by John Glynn | Jul 7, 2010 | Classic Porsche Blog, Modified Porsche Hot Rods, Road Trips
Today was the last day in Monaco for the 2010 R Gruppe Grand Tour. With no group plan for the day, I was up at 7.30 and out in the Orange 911 Carrera 3.0, to repeat yesterday’s drive up the Col De Turini, and the amazing road from Turini to Sospel.
Col de Turini is the heart of the Monte Carlo Rally. As Monte has been a dream event for me for many years, driving the core stage of this monumental test of man and machine was a must.
At just 1607 metres high, Turini is a relatively low mountain pass, but that does not take away from the sense of occasion one enjoys upon reaching the summit. Once at the top, there was no doubt in my mind: a life goal had been reached.
After driving up the Col, I spent the early part of the morning seeking out locations for a photo shoot planned for later that day. I came up with some places and plans, which ultimately did not work out anything like I’d intended but, regardless of the operational challenges, it was great to spend time with the five faithful Gruppers who returned to the mountains to help me with the work. Many thanks to Leonard, Jan, Guenter, Gerd and Martin.
Tomorrow we drive to Le Mans, for a weekend at the biannual Le Mans Classic. It’s my first time there with press accreditation, so I’m looking forward to the challenge of working at Classic Le Mans, rather than just being there as a Porsche fan and car guy in search of entertainment.
Not that there won’t be entertainment to hand! My fellow Bergmeisters are all coming to Le Mans, where we’ll be joined by the ImpactBumpers.com crowd, and the Dutch R Gruppe posse. The Amsterdam massive includes good buddy Arjen Bosman, who has rented a (British) caravan to camp at the event: bound to be unmerciful fun.
The exception to the attendees will be little brother Sam, who flies back to Dublin from here tomorrow. He has been to every CLM with me so far, so it’s going to be strange not having him with us this time around.
We leave Monte Carlo at 7am. After today’s drive down from the mountains through Castillo and the other lovely villages overlooking the bay, I’m missing it already.
by John Glynn | Jul 2, 2010 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars, Road Trips
Crazy day today, moving cars around and dragging my Carrera 3.0 out of storage, to give it a quick service before tomorrow’s departure on the RGruppe Bergmeister Tour, followed by Classic Le Mans.
Today was the first time I had done valve clearances on a 911. I was using a standard feeler gauge and I can tell you it’s not so much fun. Eventually got through it – hopefully the Orange will sound good when the fresh oil goes in tomorrow. I put the rocker covers back on with 100% silicone gaskets.
I also changed the plugs from yuk Bosch (just don’t like Bosch plugs) to platinum NGK B8-EVKs. I ran these spark plugs in my SC Cab and they made a nice difference, so let’s see how they do in Orange. I installed some ultrasonically cleaned injectors too, though I doubt they’ll have a huge effect. I saw the buildup of gunk through the open ports of my metering head a while back, and think that needs to come apart next: no time to do it just at the mo.
Bye Bye Bosch Plugs
Got lots of bits to finish off tomorrow: grab a Knecht filter and a pair of drain plug washers at Tuthills, get some oil and a couple of new fan belts from my spares place in Banbury and go get a cigarette lighter to throw in the glovebox, to power the sat nav. It needs a tyre change and perhaps a bit of a wash. Then I need to throw my luggage in and the other stuff I’m bringing for people: t-shirts, badges, number plates and the like! I just spent tonight sorting out my camera bag.
We’ve had the TomTom-friendly RGruppe Bergmeister routes through from RallyAtlas and they all look pretty good. I’ve already modified my Day One file to pick me up at Rotterdam and take me to way point 5 on the list, close to the Belgian border. Don’t want to get sent to Amsterdam first. I also booked my return trip with SeaFrance which I am really looking forward to. The Tunnel is fast but it has no romance: I’d like to round this trip off with a little bit of style.
Split Fan Belt: got to find a pair of these tomorrow
I’m looking forward to getting away and getting down to work. I’ll be diarising/photographing the Bergmeister Tour for a feature and then covering the IB boys’ fun at Classic Le Mans for a separate piece, so should be some great stories in there. We might also find a feature car or two at Le Mans: I’m hooking up with Jamie down there so the pics for those are gonna be good.
Hope to bump into some Classic Porsche Blog readers at Classic Le Mans. Definitely say hi if you spot me. If I go a bit quiet on here, it’s just a lack of wi-fi. I’ll post when I can!
by John Glynn | Jun 30, 2010 | Classic Porsche Blog, Road Trips
Things are absolutely flat out here, as I try to get two US features and a pair of magazine columns done, before readying my Orange 911 Carrera 3.0 for the 2010 RGruppe Bergmeister Tour, and our subsequent trip to Classic Le Mans; back to our beautiful gîte in Dissay-sous-Courcillon.
