PORSCHE UNEXPECTED Discoveries in Collecting
By Randy Leffingwell, Cameron Ingram, and Michael Furman
Coachbuilt Press, Hardback, 412 pages
If you are familiar with the sharp end of the Porsche collecting world, you quite possibly have heard of the Ingram Collection in Durham, NC. I am fortunate to live a short distance south of Durham and am very fortunate to have been part of a tour of the Ingram Collection organized by our Hurricane Chapter of the PCA. It is an amazing collection tastefully presented in a part of the old Durham tobacco complex, which is in itself a treat of old red brick and heart pine beams. Did I say the collection is amazing? It is undoubtedly the nicest collection of Porsches that I have ever seen in one spot. The cars ranged from very early to the latest, although at the time I am pretty sure they didn’t yet have the 918 that is the latest addition to their collection. Bob Ingram, his wife Jeanie, and son Cam were present the day I had my tour. They are very approachable and down to earth folks and made us all feel welcome. All too soon, the allocated time for our tour was over and it was back to the much less rarefied air of the New Hill Garage.
When I saw this book featured on Petrolicious, I knew that I had to have it. I allowed my 3 children to buy it for me for Christmas. Thanks kids for reading my email with my Christmas list of one item! Reading the book has been a real joy.
When you tour a museum by yourself, there is only so much information that you can absorb in your time there. Attending a tour led by a docent helps a lot but in the end there is just too much to take in all at once. This book has allowed me to get to know the various Porsche road cars of the Ingram collection intimately, at a leisurely pace. Not only is every car in the collection discussed in detail, the articles are presented with beautiful photographs, most taken by Michael Furman. There are also photo spreads that group cars together in ways that allow you to see the progression of Porsche’s design language.
I like being a judge for the Jaguar Club because it allows me to spend some quality time really looking at a single car. This book has the same benefit, it allowed me to really look at each of these wonderful Porsches and take them in slowly and carefully.
Another facet of the book is the Ingram’s decision to provide a “brain dump” regarding their car collecting habits. I will never have the financial wherewithal to put together a car collection of this nature. Nevertheless it was entertaining to be a fly on the wall as the Ingrams discuss every facet of their collecting philosophy, as well as very practical aspects such as finding cars, documentation, maintenance, insurance, and estate planning, just to name a few of the many areas covered.
This is truly wonderful book that should be a treat for any lover of Porsches. My hats off to the Ingrams for allowing those of us around the world a chance to have this intimate visit with their fantastic collection. Bravo!
New Hill Garage 
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