Porsche Revisits Its Dominant European Hill Climb History

Climbing the Hill

Among Porsche's many legendary motorsports feats, we tend to think of things like Le Mans and rally racing more than, say, hill climb races. But Porsche has enjoyed a good bit of success there as well.

Photos: Porsche

Reminisce over You

Participating in the European Hill Climb Championships, Porsche won an amazing 9 titles in 11 tries at the legendary Gaisberg mountain in Austria. Thus, the Porsche Museum packed up and headed back for a little reminiscing. 

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Legends Return

For this year's Gaisberg Race, Porsche decided to visit as part of its annual “Porsche Legends” series by bringing along a host of cool cars and drivers from that period in time.

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Supreme Lineup

That legendary lineup included drivers Rudi Lins and Eberhard Mahle, former motorsport director Helmut Pietsch, and the lightest hill-climb racing cars from the 1960s such as the Porsche 909, 910/8, 718 RS 60, 356 B 2000 GS Carrera GTL Abarth, and 911 2.5 S.

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Big Surprise

Late Debut

This fully functional feasibility study had never shown before, until now. Even though it was originally built back way back in 2015.

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Add Lightness

Back then, Larson and his team were given permission to experiment with a Boxster to see how light they could actually make a road-going car.

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Lofty Goals

"Our initial goal was to stay under one ton,"Larson said. "But that was not possible because the base model is comparatively heavy due to its rigidity and multiple safety features. So we set a limit of 1,099 kilos."

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Weight Savings

To achieve that goal, Larson and his team removed the passenger seat, roof, and windshield. They also added a clear cover for the engine, which is a nice unique touch, and a nod to the original Porsche hillclimb racer.

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Proper Tribute

In the end, Larson achieved his goal and created one of the most unique Boxsters you'll ever see. But in the process, he also paid proper tribute to some of Porsche's lesser-known motorsports achievements, too.

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