Customer Reviews

Porsche: Excellence Was Expected : The Complete History of Porsche Sports and Racing Cars (An Automobile Quarterly Library Series Book)

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"The best automobile history ever written" -- that's a big claim and is easily misunderstood. But I think it would be exceedingly difficult to find a more thorough, better researched, more comprehensive, and better written automobile history, regardless of topic or marque. One may argue that there are more "important" cars (or not); perhaps the story of Daimler and Maybach's pioneering efforts, or Henry Ford's, are more "important" in a larger historical context than the activities of a relatively small maker of specialist sports and racing cars, but that's not what I claim here. I claim that this is the best WRITTEN, most thorough autombile history ever. Porsche, as an automobile and an enterprise, is a very special phenomenon, and Ludvigsen's book presents both company and car to an audience that may otherwise never appreciate it. If you don't like Porsches, then that doesn't matter. If you do, you need this book. If you're not sure, then this book may be the beginning of a lifelong passion for all things Porsche.

That's how it was with me. I bought myself the much slimmer (but still hefty, at 860 pages) first edition of this book as a Christmas present in 1977. It was instrumental in changing my career path; it affected my choices in university engineering courses, and of a master's thesis. Eventually, six years later, I found myself working as an engineer at Porsche. Incidental to my regular engineering duties, I was often called upon to help some of the leading engineers in the company -- men whose stories I had once read about in Ludvigsen -- write English-language presentations and technical papers. This led to my career expanding to include automotive journalism, engineering writing and technical translation, but the passion for Porsche remains. I have three vintage 356s in the garage, and it was Ludvigsen's book that made me appreciate the virtues of these rolling historical documents.

Karl Ludvigsen is one of the few truly outstanding automotive writers of our time. I can think of only a handful of others who can compare in depth of knowledge and facility with the language (or several languages, in Ludvigsen's case) -- Paul Frere (also eminently multilingual, and a multilingual engineer) and LJK Setright come to mind. Being a bilingual engineer myself, I appreciate even more than most the job that Ludvigsen did in researching this book; his translations into English of many concepts and expressions from company-internal documents are faultless, and definitive. The subjects covered in Ludvigsen's other books include Mercedes, Ferrari, Jaguar, V12 engines, early history of Volkswagen, Indianapolis racers, and Can-Am -- all of which were done in the same outstanding manner. I mention this only because there is one overwhelmingly negative review for this book, posted by somebody who is very poorly informed indeed. That reviewer says "Mr. Ludvigsen glosses over the problems with the 356 and early 911 road cars..." Not true. When I went to work for Porsche, I found that I already had an excellent working knowledge of foibles and problems encountered with earlier Porsche cars, thanks to Ludvigsen's book. The reviewer also says "Mr. Ludvigsen glosses...the internal power struggles within the company and board, and so on." Again not true. The Porsche-Piech, and other, battles are well documented. And the reviewer says "If I'd realized Mr. Ludvigsen had a past history of writing for Automotive Quarterly, I would never have wasted this much money buying this set. Just like Automotive Quarterly (which never had a bad thing to say about any automobile)." As for "never had a bad thing to say about any automobile," I am an author who has also written for Automobile Quarterly, and I have to wonder if perhaps there is another publication of that name, because that's not the AQ that I know. I know this firsthand because among other things, I wrote what I think is a brutally honest history of the Chevrolet Cosworth Vega (AQ, 1989, Vol. 27 No. 3). Incidentally, the first, 1977 edition of "Excellence was Expected" was published by AQ.

Bottom line, Ludvigsen's "Porsche: Excellence was Expected" belongs in the automotive library of anyone who seeks the definitive history of the Porsche marque, the company, and a chronicle of more than a half century of sports car racing history as seen from the perspective of its most successful practitioners.

