Good times on the California Hot Rod Porsche Tour 2012 last weekend, as we made our first-ever trip to the monthly RGruppe Porsche meet at EASY in Emeryville, San Francisco. EASY stands for European Auto Salvage Yard: this long-standing meet was recently featured on Wayne Carini’s Discovery TV show.
The weather here is terrific. Temperatures in the mid-70s (24 degrees Celsius) ensured a decent turnout, and it was good to see old friends and meet a few new ones including EASY top dog, Jim Breazeale.
We spent Friday at WEVO in San Carlos and WEVO’s Hayden Burvill (above) also came to EASY. The rather battered Porsche 911 known as Rabbit was his transport Porsche of choice: a 1973.5 2.4-litre 911T, running the original CIS injection. Was fun to convoy with it across the San Francisco bridges and out of the city: more on that one later.
Other cars spotted at EASY included Joey B’s beautiful Beetle with 356 running gear and a spotless ’76 911 Turbo (above) in special order Albert Blue, which we’ve arranged to shoot for a feature this week. So many cars, and so much fun to come!
Porsche announces the 2013 Porsche Cayenne Turbo S: 550 horsepower in 2,250 kg/5,000 lbs, give or take some man maths. Germany says it’s “the top athlete in SUV clothing: all of the basic Cayenne properties such as versatile offroad capabilities, high ride comfort and superior towing power have been preserved.” 0-60 is now 4.5 seconds and the top speed is 283 kmh/175 mph.
A 3 year-old, £25,000 used Porsche Cayenne diesel does “all of the basic Cayenne properties” Porsche mentions more than well enough, and proves that you don’t need 550 hp in a keep-it-for-years Porsche utility. Keen as it looks, what does a Cayenne Turbo S add to the best execution of a Stuttgart SUV?
It comes with active suspension management, dynamic chassis control, torque vectoring and standard Sports Chrono. It’s got glossy exterior trims, specially designed 21-inch rims, and bi-colour leather inside. It costs €150,000 in standard form, but does no practical SUV job better than the oil-burning benchmark. It’s shinier, but horses don’t care about that when they’re standing in a box, bolted to the back.
Ferry Porsche’s favourite cars always encapsulated a sweet-spot of engineering, performance and common sense: bling was not Ferry’s thing. China is currently awash with people who buy stuff because it’s the dearest, but will China buy enough of this to make it worth bothering with? What about Europe? The prestige market here is struggling, and Porsche has already cut production in response. Its hard not to feel that more power means more irrelevance out west, as luxury Europe contracts and California fuel prices hit an all-time high.
Cayenne Diesel has many of the qualities held in high regard by Porsche’s founders, but the Cayenne Turbo S is not Porsche as many know and love it. Stuttgart better hope that China stays rich: let’s hope it has plans for smaller, lighter modes of transport to support the founder’s vision.
Amelia Island Concours is the latest event to announce it will ‘honour’ the Porsche 911 in 2013, on the model’s 50th birthday.
The 2013 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, scheduled for March 9-10 in Amelia Island, Florida will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 911. These announcements always smack of “let’s haul in the Porsche dollars” but I guess there’s some sense in it, and for sure the show has its fans.
Amelia was at the centre of heavy Porsche action earlier this year with the Drendel Collection sale, and Florida is home to some hardcore Porsche enthusiasts, so there’s a strong local market. I live tweeted the Drendel sale on my Classic Porsche Blog if you don’t know what happened there.
“The profile of Porsche’s 911 is instantly recognizable,” said Bill Warner, Chairman of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. “The 911’s shape has remained fresh, contemporary and essentially unchanged since the day the first 911 was built a half century ago. That must be the best and purist (sic) definition of a truly great design.”
The Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance Foundation has donated nearly $1.8 million to Community Hospice of Northeast Florida, Inc. and other charities on Florida’s First Coast since its inception in 1996. Concours/show & shines are really not my thing, but kudos for the charity work. As a small percentage of takings, it shows just what these big events can earn over time.
About the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance
The Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance is held each year during the second weekend in March in Amelia Island, Florida. A New York Times article about celebrity car ownership listed the event alongside America’s other top concours d’elegance: Pebble Beach in California, Meadow Brook in Michigan and the Louis Vuitton Classic in Manhattan.
In a Concours d’Elegance (competition of elegance) each entry is rated for authenticity, function, history, style and quality of restoration by a team of judges including specialists for each car type. A perfect score is 100, but any imperfection requires a fractional point deduction. Classes are arranged by type, marque, coachbuilder, country of origin, or time period. Judges select prizewinners for each class, and also award “Best of Show” to one car from the group of first-place winners.
Had an email from my buddy Magnus Walker in LA last night, inviting me to the premiere of his Urban Outlaw Porsche film on September 28th. Assuming it was in California, I was forced to decline, but Magnus clipped me ’round the ear and told me it was London, as part of the Raindance Film Festival. Needless to say, I’m in!
Raindance is Europe’s leading independent film festival. An unmissable celebration of filmmaking, Raindance nurtures, supports and promotes independent films and filmmakers from the UK and around the world.
Ex-pat Magnus is thrilled to be showing his first short feature at Raindance in London, where his love for Porsche began. “Porsche began for me at the 1977 Motor Show: one look at the 930 and I was hooked. As a boy, I had the Turbo poster on my bedroom wall in Sheffield, but moving to LA was where it really started cooking. It really is the land of opportunity, especially the early 911 kind.”
California allows Porsche immersion like nowhere else on earth. No way could a UK-based Magnus have built a collection like the one he’s amassed over twenty five years in LA. In one sense, this premiere brings a virtual collection back to the UK, to be savoured with British 911 fans before heading off to the wider world. Walker agrees.
“A chance encounter with Canadian film director, Tamir Moscovici, earlier this year was the start of what was to become our Urban Outlaw short documentary film. Tamir’s movie vividly captures the soul of my Porsche passion/obsession & drive to succeed. Thirty-five years after that fateful London Motor Show, we bring our own motor show back to the capita: I hope we’ll get some Porsche fans there to enjoy it with us!”
You’ve seen the movie trailer previously on Ferdinand Magazine and the Classic Porsche blog, but it’s here again to remind you. UK hot rod Porschers and anyone else who wants to fly in are more than welcome to join us at the Apollo Piccadilly Circus on the night of Friday September 28th. Should be a great evening’s entertainment!
Fabulous top Magnus pic by our friend Maurice at Dutchman Photos, from his Total911 feature on the wild man.
A US friend just sent me a stack of pics from set up at the recent Mecum Auctions in Monterey, California, where Porsche entries fetched some record prices. I’m working on a post about the event, but I had to post this picture of a 356 straight away.
He calls it “put on your happy face”. It certainly brings mine out. Anyone else got Mecum or Monterey pics to share? Hit a brother up: mail@ferdinandmagazine.com.
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.
