ben Clymer | Porsche. Porsche. Very Porsche, not P |
| Ben Clymer | orsche. Porsche. Get that right. Yeah. Thank you so much for joining us. Can't thank you enough, truly. This was a treat. |
| Ferdy Porsche | Thank you very much. |