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Three Peaks of Passion: Inside Porsche’s Alpine Love Affair

Three countries. Three dream routes. One unshakable truth: it doesn’t matter what you drive, as long as you drive.

Welcome to the Porsche Gipfeltreffen—literally “Porsche Summit”—a gathering where throttle meets therapy, and the Alps become a playground for everything from air-cooled 911s to brand-new Taycans. For its third edition, the event took over Bolzano, Italy, and the surrounding mountain passes, weaving together three days of high-altitude driving nirvana. The theme? Amore Motore—the love of driving, expressed through curves, climbs, and camaraderie.

Day 1 — Lake Garda: Alpine Voyage

The first day’s route reads like a love letter to elevation change. Nearly 300 kilometers and 7.5 hours of pure mechanical poetry, looping from Bolzano down to Lake Garda and back. The opening act winds gently through the Traminer vineyards—thirty tranquil minutes of calm before the Mendel Pass ignites the senses.

The asphalt tightens, the scenery widens, and the cars—an orchestra of boxer sixes, V8s, and electric whirs—start to sing in harmony. Down to Trento, then up again through a symphony of hairpins that seem to trace the driver’s heartbeat in real time. By the time the convoy descends into Riva del Garda, the pulse of the day has been set: fast, fluid, and utterly intoxicating.

Lunch is taken on the terrace of the Lido Palace Hotel, where sunlight dances off polished bodywork and carbon fiber. Later, as evening falls in Bolzano’s old town square, aperitivi and laughter flow as freely as the torque earlier in the day. Dolce vita, meet driving ecstasy.

Day 2 — Dolomites: Emotional High

If the first day was a love song, the second is an operatic aria. Roughly 290 kilometers and five hours through the Dolomites, this is where the Porsche DNA truly shines.

From the city’s edge, the route climbs toward rock cathedrals that scrape the clouds. The road strings together a who’s-who of legendary passes—Niger, Karer, Rolle, Cereda, Duran, Pordoi, Sella—each one a stage for precision, feedback, and that visceral human–machine dialogue.

This is where the 911 Carrera T and 718 GT4 show their purity, where a Taycan Cross Turismo proves that passion doesn’t need petrol. Each corner is a confession of devotion, every straight a deep breath before the next emotional plunge.

The day ends at Chalet Gerard, perched above Wolkenstein, where the Alps seem close enough to touch. Over a late lunch and panoramic views, the conversation turns to tires, torque, and the thin air of contentment. By the time the cars glide back into Bolzano, hearts are full and brakes are warm.

Day 3 — Austria: Curve Hunt

The final day pushes north—280 kilometers of high-speed meditation. The Penser Joch and Jaufen Pass set the tone, sweeping and scenic, before the convoy crosses into Austria for the crown jewel: the Timmelsjoch.

Nicknamed the “Queen of Alpine Roads,” the Timmelsjoch delivers an epic finale of rhythm and range. Vast panoramas open up—more lunar than pastoral—and every car, from vintage 356 to modern 992 Turbo S, finds its moment of magic.

Lunch comes with a Bond-worthy twist at ice Q, the mountaintop restaurant above Sölden that doubled as a villain’s lair in Spectre. From there, it’s one more blast across the border, through Hafling and Jenesien, before Bolzano reappears like the end of a dream.

Engines tick cool. Smiles linger. For three days, the Alps became the ultimate circuit—no lap times, no trophies, just the pure, shared joy of motion.

Amore Motore

The Gipfeltreffen isn’t about competition; it’s about connection. Between enthusiasts, between eras, between driver and machine. It’s a reminder that, in the end, passion doesn’t wear a badge—it lives in the way a steering wheel feels in your hands, the way a pass opens up before you, the way a Porsche—any Porsche—makes a mountain road feel like home.

And for those who missed it, next spring, the exact routes will be available on the Porsche Roads app. Three countries. Three routes. Infinite memories.

That’s Amore Motore—the love of driving, distilled into every curve.

Source: Porsche

NEW CARS

Behind the Lens: The Porsche 718 Boxster S That Shoots the Stars

Hidden in a quiet corner of Porsche’s Leipzig facility lives a 718 Boxster S that doesn’t chase apexes—it films them. What started in 2017 as a training project for nine Porsche apprentices became one of the most unusual and capable camera cars in the brand’s ecosystem. And while it’s spent years behind the scenes, this stealthy roadster has quite the résumé.

The idea was born from necessity. The Porsche Experience Center Leipzig hosts countless on-track shoots, from promotional reels to magazine features. The previous “buggy”—a well-worn first-gen Boxster—couldn’t quite keep up with the latest machinery tearing around the circuit. A replacement was needed, one with precision, pace, and Porsche DNA.

Enter the 718 Boxster S. Under the guidance of training supervisor Carsten Pohle, nine apprentices in their second year of training were handed the keys—and a challenge: turn a two-seat sports car into a safe, stable, fully functional mobile film rig. The result is equal parts engineering exercise and creative problem-solving.

