by John Glynn | Jul 17, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Market & Prices, Porsche News
The annual Silverstone Classic is next weekend – July 25 to 27 – and of course we will be there to follow the Porsches coming from our friends at Tuthill Porsche, and the mighty EB Motorsport.
This RSR replica has spent the last few weeks at Tuthills being prepared for the Silverstone weekend. Built elsewhere, the car had a number of issues after delivery, so arrived at Wardington with a list of repair jobs to do. It is coming together nicely, so I hope the owner enjoys a reliable weekend.
EB Motorsport’s Light Yellow Porsche 911 3.0 RSR and the Guards Red RS will both run at Silverstone on Friday and Saturday, in the Masters Historic qualifying and race. The SWB 911 sadly won’t be seen at Silverstone but is still looking good for Spa 6-Hours.
As always, Silverstone Auctions is holding a sale at the event. Running over two days, there are a number of Porsches listed for sale. A 1974 Porsche 911 S restoration project is estimated at £10-15k, while an allegedly stunning Carrera 3.2 Cabriolet is estimated at £18-22k. Seems low to me for a three-owner car with 81,000 miles. In Iris Blue, the colour may not arouse a majority of buyers, but only takes one to make a sale (or two to make a war).
The 1967 Porsche 911 2.0 ex-California car in Sand Beige seen above, with low mileage since a full engine rebuild is estimated at £45-55k: sounds alright for a left-hand drive car if it’s in good condition. But my favourite photo from the catalogue must be this Mini Cooper S, which has lived in the seller’s living room since purchased in 2006. It’s been recommissioned and MOT’d since leaving the sofa.
As ever with auctions, do your homework before committing to anything. Estimates are usually low, so expect some auction fever to knock prices up a notch. We’ll be around somewhere to watch how the bidding goes.
![Kremer ST Replica: Porsche 911 Desert Drive]()
by John Glynn | Jul 14, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Modified Porsche Hot Rods
I caught up with my Arizona Porsche driver friend and fellow 911 Carrera 3.0 fan, Gib Bosworth, over the weekend. Gib sent me these wonderful photos of his Kremer Porsche 911 ST replica on the famous Apache Trail – what a route to drive!
“The Kremer ST rep is a special sports purpose car, not intended for Sunday cruises,” says Gib. “It’s a blast to drive with strong acceleration and great sounds inside and out. It has a very vintage feel, which is what I was after. I’ve got a 1990 964 for comfortable cruising, with good air conditioning!
“The ST is based on a Euro ’72 T, just like the original car. It has a 2.5-litre twin plug MFI engine, and runs 9 x 15″ Fuchs front with 11 x 15″ Fuchs rear. The project took about two and a half years: I enjoyed the learning experience when researching the details of what the Kremer Racing team did with this private entry in Europe’s GT class events. The original car won the European GT competition in 1972, and also took the Porsche Cup.”
The product of Gib’s fascination with the classic 911, it must be an incredible car to see on the road in the proper wild west of America. That said, it’s highly fitting that this unique machine should race through such a unique landscape, where the early pioneers pushed into unknown territory, just like the Kremer brothers back in the day.
The peak seen here is Superstition Mountain, king of the Superstitions and topped by Flatiron Peak: a well-known Pheonix hiking favourite. Climbing to the top is doable as long as you have stamina, plenty of water and a strong head for heights. The last part of the ascent is a 12-foot vertical climb, guaranteed to test your staying power.
Back in the Gold Rush times of the 1890s, nearby Goldfield was a booming mining town with a population of five thousand. More than fifty working gold mines once graced the area, but the original town eventually disappeared and a tourist attraction cowboy site now stands in its place.
Arizona is a beautiful state and towns including Tombstone, Bisbee, Jerome (once named wickedest town in the west) & Vulture Mine are all on my list of places to go in a Porsche. I don’t believe in a previous life, but if I had one it was something do with gold mining. You know when you just get a feeling?
by John Glynn | Jul 14, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Porsche News, Race and Rally
A nail-biting finish on the 2014 Midnight Sun Rally yesterday, as the 911 legends at Tuthill Porsche claimed another European rally victory, this time by just six seconds after three days of hard fought, flat-out rallying.
Even more impressive was that driver, Patrik Sandell, was on his first ever rally in a Porsche 911, and catching some very experienced drivers ahead of him despite zero pace notes, their supreme local knowledge and proven speed as previous winners. Also the fact that he was driving a 3-litre Tuthill 911 normally found on the Below Zero Ice Driving school! Awesome job all round.
Sandell started the day over forty seconds down on the leader, with just forty kilometres of stages remaining. So Sandell needed to take a second a kilometre out of previous rally winner and former WRC driver, Kenneth Bäcklund, in a very quick Escort RS. As anyone who has rallied will tell you, this is almost impossible.
“Second place is infinitely doable, but to win we will need others to face misfortune. However, the completion rate at this level is very high,” said a cautious Richard Tuthill at the start of day three. The Tuthill mechanics had made quite a few setup changes overnight, so would the car be quick enough? We were about to find out.
The first stage of the day was SS13 Ramsjöhult: a nine-kilometre thrasher. Sandell won the stage, finishing 8.8 seconds faster than the leader. The day was off to a proper start. “I’m in love with this car right now! It’s close to perfect,” said Patrik at the end of stage thirteen. Next stage was Vallavägen at 8.8 kilometres. Sandell was five seconds faster than the next quickest Porsche, but only six-tenths up on Bäcklund.
