46: The Birth of Porsche Motorsport

In early 2021 I was asked by my friend, Cameron Healy, if “I knew anyone who could be the editor for a book”. After a year of Covid I was up for anything and after a couple meetings I agreed to take on the book of his 1949 Porsche 356/2 SL 063.

In 2010 Cameron had purchased the early Gmünd Porsche from the estate of Chuck Forge. Prior to the purchase Healy and Porsche expert Rod Emory had gathered enough, but not conclusive, evidence that the Forge car was the original 1951 factory Le Mans race car. The team then spent a number of years researching and ultimately proved that SL 063 was indeed the 1951 Porsche Le Mans entry. A multi-year restoration project was then undertaken to bring the car back to how it sat on the start line in 1951.

I had the pleasure of recruiting and working with a great group of authors, including Doug Nye, Randy Leffingwell, Sean Cridland, William Edgar, Gary Horstkorta, and Chris Greenwood. Each author was assigned a chapter that matched their experience and expertise. Cameron sponsored the project but gave me free reign to create the book. In mid-2022, when we were close to handing the book off to the publisher we were connected with Frank Jung, Head of the Porsche Corporate Archive. We were able to provide Jung with some of our sources and in exchange he opened the company’s archive and provided any material the company had on SL 063.

 In the end we were able to tell the story of how out of the ashes of WW II Porsche started its car building business and then developed 2 cars for the 1951 24 Hours of Le Mans. The story continues through the development of the cars and with the addition of Tony Hatter’s interview with Herbet Linge we had a first-hand history of the building on the car. The book continues to detail the history of the car when it was exported to the states and the 55 years until Healy bought the car.

 Around 2017 I went to the Automobilia event during the Monterey Car Week and met Jodi Ellis. In early 2022 when it was time to find a publisher, I pulled Ellis’s business card out and contacted her. Ellis is an amazing book designer and Porsche owner. She introduced me to Glyn Morris of Dalton Watson and in early February 2023, 46: The Birth of Porsche Motorsport was introduced at the Retromobile show in Paris.

The book is available in both the standard and a Publisher’s Editon through the Dalton Watson website.

 In addition to the Retromobile adventure, Elliot and I were back in Europe in June with Cameron and SL 063 to retrace the car’s 1951 journey from Stuttgart-Zuffenhasen to Le Mans. That story will be told in another post.