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A visit to the Porsche Experience Center Los Angeles

Porsche 718/2 and Porsche 959 in the background

We thought our visit to the LA Lit Show and the weekend full of related events would be a great occasion to drive to the Porsche Experience Center Los Angeles. This brand-new center is the 2nd Porsche Experience Center in the USA, after the Porsche Experience Center Atlanta that opened its doors in 2015.

The Experience Center is located in Carson, just 15 minutes away from the LAX airport where we have our base camp in the Hilton LAX during the Porsche weekend. By arrival at the Experience Center, nothing makes you feel as if you are in the USA. The complete spot breaths the Porsche atmosphere. On the one hand, it makes you feel comfortable, on the other hand, I regret that it is all the same, wherever you go.

Porsche Experience Center Los Angeles
Porsche 919 Hybrid & Porsche 917

We had not announced our visit to the Experience Center before, as we wanted to feel like an ordinary visitor without any press privileges. So we checked in at the lobby and received a visitor badge. The main lobby housed some great cars. A Porsche 718/2,  a 2016 Porsche 911R,  a Porsche 959, the 2017 Porsche 911 Targa,  a Porsche 918 Spyder , the LMP1 Porsche 9191 Hybrid and the Porsche 917-015 (035). This is the actual car that won the 1000km of Spa with Rodriguez and Oliver at the wheel.

On the right-hand side of the lobby, there’s a massive window that allows the visitor to throw an eye in the Porsche USA Motorsport workshops, exactly as it is in the Porsche Museum in Zuffenhausen. During our visit, the Porsche 959 Rally car driven by Jacky Ickx in the Paris-Dakar Rally stood next to some amazing Porsche 956 and Porsche 962s, one of them the  Dauer Porsche 962C, the actual 1994 Le Mans 24H winner with Hurley Haywood, Yannick Dalmas, and Mauro Baldi at the wheel.

The 1994 Le Mans 24H winner: Dauer Porsche 962C (Hurley Haywood, Yannick Dalmas, Mauro Baldi )
The 1994 Le Mans 24H winner: Dauer Porsche 962C (Hurley Haywood, Yannick Dalmas, Mauro Baldi )

Demonstration lap in the Porsche Cayman GT4

At the backend of the lobby, you have the entrance to the shop and cafeteria. From the cafeteria, you can go to the terrace where you have a view on the 53 acres track used for demonstration laps. We couldn’t resist going for one of these demonstration laps. Buckled up in the passenger seat next to a professional driver in a Porsche Cayman GT4, we hit the track. What an experience, even though we actually expected to have some more laps for our $120.

Too bad the Porsche Experience Center Los Angeles did not have some special events for the visitors during the LA Porsche weekend. I guess this would have been an excellent occasion to bring the center in the spotlights. And without any doubt, the visitors would have been delighted too. Let’s hope they change mind next year.

A visit to the Porsche Experience Centre Los Angeles

Pictures by Vintage Race Photography

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