Panorama Magazine – Turbo 3.0 Book Review
Panorama's May 2018 issue reviewed the Turbo 3.0 book:
Following its domination of the Can-Am racing series in 1972 and 1973, Porsche used its experience with turbocharging technology gained in motorsports for serial sports car production. Launched in 1975 with a turbocharged flat-six engine, flared wheel arches to accommodate wider wheels, and unmistakable “whale tail” rear spoiler, the 930 Turbo was revolutionary in its performance. It was the fastest German production car upon its introduction, helping Porsche to fortify its reputation as a seminal sports car manufacturer.
Following in the considerable wake of his award-winning Carrera 2.7, author Ryan Snodgrass again hones in with laser-like focus on just a single variant of the iconic 930 Turbo—the earliest 3.0-liter examples produced from September 1974 through June 1977—tracing the model’s roots and origin during an era that is often referred to as a dark time for performance cars.
Naturally, there are the de rigueur in-depth chapters that one might expect to be found on the subjects of turbocharging, drivetrain, chassis, body, and interior, incorporating first-hand accounts and interviews with factory personnel who worked on the project. Additional content includes sections on accessories; literature; marketing materials; and special bespoke models built by the factory for exhibition, executives, and important clients. Racing derivatives such as the Martini Carrera RSR Turbo 2.14, 934, 934.5, and privateer Turbo 3.0 entries are also examined. An appendix at the end of the book lists all 2,819 Turbo 3.0 chassis numbers complete with notations on original colors, interior, and equipment.
Over 536 beautifully designed pages, the prose is supported by more than 1,500 incredible color and black-and-white images, including illustrations, charts, publications, and internal documents, the majority of them truly uncommon or not published before.
Befitting a book that Snodgrass states demanded almost 5,000 man-hours of research, writing, design, and production time, the attention to detail is incredible, surpassing the already superb levels of data analysis and engineering development insights from the author’s previous effort. The book’s production quality is on an equal plane of existence with its writing and utilizes special wide-gamut inks and high-resolution, 15-micron stochastic screens, allowing the reader to zoom in on the details should they want to scrutinize the photos more closely with a magnifying glass when researching various minute details for their own restorations.
Available in a slipcased standard Limited Edition, of which 2,500 have been printed, and a numbered-series Publisher’s Edition (shown here) limited to just 300 copies containing additional niceties, Turbo 3.0 is a sublime reading experience, automotive book or not, and one that will undoubtedly generate feelings of lust for the 930.
Although a starting price of $395 might seem lofty, consider it a small price to pay—the reader is gleaning the immeasurable benefit of all the hours of effort and achievement the author has invested into uncovering anything an owner, collector, or re- storer could possibly want to know. A monumental piece of work, Turbo 3.0 must be considered one of the finest automotive books extant, and the definitive word on the model.
—Benjamin Shahrabani
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Octane Magazine — Turbo 3.0 Review
Review of the Turbo 3.0 book in Octane magazine's October 2019 issue:
We'll come clean: this book was released last year but our review copy was mislaid during Octane's hastily carried-out office relocation form Bedfordshite to London. It's author, Ryan Snodgrass, very kindly offered to send us another one—and we're so glad he did, because this is a truly exceptional work.
A companion volume to Snodgrass' previous magnum opus, Carrera 2.7, this mammoth 536-page tribute to the Porsche 911 Turbo is printed on creamy archival paper and presented in a stout slipcase. Pay extra for the 300-off Publisher's Edition and you get an even stouter clamshell box that additionally houses convincing reproductions of Porsche ephemera such as press releases and photos, and actual 35mm colour slides, plus a 20-page supplement on how the book was put together.
Is either version worth the money? Emphatically yes, because the level of detail and the production values are stunning. To give just two examples: expert financial book-keepers were hired to check the production data for all 2819 Turbos built; and because no detailed cutaway drawing was ever made of the Turbo, noted cutaway artist Makoto Ouchi was commissioned to draw on. The print specification—which apparently involved '15-micron stochastic hybrid screens' and 'special wide-gamut inks'—will have any bibliophile salivating over their silkscreened linen slipcase.
Every possible aspect of the 1975–77 Turbo is covered in depth: development, build, mechanical, design, one-offs and special editions, racing versions... There's even a spread devoted to specific tyre inflators, jacks and plastic gloves supplied by Porsche for the Turbo's space-save tyre.
As you'll have gathered, we're impressed. It's taken a while for Turbo 3.0 to make it into these pages, but it was well worth the wait.
—Mark Dixon
Panorama Editor-in-Chief picks Turbo 3.0 As Best Book
"Ryan Snodgrass's book on early Porsche Turbos is probably the greatest single model book that I've ever seen in my life. I have not been able to put it down since getting it. It is just full of every bit of geeky goodness about those cars. It is phenomenal."
Of course, when asked at 0:28:07 by Mark Green if manifested into a car, what kind of car would Robb Sass be, his affinity for the Turbo was clear. Sass answered he'd like to be a 1975 or 1976 Turbo Carrera, the first generation Turbo: "I think that they are kind of a little bit edgy. It was the height of the malaise era. A car I really respect as when everything else was slow and crappy, you had this car that would go 0 to 60 in about 5 seconds. Performance on par with a muscle car from ten years before at a time when people were building the Mustang II. If I could aspire to be any car...I'm not a 75-76 Turbo Carrera, but if I could that is probably what it would be as it was so shocking and so surprising and a little bit unpredictable." "Porsche never got the memo that the malaise era was going on."
Turbo 3.0 Book Wins MOTORWORLD Buchpreis
The Turbo 3.0 book wins first place in the coveted MOTORWORLD BUCHPREIS for the Markenbuch category (best book for a single brand), which honors the best car books of the year. The award ceremony took place on Thursday, May 23, 2019 inside the Arthur Bechtel Classic Motors showroom at the Motorworld Stuttgart V8 Hotel in Böblingen, Germany.
For almost 20 years, noted automotive historian and journalist Jürgen Lewandowski has presided over the Autobuchpreis which honors the best works produced each year on automotive and motorsports topics. For 2018, MOTORWORLD Group became the primary sponsor for the Autobuchpreis, hosting the event and judging team of Jürgen Lewandowksi (chairman of the jury), Andreas Dünkel (Motorworld Group Chairman), Mark N. Backé (Grand Basel Chairman), Vittorio Strosek (Strosek Design), Michael Stoschek (Brose Chairman), Christian Steiger (Classic Cars Editor-in-Chief), Dr. Andreas Kaufmann (Leica Camera Chairman) and Robertino Wild (Capricorn Chairman).