One Dream Into Another
Of all the reasons to like the Porsche 356, probably the most compelling is the opportunity to experience the singular vision of one of the most gifted and influential automotive engineers in history: Dr. Ferdinand Porsche.
In the few years leading up to the 356’s 1948 introduction, Dr. Porsche and his automotive consulting company were under scrutiny for their role in the creation of the Volkswagen Beetle, and its role in World War II. Nevertheless, the small company would move forward with Dr. Porsche’s dream: a featherweight, mid-engined sports car utilizing simple and reliable Volkswagen Beetle components. This 356 Roadster was constructed with an aluminum body over a tubular chassis, and weighed just 1,289 pounds.
But aluminum wasn’t yet practical for a company looking for success in street car sales, and the racecar-like construction came with its own issues. So Dr. Porsche thought some more. Maybe instead of making dedicated racecars, his company should produce cars that check all the boxes for a street car, while offering the virtues – low weight, reliable construction, excellent driving dynamics – that make an ideal racecar.
The 356 Coupe was born. It achieved Dr. Porsche’s goals as a sales success and a giant-slayer at road racing events. By 1950, production was off to a slow but steady start.
By January 1951, the aging Dr. Porsche was dead, following a stroke. He only saw a fraction of the success his company would achieve without him.
Life is short. No one knows how long or short it will be, or which dreams will be realized by which people.
Moses can relate. After following God’s provision and leading God’s people out of Egypt, Moses longed to bring the people to their place of rest in the Promised Land. Yet because of his disobedience to God (Numbers 20:6-11), he was denied the chance to see this dream fulfilled. He was devastated, and later he asked God to “appoint a man over this community… so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.” God answered by choosing Joshua, “a man in whom is the spirit,” who will lead Israel. “At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in [to the Promised Land].” (Numbers 27:15-21, selected verses)
Moses, like many people, died without seeing his dream fulfilled. Yet God is always faithful to his promises, and does something amazing: he fills the world with billions of people, all of whom have dreams and goals, and many of whom want to be part of God’s plan. He takes these faithful dreamers and smashes us all together, so sometimes one person’s dream picks up where another’s has just ended.
Think of Joshua building off of Moses’ legacy, or Solomon literally building David’s dream of a grand temple for God. Then think of your life. Any role you’ve had in serving God has built off of the work of someone else. If you studied at a seminary, you sat in classrooms dreamed up by faithful servants of God decades or centuries ago. If a hymn inspired you to pray with someone, your quiet words were the dream of someone’s prayerful poetry.
And now, if you have a specific dream of serving God but it doesn’t look like it’s likely to happen, find joy in the stories of Joshua and Solomon. God may not be ending your dream. He may be training someone else to carry it along. He does this sometimes, to remind his people that the world is a small place full of people who themselves are full of dreams, and the best ones happen collaboratively.
That’s what happened at Porsche’s early headquarters. Two months after the death of their founder, the first 356 entered Le Mans. By the Paris Auto Show in October 1951, Porsche had built more than double the 500 examples they originally hoped to build. Dr. Porsche had seen many of his dreams come true, including the 356. Yet the best was still to come, and it would come from a new generation of automotive dreamers.
