Porsche shared a link to nice little video today, featuring Klaus Bischof and the cars of the Rolling Museum at the Philip Island Classic. Bischof talks about 935/78 “Moby Dick”: the longtail 935 that won the 1978 Silverstone 6 Hours by a masterful seven laps, and went on to reach 235 mph on the straight at Le Mans.
“Moby Dick was just to show the technique of turbocharging,” says Klaus. “You need a lot of fuel in this car: I was a mechanic with Moby Dick and we had to refuel every 35 minutes, so for preparing and running at Le Mans you can’t sit down! But it’s a fantastic car and shows what you can do with a 911.”
Porsche celebrated 60 years in Australia by bringing some very special vehicles from the company’s museum in Stuttgart, Germany: a 1987 962, Moby Dick and the Carrera GT you see in the background here. Moby was also at Rennsport later in the year.
Eight-time Bathurst winner and all-round legend Jim Richards was patron of the Queensland meeting. As well as treating competition winners to rides in his new GT2 RS, Jim was given permission for takeoff in Moby Dick for a few laps around the track. “I won’t give it a hard time,” says Jim to Klaus, the old mechanic replying to take it out and give it the beans: i.e. 820 horsepower (some 935s had 845 hp on tap!).
The final edit doesn’t show the pace seen in some period footage, but you can’t blame Jim for taking it steady. As Klaus says: “there is only one real Moby Dick: all the others are replicas.” Wouldn’t look good on the CV to be remembered as the guy that harpooned Moby.
I dread to think how many glasses/bottles of Rioja I have dispensed with while watching Kevin Jeannette of Gunnar Racing and his awesome Youtube videos. It’s probably a lot, but I’m not complaining: these videos are so much fun.
Kevin is the go-to guy for my dream cars: Porsche sports racers of the 1970s. I’m currently working on a words and pics piece about the David Piper 917 – chassis number 021 – that Kevin restored for a European collector. The car was driven by our friend Gijs van Lennep at the last two Rennsports (I shot my piece at Rennsport IV), so I’ve been watching the videos all over again.
Of the many Youtube 917 resto vids KJ posted, I think this one is my favourite. There’s so much going on here, from Kevin’s love of a good hat (hats are sent in by people following the resto progress) to the obvious depth of knowledge that he totally takes for granted, to his delight in getting bombed on paint fumes and making a fart joke for wife Sharon, who does all the camerawork.
At Rennsport, I told Sharon that I was really into the Gunnar videos and I seriously was not kidding: they are superb. See the lot on the Gunnar Racing Youtube channel.
If you’re not into 917s, then check for a pulse: they are AWESOME! Enjoy this – Kevin just cracks me up.
I enjoy writing for 911 & Porsche World magazine. Editor Steve Bennett is a lot of fun and comes up with some great pieces of his own. Steve recently gave me a regular words and pictures slot in the magazine under the You and Yours banner and, while the first few were perhaps a little underwhelming to look at, I think the section is coming together.
The slot came up following a pair of Porsche 968 words and pics shoots that came out OK (above and below). The idea behind You and Yours is to get in touch with 911 & Porsche World readers. So far, all have been Porsche owners who have something interesting to say about their car, where it fits in their world, and in the wider world of Porsche.
I started the series with Ian Highfield, a friend with a modified 964 who has been through a few 911s to get to this one. The car has since sold, but it was a nice example and fun to shoot.
After that we had Will Inch, owner of a black SC with a 3.6 engine transplant. The SC was Will’s second Porsche, following a Speed Yellow 993 widebody. Will now runs a 1974 2.7 Carrera and will hopefully be joining us on the TwinSpark Racing Spa track day in October.
After Will came NurburgSingh: Lali Atwal and his 924 Carrera GT recreation with full 968 running gear. Lali is a Nürburgring nutter who races a classic VW Beetle in Swinging Sixties Sports Championship: excellent fun to work with.
