I was out at the Nurburgring 24-Hour race last weekend (best racing livery below), so had a chance to catch up with some friends at Porsche and ask about upcoming event plans. First on the list is this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.
This year’s Goodwood theme is Racing Revolutions: Quantum Leaps that Shaped Motorsport. No manufacturer has more to say on the subject than Stuttgart, so the Porsche Museum is sending some epic cars to take part in various parts of the Festival.
First is Semper Vivus: the replica of Ferdinand Porsche’s ground breaking 1900 hybrid petrol/electric creation.
Next is the 718 F2 car (above), mentioned a number of times on the Classic Porsche Blog and driven to victory in the 1960 championship by Graham Hill, Jo Bonnier and Sir Stirling Moss. There’s talk that Sir Stirling may once again take the wheel – we’ll see how that pans out.
Then there’s the 1973 917/30 Spyder. This was Porsche’s first turbocharged car, and it changed the face of racing. The 917/30’s 5.3-litre flat-12 makes 1200 horsepower but weighs less than a modern Boxster Spyder. Average lap speed around Talladega: 220 mph+. In 1973!
Finally there’s the ill-fated 961 (above). Developed from the 959, the car finished seventh at Le Mans but was involved in a fire some time later. It has since been restored and will sit well at Goodwood with the other cigarette-sponsored has-beens. I say has-beens in a highly complimentary way!
Given that Semper Vivus and the 961 will be on site, it’s a shame the 4wd 911 R Hybrid won’t be there, as it’s the best current Porsche for this year’s theme, and is absolutely beautiful. Watching it lap the Nürburgring last weekend was literally electric. They’ve got two of them – surely one must be free?!
The BBC 5-day weather forecast for Goodwood looks nice at the minute: 18 degrees for both Friday and Saturday is a comfortable temperature to walk around in. I’m currently trying to get a ticket. If I manage it, I’ll see you at the Porsche tent.
If you’ve not got tickets, then Porsche have a competition for you. Follow Porsche Origin on Twitter and tweet the hashtag #porschegoodwood by midday on Wednesday June 29th for your chance to win a pair of VIP tickets for Saturday, and a ride up the hill in a GT3 RS 4.0.
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Not been out in a Porsche since I got back from the USA, so thought I’d better fix that. I grabbed some keys and got out in the fresh air.
Finally got the Tangerine 1972 Porsche 911 T I have for sale booked into Tuthills for a service and a suspension set up: ride heights and alignment. On new suspension bushes and new Dunlop tyres, this car is a delight to drive, but a little lower than is right, so worth sending it to Tuthills to be sorted.
While it’s there, they are going to check a few other bits and change the oil and filter, just to freshen it up. Should be absolutely brilliant when it comes back next week. Then it’s out for a photo shoot and we are thinking of entering it for the Goodwood auction in July. Will keep you posted. Email me if you want to know anything about this remarkable low mileage car. I would love to see it go to a good home.
The T is no slouch on its wicked TwinSpark Weber carbs, but the Carrera 3.0 is even perkier. Once back from Tuthills, I pulled the C3 out and took it for a run.
That car is – literally – a tonne of fun. The tax is up in July, so it’ll head off to Racing Restorations in Pershore for a little bit of body and paint, mainly repairing damage inflicted by moi, breaking into it in Monaco last year. Rob Campbell is also going to strip and clean the wheel arches, repaint and waxoyl the lot.
We’ll change all the window rubbers, install the carpet I’ve had sitting here for a few months, and maybe bolt in the mint 1975 Recaro sports seats. Either that or get the centres of my Recaro A8s retrimmed in some orange corduroy or similar. They are light weight, comfy seats: sweeter than the pukka early ones. But then the early ones are more ‘correct’…
While Robert is fettling the bodywork, wiring the heated screen, changing the fuel pump for an uprated modern unit etc, I’m going to send the engine off for a top end rebuild. No idea who is going to do it yet but am working on that.
Once the refreshed motor is returned, we’ll fit my SSIs and a custom exhaust that RaceResto will manufacture and then see what it goes like. I’m also thinking of redoing suspension bushes: need to get in touch with the polybush people and see who has the best deals on.
Driving it today was as much fun as it was when I first got it. This car never ever gets old.
Anyone following the R Gruppe Europe Blog will have read last week’s post about the Carrera PanEuropeana, a quick blast the R Gruppe Europe boys took down to Germany last weekend. Just had a few more pics through from Daan, so I thought I would share on here.
The basic plan was leave Amsterdam and meet on the border early Friday morning. Drive through Belgium into Germany, then do a few laps of the Nurburgring and stay somewhere close for a couple of nights.
