by John Glynn | Jul 9, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Modified Porsche Hot Rods, Project Cars
Love these new Porsche 911 anti-roll bars (sway bars) from our friends at EB Motorsport. Sold in matched pairs for front and rear, the front ARB runs through the body, while the rear is suspended across the chassis using the original mounts.
“The EB Motorsport anti-roll bar set has been developed on our own cars in racing,” says EB’s Mark Bates. “Front and rear bars are available in various sizes: 22mm is the most popular size for 3.0 RS and RSRs like our race cars. We use hollow bars as we prefer the characteristics. The ARB stiffness is fully adjustable.
“The EB Motorsport anti-roll bars feature elegantly simple engineering. The bushed mounting system on both front and rear installations is less likely to distort in extreme conditions. Consequently, it resists “grounding out” as many other ARB types are prone to when under high load, such as at the bottom of Paddock Hill, at Brands Hatch.
The original design of this product is multi-piece aluminium, TIG welded. The bushes used by these EB Motorsport Porsche 911 anti-roll bars are a modern polymer equivalent to the original Delrin Acetal resin. Drop links are beautifully machined from aluminium and anodised. Cross drilled moment arms allow for easy adjustment. All connections feature rose joints with machined spacers, to allow free movement.
Some friends of mine use the Smart Racing rear ARB on their classic Porsche 911 for track days, and I have definitely seen those ground out at Paddock. In fact, I have even seen the rear tyre rub against the inside of the wheelarch through that compression zone and burn the paint off the outside of the arch on a 3.2 Carrera. It’s a pretty intense Porsche workout around Brands Hatch! Impressive if EB has found a way around the issue.
The EB Motorsport anti-roll bar kits retail at £1215 ex-works. They are suitable for most early cars, and all 911s up to 1989 with some modification to front fitment: impact bumper 911s are not through-the-body as standard. Contact EB Motorsport via their website to find out more.
by John Glynn | Jul 6, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Modified Porsche Hot Rods, Project Cars
Many of you will probably wish there were different wheels on this Porsche 356 Outlaw, recently spotted at an EASY Porsche meet in San Francisco. I reckon they are covering a brake upgrade – especially given the drivetrain changes – but no doubt this is an interesting car.
Super smooth bodywork with some urban stealth touches: grey primer with wiper delete, and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup rubber wrapped around those twist rims, the pics came from my buddy John G up in northern California. JG recently picked up a dune buggy body, and the emails have been flying on plans for chassis and drivetrain.
Air-cooled is obviously the only way to go for power, and JG likes the flat-four seen here. “I think I found what I want for a dune buggy motor this morning. Type 4 VW with Webers and Porsche shroud and vertical fan. This one was a bus motor, taken out to 2.7-litres. But super clean, no wires showing, nothing but the good stuff. Very cool: me likey.”
Me likey too. Dune buggies have been a bit of a thread around here lately, with a big buggy rebuild project in progress alongside my Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 at Racing Restorations. Rob Campbell has built a complete safety roll cage with seat belts for the owners and his kids, and sorted a lot of original fabrication issues.
I had a chance to drive the dune buggy around the estate before it was picked up, and that was a tick on the bucket list. I’ve always had a thing for dune buggies. Now that the mid-life is in full swing, I’d sort of enjoy having one for the odd days of good weather we see in the UK, although I prefer the shorter wheelbase models.
Looking forward to having JG’s buggy sorted in California. No doubt it will be a project for many years yet, but that will be a laugh when it’s finished!
by John Glynn | Jul 4, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Modified Porsche Hot Rods, Project Cars
Happy 4th of July to all my friends in the USA! Hope you all have a great day. My last post was on Lewis Hauser’s Porsche 356 Sportolet. Lewis sent me a nice story afterwards of meeting Doctor Wolfgang Porsche with the 356, which is well worth sharing.
“I can’t believe I forgot to mention meeting Wolfgang Porsche! It was at the 50th Porsche Parade in Hershey, PA. We ran into some of the Porsche family members looking at the car. One of them was Wolfgang Porsche, who said he thought it was one of their original prototypes and that it was beautiful.
“Dr Porsche was a very nice man. He also talked with me about my ’55 coupe that was at the first Parade in 1956 and on display with the other historic Porsches that weekend. He liked it because he could tell that the car was driven regularly. He said that his father intended for Porsches to be driven, not scrubbed with Q-Tips.”
One man who is definitely not a Q-Tip scrubber is the Sportolet’s current owner: Rob Abbott in Maryland. Rob has a number of vintage Porsches, including the superb ST rep seen here. It was built by another pair of non-Q-Tippers, Dave B at TRE in Los Angeles and our hot rod hero, Hans Lapine at Kundensport.
“This project started with a very nice, original Signal Orange 1971 911T,” says Rob. “Having spent entire project budgets just sorting out previous rust-ridden 911s, we decided to start with a good car. The idea was not to build a perfect ST replica – no two were alike, in any case – but something that could have been ordered from the factory by someone with connections.
“All the bodywork was done at Kundensport. The car is mostly steel bodied including fenders (wings) and bumpers, which were cut and formed to the fenders, and slotted for the Carrera oil cooler. It has an aluminum rear deck lid and a factory-style balsa-reinforced fiberglass hood.”
