by John Glynn | Jun 3, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Modified Porsche Hot Rods, Road Trips
Good times for Ferdinand yesterday with long-time creative partner, Jamie Lipman. It was an early start for us, and for Chris from Bedfordshire, who brought his newly-purchased R Gruppe Porsche 911 to London for a photoshoot around the capital.
Glynn/Lipman photo sessions are always big fun. This one started with a 6am meet at The Dorchester, then a stop in St. James’, alongside some fascinating blue plaques. The shoot rolled on through Westminster and into the City of London, ending at the Tower before noon.
Owner Chris had a great backstory that I was previously unaware of, and the icing on the cake was an impromptu encounter with Wally Fields, eponymous Big-Band leader and Gershwin aficionado. When a Zionist Jew and lapsed Irish Catholic discuss the irrelevancy of time as a concept on a Mayfair pavement at 8am on a Sunday, you know it’s going to be a good day.
If you’re in the UK, have you booked for our Race Of Kings yet? Four hours of fun with Porsche guys on Saturday June 15th, from 4PM to 8PM. Cost is a tenner including great food and good racing on the KW RaceRoom simulators. We’ve only got 30 places available so get in and book.
by John Glynn | Apr 15, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Market & Prices, Modified Porsche Hot Rods
Note: this car has now sold via the Ferdinand Magazine Blog and lives in New Zealand.
Fellow European R Gruppe member, Christian, has just sent details of his 911 RS recreation, which he has put up for sale. I followed this car in build for a couple of years and am surprised he is letting it go.
It made slightly more sense when Christian told me how a top secret barn find with a 360 chassis number was behind the decision, although part of me thinks I’d prefer to own this one.
This car is just so right. “This is the only Carrera 2.7L RS replica which was invited to the official 40th anniversary Porsche Carrera RS World Meeting in Stuttgart in September 2012”, says Christian. “It appears in the official participant book as number 36. The car is in overall perfect shape, always very well maintained and handles perfectly. It has a nice driving position as the driver’s seat, the special seat railings and the hub extension were built for a person around 175-190cm (5’7″-6’2″).”
Based on a late 1972 911T (’73 MY), this 911 is what Christian calls a “contemporary 2,7L RS M471 lightweight build”.
The colour is Grand Prix White over Viper Green. Four layers of paint protect a detailed restoration by Hans Patutschnick in 2010, with full photo documentation. Except for DP Motorsport bumpers & ducktail, the body is all steel and was fully wax protected.
Suspension is classic 911 19/26mm torsion bars with Bilstein Nurburgring suspension and raised front spindles. Adjustable 18mm bars front and rear, 7 and 8×15 wheels in proper anodised-with-bright-rim finish and Avon CR6ZZ tyres.
Inside is a DP Lollipop seat, with RS co-drivers seat: love the houndstooth. VDO gauges restored by North Hollywood, original 1973 Momo Prototipo, 85l plastic tank, magnesium transmission with correct gearset and a Quaife LSD. Full transmission cooling and Webasto cabin heating.
The engine is a true work of art, built by Oliver Bienert of Boxer-Motoren, Manching, Germany in 2011. It’s a 2.8-litre MFI, making 281 hp at around 7,200k RPM. The 7R case was modified with shuffle pins, oil bypass and boat tailing, before the bottom end was built around a knife edged 70.4mm crankshaft, with 964 oil pump, Carrillo rods and 92mm Mahle barrels and pistons.
The engine list really is too much, including custom Bosch throttles, MFI pump and twin plug distributor. An RSR flywheel and lightweight clutch finish it off.
Fuelled up with 30 litres and ready to go, the RS rebuild weighs 980 kilograms. It’s done 5,000 miles with no track use since completion. Everything is detailed in the German registration papers, it carries a H (historic) registration plate and is fully TUV approved.
Having just seen what traders were asking at Techno Classica for ordinary early cars, this seems well priced at €94,000. Though he is based near Frankfurt, I hear Christian has had contact from France and the US on this car, so get your skates on if you want to discuss it.
by John Glynn | Mar 8, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Modified Porsche Hot Rods
Good times last weekend, as I spent Saturday covering the Saturday Surgery: a three-hour morning tech session. This is where owners can bring cars like this classic Porsche 964 Turbo in for a proper 45-minute inspection free of charge, and get some advice on keeping it right.
