Can a Porsche Heir Hook Gen Z on Motorsport?
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His hands dart left, flick right, pull a downshift, and then quickly slide back to the wheel. Ferdi Porsche is comfortable in a 911. Born to it. He’s shredding a snow-covered ice track just outside of Aspen, Colorado, and, in the passenger seat, I’m fumbling with my phone because it’s beautiful and it’s exhilarating and it’s the short-form video era and this is what we do.
He loses the racing line and with it most of his speed.
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“As soon as you started filming, I fucked it up,” he says with a laugh.
For the last two days, the great-grandson and namesake of iconic car maker Ferdinand Porsche has been ripping laps for fans and members of the press covering the F.A.T. International racing series — essentially a time trial on ice, with drivers pushing machines to the limit of their snow tires’ grip. On the short glassy track, there’s not enough runway to hit triple-digit MPH, but you sense every gram of weight transfer in the corners as the car loses and regains traction. It feels fast and fun even though the speeds are much slower than you’d experience on the tarmac.
F.A.T. is an acronym for Française Allemand Transit, a defunct Franco-German logistics company. Once synonymous with motorsport, the firm sponsored Le Mans teams from the 1970s through the 1990s before the company folded. Ferdi, an architect by training, revived the name after seeing old images of ice racing. He put it in big letters over tracks in Austria and Aspen, where he thought he might find some fans hungry for in-person action, especially in the post-Drive to Survive era.
“Ice racing always had this approachability to it,” he says. “You can go into the pits, talk to everybody, and have a beer while you do it. It just has this huge social component that I think the next generation needs to be pulled into this whole world.”
Invited drivers brought a dazzling selection of cars. The entrants during the F.A.T. Aspen skewed (expectedly) Porsche heavy, with some rare 911s, including Ferdi’s own 911 Carrera 4 Leichtbau (964) as well as a GT3 Cup car and a few RUFs.
Formula Drift racer Ryan Tuerck drove a Toyota Supra loaded with a racing V-10 that could probably be heard back in Denver. But the stars of the show were a pair of vintage Porsche Spyders, a Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing, a LeMans-winning Porsche GT1, and the late Ken Block’s wild 1,400hp Hoonipigasus 911, which won Best in Show. “The most compelling part of this event is definitely the curation of cars,” says Tuerck.
Among the classics and straight-up race cars, former host of Top Gear USA and driver Tanner Foust fielded a stock 2024 Volkswagen Golf Type R and absolutely shredded it. He was quickest in the all-wheel drive category during Saturday’s session and set the fastest of all laps for the weekend, earning himself a pair of trophies and a sick Porsche Design Chronograph, a limited-edition collaboration between PorscheDesign and F.A.T.
Foust credits his first job at an ice driving school near Steamboat Springs, Colorado for much of his success in racing. “Ice racing, for me, is some of the best driver training you can do,” Foust said, citing car control, an understanding of physics, and muscle memory developed from frequently being beyond the grip limit. “I owe a lot to the experience I got being sideways, jumping straight into drifting, which really kick-started my career as a professional driver and that has carried me now for 25 years of making money with a steering wheel.”
For the fans, ice is nice as well. Why? “Sliding! When a car slides sideways and when it spins tires, it looks fast and it sounds fast — it’s exciting and dynamic,” Foust says. “I love that there’s nothing boring about ice racing, even when the speeds are relatively low compared to a road racing course.”
Race-goers could see the action across the entirety of the short track from nearly any spot. It was perhaps the friendliest, most laidback motorsports event in recent memory, offering a proximity perfect for the social media age. The pits were unguarded. Spectators could stroll in to chat with drivers, and some owners would even allow fans to hop behind the wheel (but not drive… Imagine the insurance premiums!). The only real restrictions in place were for safety. After all, it’s still a car race and spectators need to stay a reasonable distance from the action.
“It’s been fantastic,” says Max Thoeny, who came from New York to meet his father in Aspen for the race. “I think they did an incredible job bringing together the Porsche and automotive community here in the States.”
Just as importantly, the sponsors dig it.
“It’s a beautiful culmination and celebration of auto enthusiasm in its purest form,” according to Ryan Allen, who manages partnerships for Mobil 1, which is the big money behind Ferdi’s passion project. “There aren’t many events in the world that bring this level of community together, and we’re just excited to be a part of it.”
The event felt meticulous but unpretentious. Everything was curated from the menu (there was schnitzel) to the servers’ blue, mechanic-style speed suit uniforms. Even the folding chaise lounge chairs set up for spectators helped set the vibe.
Accordingly, design and aesthetics are part of the strategy for elevating the series and the brand. “We won’t only grow it with the ice racing,” Porsche says. “I think F.A.T., just from an aesthetic standpoint, has the potential to span bridges between culture and fashion and cars and streetwear.”
What’s next? Porsche is eyeballing new locations and seasons for F.A.T.’s next event. The Aspen venue limited attendance to under 500 people each day, so ticket prices were on the extreme end of the tachometer, starting at $1,900. Going forward Porsche wants the events to be more accessible and more fun. “The people bring the party,” Porsche says.
After laughing off his fuck-up back in turn four, Porsche gave the impression that he’s OK with mistakes. Not happy, by any means, but ready to accept the focus they provide. After I handed off the seat, I watched him go around the track a few more times. He didn’t slip up again.
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