I had a cool email recently from Alex Webster, who works for Porsche in sunny Australia. Alex and dad Stewart have a tasty 356 collection, including the one seen here: a 1960 Roadster built as an all-metal Outlaw.
Others in the line up include a Carrera GT, Carrera 2, 1958 speedster and 1956 sunroof coupe: all original RHD. Stewart had this to say about his collection:
“The GT was delivered to New Zealand and has only covered 13k miles. The Carrera 2 was delivered to AFN in England, and made its way to Australia twenty years ago. Condition is said to be new: sounds like a beautiful car. The Speedster is one of four in Stone Grey cars, and was delivered through Hamiltons in Melbourne in 1958. The ’56 sunroof coupe was delivered by the dealer in Sydney and it too is like new.”
Stewart’s other 356s include half a dozen US models, restored and converted to RHD. The Outlaw looks like something else: someone should do a story on these Webster boys 😀
The best thing to come from blogging is an interesting social network. I’ve met some great people via writing and photographing Porsche cars over the last eight years, and to help three of them out in one go is a rewarding experience.
When an East Coast R Gruppe buddy emailed details of a SWB car for sale on the other side of the world a few months ago, asking my opinion and whether I knew anyone connected to the car, I drew a blank. My network is good, but not that good.
Fast forward a few months and another car comes up for sale. This one’s a 1970 911 in the UK, being sold by someone I’ve known online for a while, previously dealt with and bought from in person. Even better, this RHD 911 was for sale on the doorstep of some friends, so a pre-purchase inspection recommendation was ready and waiting.
My friends got together on the deal, and sent the car for a check over. The 911 was given a clean bill of health – couple of advisories but nothing serious. A deal was agreed and the car sailed off overseas: not stayed in the UK and not gone to America.
Will be nice to get some new pics of this 1970 Porsche 911T in its new home one day: great to help a Porsche deal happen!
Just put a quick voiceover on top of a video we shot back in 2007, when wife Sarah and I drove down to Lausanne in Switzerand to pick up my 911 Carrera 3.0 Coupe. It’s nothing special but I think some of you will enjoy it.
I first spotted the car in this pic on a Pelican Parts thread, and it was love at first sight. At the time, I owned a white 911 SC Cabriolet which I was very happy with, but I knew I would have to own this if it ever came up for sale.
When it did come on the market in October 2006, I struggled with the numbers for a bit and eventually realised I would have to sell the SC to pay for this C3. That Cabriolet was a darling and I struggled with the decision, but five years on, I still feel good about my choice.
The Orange (so named by previous owner GeorgeK) looks standard but is quite different to how it left the factory. Engine is standard and I still have the original side glass, but most everything else is modified. There is really too much to list: we’ll get into it in detail sometime soon.
This 911 is my Cult of Porsche. We’ve got more videos of it to come and 2013 is expected to be a year of work on the car before Le Mans 2014. I’ll be there in this for sure. Keep it here for more on my Continental Orange Carrera and upcoming top end rebuild. If anyone’s got a deal on throttle bodies for this, I’m all ears!
I spent today in a Porsche technical workshop, gathering feature ideas and furthering my technical knowledge. Porsche mechanics, Andy, Chris, Danny, Mike and Ricky have plenty of experience to share, and there was lots going on.
One project caught my eye. A customer had brought his 996 GT3 RS in to check pulling to the left after the all-important suspension geometry had been set elsewhere. The problem was enough to have the owner on the verge of selling the car, as he found it almost undriveable.
First job was to road test the car. The steering wheel was off centre, tyres were rubbing on the front arches when pressing on and the front ride heights were too low. One normally innocuous bump on the test route was enough to bottom out the dampers and send the car way off track.
Getting the car up on the Hunter alignment ramp, Ricky checked fuel level, front weight and tyre pressures. Then the Hunter wheel clamps were attached, which carry 3D targets to set the geometry up to the wheel centres. Without knowing that the target is centred, all measurements will be off.
I’ve had my E36 M3 measured on this ramp so I know how good it is. It was fascinating to watch the readings being calculated and to see what had been done to the car to get it so far wrong, with camber & castor different side to side up front, and the rear wheels toeing out unevenly. No idea why anyone would set a 911 to toe out but we’ll cover this issue of geometry in a future issue of Ferdinand, as it’s super fascinating if you’re into fast road or track driving.
Underneath a 996 GT3 RS learning about what’s adjustable and why you would adjust it is a pretty cool place to be. No doubt they’ve got their issues, but I remain convinced that standard 996s will assume classic status one day. For the GT3 RS, those days are already here. They just look better and better!
Built from May 1975 to July 1976 and for the US market only, the Porsche 912E (factory type 923) has the narrow IB body: quite rare with a galvanised shell and a look I really like. Yesterday was 12/12/12: the most perfect day ever to buy a 912E, so I bought the one you see here.
The 912E was originally equipped with a 90hp 2-litre flat 4, but I bought this one without running gear. Not that I’ve got anything against flat 4s – after all, I drive Subarus every day – just this was in my (cheap) price band as being sold with no engine or transmission.
Between the 914’s demise and the 924’s arrival, the 912 filled the entry-level Porsche slot. I’ve already got a 924 Turbo and a no-frills 944, so I’m happy to have secured this little 912 chassis. History tells us that the bargain basement cars are often the ones that don’t get saved, so it’s good to keep this one together.
Will it go back to factory? Beyond the paint code, I doubt it. Ferdinand’s 912E has some dodgy white paint over factory Arrow Blue – one of my favourite colours. So we will put it back to Arrow Blue but not with the stock running gear.
The plan is to bring it back to the UK from its current CA home and build something on it eventually. No idea what yet: maybe a backdate 3.6-litre 911 ST: something like a backdated 911 using EB Motorsport 911 ST body panels, or just a narrow body 4-cylinder, but not with Porsche 4-cylinder power unless they do some 1.8-litre Turbo Boxster down the road. Probably flat-4 VW 1.9 or 2.5 from the WEVO stable if we go 4-cylinder.
I have a bunch of Porsche parts in CA that need to come home, so they can all travel in this now. Pretty excited by my purchase, as you can imagine!
One thing I forgot to say about California car auction TV is there are plenty of ad breaks, and most are for Viagra, or something pretending to be that. I’m guessing that not too many kids watch this stuff. Thankfully, I’m not in need just yet.
I also know people will ask me what Jamie’s 912 looks like, so here it is, live from California. I’m watching Overhaulin’ rather than standing outside in the shade, but it doesn’t mean I don’t care!
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