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Porsche Celebrates 70th Anniversary at Toronto auto show

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Porsche is a very unlikely success story, in 1948, Germany was a recovering nation and its people wanted affordable, practical transport. Thus Porsche launched a two-seat sports car with no roof and no weather protection whatsoever. That funny little car with its happy frog eyes would grow up to be the 356 and lead Porsche into the history books. Porsche is celebrating that history with an exhibit in the Canadian International Auto Show that plots a timeline of Porsche progress from the 356 to the Mission E electric concept.

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The 356 exhibited is not just any 356 but a super-rare Carerra model equipped with the insanely complex Fuhrmann four-cam engine that squeaked 110-horsepower out of just 1.6 litres in the late 1950s. The other four-cylinder Porsche on display was a 1960s 912. The 912 was basically a 911 with a pushrod flat-four engine designed to be Porsche’s entry-level model after the 356 went extinct. 

Porsche keeps a fleet of over one thousand classic cars ranging from 917s to 924s. Of those, 100 are in the Stuttgart museum and the remainder travel the world to events like these to promote the brand. Porsche Museum director, Achim Stejskal, says that among all the cars in the wonderful collection, a 904 GTS with an eight-cylinder engine is his favorite. He also states that there is “no way” that Porsche would ever re-make classic models a-la Jaguar and Aston Martin. So don’t hold your breath on a new 917.  

Clayton Seams picture

Clayton Seams

CURRENTLY

Online Editor & Video Manager, Driving.ca

EDUCATION

Southern Alberta Institute of Technology

SUMMARY

· Lifelong car enthusiast with a particular affinity for classics · 10+ years automotive writing experience · 10+ years professional video experience

EXPERIENCE

Clayton Seams has worked in automotive media for over 10 years. Starting with his own website, TheLifeMechanical, his byline has appeared in Speedhunters, Petrolicious, and Curbside Classic before starting with Driving.ca in 2014 as a staff editor. Clayton has a strong background in video and has worked on many projects for Driving including their groundbreaking wind tunnel test of a 1934 Chrysler Airflow.

He has written and shot more than 400 car reviews for Driving on everything from hatchbacks to supercars. He has personally owned a plethora of classic cars and enjoys taking them on adventures. He is also a dedicated lighthouse nut and often finds a way to work lighthouses into his reviews and photography.

EDUCATION

Clayton obtained a Certificate of Photojournalism from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.

CONTACT INFO

Email: cseams@postmedia.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clayton-seams/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CLAYTRON9000

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