THE PORSCHEMASON

The Porschemason

Alexander Stollberg’s story of craft, art and a love for vintage Porsches.

It’s difficult to adequately describe how awestruck we felt when Maximillian Stollberg first sent us the photographs he’d taken of his father’s sculpture work. Of course their beauty alone is obvious, but hearing the story of how they came to be created revealed just how special they really were. We count ourselves lucky to speak to a lot of talented artists about their work, but when this came across the desk, it was clearly going to be a story that deserved very special attention.

Alexander Stollberg was born in East Germany in 1967, a time long before German reunification and entirely separate from the sphere of European car culture as many of us are familiar with it. In his youth, there was a single known 930 Turbo in the entire country, alongside maybe one or two other Porsches in total. He came to discover these cars for the first time as a teenager, when he attended an “Oldtimer Grand Prix” at the Autodrom Most racetrack in neighbouring Czechoslovakia. In a field of Western sports cars, it was a pair of Porsche 356 Carreras that dominated the race, a performance that sealed his love for these mysterious sports cars from there on out.

In the DDR, working with classic cars just wasn’t possible without the right connections, which Alexander didn’t have. Instead, he turned to a career in stone masonry, a craft he would go on to master well. Throughout his early days he worked on historic buildings and incredible baroque sculptures, but his love for classic cars never left him. In 1993, using a piece of leftover Saxon sandstone, he carved out the shape of a Pre-A 356. The form was exaggerated and rough, but it was a Porsche he could call his own. Soon, he followed it up with another sculpture, then another. Three decades later, Alexander has produced over a hundred of them, and he isn’t stopping any time soon.

After German reunification, Alexander began collecting a number of the Western cars that he’d finally had the opportunity to discover. So many in fact, that it became too expensive to keep storing them in rented Dresden garages. He bought a ruined farmyard near Meissen to accommodate his growing collection and he began restoring the buildings there alongside his wife so the two could live there. Among the buildings is his workshop, where to this day he continues to sculpt Porsches from plywood, sandstone, limestone and even marble.

Each sculpture begins with photographs and blueprints that he pins to the wall for the duration of the process. Reproducing the car in perfect detail is not the point, Stollberg instead attempts to capture the essence of the shape, while playing to the strengths of the chosen material. There’s no one scale that they’re all modelled to, but most range between 1:10 and 1:5.

The choice of subject also spans a broad range, starting all the way from early Gmünd coupes to cars from the 993 era. As is the mark of any well rounded enthusiast, there’s really no one style of car that Alexander’s work seems to favour, and all of his models are finished to a level of craftsmanship informed by a lifetime of experience.

“My dad is a true enthusiast - he doesn’t do it for money, he does it for himself.” Explains Alexander’s son Max, who’s made it his mission to bring his father’s work the recognition it sorely deserves. “His process is time consuming, but he never stops coming up with new ideas. With Porsche’s endless catalogue of fascinating cars, he always finds new inspiration. He’s especially drawn to early Porsche illustrations, advertisements and design sketches.

Some of the future projects he’s dreaming of include a 917K in wood with aluminium wheels, a minimalistic 930 Turbo (ideally in stone) and all six of the legendary Glöckler Porsches.” Needless to say, we’ll be watching very closely over his progress.

In 1993, using a piece of leftover Saxon sandstone, he carved out the shape of a Pre-A 356. The form was exaggerated and rough, but it was a Porsche he could call his own. Soon, he followed it up with another sculpture, then another.

Following 30 years of sculpting them from stone, it was 2022 when Alexander finally got his hands on his own Porsche. It was in fairly rough condition, but buying this white 1960 356 was a true full circle moment. When he first laid eyes on one of these cars, it was 1981, and he was a teenager in the grandstands of a Czechoslovakian racetrack.

“My dad is a true enthusiast - he doesn’t do it for money, he does it for himself. His process is time consuming, but he never stops coming up with new ideas."

“We’re not the kind of guys who are into concours-level cars.” Explains Max, who’s also helping his father with the restoration. “When we first saw the car, we truly fell in love with the imperfections - the matte paint, with its layers showing through, and the pickled chrome. Ideally, we’re going to leave the car as-is on the outside, but the rust on the underside is extensive. It’s difficult to tackle this entirely on our own, even with the help of friends and family.

After a short drive on our lawn, we completely stripped down the car and suspended the body in a rotisserie. We refurbished some parts ourselves and cut out the rusted sections. During this process, we discovered that it was originally painted in Fjordgrün. We spoke to experts who told us that the damage is so severe that partial repairs wouldn’t make much sense, so the only logical option would be a full restoration. But if we do that, we’ll lose the patina that we love so much.

We haven’t decided yet which direction to take, both approaches have heir benefits but a freshly painted car doesn’t attract us as much as one with a ‘ratty’ character. We want to give it a subtle touch with accessories and parts in the Super 90 GT style, maybe even early 16 inch wheels to truly make it our own thing. Right now we’re taking our time, weighing our options, and considering what’s best for us. One thing is for sure, if we can somehow restore it technically to an acceptable level while maintaining its current look, that’s the path we’ll take.”