The interior is super trick, and the engine is a hot rod 3.2 running PMOs. I’ve got some more build pics and detail shots from Rob to share later. For now, enjoy July 4th and the pics of this pair together on a Pacific coast drive during R Gruppe Treffen. Looking great!
by John Glynn | Jul 2, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Modified Porsche Hot Rods
Having heard some nice reports from various sources about Lewis Hauser and his Karosserie restoration company in Fairfax, Virginia over the last few years, it was great to finally swap a few emails with Lewis this week, discussing one of his most fascinating Porsche projects to date: the 356 Sportolet.
Outlaw Porsche 356
I first came across the 356 Sportolet via a Google search, inspired by Facebook messages to Ferdinand Magazine’s page from a Pre-A owner restoring a car with Lewis. The Pre-A was one of the best I had seen, so I did some more searching and it led me to the Porsche Club of America’s Potomac Region magazine, Der Vorgänger, from June 2013.
In there was a piece on Lewis written by Jonathan Kinberg. It mentioned a 1953 356 Cabriolet restoration that Lewis completed for John Wood in 2008. I remembered a magazine feature on the car a few years ago and being blown away by the quality of the work. Another noted restoration (for Dick Brumme on a super rare 1950 Cabriolet) drew some interesting owner comments.
“I’ve known Lewis since the early 1980s,” said Dick. “He has worked on several of my cars including a ’72 Mercedes coupe, my ’61 roadster and the 1950 cab! He does excellent work and runs a great shop. Everything is done on time and with no surprises. He has a really weird sense of humor, but I like it. He is a good guy!”
My sense of humour often draws the same remarks, so we were off to a very good start. No doubt the Sportolet has drawn a few sideways glances too, so I asked Lewis how the project got started.
Outlaw Porsche 356 Coupe/Roadster Conversion
“The Sportolet started life as a ’56 Coupe. After doing so many of these cars, I thought it would be fun to make a coupe into an open unit. I had a Convertible D dash with cowl and two Roadster doors that I thought I would graft to the car. I also had a Convertible D rear lined up to complete the Roadster, but the guy sold that to someone else.
“After doing the door and dash cowl work, the project stalled for about 5 years. I had the car in my storage shed when a hurricane knocked the corner off the building, just missing the car. I took that as a sign that I needed to complete the project.
“Without the rear clip, I decided one day that the front cowl and hood off a ’62 parts car would look good as the back end of the car. The louvers on the rear cowl came from the inside of a Cabriolet deck lid. The louvers on the hood came from the inside of coupe deck lids. I made the mirror shell out of aluminum, just like the factory did with the Carreras.
“The engine is out of a 912. The seats came out of a GT Coupe. The interior has original door panels: everything else is wrapped with vintage vinyl, taken from various seats and things that I’ve been collecting for the last 30 years. The horns are very rare ‘fanfare’ horns that I took off a Pre-A.
“We finished the car just in time to display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s ‘America on the Move’ exhibit. The car was the first Outlaw to win Best of Show at the 30th anniversary 356 Registry Holiday in Williamsburg, Va. I have since sold the car to Rob Abbott: he keeps it in Southern California.”
What a superb story so far, and nice to know it lives with Rob, who has a great eye for classic Porsche. That means I’ll get to see it in person one day! I sent some of Lewis’ Sportolet pics to a couple of friends and the reception was mixed: seems you either get this or you don’t. Maybe it’s just like Lewis’ sense of humour. If this little Outlaw sums up the man, we should get along just fine.
by John Glynn | Jul 1, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Market & Prices
Catching up on some overdue Porsche insurance valuations today, I tripped over this superb 1970 Porsche 911 2.2 T Targa for sale in Kleve, Germany: just inside the border with The Netherlands.
First registered in May 1970, this Signal Orange 911 Targa has clocked up 135,000 kilometres, or about 84,000 miles. I did email the garage for some better pictures but they haven’t come back to me yet. So I apologise for the picture quality, but you get the idea of potential condition: seems super original to me. I also like the ad text.
“Here we have one of the few completely authentic 911 Targa vehicles, almost as delivered. The car has all the attributes of a historically valuable vehicle, also because of its small sympathetic errors. Average paint coating thickness of 140 My (only a point slightly more).
“Well documented: a plethora of bills, original service history, all keys. The vehicle was picked up in Stuttgart by the original owner. The train ticket from 07/17/1970 is here. Apparently matching numbers, aluminum brake calipers, 5 x “Deep Six Fuchs wheels“, radio, etc.”
No doubt a skilled eye will find some holes to poke in condition, and the ad doesn’t say how many owners, but a nicely patinated Signal Orange Targa with the original train ticket from factory collection? I just love it!
Let’s slip back to July 1970. Jimi Hendrix starts his first recording session in New York City, Casey Kasem’s Top 40 show enjoys its first recording (RIP, dear Casey) and the first Boeing 747 lands in Amsterdam, en route to Brussels.
As the Jumbo touches down in Amsterdam, a man steps on board a train, bound for Stuttgart. Awaiting his arrival is a new-for-1970 C-series 911 Targa, with the brand new 2.2-litre engine and alterations to front suspension geometry for a less fidgety feeling on the road. Signal Orange is the colour of choice: a brave decision.
June 1970 was a fine, sunny month: some German towns enjoyed more than two weeks without rain. July kept it going, and August was also a scorcher. September recorded fifteen days with no rain in some parts of Germany: perfect weather to enjoy a brand new 911T Targa. Oh, to be back in the ’70s!
What’s the verdict? It’s on Mobile.de, priced at €71,000. Not bad money if it’s solid.