The Dutch posse leaves Amsterdam at 07:30, heading for Belgium. The original idea was for the latecoming members of UK RGruppe (i.e. me and Hamish) to hook up with the German and Dutch cars (and the US IROC car which has been shipped in especially) somewhere south of Brussels at around 09:30, but that would mean getting an 05:30 train, so my leaving home before 3am.
Little brother gets in to Brum from Dublin at 8pm the previous night so, between getting the car done all day Friday and the Saturday night arrival in Geneva, I was staring down a double-barreled all-nighter. Not impossible with two drivers, but not much fun for either.
I considered missing the convoy and going straight to Geneva from Brittany Ferries’ Portsmouth to Caen route, which is actually quite a bit shorter, but a: it was booked solid and b: it kind of felt like cheating. I also considered an 11pm Chunnel crossing, driving to a hotel south of Brussels and getting 5 hours’ sleep before the Dutchies arrived, but that didn’t feel quite right: the tunnel is quick, but it’s a romance-free zone!
Then the thought occurred: what about sailing to the Netherlands overnight? Take a leisurely drive from Birmingham Airport to Harwich, slip onto Stena Line’s midnight boat to the Hook of Holland, which would get us into Rotterdam at around 08.30 CET as close to the tour start as possible, fully relaxed and rested. I ran the idea past Chaptermeister Stolk and he liked it too.
So that’s the plan. Pick up little bro, head to Harwich, put the Orange in the safe hands of Stena Line while we head upstairs, have a bit of dinner and chill out. We’ll then squeeze in some zeds in comfortable beds, before kicking off the 2010 Bergmeister Tour with enough energy to really get the most from the drive south to Thonon-les-Bains, on the shores of Lake Geneva.
Day two brings us to Briancon. Day three then takes us to Monaco, where Bergmeister Base Camp will be established at the Novotel in the old town. From there, our ten classic Porsches will spend three days running along some classic Monte Carlo routes and also the the famous Mediterranean Corniches: those unbearably photogenic roads, carved into the mountains where they meet the glistening sea. James Bond: eat your heart out! I’m looking forward to more France Porsche pictures like this:
Don’t miss the story of this sure-to-be magnificent event. Follow it here on The Classic Porsche Blog and on The Classic Porsche Blog Twitter feed.
by John Glynn | May 19, 2010 | Classic Porsche Blog, Road Trips
My upcoming track day at Spa on June 7th still has a few spaces available. The event is in association with RSR Nurburg: we currently have 33 early 911s set to come on track, in a field of 55 cars. We are aiming to run 65 cars, which compares very favourably to the normal 90-100 cars other companies book in.
Spa is the greatest racetrack in Europe and perhaps even the world. Who knows how much longer it will be available to us? Now is the time to experience it for yourself. Don’t wait until next year: next year never comes!
The day costs €300 and is an open pit lane event. This means you can come and go as you please, and completely at your own pace.
Porsches are made for tracks and track days: after all, the track is where the factory developed them. These superb cars are well capable of driving down to Belgium, doing the day and coming back home again.The road trip will be a large part of the fun.
Even if you’ve never done a track day before, Spa is the perfect debut track. It’s a modern GP circuit, with all the safety and space (run-off provisions etc) needed to make that grade. As long as you keep your head, you really are in no danger at this wonderful sports car amphitheatre.
Get in touch ASAP if you want to take part in this event. You won’t regret it!
by John Glynn | May 9, 2010 | Classic Porsche Blog, Road Trips
Just back from another Porsche features trip to Northern California, with ace photographer Jamie Lipman.
As ever, the visit was a blast. Flying in to San Francisco on Wednesday, we stayed with good friends that night, before heading to Monterey for RGruppe Treffen on the Thursday. Mrs Glynn reckons she was worried about us on the first night, as I texted this: “Arrived safe. Picked up hire car. Crashed at H’s place.”, which she took to mean we had wrecked the rental. Not so.
Thursday evening was fun, with dinner at the very cool Baja Cantina, where we hooked up with Porsche buddies for all the news on what they’d been up to since last year. Our first car park search found a very nice ST rep with an ex-Seinfeld engine in it, which we shot the following day: fabulous car.
Friday was all about making new friends. We met some great guys for lunch and then spent the afternoon waiting for our ST. When that arrived, we shot it right by the sea, in windy but wonderful conditions. Friday night was a hella overpriced meal at John Pisto’s Whaling Station: the ponciest restaurant I have ever been in. The calamari starter was excellent, and great value at $9, but was not worth the rest of the seahorse-shite sales pitch that was foisted upon us by an unbearably pompous waiter. I still cringe at the memory of it. Service was goddawful and I pitied the bus boy who was a nice guy, shouldering the weight of morons. Don’t bother with it if you are ever down in Monterey! $520 later, we had learned our lesson.
