This Porsche Salesman’s Model Collection Got Him Promoted To The PR Department

We would hazard to guess that a reasonable number of people reading this have a few scale model cars kicking around the house. Be it a Hot Wheels or something larger, they’re a part of the hobby now, and have likely been a part of it for a long time. But one Porsche employee took collecting models to another level.

Kiwi Zhou started his career in Porsche’s sales department in China and one day, the company ran an internal competition, the prize of which was a model of the 911 50 Jahre Edition. That was nine years ago and now his collection of models is 900 strong.

“That was my first model car,” says Zhou, “and it triggered something in my heart.”

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That was where the spark of his interest was lit, but what caused the explosion of interest from Zhou was Porsche’s victory at Le Mans in 2015.

“That victory inspired me to collect all the Le Mans-winning models from 2015 all the way back to 1970,” Zhou says. “All 17 of them. And then, of course, the next year it became 18. And then 19!”

From there, the collection started growing exponentially, and, he says, has contributed enormously to his understanding and appreciation for the brand. Zhou says that he now collects cars in one of two ways. Either he hears a story from the company’s past and seeks the relevant car out, or he finds an unusual model and learns the story of the car that inspired it.

As he has learned about the history of the brand, he has used his models in posts on social media as a tool to tell stories from the brand’s history. In fact, it’s such a successful tactic, that Porsche has also used models from his collection to illustrate the evolution of certain model lines in media presentations.

Indeed, Zhou’s collection and his passion for the brand have grown to such a degree that the company decided promote him to the PR department, where he is now a Manager. And his models have become quite useful to the brand.

Last year, the Porsche Experience Center in Shanghai realized that its collection of cars would all be gone for a short period of time when they were needed for the Porsche Ice Experience in northern China. The head of the center, keen to have something on display for visitors, asked Zhou if he would mind filling the space with his models.

That led to a display featuring 480 of Zhou’s models arranged around the letters P O R S C H E. The display tracks the history of the brand from its very car all the way to the present. Such is the size of Zhou’s collection, though, that the PEC couldn’t actually fit all of them. Just 700 of his nearly 900 models are actually on display. That doesn’t mean that he’s done collecting, though.

“There’s no limit to my collecting now,” Zhou says, “but adding around 100 cars to the collection every year is my target. There will always be something I’m missing, and I’m actually expecting some new models to arrive tomorrow. This is my ninth year with Porsche and I will get to 900 cars. So maybe next year I can reach 1000!”

Despite the variety and size of his collection, though, Zhou doesn’t hesitate when asked to pick a favorite model.

“I have one car, which is a very detailed 1:18 scale model of the 917/30 Can-Am car,” he says. “You can remove all the covers to see the chassis, engine and turbochargers. It’s the pinnacle of model car making, and because I didn’t study engineering, it really helps me understand the mechanics of Porsche’s race cars. I can look at that car for half a day and not get bored!”