My friends pioneered the idea of these free inspections. They promise no hard sell and so it transpired, as four different owners brought their cars for attention, with only one spending money: on a much-needed battery. Two other 911s were new owners, checking the boys out for future servicing, and finding out if they’d bought a good car. The fourth Porsche was a silver 964 Turbo, not long sold but in for a trial fit of Fuchs alloy wheels.
The UK distributor of genuine Fuchs forged Porsche wheels always has sets in stock. The 17″ versions are still eagerly awaited, but these 18″ wheels were test fitted to the 964 and really did look a treat.
Fronts went on without a spacer while the rears tried a 20mm wide one that could easily be replaced by 10mm or less. I’d probably do something with the ride heights on these wheels, but it looks pretty good. What do you think?
by John Glynn | Mar 3, 2013 | Modified Porsche Hot Rods, Project Cars
Hot on the heels of a day spent with suspension experts from KW Suspension, came a chance encounter with the EXE-TC experts at Tuthill Porsche.
Graham Gleeson is the brains behind EXE-TC: the suspension engineering company that has underpinned Sebastien Loeb’s many world rally championships over the last few years.
EXE-TC and Tuthill are closely linked in classic Porsche chassis engineering, and development on these joint projects is always ongoing. The EB Motorsport RSR and the Janssens dog box car are two Tuthill-built competition 911s that have run EXE-TC gear in testing, but road cars are also used to get street-biased products working properly.
The car seen here is an Albert Blue amalgam of classic components, combined by Tuthills to build one man’s perfect Porsche. This is running an EXE-TC development subframe to reduce frame torsion at the front of the car.
Surprisingly, the alignment was set to toe out: I’ve never gone for toe out on an older 911 but the test drivers (two names you would certainly know) both say it works with this set up.
There are still some areas needing work here, so development continues. An interesting encounter with Graham, and nice to put a face to the name.
by John Glynn | Feb 27, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Modified Porsche Hot Rods
Here’s an interesting read for you: the first feature Jamie Lipman and I ever did in the USA from 2008. Was a minor disaster getting there and making this happen, but the end justified the means. R Gruppe Porsche 911 SWB Hot Rods shot in California.
Interest in the short wheelbase 911 has surged in recent years. John Glynn drives a pair of American beauties that make a convincing case for less is more.
Ah, California. In stark contrast to preconceptions of a concrete jungle, California is a state with personality. Away from the major population centres, amazing light and fresh Pacific air mingles with the blissful aroma of pine trees and vines to create a technicolour environment. No wonder they built Hollywood here.
I’ve come to the Golden State to attend the R Gruppe Treffen, an annual ensemble of early 911 enthusiasts from across the US and beyond. This year, the meet is centred on Cambria, a pretty little coastal town 100 miles south of Monterey. This is the site of the very first Gruppe get-together, ten years ago.
R Gruppe’s raison d’etre is to honour the intent behind Porsche’s Sports Purpose range: factory parts for adding that extra zing to to the pre-’73 911. This is a club for road trippers, not trailer queens. Some of these guys have travelled almost 3,000 ground miles to be here. (more…)
by John Glynn | Feb 8, 2013 | Modified Porsche Hot Rods, Project Cars
Genuine Fuchs wheels have been the lightweight sports rim of choice on Porsche 911 since the 1960s. Fuchs recently started making forged anodised rims for newer Porsches, but it’s not easy to get pictures of the wheels on interesting cars!
That situation improved today, with some pics of a Porsche 996 Turbo S just sold, where the owner also bought a set of Fuchs for it.
This Turbo S is a peach: 2005 with just 23,000 miles and full Porsche history. Slate Grey paint, ceramic brakes, full leather: perhaps the perfect 996 Turbo. Were it not for the spotless Speed Yellow X50 996 Turbo sitting alongside it, also waiting to be handed over to a new owner today, the Slate Grey S would be a no-brainer Ferdinand company car.
Bigger blowers and intercooler, combined with a remap give the Turbo S 30bhp more power than a standard 996 TT. Torque is up to 474 lb/ft and the car will do 191 miles an hour.
Intelligent four wheel-drive and ceramic brakes make the six-speed manual Turbo S a driver’s favourite. Adding these 19″ Fuchs not only looks good, it also drops the sidewall profile of the tyres and adds a bit more footprint, a combination sure to add traction and perhaps a hint more firmness, without being crashy.
The Fuchs wheels on this Porsche 996 Turbo are 8.5 and 11-inch by 19-inch diameter, with 235/35 front and 290/30 ZR 19 rear tyres. These wheels are finished with black centres, but an RSR finish is also available. See the full range of genuine Fuchs wheels on the Porsche tuning website.
