Monaco is a melting pot of fame, fortune, formula one, family, fashion, and fast cars. All of those f’s make it a truly fabulous place to be on any given day, but when an intimate gathering of the Principality’s elite is announced to celebrate the official launch of the association “Le Cercle des Amis de la Collection des Voitures du Prince”, as well as the “Exposition Porsche” inside the Collection de Voitures de S.A.S. le Prince de Monaco, we just had to get our name on the guestlist.
Inside this effortlessly stylish and well-designed museum now sits over 70 cars, including the racing cars that made their mark at the Monte Carlo Rally, the Paris-Dakar Rally, and the Monaco Grand Prix in Formula 1. However, for this exclusive event hosted in a private section of the museum, a total of 12 cars were exhibited. While some were kindly lent for the event by some of Monaco’s best entrepreneurs, others had been sent over by the Porsche Museum, as this year the brand is also celebrating its 75th Anniversary, making it a fitting way to showcase Porsche and Monaco in unity. Among the plethora of incredible machines sits icons such as the 911 SC Safari, 2016 911 RSR, 908/03 Spyder, not to mention the outrageous 996 GT1 that Thierry Boutsen raced to glory in the American Championship.
As well as the incredible race cars on display at event, the evening was filled with stories and memories from some of automotive’s most significant characters. On the topic of Porsches, we managed to toast a glass of Champagne with none other than Ferdi Porsche, grandson of the originator, who had this to say about the Porsche’s relationship with this sun-kissed paradise, “Porsche’s relationship with Monaco naturally exists mainly with the Supercup, and in 2000 I was allowed to accompany my father to present the winner’s trophy to Mr Stefano Ortelli. Over the years, while Formula One has evolved so much, the Supercup brings a level of street-orientated racing just before the open wheeled cars, with the sound of the 911s being truly incredible.”
Monegasque Stefano Ortelli was also attending the event and presented Prince Albert with a pair of his race gloves, a trophy and his race helmet which will undoubtably be displayed at the exhibition. Another notable attendee was Porsche works driver Thierry Boutsen, who is the President of the “Cercle des Amis de la Collection de Voitures de SAS le Prince” and curator of the exhibition. Boutsen - a natural-born racer - found glory in 1994, where he took third place in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with his team colleagues Hans-Joachim Stuck and Danny Sullivan while driving the Porsche 962 Dauer Le Mans GT.
We’d like to extend our gratitude to Porsche for welcoming us along to this exceptionally special evening and allowing us to get closer than ever to some of the brand’s most significant race machines. “Exposition Porsche”, celebrating 75 years of Porsche sports cars in the Principality of Monaco will be held at the museum until March 20th.
Photos: Mika Alesi / Palais princier
