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maggio 10, 2017 - Porsche

The magnificent four

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. 

At 88 years of age, it is not everyone who can still change their shoes standing up. Herbert Linge can. With one hand propped on a bale of straw, he pulls the old loafer from his right foot and slips on a “brand new” old #racing shoe. Then comes the left. They are quite special shoes – made by his old friend Francesco “Ciccio” Liberto. The shoemaker from Cefalù knows almost all of the old warriors, and many #racing drivers had tailor-made, soft, slim pairs made by the gifted leather worker years ago. Linge had three pairs.

Two of them wore out in endless high-speed battles, but one pair he has preserved. So far he has worn them just one time – for the film shoots for Steve McQueen’s epic “Le Mans”. And now again today: Once more he is driving an original section of the #targaflorio, once the wildest and most dangerous road race in the world. In an old, distinguished car – the #porsche 718 RS 60 Spyder. For special occasions some people like to slip on a suit and tie – Linge prefers his new old shoes.

Four #targaflorio legends back together in Sicily

Everyone is feeling a sense of occasion – not just Linge, but also Gijs van Lennep (76), Günther Steckkönig (80) and Vic Elford (81). The team at the #porsche Museum have managed to bring these four #targaflorio legends back together in Sicily once more for the 110th anniversary of the “Targa” and the 60th anniversary of the first #porsche Targa victory (Umberto Maglioli in the 550 A Spyder). An ideal opportunity to reunite them with some old #racing cars and let them again breathe in the scent of leaded petrol, olive trees and delicious pizzas. And also to step on the gas – on the stretch between the buildings still standing at the start and finish line near Cefalù and the first of the larger locations on the route, Cerda.

At the time, Linge never actually drove the 718 RS 60 Spyder, but he gets to grips with the precious #racing car at once. The basis of the Spyder is the 718 RSK. Due to a new technical regulation, the cockpit had to be changed, which was only possible with an extended and widened tubular steel frame. The added weight was balanced out by means of lighter wheels and magnesium brake drums. The vehicle was launched in 1960 in the World Sportscar Championship; at the “Targa” of that year two 718 RS Spyders came in first and third. But the vehicle was truly in its element in the mountains: Heini Walter from Switzerland won the European Hill Climb Championship in it in 1960 and 1961.