I’ve been watching a lot of racing lately. Not just Nurburgring 24, VLN, Porsche Supercup and Carrera Cup, but Blancpain Endurance and the ALMS series.
Blancpain from Silverstone on Motors TV the other night was interesting. In the wet, the little old 911 GT3 RS racecars were setting respectable times versus the latest McLarens and Mercedes SLS.
It made me wonder: how fast is the GT3 RS road car (sweet GT3 pic above) on a dry, twisty circuit versus the McLaren MP4-12C? Thankfully, my former clients at Autocar magazine have provided the answer in video.
It’s tempting to dismiss a review that starts: “venerable” Porsche 911 versus “dizzying” new McLaren. But this is Steve Sutcliffe, who has more than a clue. The results might surprise you, especially when considering the respective purchase prices: £193,000 approx for the McLaren.
Returning from the school run last Monday, a familiar face hopped out of a Sprinter van parked opposite. Who else but my buddy Nick, sometime antiques dealer and owner of this splendiferous Sea Blue Carrera RS:
The kettle is always on at IB Towers, so Nick stopped for a cuppa, waxing lyrical about the Porsche Classic day he’d attended a few days before at our local racetrack. Porsche Cars GB had opened the doors of the Silverstone experience centre to owners of pre-’74 Porsche cars, letting them loose on the handling circuits, free to explore the Porsche centre and to try a few new 911s. Nick reckoned everyone had enjoyed themselves.
We’ve taken early cars on previous track day road trips before, including excursions to Spa Francorchamps, Silverstone, Snetterton and other race circuits not beginning with S. The owners have come home somewhat wiser, but not many return for second helpings: it takes a certain type of owner to let an appreciating classic have its head on a full race track for hours on end.
Gentler gatherings like this one are probably more in tune with most owners of older Porsche cars. R Gruppe and ImpactBumpers.com nutcases seem to thrive on a bit more adrenaline (above in Scotland), but as long as everyone’s using their cars and smiling, that’s what counts.
A few years ago, 911 & Porsche World magazine had the idea of Ultimate Porsche. Each editorial contributor would bring their Ultimate Porsche to Bruntingthorpe, for compare and contrast, and a verdict.
For me, the ultimate Porsche is the 917: no contest. 917, then 908, then the choice gets controversial: I thought maybe latest 911 Turbo. The first two made Porsche the über-brand of the 1970s: a halo it still wears now, though it hasn’t put anything like that level of personal, authentic effort in for many years. Nor can it have, as the men behind 917 and 908 were Porsche, and the family was out of management in 1972.
Not thinking of third position, I went on a hunt for a 917. I only knew of two: one was David Piper’s car (below), which Porsche World had featured in a joint thing with Octane, someone had blown up David’s gearbox on the shoot, there was a big fall-out over the pics and I would not ask the great DP to take part in a repeat fiasco. The only other English 917 I knew had just come back from Classic Le Mans. The 917 and same-stable 908 had raced hard (despite the wrong gearing in the 908) and both were apart for a post-race refresh.
So no 917.
Two cars were in my garage: my Continental Orange Carrera 3.0 Coupe, and a friend’s 964 RS (he’d asked me to sell it). I didn’t want to use my car – ‘ultimate Porsche is the one you own’ was not the way I saw it. The 964 RS had very little history but was the real thing, had been used by Walter Röhrl for Bilstein damper development and was much cheaper than what else was out there, but not one virtual tyrekicker came to see it.
I took the 964 RS to Bruntingthorpe and it made my day. The RS resolved my belief that this was the ultimate air-cooled 911, and was the journos’ road car choice on the day.
Someone brought a 997 Turbo. The latest, greatest 911 was fabulous to drive but a price tag to match, depreciation like any other and hardly maintenance-free. One day, it would be yesterday’s news. The 964 RS was up for less than £40K so was well priced and drove the best of everything there. It was only getting dearer. You could take it ten miles down the road and come back with 100 on the clock. It really was addictive. Not the one that would win Top Trumps, just my favourite.
Eventually, the owner tired of silly offers on the car and it left my care. Another friend’s 964 RS is now for sale for almost twice that price. Way beyond what I can afford but, If you’ve got the money they are worth the effort: runner-up to a 908 and 917 is a hell of a place to be.
