Oof, what a beauty. In the 1960s, four Porsche 912s were customized for use as police cars in Japan. This one, which was used in Kanagawa until 1973, is the only one left standing (and even it needed restoration).
This Japanese police 912 served in Kanagawa Prefecture from 1968 to 1973, operating on the Daisan Keihin and Tomei Expressways. Over five years of service, it covered more than 155,000km and even played a role in stopping a speeder traveling at 178 km/h. Police vehicles are usually scrapped after their service life, but this one was an exception. After being retired due to engine failure, it was kept and displayed at a police academy for 26 years. Over time, exposure to the elements caused significant deterioration, and in 1999 it was sold to a scrapyard. After six months of negotiations, it was eventually recovered.
Here are a couple of photos of 912s while in service back in the day.
Porsche’s move took three years of careful maneuvering. It was darkly brilliant, a wealth transfer ingeniously conceived like few we’ve ever seen. Betting the right way, Porsche roiled the financial markets and took the hedge funds for a fortune.
Update: Not so fast there, Porsche. Bloomberg says that the company may not have the money necessary to exercise those options and realize $24.3 billion in profits.
Update (10/2014): In a stunning reversal, VW ended up buying Porsche instead of the other way around. Here’s the whole story.
Volkswagen briefly became the world’s largest company by market capitalisation on Tuesday as panic-buying by hedge funds desperate to cover losses caused its value to shoot up by up to €150bn.
Porsche revealed that it owned 74% of VW instead of the previously assumed 35%…which caused panicked buying by hedge funds. (via mr)
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