Contrary to the prevailing conception that Porsche the hot-rodders are a rogue faction of outsiders who challenge the establishment, the new book Porsche Outlaws: Stuttgart Hot Rodsby Michael Alan Ross, posits that the personalized revolution sprung from within the brand itself.

“Don’t let the costumes fool you,” Ross writes, “instead, imagine if you will, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche and his son, Ferry, in white t-shirts, jeans and high-end PRO-Ked pants, just like any other SoCal hot-rodder family.” Pointing out that the first road-going Porsche, model 356/001, was a fragmented assembly of spare parts, Ross argues that the foundation of the famous carmaker was in fact built on such enriched examples.

The thesis continues with Porsche’s first “blurred lines” cars, which went beyond the orthodox. Examples like the 550 Spyder made famous by James Dean, the largely experimental 904 and the radically aggressive 1967 911 R marked the indie spirit at the heart of the manufacturer. The following chapters of the book document the multiple microverses of deviant Porsches that were launched by what is the first, commonly known, outlaw Porsche: the so-called Kustom Karrera. The latter was created by Dean Jeffries in 1957 as a whimsical riff on the 356.

The work of leading builders ca Rod Emory (Emory Motorsports), Bisi Ezerioha (Bisimoto Engineering), Rob Dickinson (Singer vehicle design), and Rob Ida is featured, revealing the kaleidoscope of methods and philosophies that inspired such individually modified German sports cars. Several outlaw-loving drivers are also profiled, including Luftgekühled co-founders Patrick Long and Jeff Zwart, designer Carl Magnusson, musician John Oates and personality Magnus Walker.

While road and racing outlaws are showcased in their stripped-down, eagerly painted and rebelly transformed glory, a chapter on Safari cars showcases the hard-and-ready Porsches that have been beefed up, jacked up and ready for new tires. for the dirt service.

For Ross, a seasoned and true photographer, the transition to Wordsmith was not an easy one. “I worked with the greatest writers in the business and had tremendous respect for them,” he says. “But now I have ten times more respect because that was something that wasn’t in the wheelhouse. My neighbor said to me, “You need to sit down at the keyboard and start doing it.” . . put the computer on dictation and speak. Tell the story. And that’s what I did.”

Photographing the cars presented unique challenges, such as the one-off adventure with Dean Jeffries’ Kustom Karrera. Ross recalls that the car was about to be exhibited at Petersen Auto Museum for a year and only had a few minutes to photograph it before it was hidden away for exhibition.

“I looked at the NOAA (weather report) and saw that we had a 14-minute window before another storm came through. The roof was already completely wet and I ran like a maniac shooting the car. . . It was like a pressure cooker where all these things had to come together to create this incredible image that is in the book,” he recalls. “I will never forget that moment.” Porsche Outlaws: Stuttgart Hot Rods is available through Quarto.

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