Bruce Hollander Porsche Collection
Dear PCA Friends,
To follow to our earlier enews blast about Bruce Hollander’s unique Porsche Obsession collection of memorabilia, we share here some pictures and a story that provides more information about it. Remember, there is one last chance to view this collection on Saturday March 12, 12-5 pm, The Shops at Sunset Place, 5701 Sunset Drive, Miami, FL 33134.
A passion for Porsche was instilled in Bruce Hollander at young age, since his father had a 356. Bruce has also a racing history in his resume. He began racing in 1963 and won the SCCA South East division in an MG Midget. He won the title again in 1968, racing a Mini Cooper provided by the BMC factory; this car had been driven at the Sebring 4 hours sedan race by Paddy Hopkirk, the Irish driver who took a Mini to overall victory in the 1964 Montecarlo Rallye. Also in 1968 Bruce was close to winning the SCCA run-offs at Daytona with a 10 seconds lead and 6 minutes to go in the race. Bad luck got in the way in the form of a broken axle, resulting in an unplanned rollover. Bruce bought his first Porsche in 1984 and started autocrossing in Northern Florida. He was still at it many years later. Indeed, I met Bruce at PCA autocrosses organized by the PCA Gold Coast Region in the early 2000s. Back then he had a white 993 C2s. He is very competitive and nowadays he campaigns a super fast B-spec Mini.
The purchase of his first Porsche also triggered his interest in Porsche memorabilia. He saw a collection of 100 Porsche and 100 F1 toy cars and bought them all for $100. He sold the F1 models and kept the Porsche ones. Since then and for the past 30 years he has been a regular at swap shows around the country, looking for collectibles. He was one of the pioneer Ebay users, starting in 1998; back then the search “Porsche” returned at most 300 items – compare to today’s ~1.4 million items (cars, parts, collectibles and toys)!
During the last 30 years Bruce has accumulated close to 5,000 collectibles of the most disparate nature: Porsche models, posters, paintings, documents, brochures, promotional items, stamps, sculptures, and anything else related to Porsche that was ever made! Many of the pieces in his collection are rare and some even unique. For example, a booklet with technical data assembled by a mechanic that took care of 917s, the original script of McQueen’s Le Mans movie, original paintings and drawings that were later reprinted in larger series, many posters signed by drivers and other personalities, early documents and letters from the U.S. Porsche importer Hoffman, including one from the 1940s in which the final salutation was “Hail Hitler” – a reminder of a tragic period in history.
The collection is so vast that Bruce has never been able to display it properly. For years these items have been partially displayed in his home, but most of the collectibles were living in boxes. As the kids moved out of the house, some more space became available and the kids’ rooms became display rooms. Having moved to an apartment in recent years, all items have to be stored and cannot be enjoyed.
Now in his seventies, Bruce has decided to sell the collection. You may think this is because Bruce is getting older and realized it is time to pass it on. Not even close! Bruce is selling because he wants a brand new Porsche! It will be as expensive and fast as he can afford, as long as it is a convertible. The collection can only be purchased in its entirety, and you can find more information and a searchable database at www.myporschecollection.com
Before selling, however, Bruce has given his collection the last hurrah and the recognition it deserves by having set up its display in a proper setting. I have visited the collection a few days ago, and must congratulate Bruce for how nicely he has organized the display, virtually by himself. The pictures I have taken give you an overview of the collection, but you really ought to see it in person if you can – this Saturday is truly the last chance, unless you are the lucky buyer of the lot.
Alberto Pugliese
PCA Gold Coast
Member ID 2006100056