Following Lali we had Peter Heaton, owner of a very smart 993 RS-style 911 in Silver. The 3.8-litre Cup motor makes a beautiful noise through a Cargraphic exhaust.
My most recent patient was Paul Starkey. Paul is a good friend who owns a smart 3.2 Carrera that looks stock, but has been tweaked by Tuthill Porsche and a few others to provide good fun on track. Paul is also coming to Spa in October.
The one thing all these guys have in common is a love of the Porsche community. It doesn’t really matter that their cars are hot rods, modified, rare or otherwise: it can literally be anything with a Porsche badge. The biggest part of what I’m after for the You and Yours slot is someone who genuinely enjoys being part of Porsche culture. Owning the right polo shirt is just not enough!
I’m always up for discussing an idea with an owner who fancies having a go, so if this rings a bell with you, email me at mail@ferdinandmagazine.com and let’s explore the possibilities. You get to have a bit of fun with a Porsche anorak and also get some free photos of your car!
Some great Porsche Targa Tasmania video has just gone live, featuring Walter Röhrl and Christian Geistdörfer talking about the SC rally car from the Porsche Museum they are using on the Targa Tasmania. It’s not on Youtube yet, so you’re getting a sneak preview.
Here we learn that the boys are apparently using their actual original SC from the 1981 San Remo Rally; pretty cool. Can’t wait to get more information on the chassis and that engine. I want to know why the Almeras stickers on a works 911 – I reckon it was maybe rented from France for Walter but we’ll find out: 1981 was a funny old year for Herr Röhrl. I’ll likely be queued up to see the SC when it gets back from Australia, where it’s helping to celebrate 60 years of Porsche down under.
Also on Origin are some nice pics from the Carrera Cup meet at Brands Hatch last weekend. While I was dropping back the C4S this morning, a friend at Porsche GB told me that the pics had come out well and she wasn’t kidding.
Meanwhile back on Youtube, this privateer vid has also gone up, featuring some of the museum cars as they take to the track at the Longford Revival Motorsport show. Porsche have certainly shipped some talent out to Taz – no wonder I only bumped in to one Porsche Museum acquaintance at Essen!
The Porsche Youtube Channel’s Targa Tasmania reporting starts tomorrow.
This month’s 911 and Porsche World magazine features a story on Derek Bell and his 928 Club Sport, written by me with photos by my partner in crime, James Lipman. Thanks to Derek’s hectic so-called retirement, the job took me a few months to set up, but it was well worth the wait: it was a truly fantastic experience from start to finish.
Porsche at Weissach built a small number of tweaked 928s for the works drivers. At the time of shooting, the car was owned by Justin Pressland, but it has since sold to a Belgian enthusiast and well known collector of important Porsche cars. Partly a shame as Justin was the perfect owner: an outright aficionado of the model, who regularly used and enjoyed the car. The 928 is now in good hands, however, and I expect to see it out and about on the European classic Porsche scene in 2010.
As for Derek Bell: what hasn’t already been said? As a five-time Le Mans winner, Derek is obviously a driver par excellence, but behind the glamour of racing, Derek is an intelligent, engaging conversationalist and a very entertaining man to spend time with. He is certainly deserving of his revered status within the Porsche community.
Here’s a brilliant bit of video illustrating the genetic connection between man and machine. This is Derek Bell in the Porsche 956 at Le Mans in 1983. The 24-Hour Le Mans race went right to the final lap, between the number three Porsche 956 of Al Holbert and Bell’s number one car.
Entering the final stint one lap down on Holbert, the number three car began to slow as a blocked radiator generated engine damage. Bell unlapped himself and charged on. On the very last lap, the Holbert car’s engine seized and then stalled. Holbert managed to get it running again but crossed the line just 17 seconds ahead of Bell. What a story!
Observe and absorb the awesomeness of that speed along the Mulsanne Straight: it was a privilege to work with this legend of Porsche. We had lots of fun with Mister Bell and hope to work with him again in the future.
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.
