![]() ![]() As the father notes, “We’ll always be down to earth. “In the summer we go swimming, and in the winter we can start skiing right out the door.” Generations of family traditions and values live on. “Where else could you find all of this?” he asks. Zell am See and the surrounding area make that easy. Although this city dweller doesn’t share his father’s love of hunting-or “not yet” as the latter interjects-he is becoming ever more aware of the benefits of country life. “But we’ll get that back up and running too,” says Ferdi without any prompting. A committed hunter, he comments that “we are practically self-sufficient.” The only thing they no longer have is poultry. “We bake bread and process our own meat,” says Wolfgang, not without pride. ![]() Schüttgut is also home to fruit trees, honey production, and more. “They are a lightweight type specially bred for steep slopes, because heavier breeds trample the vegetation,” he explains. “I’m a farmer in my spare time,” he says, and mentions his extensive pastures and around two hundred Pinzgauer cattle with evident pleasure. Living in harmony with nature is also important for his father Wolfgang. “As an architect you always need to deal carefully with nature as well.” For Ferdi, a twenty-seven-year-old who has just completed architectural studies in Vienna, environmental consciousness plays a major role. The enthusiasm shown by the primarily young spectators who flock to the GP Ice Race demonstrates to Ferdi that “the passion for cars lives on in my generation.” That makes him all the more pleased that “the Taycan puts the company at the forefront of technological developments in e-mobility.” The fact that he bears the name of his great-grandfather-who was already designing electric cars in the late nineteenth century and first gained acclaim with the Lohner-Porsche electric vehicle back in the year 1900-is yet another of the family’s fascinating stories. Wolfgang appeared in precisely this white race car at the premiere of the GP Ice Race in 2019. This particular family tradition is also being carried on because Wolfgang’s son Ferdi began running a new version of the race together with Vinzenz Greger in 2019. It once served Ferry Porsche as his private vehicle, and was later driven in competitions by Porsche racing director Huschke von Hanstein, including the spectacular ice race in Zell am See. ![]() The white 550 Spyder that Wolfgang Porsche is driving today is already part of this photographic collection. The silver Spyder that Ferdi is driving was originally used for club races in the USA before coming to Austria, where Wolfgang acquired it for his collection. Named for its inventor, the Fuhrmann engine was Porsche’s first drive system designed specifically for racing. The 1.5-liter boxer engine’s 110 hp made the car a superior performer in the mid-1950s. The result of this streamlined quality is a weight of only around 600 kilograms. “This is just the second time that I’ve driven a 550 Spyder,” says Ferdi Porsche (“Please call me Ferdi, not Ferdinand,” he hastens to say.) “Even at 50 kmh it seems like you’re moving fast because you’re basically sitting in the open air.” It feels a little cool, “but that just adds to the experience.” As do the spartan furnishings of this uncompromising race car with its thin bucket seats and low front windshield that can barely block the airstream. Father and son have enjoyed driving the pair of historical race cars through hairpins with nicknames like Piffalpe and Hexenküche. ![]()
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