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Zimmer special made by Charles Pelly and Dick Troutman to Jack Zimmer, over a Porsche 910 base.
Yes, it is... I did expect that one to last a bit longer, though!
I remember a Road & Track feature on this car, a long time ago. I thought it was about the coolest damn thing I had ever laid eyes on. Still looks pretty good to me.
Quote from: @re on January 14, 2009, 12:22:27 PM
Yes, it is... I did expect that one to last a bit longer, though!
Considering that you had posted the Evex too, I presume that we have the same book :D
And the Diba GTC. No more from that book in the Experts section, then ;)
Any more info about this very beautiful rarity? I add one picture I've managed to find (and no info online >:( ) Thank You in advance!
What took you so long? Two days before a request for more information? ;D
Here you go:
"Zimmer: 910 base
When the Sports Car Club of America introduced a 2-litre limit for sports car racing, early in the 1970s, Jack Zimmer had the choice of fitting a smaller engine into his (2.2-litre) Porsche 910, or withdrawing it from competition. He decided to convert the racing car into a stylish, exciting machine suitable for use on the public highways.
Zimmer contacted Charles Pelly, a freelance designer, who built several scale models, and Dick Troutman in California was then given the job of carrying out the body conversion.
Aluminium was chosen for the body skin, and the angles and curvatures were clearly going to call for a high degree of skill. The conversion took 14 months to complete, and cost the equivalent of DM 100,000. Ironically, the four-cam eight-cylinder engine was taken out, and replaced by a 2-litre 911 engine with fuel injection, tuned to over 200 bhp; the car's top speed was estimated at 136 mph (220 km/h).
The conventional tubular frame of the 910, built for racing in the 1967/68 seasons, was retained, along with the original Porsche racing five-speed transmission, and limited slip differential, located behind the engine. Twin aluminium fuel tanks with a total capacity of 19.8 gal (90 litres) were used, and the standard ventilated disc brakes also featured. The wheel rims were 9.5 x 13 at the front and 13 x 13 at the rear, equipped with Firestone tyres (500/950 x 13 front, 600/1300 x 13 rear).
The aluminium body consisted of three large sections - the front, the cockpit and the rear - though the roof was made of steel. The windows were taken from the Cadillac range and altered, and standard Porsche 911 instruments were used."
Picture 1: "Jack Zimmer and his racing Porsche 910 during its conversion to road car trim. The futuristic car was reskinned in aluminium, and the job took fourteen months to complete."
Picture 2: "The 910's tubular frame was retained, although the interior fittings were far removed from the normal racing equipment."
Picture 3: "The side and rear views of the Zimmer 910 were quite unusual, and gave no hint of Porsche ancestry. The eight-cylinder engine was replaced by a tuned 911, 2-litre, six-cylinder unit developing over 200 bhp."
Source: Porsche Specials by Lothar Boschen and Jürgen Barth. English language translation © 1986 Patrick Stephens Limited. ISBN 0-85059-802-8
Quote from: @re on January 16, 2009, 08:52:17 PM
What took you so long? Two days before a request for more information? ;D
Thank You @re! Nicely done once again ;) You know, I am not asking for any information if I succeed to find something on the internet.
Quote from: jotage21 on January 15, 2009, 03:49:14 PM
Quote from: @re on January 14, 2009, 12:22:27 PM
Yes, it is... I did expect that one to last a bit longer, though!
Considering that you had posted the Evex too, I presume that we have the same book :D
Now that this source seems to be exhausted... would it be possible to get the name of this book? ;) Maybe something for the Automotive Book Reviews?
It seems this car no longer exists in this configuration :(
QuoteJack Zimmer, then owner of Carousel Porsche+Audi, took note of the 910 at the SCCA Run-offs at Road Atlanta one year. That winter he located one in Canada and purchased it FOB Detroit. The seller just threw it in the back of a truck without properly securing it. On the trip to Detroit, the car bounced around and the lightweight 910 body was destroyed. He then had California aluminum race car body builder Troutman-Barnes built a custom body for the car and it was converted in a "street" car. The car was on display for many years at Carousel until Tom Countryman bought it and put a 910 body on it. He sold it to a Japanese collector
Quote from: Allemano on August 22, 2009, 04:08:12 PM
Now that this source seems to be exhausted... would it be possible to get the name of this book? ;) Maybe something for the Automotive Book Reviews?
I have the English translation of the book, but it's originally German, published by the Motorbuch-Verlag of Stuttgart in 1984. Original title:
"Das Große Buch der Porsche-Sondertypen und -Konstruktionen", written by Lothar Boschen and Jürgen Barth. English title:
"Porsche Specials". ISBN 0-85059-802-8.
Thanks and nice to see you're around again!
;)
If anyone is interested in a recent picture the body is all that is left as the chassis was attached to an original 910 body and sold to someone in Japan sometime in the 1980s. Sorry about the rough quality, my cell phone camera is a bit rough, I can grab some more pics if they are desired though.
(http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/839/0402091438a.jpg)
Not only would more pictures be GREATLY appreciated, but also any more of the story of it's history and how, I'm hoping, you(?) got a hold of it!
A warm welcome to Autopuzzles.com too, by the way. :)
Quote from: DHoffmann on July 19, 2010, 02:31:11 PM
Not only would more pictures be GREATLY appreciated, but also any more of the story of it's history and how, I'm hoping, you(?) got a hold of it!
A warm welcome to Autopuzzles.com too, by the way. :)
Well said!
Tell us more.........
Well I can't say who we bought it from as the seller would prefer to remain anonymous, but it is currently sitting in my garage awaiting restoration. The problem with restoring a 910 is the fact that it is so damn expensive, single uprights from sellers are going for about 2,500 dollars a piece...a piece, and getting a chassis ranges from 15-30 grand depending on where it is coming from, chassis plans are pretty non-existent and it seems like the people that have them aren't sharing haha.
The above story which talked about the original body being wrecked in a trailer is true as I got the skinny from Tom Countryman himself. After it was stripped Countryman wasn't sure where it went from there, and I am unsure how many hands it had gone through by the time that we purchased it.
I'm glad I stumbled upon this as the only copy we had of the above production pictures were photocopied and of questionable quality, it is nice to get scanned copies that don't look super grainy.
I've been searching for an article in Excellence (the official Porsche magazine) that supposedly featured the car but have come up empty so any help in finding that would be great as well.
Here is one more that was on my cell phone, I'll try and take a few more pictures with a 'real' digital camera to better show what we are working with.
(http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/4483/0402091636a.jpg)
Another picture:
Our latest "Rare Car of the Week"
http://www.autopuzzles.com
I wonder where the inspiration for this Zimmer came from?
Figured that out by yourself, did you? ;)
Quote from: Otto Puzzell on July 21, 2011, 08:34:37 AM
Figured that out by yourself, did you? ;)
Yeah... well, I'd never seen or heard of the Zimmer before until it popped up on RCotW and couldn't quite believe no-one had mentioned it in the puzzle thread, so thought I'd throw my two penn'orth in...
:thumbsup:
If anyone would like some more info/inside scoops on the car, let me know. I have an intimate knowledge of this car!
John Zimmer (Jack Zimmer's son) :)
Hi John,
wellcome to Autopuzzles!
As you can imagine we are very interested in rare cars, expecially cool ones like this.
We'd love to see more of it, please share what you like and don't forget to take a tour around!
PJ
added all old ...
... and NEW photos:
Great! Thank you!