Saturday was good fun. We were out the door at 5am, to shoot Alex Motola’s brand new Fraise ST, built by TRE in Los Angeles. The shoot went well, with the dawn light really playing ball. Jamie and I followed our successful early start with breakfast and pancakes at a great nearby cafe before heading out to Laguna Seca, to recce locations for another shoot that afternoon.
The shoot was on Steve McQueen’s very own 1976 930, in special order Slate Grey. The SCCA guys running Laguna that weekend couldn’t have been nicer to us, and we found some great locations in and around the track. We’ll be back for sure.
On Sunday, we shot some tracking on another 911 before leaving the coast in a friend’s incredible 3.6-engined early car. This is quite probably the greatest all-rounder of its kind anywhere, and the miles north were a real delight. Jamie has some really great pictures ready to go to print.
Monday afternoon was spent scouting San Francisco for locations on a Bullitt-style shoot we had pencilled in for the following day. Good fun being tourists: packing in some ‘Cable Car’ pizza, hitting the visitor hotspots and ending up eating Ben and Jerry’s ice cream at Haight Ashbury. It was a great day in the city we had both seen so much of on screen. Calling a potential feature on the way home was entertaining – never been hung up on so quickly.
Tuesday we dropped in to see Chris at the Blackhawk Collection. Chris is a great guy working in a great place, but more of that later. We were there to make arrangements for a piece we were doing a few days after. All thumbs up so we headed off to do our ’67 S shoot in the hills of San Francisco. It was fantastic.
Wednesday was a trip to Emeryville to see a 914 for sale, then a ride through Oakland before lunch at a great little cafe in Albany – The Four Corners. We then headed up to Novato, and shot a turbocharged 1975 911 S. Sweet car.
On Thursday we did the wickedest classic Porsche at Blackhawk before heading out to see a plane for sale in Brentwood. Turned out the seller was a good friend of the Hemi Cuda owner we shot on our last trip in September 2009. The piece has just appeared in Classic Cars magazine and it looks very good.
Friday was our last day. We visited our friends at Canepa to shoot their original little 911 L rally car, then came back up to say goodbye to all at WEVO, before jumping on a plane and arriving back in the UK next day. In the rain.
The pics here are from Friday. The transporter was taking a wicked Cobra away. He’d come all the way from Toronto and was originally from Walthamstow!
There you have it: 9 days in the USA and every one a winner. Where to next?!
by John Glynn | Apr 13, 2010 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars, Road Trips
Since our first visit to the Essen Techno Classica back in 2006, I have always wanted to drive my own car over. The sight of all those great old classics on show and for sale made me miss my 911, and Dusseldorf city centre seemed an ideal place for a cruise around amidst ancient German money. For 2010, I vowed to get to Essen using classic Porsche power.
With Eurotunnel booked and the Barclaycard ready to take the brunt of the fuel bill, at 3.30 last Wednesday morning, I set off for Essen.
First stop was Banbury, for a fill up for car and driver (iPhone pic above). 24 hour latte on tap is a lovely idea, especially when you’ve only had two hours sleep! Costa’s Raspberry and Almond bakes are the perfect accompaniment. My car runs the billet Airflow cupholders, which have paid for themselves in satisfying my 911+caffeine addiction many times over. With coffee and cake on board, and iPod shuffle piping through the Autocom intercom headphones, we headed for Folkestone.
Just before Junction 9, the sign said ‘M40 Closed; Junction 4 to 3’. Pain in the bum as there is no real alternative after J9 unless you want to go miles around via the A34/M4. I had also just passed the logical link from M40 to M1.
I came off at J9 and ran the A41 all the way through Aylesbury and out the other side, eventually hitting the M25 (above). The detour was a nuisance, but it was a great drive. The M25 southern section was soon dispatched, and I headed onto the M26/M20 (below), stopping for fuel at the last-chance services and arriving at Eurotunnel just as dawn was breaking.
I was sitting on a kerb taking this picture of the pink dawn sky over the terminal building, when a guy got out of a car on the other side of the hedge behind me. He called to his son: “Look, look! Look at this old Porsche! Oh WOW!” Then he must have seen the back of me sitting there being a camera geek, and British reserve kicked in just as his son came bundling out of their car and wowing excitedly, just the same. “Shush,” he said, “it’s only a car.” Made me smile.
After my first proper run in the Orange for almost 21 months (since July 08), caning along an empty A41 and then a good old blast around the M25, I thought to myself “Yes, it’s only a car. But what a car!”
The tunnel crossing was a chance to rest. Loved their note about opening sunroofs and vents seeing as I don’t have either. We rolled out the other side into beautiful sunshine and I put pedal to metal again, knocking on 160 km/h all the way to Antwerp. I stopped there to grab a bite:
Two hours later, I was checking in to Essen’s Hotel Petul. Once upon a time, I’d have downed a double espresso and shot straight on down to the show. With days of sleep deprivation catching up with me, I decided to grab a nap instead. There’s only so long a candle can be burnt at both ends!
