by John Glynn | Jul 15, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
I love the daily drivers used by some of my Porsche friends around the world. The Californian climate allows the use of proper oldies, as is the case with this 1965 911, just pressed into service by a SoCal superstar: Hans Lapine at Kundensport in Camarillo, CA.
“It’s a 1965 2.0, with a bit more ooomph,” says Hans in his Facebook thread announcing the car. A bit more ooomph is right, as bluey runs an Andial-built engine. “The add-ons will be original rollbar, Scheel seats, my old Britax harness and maybe an old Momo steering wheel.” Soaked in the patina of a fascinating history, this 302-numbered chassis will provide some smiles in the months ahead.
Someone once said “time is a great healer, but a lousy beautician”. Based on what we see here, I’m inclined to disagree. Sun-bleached short wheelbase cars are the way forward!
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by John Glynn | Jul 15, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
Ferdinand’s Porsche 924 Turbo project is finally being painted. I spent all day yesterday stripping the body for the prep guy to start on it this week.
Rob Campbell and I dragged the car out of storage at Rob’s Racing Restorations in Pershore, pulling it into the workshop and 30-degree heat. Not the best day to do the job, but the only spare day either of us have in the next few weeks.
A flat battery was no surprise, so we ran jump leads from my M3 to the 924 Turbo and it fired straight up. I finally drove my first few metres behind the wheel of the silver 924. This runs well and ticks over nicely: I was suitably impressed.
There are quite a few bits on a 924 body but it all came off easily enough. I’ll have to fit some new side window and tailgate rubbers and still not decided on pulling the windscreen: I think we should but we’ll see what the prep guy says. The tailgate stays on until the really dusty stuff is done.
We’re estimating four days to bare metal the car and get it ready for paint next weekend in original L97A Diamond Silver Metallic. Looking forward to seeing it done and will be back over there during the week to take more pics. Only rust on the whole car is this bit by the aerial: I am redoing it as standard so leaving the roof aerial on. We will chemically remove that surface rust and prep thoroughly to prevent recurrence.
There’s a small chance I will sell this later in the year as I have no time to use my cars at the minute and storage is not my favourite! Get in touch if you’re interested. It’s a left hand-drive 1980 Series 2 Turbo, no sunroof, lower than average miles and there is no rust underneath.
The mechanicals seem in good shape, so could make a terrific rally car! Not looked at German 924 Turbo prices for a while, but I will price it in line with what’s happening in Europe.
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by John Glynn | Jul 10, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Art and Books
Ulf Poschardt, full-time Deputy Editor of Die Welt and Welt am Sonntag and long-time 911 driver has written a new book on the Porsche 911. Titled simply ‘911’, it sounds rather fascinating. I swapped some Facebook messages on the Ferdinand page with Ulf yesterday, and he shared the purpose of this work.
“It’s a cultural & social history of the Porsche 911,” says Ulf. “I have driven a 911 every day since the age of 23 – now more than 23 years. That time has allowed me to reflect on how and why this sports car became a symbol of German modernism after World War II, as well as a manifesto for individualism and a masterpiece in engineering culture.
“I talked to a variety of owners and drivers of Porsche 911 and tried to squeeze out their personal philosophy on the car. Everyone from artists and architects to engineers and politicans – and to Jerry Seinfeld, of course. The Ferdinand blog has many friends in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, and they can find 911 in bookshops from July 24.”
Renowned Stuttgart publishing house, Klett-Cotta, is initially publishing the book in German only. Ulf hopes that an English version will follow, and I would certainly be interested in reading it. Of all the 911 books released to coincide with the car’s 50th anniversary, this one piques most interest.
I once took the EB Motorsport Porsche 911 ST built by Tuthills to the ruins of Coventry Cathedral, to consider the question “was the 911 part of Germany’s peace offering after the war?” It led to great discussion with citizens who endured concentrated bombing through the Coventry Blitz, which wiped out the ancient cathedral.
We left with an exceptional view of the people of Coventry: it was an incredible day. When I later mused upon Britain’s equivalent cultural offering, I struggled a bit. It’s something I still wonder about – my current favourite answer is ‘The Beatles’.
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by John Glynn | Jun 29, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Race and Rally
Love this photo of current Belgian Historic Champion, Glenn Janssens, back in action this weekend in his Almeras-style Tuthill Porsche. Glenn returns to action following his super scary crash at over 100 mph in Haspengouw.
Car and driver are running in this weekend’s Ypres Historic, Belgium’s most storied event and an unmissable part of the European classic rally calendar. Anyone who has been to Ypres will know the town, the atmosphere and the territory around this unique part of Europe. It’s a proper setting to rally through, and we wish Glenn all the best for the weekend.
The car has had quite a bit done to it over the months it’s been at Tuthill Porsche in Wardington, Oxfordshire. The Tuthill boys have repaired the damage suffered in the mega-shunt and added a few chassis tweaks here and there. The transmission is all new – an evolution of the Tuthill Porsche dog ‘box – and the engine has been refreshed.
Belgian driver, Mats Myrsell, was recently asked for his best memory of the Ypres Historic by an interviewer. His reply was “that gorgeous waitress I met in a cafe off the square”. Hopefully this year, a few people will leave with the best memory of Glenn Janssens’ fire-breathing 911, en route to victory in 2013.
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by John Glynn | Jun 20, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Market & Prices
My good friend Richard is selling his Porsche 944 Turbo S Silver Rose. Manufactured in 1988, only seventy Silver Rose models came to the UK, and some specialists estimate that just a third of those still exist. This car has a huge spec, so difficult to get it all across in a simple classified ad.
