By the title you may think this is the start of a good joke, but it's not. In fact, it's a rather serious occasion. Take a look at this video excerpt from March 1977.
As these local French people gaze upon the new Porsche 928 for the first time, their reactions are seriously interesting!
She is good, but it does not work... it's too powerful for the roads we have here.
...a villager says to the priest. He may be joking, but maybe not. He's looking at very serious car and knows the tight local mountain roads.
And the priest's says to the villagers... something quite serious as well. Magnificent... Perfect. That's high praise coming from a priest! Pun intended.
They go on to talk about the winking and squirting headlights. I believe they're all in shock.
Consider what they're looking at, and the other cars around them.
Most serious to think about is what's really going on here, the subtext. It's early March 1977. Porsche has released this new 928 press car into the hands of journalist, José Rosinsky. Along with him is Jean-Claude Fontan filming the whole experience. They're in a select group given the task of driving the 928 for the first time. And seriously drive this 928 they do! And these local French people are of the first to ever see a 928. Keep in mind, all of this happened before the public 928 launch in Geneva later that same month. So Jean-Claude's footage would have to be the first for any 928! Serious stuff when you think about it.
But there is a punchline to this story, and it's a serious one too. See, the 928 press car featured in this footage just happens to be my pre-production press car Number Six, wearing it's tell-tale Porsche factory plate S-CX 2137. No joke!
Below, check out the full-length video footage and some of my favorite screen-grabs.
