On my last visit home to Philadelphia, I happened to stop by and peruse the lot at Porsche of Bucks County in Warrington, Pennsylvania. For those familiar with the area, you may remember this dealer as Holbert’s Porsche-Audi-VW. Bob Holbert, a native of Warrington and Porsche race car driver in the 1950s and 1960s, founded this dealership in 1954. This would be one of the first Porsche dealers in the United States. Much like importer Max Hoffman, Holbert had a large role in shaping Porsche’s direction and success in the US market. His son Al also raced Porsches, winning Sebring in 1976 and 1981. He also ran the dealership for a time and was President of Porsche Motorsports North America. Sadly, Al met his fate in a plane crash in 1988, with his brother Larry taking over management of the dealership until being bought out in 2010 by a larger conglomerate of dealers.
In addition to a few of Holbert’s racing cars hanging around the showroom, the family also had a hand in a bit of tuning. Born out of a need to fit wider tires on race dedicated vehicles, a fiberglass kit was devised to provide the 924 Turbo a bit more wiggle room for larger rubber and in the process, giving it a bit more of an aggressive stance. Brian, a long-time contributor of ours, came across this 1981 Porsche 924 Turbo for sale in the Philadelphia area wears that very kit devised by Holbert. While not concours quality, this is a driver that wears a very nice patina and has a bit of that Martini Racing livery we all know and love.