“The Silver Rose brings all the best bits of the previous year’s 944 Turbo Cup cars together, making a finely balanced package,” says Richard. “There’s a unique Silver Rose exterior colour, and unique Burgundy Plaid interior trim with 8-way power seats. The cars have no sunroof, but do have A/C. Although my car’s A/C is currently removed, the wiring is all there and my specialist estimates six hours to replace.
“Front brakes are from the 928 S4: 300 x 32mm discs with bigger 4-piston Brembo calipers and ABS. Wheels are the lighter, wider forged alloy wheels: 7/9 x 16” sizes in the Club Sport design (not to be confused with the much heavier, later D90 design).
“The drivetrain has a bigger k26/8 turbo (also adopted on all later 250hp cars), LSD with 40% lockup, M030 suspension option, consisting of Koni adjustable shocks front and rear, with ride height adjusting threaded collars on the front struts, stiffer springs and torsion bars, larger hollow rear anti-roll bar, harder durometer suspension bushings throughout, larger 26.8mm hollow anti-roll at the front.
“It’s got chassis stiffening brackets in the front frame rails, factory rolled front and rear fender edges to accommodate larger wheels, the 5-speed manual transmission (case code designation: AOR) with a higher friction clutch disc setup, and an external transmission cooler.
“I bought my Silver Rose from one of the mechanics at JAZ Porsche in Wembley and it has been looked after by JAZ during my approx 2 years of ownership. As a Porsche mechanic’s car, it benefitted from engine, suspension and brake rebuilds. The spec includes a rebuilt k26/8 turbo, new Lindsey Racing dual-port wastegate, stage 2 intercooler and 3-inch exhaust, Bailey dump valve, new Siemens 55lb injectors, fuel pressure regulator and pressure gauge, Greddy electronic boost controller, head studs, head gasket etc.
“Maintenance on the car in my ownership has included recovering the driver’s seat bolsters, and I now have nearly three metres of the Burgundy plaid material that will come with the car. I was lucky to find this, as people are now asking silly money for it. I have enough to just about retrim the whole car if it’s needed in the future.
“It’s had two scheduled services completed at JAZ Porsche, with the most recent service this week. I’ve also had a rolling road ECU remap by Wayne Schofield: Wayne knows these cars inside out, having spent days mapping them for racing in the late 1980s. The remap concentrated on drivability with the best torque curve, and resulted in over 300hp and 327lb/ft of torque (dyno graph available).
“It’s had the timing belts changed, an exhaust side engine mount replaced by JAZ in September 2012 and follow up inspection/adjustment in January 2013. I fitted a new front windscreen in 2012. It has new Bridgestone N-spec SO2s (245/225): less than 1,000 miles on the fronts and 3,000 miles on the rears.
“Body-wise, Nottingham Coachcraft in Caterham stripped, repaired and repainted the driver’s sill, all wheel arches and the rear of the driver’s front wing. It’s had new quarter window seals, new driver’s wiper control arm, new driver’s electric window motor, new temp sensor and other similar sundries. The wheels have been refurbished in Porsche Meteor Grey.
“I have a few spares like another intercooler, crossover pipe, D90 and CS wheels and two complete fog/side light units which can come with the car by negotiation. MOT and tax run to the end of August 2013. It’s HPI clear with eight previous owners. The car comes with limited service history as it was a mechanic’s car, but you can verify its bona fides with JAZ Porsche.
“There is a Momo steering wheel in the car, but the original wheel comes with it, as do the original amber indicators. The car also has the OE 10-speaker stereo with an Alpine DVD/CD/touch screen head unit with ipod connection and there is Bluetooth for phones.”
I do love a good for sale ad, and this is a nice one to share. Richard’s got it up for £11,500, which sounds like all the money, but “regular” 944 Turbos have been known to sell for more and this is a very collectible Silver Rose model. The tuning is well thought out, so this is going to be a very capable car on road or track and a pretty good investment. I’ve definitely talked myself into this one – where’s that Barclaycard?!
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by John Glynn | Jun 4, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
Just had these preview pictures through from EB Motorsport of their all-new Deep 6 and 7R Fuchs reproduction wheels in polished finish.
The polished look has always seemed best to me on these rare rims, and EB wheels are designed and manufactured with exceptional attention to detail. Note how these wheels feature the safety bead missing from original Fuchs, and the correct detail around the valve stems, not seen on lesser reproductions.
The wheel centre and front face are machined from a single aluminium billet, with the forged rear barrel CNC-welded to the front section. I had a close look at these wheels in person last week. The finish is top notch and the curve of the spoke and rim edge is just perfect: these are really lovely products. Why risk your original wheels? Get a set of these on and mothball the originals.
EB has so far won two Masters Historic Series championships using their strong and lightweight reproduction Fuchs wheels without incident: this is despite some heavy impacts, including a direct hit from a spinning GT40 at last year’s Silverstone Classic! Suffice to say that the design and manufacture is excellent, as we have come to expect from this perfectionist Porsche parts manufacturer.
Price for either Deep 6 or 7R reproductions is £1850 per pair. That is ex-works from Yorkshire HQ, so plus VAT and carriage where applicable. Contact EB Motorsport for more details and to discuss options on finishing etc. Remember, these are proper, high-end reproductions: not cast to keep cost down. Cast wheels are much heavier and raise too many questions on strength and quality/porosity.
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