First, the roof had to go. The apprentices stripped away the soft-top and added a custom steel roll bar strong enough to support both safety harnesses and camera mounts. Matte black paint cloaks the body to kill reflections—a small but crucial detail when every frame counts.

Then came the mounts. Steel tube frames sprouted from the front, rear, and sides, giving directors a full 360 degrees of filming flexibility. Even the roll bar doubles as a high-mounted camera platform. It’s a Boxster with more rigging points than a Hollywood soundstage.

Inside, safety and practicality rule. Both luggage compartments are padded and fitted with harness systems to secure gear (and occasionally, photographers). A small standing platform between the front seats and rear trunk offers a stable base for shooting on the move, complete with PPE and safety tethers.

But Porsche being Porsche, functionality didn’t stop at the hardware. The apprentices integrated internal wiring that allows cameras to connect directly to a laptop—securely fastened, of course—in the passenger area. An onboard inverter keeps all equipment charged, meaning the Boxster can roll all day without missing a shot.

Since its transformation, the 718 camera car has been a fixture on the Leipzig track, filming everything from driving experiences to media content. It’s even worked for Motor Presse Stuttgart—the publisher behind auto motor und sport—and once found itself filming none other than rally legend Walter Röhrl. Most recently, it was spotted chasing hillclimb specials at the Tutto Bene event near Lake Maggiore.

In true Porsche fashion, this one-off creation blends performance and precision in equal measure. It may not set lap records, but it captures them in stunning clarity. And for the nine apprentices who built it, this blacked-out Boxster represents something bigger than a training project—it’s proof that passion and craftsmanship can turn even a mid-engine sports car into a cinematographer’s dream.

Source: Porsche

News

The Reverse Restomod You Didn’t See Coming: Ruehle’s 997-Based F97 Channels the ’73 RSR

Sometimes it feels like every air-cooled Porsche left on the planet has been transformed into a restomod. From the G-series to the 964, the world has seen so many “reimagined” 911s that spotting a stock example feels like catching a rare bird in the wild. Which is exactly why this car—a creation from German outfit Ruehle—stops us in our tracks.

At first glance, you’d swear you’re looking at a 1973 Carrera RSR tribute. The flared hips, the ducktail, the aggressive stance—it all screams vintage motorsport cool. But look closer, and things get interesting. This isn’t a 1980s or ’90s base at all. Beneath the steel and soul of this retro shell sits something far more modern: a 997-generation 911.

A Modern Classic Reimagined

That’s right—the donor car is from the water-cooled era, sold between 2004 and 2012. While purists may sniff at the lack of an air-cooled flat-six, the 997 remains a darling among true drivers. It was the last 911 to feature hydraulic steering, offering the kind of pure feedback Porsche fans still dream about. It also marked milestones for the brand: the introduction of the PDK dual-clutch gearbox and adaptive damping—two technologies that shaped every modern 911 that followed.

Ruehle’s decision to build on this platform isn’t just contrarian—it’s brilliant. The 997 blends old-school tactility with modern reliability, making it a perfect canvas for a project that bridges Porsche’s analog past with its precision-engineered present.

Formed in Steel, Not Sentimentality

Most restomod shops start with original bodywork and tweak it with composites or carbon fiber. Ruehle goes a different route. Every exterior panel on this car—those muscular fenders, the crisp front fascia, the sculpted tail—is newly fabricated in steel, not borrowed from earlier models. The result? A car that looks authentically vintage but wears its retro skin with factory-level precision.

The company begins with a customer-supplied donor 997, then transforms it piece by piece. It’s a complete metamorphosis: body, suspension, interior, and engine, all reimagined with a reverence for Porsche heritage and a dose of German craftsmanship.

Power, the Reuhle Way

A stock 997 doesn’t exactly lack muscle. Depending on the version, it made anywhere from 325 horsepower in the early 3.6-liter Carrera to 385 hp in the later 3.8 Carrera S. But Ruehle isn’t interested in “good enough.” For those who crave more, the company offers a bespoke 4.3-liter flat-six, a hand-built boxer that promises both brutal torque and a soundtrack that’s unmistakably Porsche.

From Germany to California

Ruehle’s workshop in Germany has already built a cult following among European enthusiasts, but now the company has expanded stateside, with a new facility in Montclair, California. Expect to see more of these retro-modern hybrids prowling the Pacific Coast Highway soon, turning heads with their impossible mix of old and new.

By flipping the restomod formula on its head—starting with a modern car and working backward—Ruehle’s creation challenges the conventions of Porsche nostalgia. It’s less about preserving history and more about reinterpreting it through a contemporary lens.

In a world crowded with Singer-inspired builds, the Ruehle 997 is refreshingly original. It’s not an imitation of the past—it’s a reimagining of how the past and present could coexist, one perfectly balanced flat-six at a time.

Source: Ruehle