Saturday was all about B-road driving in the mountains around the circuit, with some spectating in the afternoon. Turns out the 911 R hybrid was racing and winning that day.
Sunday was a quick blast to Spa to watch the tail end of the racing there, before heading home to the Netherlands, or Portugal and the USA in the case of Vasco Ricardo and Steven Harris.
Looks like everyone had a good time. The stories I have heard so far suggest the pace was as hot as ever, but only one car casualty emerged and the damage was superficial.
Next R Gruppe Europe event I am likely to attend is the TwinSpark trackday at Spa in October: £249 for a day on track with friends in early 911s. More details on TwinSpark Racing here.
Lots of us booked to come down from the UK already and I’m sure we’ll find more guys from Europe who are keen to be there. The date is October 10th but you can extend to do the 11th also if you fancy it. I’ll be on a plane to California on the 11th, so just the Monday for me!
I spent this afternoon watching the 2011 Monaco Grand Prix. It was an absolute cracker. Every time the cars came through Massenet and into Casino Square, I was reminded of the 2010 R Gruppe Bergmeister Tour, and the three days our ten cars spent in Monte Carlo. Watching the F1 drivers blast at 120 mph or more through sections we trickled through at 30 mph was fantastic.
Bergmeister rallyistes used the city as a base for mountain raids up around the principality, to the epic Monte Carlo Rally routes we were driving. Getting in and out of town was easy enough, but getting around was a headache. Traffic along the GP track in normal running is nigh-on stationary. It’s also quite difficult to equate TV and reality, when parts of the flowing circuit are run as one way or no left/right turn during the normal working week.
We did manage a few runs along some famous stretches, and I got told off by the police once or twice for hanging out the windows of moving 911s with a camera, but it was worth it when the pictures made a cover and a big feature in 911 & Porsche World magazine.
If you’re a diehard F1 fan and have not yet made the effort to get down there and drive the circuit, put it on your bucket list. Trust your Uncle Johnny: it is WELL worth the effort. Though it can be trashy in places, Monaco is a unique environment: a shrine to speed that will undoubtedly inspire something within.
The July issue of 911 & Porsche World magazine just landed on the mat. It’s an interesting edition, with a 924 group test, Cayman R UK drive and the story of Manon Borrius Broek: a Dutch heiress who has accumulated a beautiful collection of Porsche machinery.
I’ve had a flick, but not read any feaures yet. In all honesty, there’s a good chance I won’t. Like most journos, reading magazines is looking back in time. We finish a piece, send it, and look forward to the next one. I usually speed read my own articles, to see what the mag has done with layout and check for any typos, but otherwise I point myself ahead.
That is not to say I ignore the magazines – I definitely do not. My first port of call in any magazine or newspaper is always the letters page. Here we get a golden opportunity to gauge ambient temperature amongst the readership: what they think is hot and not.
Custom Porsche 911s & Porsche World Magazine
This month’s Porsche World carries a great letter (Rise of the Replicas) from John Hammond Jr in the US. John gives the thumbs up to Porsche World’s ‘hot rod’ group test last month, but cautions against the rise of what he calls ‘cookie cutter’ hot rods: the margarine creations of a backdated 3.2 with a center filler cap, recipe repro seats and vacuous roll hoops. “If we’re not careful,”says John, “it will be like the kit car world, where every man and his hound wants to build a Cobra kit car, to the extent that owners of genuine Cobras become tired of being asked what kit they used.”
Not surprisingly, I agree with John. Nothing irks more than a lack of imagination. We’re living in a time where unlimited online inspiration, vinyl wraps and energetic new paints make creating something different a little bit easier, so where are those cars? The scene is certainly starving for them.
Jamie and I have just shot some very unique, proper hot rods in the US, and I’m tracking some European builds that look right on the money, so they are out there to be found. Help is on the way for John Hammond Jr, and all those looking for down-home hot rod spirit from their Porsche periodicals.
God bless the boys and girls who want to stray from the herd: they’re the ones keeping things interesting!
Awesome shoot with Jamie Lipman today. We took a Diablo Red (named by us) Porsche 911 RSR backdate to Bethlehem, New Hampshire on Rapture Day.
The angle I had in mind was take a cool 911 to the start of things, at the end of things. So far no end, but it was a fun morning, touring the town and unleashing some divine Porsche havoc.
Porsche 911 RSR backdate in Bethlehem, New Hampshire
The car is an ’84 3.2 Turbolook that’s been substantially revised, with steel RSR flares, classic low-fat interior, WEVO transmission and suspension set up and a 3.8 litre Rothsport engine.
We shot the car next to the Police Station and in the roads around the town. I’ll let you know what magazine it ends up in.
All the time we were working, I had this shitkicking U2/BB King track playing in my head. LOUD. It’s still playing!
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