The first edition, in 1977, was acknowledged to be the benchmark of accurate information on Porsche cars. The second (2003) edition is more than a new expanded editon of the old book. There has been considerable new text material & photos added to the early chapters, which must be carefully read to be appreciated. Approx. half of this editon covers more recent production years, thus the 3-Vol. format. The depth of detail is amazing, & far exceeds the plethora of other books written in the last few years. The cost is somewhat intimidating, but after a close look, it is really comparitively inexpensive for the quality of the books & material therein.
For the layman it will exceed your expectations. For the knowledgable enthusiast, it is even more indespensible for reference than was the first editon.

If you need technical information about a pre-80's Porsche, this is the book for you.

Nothing else out there compares to its depth and range. There are pages and pages of line drawings, blueprints, technical specifications, and lots of photos that I've never seen anywhere else. Digest this, and you'll be an expert on the marque.

There are a couple of shallow spots. Professor Porsche's sometimes cozy relationship with the Nazis and his engineering work for them during World War Two is neatly sidestepped. Also, the coverage of the cars stops in the late '70's. If you have a newer Porsche, you'll be disappointed on what you can find out about your car.

Still, though, nobody's touched this book before or since on research and content.

Although the first release of this book is over 20 years old, no one has come close to matching the depth and accuracy of Ludvigsen's work. Sure, there are some factual errors in this 900+ page book, but that doesn't detract from its value or from the fun you will have reading it. The author has structured the chapters like they were stand-alone magazine articles - you can jump into any one and start reliving the excitement. Porsche fans - especially those new the marque - should go get a copy, find a nice chair in good light and begin to learn all about this great car company. If you love German cars, Ludvigsen has also written some great books on Mercedes.

More good news - Mr. Ludvigsen has released a completely revised "Excellence" - Excellence redux, as it were. Bigger, more color, heavier and filled with facts and figures on Porsches built after he completed the first release. A lot has happend since version 1 so the huge size makes sense. But it's not just about size - Ludvigsen still has the ability to captured the essence of Porsche-ness better than anyone. In my opinion, this continues to be the must-have Porsche book and it should be on every automotive enthusiast's book shelf (But you better make sure that it's a sturdy shelf first!).

This is probably the finest book on Porsche cars, from the 356 up to those produced around 1977 when the book was published. It is technically oriented, a massive 900 page book loaded with photos. Oddly, the book pretty much ignores Ferdinand Porsche's work prior to 1946 and perhaps should be retitled, "Porsche Cars" to be more accurate as Porsche designed many cars before making one labeled with his own name. There are also inaccuracies in dates and places, but these are minor and the book remains a fine product worthy of every Porsche fan's library.

It's expensive. And not for everyone. And to own it and enjoy it requires time and energy, with a substantial payoff in the form of a richer, deeper existence on our planet Earth.

Am I talking about a Porsche? Yes, but also about Karl Ludvigsen's latest written masterpiece, Excellence was Expected. Simply put, this book is worth every penny, and more. Here's my advice:

If you like Porsches, get this book.

If you know someone who likes Porsches, get them this book.

Get this book for that design afficionado you know -- even if they're not into cars.

This is probably one of the most complete books on the history of the Legendary marque of the Porsche. It has great information, however if you are the owner of a later model or are interested in the later years you will be disappointed.

An nicely done tribute to Porsche's decades of dedication. It helps me understand how Porsche arrived at their unique automotive vision, even if the book sometimes feels written by Porsche's PR people. The rumor is that this book's been reprinted lately--maybe Amazon can find you one. One distributor listed the book for $180, but don't buy there--it's available for $80 elsewhere, hopefully at Amazon too.

I cannot believe the amount of information I was able to found in those manuals. This is a must for any Porsche lovers.

Each iteration of "Excellence Was Expected" provide Porsche owners and fans a great deal of evidence that indeed, the genius of Ferdinand Porsche was real and that the cars he created are all special. The historical photos are fantastic and I only wish that there was an audio companion piece to bring some of the drivers' perspectives on their famous cars to life. This is a book that never seems to be on the shelf in our house.