Why Do Porsches Have The Ignition On The Left?

On March 29, 2019, Wall Street Journal readers were topping disconnected their greeting espressos and adjusting their powerfulness ties erstwhile they came crossed an article titled, "The Real Reason Porsche Ignitions Are Left of nan Wheel." The gist is, nan communicative that left-of-wheel ignitions facilitated faster starts successful pre-1970 Le Mans races is malarkey. Rather, placing nan ignition connected nan near stemmed from a request to prevention ligament successful early road-going Porsche 356s because resources were precious successful postwar Germany, and Porsche kept it location (most of nan time) retired of tradition. Well, see nan bombshell dropped. 

The specifics of nan Le Mans-optimized placement are this: Before 1970, drivers successful nan 24 Hours of Le Mans would guidelines connected nan track, hold for nan driblet of nan flag, sprint to their cars, commencement them, and return off. By placing nan ignition connected nan left, Porsche allegedly saved drivers valuable seconds arsenic they gripped nan displacement lever pinch their correct hands and inserted nan cardinal pinch their left. 

Two incidents led to nan believe being abolished: an mishap successful 1968 that apt stemmed from driver Willy Mairesse improperly shutting nan doorway connected his Ford GT40, and a protestful slow saunter successful 1969 from Jacky Ickx, who was hardly buckled erstwhile different cars had already taken off, yet managed to triumph nan title . By 1970, drivers were already seated astatine nan start, and successful 1971, nan title utilized a rolling start. 

So if cardinal placement was, well, cardinal to victory, that must mean astir pre-1970 Porsche Le Mans cars had keys connected nan left, right? Well, no. They whitethorn beryllium connected nan near successful your mean roadgoing fun-to-drive Porsche 356 Super 90 Coupe, but that's not nan lawsuit for nan immense mostly of Le Mans Porsches.

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Let's peek astatine nan dashboards connected Porsche's pre-1970 Le Mans cars. If nan ignition's on nan aforesaid broadside arsenic nan shifter, we'll telephone that "same," and other placement, of course, will beryllium "opposite." 

• 356 SL Gmünd Coupe: same
• 550s: same
• 718s: same
• 356 Carrera GTL Abarth: same
• 904s: same
• 906s: same
• 910s: same
• 907s: opposite
• 908s: opposite
• 911s: opposite
• 917s: opposite

Seven retired of 11 cars had nan ignition connected nan aforesaid broadside arsenic nan cogwheel lever. The 907s, 908s, and 917s are right-hand drive, but nan cogwheel lever's connected nan correct by nan doorway pinch nan ignition connected nan acold broadside of nan wheel. The 911s person ever had "opposite" key/shifter layouts. (Infotainment is much recent, though, truthful if you want Apple CarPlay successful your 996 Porsche 911, you'll person to get creative.)

Porsche claims successful its vehicles' manuals that nan ignition is connected nan near because "In nan Fifties, European racing events often utilized a 'Le Mans Start,' wherever nan drivers sprinted crossed nan way to their cars. Porsche gained a mini but captious advantage by placing nan ignition move connected nan left." Well, each Porsche Le Mans racing car successful nan '50s — 356 SL, 550, 718 — had nan cardinal connected nan right, truthful nary advantage there. Listen to nan glorious exhaust statement connected this vintage 550, and announcement nan cardinal correct supra nan shifter:

Yet somehow, passim nan 1950s, Porsche was incredibly successful. For instance, successful 1955, Porsche 550s swept nan 1,500 cc people podium astatine Le Mans. They accomplished this feat pinch ignitions connected nan right. The right-keyed 718 besides provided podium results astatine Le Mans, arsenic good arsenic Sebring and nan Nürburgring 1000 km, races that besides utilized moving starts.

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The first Porsche manufacturer-backed car astatine Le Mans pinch a lefty cardinal was nan right-hand-drive/right-hand-shifter 907 successful 1967. The 907 won its class, but it's not arsenic if nan 910s and 906s that besides competed did poorly. Heck, nan 906 won its class, too.

Porsche has moreover been inconsistent astir cardinal placement successful its roadworthy cars. The 928 was lauded erstwhile it went connected waste successful 1978, and was a front-engined, water-cooled, V8-powered extremist departure from nan air-cooled, flat-6, rear-engined 911. The 928s besides featured an ignition move connected nan correct broadside of nan steering wheel, nan aforesaid arsenic nan cogwheel lever, arsenic did nan four-cylinder 944, which debuted successful 1982. Even arsenic early arsenic 1954, Porsche built a roadworthy car pinch a cardinal connected nan right: the 356 Speedster. Must person slipped Porsche's mind erstwhile it tweeted successful 2017 that each user exemplary since 1925 has featured left-handed ignitions.

Going backmost to that Wall Street Journal article, nan author, Dan Neil, talked to then-Porsche Museum curator Klaus Bischof successful 2008. Bischof told Neil that nan left-of-wheel cardinal placement successful nan 1948 Porsche 356-001, nan first road-legal Porsche, was simply to prevention wire. Porsche operated retired of a erstwhile sawmill successful Gmünd, Austria, and 200 grams of ligament was a geniune savings. 

If ignition placement ne'er seemed to make a quality for Porsche, why proceed nan communicative that it was a capacity enhancement? Honestly, nan "we didn't person capable ligament backmost successful nan day" is a cooler rags-to-riches-type story. Unfortunately, Porsche is pulling retired of nan World Endurance Championship aft this play owed to financial concerns, which mightiness forestall a Le Mans showing. So nan "riches" are an rumor again.