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"  pulled out all of the stops for its 60th birthday party in the U.S. As part of the Monterey Weekend, this fabled German sports car maker fired up/hummed up its \u2014for the first time in media sight and hearing; it brought over for display several historically significant cars from the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart\u2014one of which I actually got to drive; and it has also posed a contest for its North American owners.   Which is the oldest Porsche in the U.S.? Also, who owns the oldest 911?, 914?, 924?, 928?\u2014a series of 12 different categories. To learn more, gather up your Porsche&amp;#039;s paperwork and check out My Classic Porsche Search at . The contest ends October 1, 2010.   It all started 60 years ago when entrepreneur Max Hoffman thought there might be a U.S. market for quirky little German sports cars. (He also had similar insight encouraging to build us the Gullwing. What&amp;#039;s more, there&amp;#039;s an interesting connection between Hoffman and the building in which Road &amp;amp;amp; Track resides. Remind me to share it sometime.)   Here&amp;#039;s an initial hint for owners with the earliest model, the 356: If your car is missing a tachometer, sun visors, padded seats and a heater, it might well be the Grossvater, as earliest 356s lacked these features.   I recognize that my special drive, a 1952 356 Speedster, wasn&amp;#039;t among them, as it had at least three of these (I didn&amp;#039;t look for a heater). My white sports car from the Porsche Museum collection had a sharp red interior, its rear-mounted engine an air-cooled flat-four, its gearbox a 4-speed\u2014and, also contrasted with a modern , a decidedly skewed set of pedals. Because of fenderwell intrusion, the pedals are canted considerably to the right, to the point that the clutch pedal seemed directly beneath the steering column.   Yet, despite these dramatic contrasts with today&amp;#039;s water-cooled, flat-six, 6-speed and ergonomically rational 911, it&amp;#039;s easy to sense a direct line of heritage from the 356. Even the view forward would not seem strange to a driver of a modern Porsche.   Being that I was piloting a museum piece, I drove &amp;quot;my&amp;quot; Speedster with particular prudence. Indeed, at times I had the rev counter below its colored band of acceptable range, 2500-4500 rpm. And hence I can appreciate that modern 911 drivers who insist on running in the lower gears are doing so out of rich historical precedent.   Many thanks to Porsche for being my hosts during the Monterey Weekend. And especially for this opportunity to share its 60th anniversary here with such a significant and pleasurable drive. Good luck to those of you involved in My Classic Porsche Search. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a16311/porsche-poses-an-owner-contest-for-its-60th-anniversary-in-the-us/>