The 50th Anniversary of the Porsche 911 was honored at the 2013 Silverstone Classic, held 26-28 July at the Silverstone Circuit in England. To celebrate the birthday, a world record parade of more than 1,200 Porsche 911 sports cars circled that Grand Prix Circuit.
The plan to produce a parade of 911 x 911s was almost immediately exceeded when the celebrations were announced, with registrations building in the months leading up to the event. Rather than settling for the initial target, the Porsche Club GB and Silverstone Classic organisations squeezed 1,208 examples of the 911 on to a packed circuit.
The spectacle, which raised funds for the Hope for Tomorrow cancer charity, was led by a number of famous Porsche personalities as tens of thousands of fans looked on.
Mark Porsche, son of 911 designer, Ferdinand Alexander ‘Butzi’ Porsche, and great-grandson of the marque’s original founder, Ferdinand Porsche, got proceedings under way and he was joined by a number of the sports car manufacturer’s most successful racing drivers.
Former F1 driver and five-time Le Mans winner Derek Bell MBE joined in the occasion, along with Richard Attwood – winner of the 1970 Le Mans 24 Hours for Porsche – and fellow ‘legend’ and race driver John Fitzpatrick. Porsche owners and enthusiasts made up the remainder of the colourful convoy culminating in the world record number, which spanned virtually every possible derivative of 911.
The parade comprised the most famous 911 models from past and present, including Carrera, RS, RSR, GT, Speedster, Targa and Turbo variants. A number of distinctive race and rally versions of the 911 also featured in the cavalcade.
“Of course, the 911 means a great deal to me as it’s my father’s big design and it will always have a special place in my heart,” said Mark Porsche. “It’s been a family member over all the generations of the 911 series and I’m very proud to be here today to represent the Porsche family at this great event. I think that to have these 1,200 cars on track is the attention that the 911 deserves for its 50th birthday. I can’t thank the Porsche Club GB enough for making this event possible.”
Porsche 911 Parade at 2013 Silverstone Classic
[Source: Porsche]