I’ve got Karsten’s first DVD, where Walter runs the Koln-Ahrweiler Rally of 2004 in a Porsche 911 ST. That’s a good one, despite some very high viewing angles making it difficult to see that far ahead of Walter’s car. Unlike some rally films, the action is well conveyed via digital video on a decent-sized TV.
I mentioned my minor irritation on the first DVD to Karsten, and asked him how the new one compared? “The quality is much better, I think,” he replied. “A few more camera positions, more outside shots and the interview on the second DVD with the commentary of Walter himself.”
Here’s a clip of Walter from the DVD. Lightweight Porsche body parts specialist, EB Motorsport, also competed at the Nurburgring on the same weekend and came away with a decent result, despite sliding off in their 911 ST. I’ll dig out some video of that.
I need this in my life. It’s a Porsche 917 Laser kit car, currently for sale on Los Angeles Craigslist.
Not sure I agree about ownership, but it is an intriguing piece of Porsche-derived kitsch. This one looks pretty straight, with the right wheels, apparently good fit and finish and an engine that’s clearly had some money spent. Plus that silver metalflake. The owner says:
The body is all original and free of cracks or damage,original paint. Interior has new carpet, newly upholstered seats and new racing harness. Italian suede quick release steering wheel. It has a custom tubular subframe that makes the car very solid.
Besides the fiberglass shell everything is new. New suspension with KYB shocks, bigger torsion bars, new bushings, new axles and control arms.
The engine is a 2 liter turbocharged VW flat 4 producing close to 300hp. Garrett turbo charger. It has 2 dual barrel weber carbs, new fuel pump, starter, alternator. Engine has 60 miles on it, everything is new, from mahle pistons to heads and empi valve covers. Custom headers, new oil cooler with electrical fan etc.
The transmission is a brand new 4 speed heavy duty unit with a new stage 3 hydraulic clutch and lightened flywheel. New brakes, new rotors, brakemaster cylinder. Wheels professionally powder coated flat black, brand new Mickey Thompson high performance tires.
This car was built to perform. Well over 20k was spent to create the car. Fully street legal with all the lights and horn working properly. Car runs and drives perfect its a blast to drive. Asking 16500$ for this truly unique car.
If you wanted to have a bit of fun, this could be the thing. Just as traffic light folks start pointing jolly fingers, you drop the clutch and obliterate them. Only downside for some people might be getting out of it in public. It’s not entirely Cult of Porsche – a beach buggy version would definitely be – but what a perfect car for a Friday blog.
There’s some great video on Youtube that’s perfect for office lunchbreaks. I know many work servers block the Youtube domain in a browser address bar, so hopefully you’ll be able to watch it as embedded on here, or maybe watch it on your iPhone. My blogs all have an iPhone-friendly mobile theme that should works well on every mobile device.
The 2012 Le Mans 24-Hour race is less than a month away (16-17 June). There will of course be Porsches racing, but let’s look back 31 years, to the 1981 Le Mans as seen in this entertaining, if slightly over-narrated video.
For 1981, four-time Le Mans winner, Jacky Ickx, came out of retirement to drive the 936 with Derek Bell (follow DB on Twitter here). Fitted with the new 2650cc endurance engine derived from Porsche’s Indianapolis design, chassis number 003 used the same air- and water-cooled 930-derived motor as its predecessors, with two turbos. The slippery 936 could hit 225 miles per hour, giving it proper speed.
In the race, number 11 took the lead from the start and won with a 14-lap advantage. Considering its pole lap was just under three and a half minutes long, that’s almost an hour ahead of the rest (okay, that’s man maths but let’s round the numbers up). The race ran for just short of 5,000 kilometres.
Also in the field was the 924 Carrera of the Almeras brothers, and Jurgen Barth/Walter Röhrl in the 944 LM. Some fascinating Porsches racing that year!
Don’t forget to follow Ferdinand Magazine to keep up with old and new Porsche news. I am now splitting stories between both sites, so not all Ferdinand stuff will be shared here and some of it will certainly be of interest to Classic Porsche Blog fans.
Ferdinand blogs my freelance adventure with Porsche at the centre. To support the blog or engage with me in other ways, you can:
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
