Porsche celebrates 70th year with Sportscar Together Day

When German automaker Porsche rolled out its first production sportscar, the 356 in 1948, it set a benchmark that many prestigious brands would be hard-pressed to reach and surpass.

The Porsche 356 racing car got its first victory in 1951. The win put a spotlight on the car’s exceptional performance and durability, and from then on, the brand continued to shape automotive history.

To commemorate Porsche’s 70th year in the industry, a huge celebration for the Asia-Pacific region was mounted.

Called the Porsche Sportscar Together Day, it was to be held in Bangkok, but yours truly was sent an invite to fly to Singapore to celebrate it—almost a week early! So what gives?

The itinerary sent to me quickly quelled my puzzlement. We were to drive from Singapore to Bangkok, through Malaysia.

It would take three days of about 8-10 hours of driving per day, covering well over 2,000 kilometers of mostly high-speed highways, in a convoy made up of two Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo, and two Porsche 911 Carrera T.

Our gracious Porsche Asia-Pacific hosts were actually grateful that I joined the drive as other motoring journalists considered the long drive a huge chore. I was like, “Are you kidding?” It was kind of a “bucket list” thing to do.

Deepening appreciation

So what is it about Porsche that’s celebrated around the world, every single day?

It’s current flagship nameplate retains design cues from its predecessor of decades back, certainly not the choice for someone who’s looking for something loud and flashy.

Though I knew we had hundreds of kilometers to cover on the first day of our drive, I was ecstatic to be assigned to drive the lead car of the convoy, a Porsche 911 Carrera T.

Though I’ve extensively driven a couple of 911s before, it was in the confines of Singapore where a strictly enforced 90-kmh speed limit kinda dampened the experience.

Knowing we’d be pushing hard to cover as much distance as we could per day on this drive, I knew the pace would be, um, interesting.

As soon as we crossed the border from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia—where we literally handed out our passports to the immigration officers like we do with toll gate tickets—it felt kinda surreal that the head driving instructor kept on encouraging me to speed up.

On an average cruising speed of 140-160 kmh on a busy expressway (right-hand drive, even), you’d appreciate the Carrera T’s tenacity on the asphalt.

The deeper you press on the accelerator, the more stable and connected it feels with the road. Every minute, the steering wheel rewards you with reassuring, predictable, and immediate compliance from the car.

You can plot your moves as you look on ahead at speed, and you can feel confident enough that the car will deliver just what you choreographed in your mind.

Though the driving instructors with us made certain our and other people’s safety, there were certain areas in the highway that we were allowed to experience what Porsches were best at.

At 210 kmh, the 911 Carrera T felt incredibly stable despite the imperfections on the road’s surface.

On overtaking maneuvers, its handling was sharp as a scalpel. The brakes were also excellent in the sense that you just knew it could quell what you unleashed.

I also took turns driving the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo, and while it’s definitely up to speed with the 911 Carrera T, it has a sophisticated and smoother tone and flavor.

I appreciated the plush ride comfort, and how its wide and lengthy dimensions belie its precise handling. It is certainly a Porsche through and through, although I much prefered the Carrera T’s more engaging driving experience. Of course, you’d say it’s a totally different animal, and I agree.

Earning the invitation

There’s quite a bit of cheerful experiences from the drive that’d make this article too long, but suffice to say, it’s a 3-day 2,000-km drive we all felt privileged to have gone though.

We reached the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok late in the afternoon, yet our arrival was greeted with a bit of fanfare, with many awesome Porches lined up on the driveway. It felt like finishing a rally, with us media people recorded on photos and videos.

Day four gave us the legendary Jackie Ickx, the veteran racecar driver par excellence who won six 24 Hours of Lemans endurance races, and eight F1 victories from 25 podium finishes, among so many other incredible motorsport exploits.

The gentleman bears incredible wisdom that obviously came from decades of being an excellent sportsman and a human being with such a great heart.

Never have I seen so many Porsches in one place, and the most incredible ones at that. Welcome to the Porsche Sportscar Together Day, commemorating 70 amazing years of Porsche—that’s what the entire event says to its guests, teeming with good vibes evenrywhere.

There were over 200 Porsches on display, from the rarest classics, to the most cutting edge models.

Porsche Asia Pacific’s managing director Arthur Willmann was there to personally welcome us, and gave us a grand tour.

It’s such a tangible uniting factor, the reverence and appreciation that Porsche owners and fans have for the cars. Still, the displays were nothing short of spectacular.

There were the seven generations of the 911, showing pristine examples of the iconic nameplate; the Super Car Circle, which covers eight of the fastest Porsches of all time, including the 911 (996) GT2, Porsche Carrera GT, the 911 (997) GT3 RS 4.0, and of course, the 918 Spyder.

Porsche’s 70th year is a milestone for what the brand has achieved and become, but then again its pursuit of driving perfection is relentless.

The next few years could be presumably considered as such, as well. Happy 70th birthday Porsche. Thank you for gifting car enthusiasts around the world with the exceptional sportscars you make.