Then came Viggaren: 13 kilometres long. Bäcklund held nothing in reserve, but Sandell was first, six seconds quicker than Kenneth. The next stage was Forssjö, five kilometres long. Sandell took a further eight seconds off the leader and with two stages left was just fourteen seconds down.
Penultimate stage was by far the longest of the two remaining: Härad at 6,240 metres long. Over six kilometres, Sandell stuck to his second-a-kilometre rhythm and finished the stage just under nine seconds down on the Escort. Heading into the last stage, a win was looking unlikely. Semi-resigned to finishing second, which would still have been a great Porsche debut for the Red Bull Global Rallycross winner, Patrik left the start with all guns blazing for the 1.5 kilometre stage.
Then, who knows what happened – a burst of nerves, a slippy clutch foot, a distraction in the corner of his mind – but Bäcklund blew the start. False starts earn a ten second penalty: one more than Sandell needed to win. Bäcklund finished eight seconds down, and Sandell finished on top.
“I had a fantastic weekend with Tuthills and the car was awesome to drive,” said Patrik (above, right) at the finish. “The car gave me great feedback all weekend, and I don’t think people understand the speed you can get from a historic Tuthill Porsche. The team have been so professional the whole race and we have really worked together to get this win!”
I know how delighted everyone in the team is to see a fresh face take to the car and bring it home undamaged, on top of the podium. Tuthill Porsche has a groundbreaking rally project coming out soon – it could be amazing if they can get Sandell in that. I will be there to cover it!
Pics courtesy of Midnattssolsrallyt/Fotogubben
by John Glynn | Jul 13, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Modified Porsche Hot Rods
This Kremer Porsche 962 was a recent visitor to a friend’s service workshop. Despite my spending at least one day a week there, I missed it, but am working on future visiting rights.
Everyone knows about the Porsche 962: super successful Group C racer that claimed abundant silverware for owners with the nuts to drive them properly. However, a number of customers were unhappy with Porsche’s version of the 962 and decided to do things their own way.
Formula One of the time was breaking new ground with composite tubs, but Porsche stuck to single-skin aluminium monocoque. When Kremer drivers Manfred Winkelhock and Jo Gartner were both killed in 962s – Mosport 1985 and Le Mans 1986 respectively – Kremer contacted John Thompson in the UK and had him build a stronger aluminium honeycomb tub with composite inserts and bodywork.
Scratch-built Kremer 962s using Thompson’s much stiffer tubs were badged as 962 CK6s, and Thompson went on to build full composite 962 chassis’ for Brun Racing. Despite 962 variants running well into the 1990s, Jo Gartner was the last man to be killed at Le Mans until Allan Simonsen’s death last year.
Flying slightly blind here, I’m half guessing at this being Kremer 962 CK6 09, one of the last Kremer 962s built, although it could be chassis 05. Shown on the JZM Hunter chassis alignment ramp, it’s fitted with Volk Racing centrelock wheels, which were chosen by many 962 teams. CK6-09 enjoyed an interesting career. Built specifically for the Le Mans 24-Hours, it raced in 1991, ’92 and ’93, with a highest placed finish of 11th overall.
Manuel Reuter’s name can be seen on the door. While not a household word outside of Germany, Manuel enjoyed sportscar success, twice winning Le Mans and racing 962s for much of his career. The 1992 Interserie Division 1 champion in a Kremer K7, he also raced DTM for Opel and was a DTM TV commentator too.
How many Porsche 962s were built? Depends who you read and how you add up the numbers. Counting later derivatives, it is certainly more than three figures.
by John Glynn | Jul 12, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Race and Rally
Our friends at Tuthill Porsche are chasing a win on Sweden’s Midnight Sun Rally. Porsche virgin, Patrik Sandell, is at the wheel and driving a near immaculate rally on his 911 rally debut.
It’s surprising that Sandell – the 2006 Junior World Rally Champion, currently starring in the US-based Red Bull Global Rallycross series – has never rallied a Porsche 911. There was a time when most budding rallyists would have clocked up 911 seat time, exploring the rear-engined icon on gravel.
But the 32-year old Swede comes from a different generation, where front-wheel drive Ford and Citroen rally cars dominate the junior classes, and there is no perceived need to understand rear-drive dynamics. Nonetheless, Patrik is giving it everything in his Below Zero Ice Driving Porsche to keep in touch with former winner and multiple runner-up, Kenneth Bäcklund in an Escort RS.
““I have finally realised what pure flat out action is,” said Patrik at the end of Day 1. “Driving a no pace notes stage rally with a rear-wheel drive car on great stages is awesome!”
“It’s been pretty interesting out there and Patrik has certainly shown his speed,” says Richard. “Yesterday was ultimately a bit frustrating. The first stage we were bang on the pace, despite a minor overshoot. From then on, due to a very hard packed surface with no gravel at all, plus the stages being very well known by all around us we struggled.
“The good news is that we ran through some setup changes and have ended up with a better setup running EXE TC dampers all round. It will be great to see how today goes on stages that are less well known to the drivers: this will level out the playing field.
“Second place is infinitely doable but to win we will need others to face misfortune. We must also not discount a few quick boys breathing down our necks as well. One mustn’t forget this is Patrik’s first time in a Porsche and the completion at this level is very high.”
With a recent win against the Red Bull Rallycross heroes in Washington, Sandell is clearly at the top of his game. To see a 911 being driven this hard by a relative new boy with no pace notes is thrilling. I am loving this event and the arrival of an exciting new force in classic rallying!
