Porsche 911 — just the name causes chills! However, what many people don't know is that what is now the crown jewel in the Porsche range has come close to disappearing in the mists of time. Due not only to the lack of motivation that, in the mid-1980s, was raging among Porsche's managers, but also due to the decline in the commercial performance of the 911. In this scenario of almost certain death, it was a German-born American named Peter Schutz who saved this iconic model. .
The story is told in a nutshell: it was in the 80s of the last century, when the Porsche leaders decided that the time had come to replace the then veteran Porsche 911. replace – a model, however, closer to a Gran Turismo than to a true sports car such as the 911.
However, it was also then that Peter Schutz arrived at Porsche. German-born American engineer, in Berlin, who, as he came from a Jewish family, had to flee, as a child, with his parents, to the United States of America, due to Nazism and World War II. Schutz returned to Germany in the 70s, then already an adult and graduated in engineering, where he would eventually assume, in 1981 and on the recommendation of Ferry Porsche himself, the position of CEO of the Stuttgart brand.
Arrive, see and... change
However, once arrived at Porsche, Schutz will have faced a bleak scenario. With himself later recognizing that the entire company was then experiencing extreme demotivation. Which, even, led to the decision to proceed with evolutions only of the 928 and 924 models, while the 911 seemed to have announced death.
In disagreement with this option, Peter Schutz remade the plans and decided not only to extend the deadline for launching a new generation of the Porsche 911, but also spoke with the already famous Helmuth Bott, responsible until then not only for many of the 911's developments. , but also the artifice of the Porsche 959. In the end, it convinced him to continue the challenge of developing what, today, is the reference model for Porsche.
With the work to be finished with the launch, in 1984, of the third generation of the Carrera, equipped with a new 3.2 liter engine. Block that, by the way, Bott would even adapt to the aeronautics, to build a new plane, the Porsche PFM 3200.
As a matter of fact, and according to history, Schutz himself did not fail, while at the controls of Porsche, to propose the most varied types of proposals to the engineers. Some of which the former believed a priori to be technically impossible, but which, after some study and much debate, would eventually move forward, resulting in some of the most spectacular cars ever driven.
Peter Schutz. end of a cycle
However, despite the role he played, among others, in saving Porsche's crown jewel, Peter Schutz would eventually leave the company in December 1987, pushed by the economic crisis in the US, one of the brand's main markets. Eventually, he left the scene, replaced in the position by Heinz Branitzki.
However, 30 years after this date, now comes the news that Peter Schutz passed away this weekend, at the age of 87 years, leaving to History, not just a sports car that is nowadays the image par excellence of an automobile brand like Porsche, but also the memory of a shrewd spirit, who knew how to motivate teams, as well as with a great sense of humour.
On our part, there are the wishes of regret, but also the wish that you rest in peace. Mainly, for all the adrenaline and emotion that, through what is one of the best sports of all times, leaves us in a legacy.
