It’s spring, seemingly everywhere. Even in the deepest darkest reaches of central Massachusetts where my friend George Reilly reported a snow storm just a few weeks ago and temperatures nearing 80 degrees just days ago. He’s waiting for spring rains to wash away the road salt his state uses generously to make roads passable in the winter so they’ll be enjoyable – and non-corrosive this spring and summer.
In Germany in mid-April, spring already was in full bloom with lawns and fields bright green and trees and gardens in the wild colors of first growth. Raps (in German, or what we call rapeseed, used for making vegetable oil) turned farm fields vibrant yellow all across the country.
Temperatures there also approached 80 degrees. Long-hood 911s and 356s were everywhere to be seen and a number of Porsche designers and engineers were prepping their cars for the 43rd International 356 Meeting in Ware, England, from May 3rd through 6th. (And while you may have missed that, you still can join the Porsche Parade Europe, in Noordwijk aan Zee in the Netherlands, from May 31 through June 3.)
While I constantly promote – and even urge – driving your cars, this issue takes one more look at interior activities. In our lead story, regular contributor Randy Wells, while researching a different matter altogether, learned of a well-known Porsche builder-restorer and his son who have a collection of hundreds of Porsches. Many of them can fit in a single pocket at the same time, such as the replica 1968 London-Sydney racer above.
Next we look at five books that have appeared in the past year, three just since American Thanksgiving Day, that we think are well worth your time and investment. Father’s Day is coming and, unless you’d prefer a nice necktie or plaid sweater, we offer alternatives.
And lastly, we offer a preview of the Bonhams and RM Sotheby’s auctions at Monte Carlo in mid-May. We’ll those report results in our June issue.
As always, thanks for reading us.