Stoddard NLA LLC has partnered with renowned Porsche historian, author and storyteller Lee Raskin to bring monthly articles — Through My Rearview Mirror and Portraits, highlighting celebrities and their Porsches.
May 13, 1989. The Baltimore Concours d’Elegance poster made a competitive statement. It featured a pre-war Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 Monza alongside a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL coupe displayed in the foreground of Baltimore’s historic Inner Harbor.
1976. Starting in third position behind John Greenwood’s Spirit of Sebring Corvette and the BMW Motorsport GmbH 3.0 CSL, Michael Keyser and Al Holbert teamed up to win the 12 Hours of Sebring Endurance Race in the Holbert Racing Team’s 911 Carrera 3.0 RSR by two laps over John Gunn and Carson Baird’s Porsche Carrera RSR.
1966. Can you imagine the excitement of just purchasing a brand new Porsche 912/5 coupe with a yearning to join the Porsche Club of America?
9-30-55. The Indiana ‘Hoosier’ actor / racer became immortal…as his young life ended in a car crash on a desolate California highway. James Dean passed into the realm of American folklore, where his memory remains today – seventy-one years later.
1959. My best friend, Larry Kavich ** had just bought the Sounds of Sebring 1958, a 33 1/3 album recorded live at the Sebring 12 Hours Endurance race in Florida. This was the next best thing for two thirteen-year-old motorheads to share…while living fifteen hundred miles away from the annual Sebring race.
Motorsports racing nicknames have always intrigued me. My all-time favorite was bestowed on a local Porsche friend of mine when I was a teen during the 1960s.
1983. Most of us may remember Tom Cruise’s hit movie, Risky Business with Cruise starring as the mischievous high school senior, Joel Goodsen, who takes his father’s 1979 Porsche 928 ** out for a joy ride with friends…and becomes involved in a high-speed chase through Highland Park, Illinois.
1971. What is Pink with a fat snout and a short tail?
The Porsche Gmünd had the PORSCHE script affixed across the nose of each car; but it wasn’t until 1952 that the Factory created the family crest for their car’s front hood at the behest of Max Hoffman, the U.S. Importer of Porsche cars.
Recently, I wrote about Bruce Jennings --who was the legendary Three-Time SCCA National C-Production Porsche 356 A Four Cam Speedster driver who was known as, “King Carrera.”
1964. As I nervously took my first 356 Porsche Road test drive, the salesman looked over from the passenger’s seat and told me:
1959. I was a teenage sports car enthusiast at the Marlboro Raceway in Upper Marlboro, Maryland…just southeast of Washington, D.C. -- when I first met Chuck Stoddard while he was racing an Alfa-Romeo Giulietta Veloce Spider in the April National SCCA races.
Just ask Otto Fuchs KG of Meinerzhagen, Germany, a family-owned manufacturer of non-ferrous metal products...
1960. I hitchhiked about 50 miles to Marlboro Motor Raceway…southeast of Washington, D.C. on U.S. Rt. 301 in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
Red… Green… White… Silver… Blue… Yellow… Gold… represents the true colors of the International Racing Teams.
1970. The Annual 12 Hours of Sebring began its third decade with an impressive starting lineup of factory, independent team, and privateer-prepared race cars to be driven by a renowned international list of 134 drivers.
THE TARGA FLORIO was created in 1906 by the wealthy race driver Vincenzo Florio to become one of the toughest road race circuits in Europe.
1957. A 15-year-old prodigy from Mexico City captured the hearts of Southern California racing fans as he debuted his motor racing skills on September 22nd at Riverside International Raceway by piloting his Porsche 550 RS to a stunning podium finish for modified cars under 1500 cc.
It is no secret. The Porsche Cover-up has been an ongoing affair for over 70 years.
1955. It was freezing cold in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and young, divorced Ruth Levy was ice racing on Lake Phalen in her new white Porsche 356 1500 Speedster…handily beating her male competitors.
1964. I took my first Porsche test drive in a used 1960 356 B Normal coupe. It was in amazing condition…Condor Yellow with rare coupe seats that were black with yellow inserts and decorative aluminum side trim along the body. The odometer read 38,269 miles. The sale price was $1,350.00.
As a Porschephile, Herbert von Karajan was as passionate about the marque as he was about his professional life – being the most-renowned philharmonic conductor to emerge from Europe during the post-war era.
Some Porschephiles may have seen photos of a PEGASUS decal displayed on James Dean’s Porsche 356 Speedster during the 1955 California Sports Car races...and wondered what the PEGASUS decal represented?
It was December 2003. The telephone rang and I answered it. The distinct voice at the other end, said, “Hi Lee, this is Paul Newman…I understand from Bob Snodgrass (then President / CEO of the legendary Brumos Porsche dealership in Jacksonville, FL) that you want to interview me for a Porsche 356 Speedster book.”
Carrera—Most porschephiles associate this name with a 900 series, those wide-bodied porsches with flared fenders and bedecked with front spoilers and large rear wings. However, the carrera is named, not for a body style, but an engine type that is as old and prominent as the porsche marque itself.
My friends all drive porsches, i must make amends.”
Lee raskin's long association with chuck stoddard and stoddard NLA LLC dates back to the early to mid-sixties. As a teen, lee watched chuck race his alfa giulietta spider veloce, giulia tz, along with his 550a and 718 porsches in scca and fia competition.
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