by John Glynn | Jun 19, 2018 | Project Cars, Classic Porsche Blog
I recently had to move my 1983 Porsche 944 project from long term and slightly forgotten storage in a lock-up garage to a friend’s barn where some of my other cars are kept. The garage rent payments had increased to the point where they were being noticed rather than just drifting out of my account every month, so it was time for a change.
My Porsche projects have been right on the back burner for several years since I got back into old BMW motorcycles, but I haven’t lost any appetite for the three classic Porsches that remain as part of my fleet. The 924 Turbo is having a fuel system refresh with a new filter and pump arrangement to get around the issue of the in-tank pump and hopefully that will be off to storage somewhere else soon, leaving me with some garage space. Now the 944 is back on my radar after spending a day dragging it about and stripping some aluminium arms off a rear beam which is supposed to be heading its way, it is lined up to be next in the garage.
Porsche 944 Project: Rust Update
Moving the car was a good excuse to stop off at the Racing Restorations workshop and take a closer look at the only real rust on the car: small patches at the rear of both sills and a sizeable hole in the battery tray. I had a go at the sills with a hammer and chisel and – as I always suspected – they are really not bad: nothing like the shocking rust one sees on later 944s that have been used every year since manufacture. This 86k-mile example car has been in storage for over twenty years so I am not too surprised that the shell is in good condition.
The battery tray damage is rather more substantial than the rust on the sills, but my colleague assures me that repairing it properly will take less time than should be needed to pull the fusebox and loom out of the way. I’m taking that as a challenge. Having broken several 924s and 944s for spares and spent a lot of time lying in the driver’s footwell of my LHD Porsche 924 Turbo sorting out the wiring loom, getting all that copper out of this car won’t be that difficult: there’ll be a lot more room to work in once the brown dashboard has been removed.
This weekend was the first time I had driven some of my other cars for a while, including the lovely old 1993 Mercedes 500 SL in Malachite Green, my Daytona Violet E36 M3 saloon and my old Landcruiser 80-series. Still love those, too. Why would anyone buy a new car when old ones are so much cooler?
by John Glynn | Jun 18, 2018 | Race and Rally, Porsche News
The Pink Pig Porsche 911 RSR race car has won the 2018 Le Mans 24-Hour. The winning driver line up of Kévin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Michael Christensen delivered a commanding performance, holding the lead in the 92 car for most of the race and finishing on the top step of the podium after 344 laps of flat out racing.
The sister car of Richard Lietz, Frédéric Makowiecki and Gianmaria Bruni completed a one-two victory for Porsche in GTE-Pro. The result has helped Porsche to extend its lead in the drivers’ and manufacturers’ standings of the World Endurance Championship (WEC).
“It was an incredible race,” said Christensen. “The car was fast right from the start. We had a little luck during a safety car phase and we managed to pull clear of the field a little. From that point on, we focussed on extending our lead. In the final third of the race, we simply tried to avoid taking any risks to bring the car home in one piece. This worked perfectly.”
“This double victory is fantastic for Porsche and our team,” said Bruni, who claimed pole for the Rothmans-tribute RSR 91 with a terrific qualifying lap of a 3:47.504. “We had a great race and a great fight with the 92 car. We tried everything but our colleagues made no mistakes. They deserve the win.”
With two rounds of the 2018 WEC now complete, Porsche leads Ford in the manufacturers’ championship by 96 points to 50, with Ferrari, Aston Martin and BMW not too far behind. Estre and Christensen top the drivers’ table with 56 points ahead of Billy Johnson, Olivier Pla and Stefan Mücke in second with 48 points. Lietz and Bruni lie third on 40 points each.
This season has another year left to run, however, as it continues until after the 2019 Le Mans. Many more miles lie ahead before anyone can claim ultimate victory in the longest-ever endurance racing championship.
The AF Corse Ferraris and BMWs worked their hardest, but were let down by penalties and technical issues that cost them time in the pits. Aston Martin Racing debuted two new cars at Le Mans and both made it to the finish, which will give the team every confidence for the rest of the season.
by John Glynn | Jun 15, 2018 | Classic Porsche Blog, Market & Prices
Coldplay bassist, Guy Berryman is about to start the 2018 Coupe des Alpes in his 1967 Porsche 911S, which was recently restored at Tuthill Porsche. The star is a confirmed classic car obsessive, with a serious collection of notable classics, mostly European sports cars from the 1960s. After several months on the hunt for the right car, Guy found his S in the USA a few years back and shipped the car to Tuthills for a closer look.
No one knows precisely how many S models were built for the 1967 model year but, according to Paternie and the Early S Registry, it is circa 1800 examples. “The 911S models were included in the same range of serial numbers as those listed for Coupes and Targas,” says The Little Red Book. “The ‘S’ designation will be stamped after the serial number on an S model. Early 911 records contain a number of inconsistencies, so it is difficult to present an exact production count.”
What we do know is that 911S models are rare and finding the detailed trim parts for these cars is a job in itself. Guy’s S was almost complete, but much of the metal was missing due to rust. Tuthills carried out a thorough restoration, keeping what they could and buying genuine parts to fill in the blanks. The finished car is a period Porsche tour de force and it’s great to see Guy enjoying a Porsche: we’re more used to seeing his Ferrari collection.
1967 Porsche 911S insurance values
Hagerty’s online valuation tool suggests that a 1967 Porsche 911S in concours condition is currently worth $138,000 (£103,000), while a running and driving project base is just under $50,000 (£34,000). These values are clearly too low. If you have a 1967 911S and your car is valued at market or agreed value in this sort of ballpark, then you need to fix that problem.
I value several early pre-1973 911S models at porschevaluations.com. My own feeling is that UK prices for running and driving left hand-drive SWB S models in need of attention should start north of £60k. Insurance values for concours low-mileage examples should exceed £200k for a car in the right condition matching the Porsche CoA (Certificate of Authenticity). RHD cars with known provenance carry a premium.
@RoadRatMagazine
Guy’s affinity with classic cars and the stories they tell began in adolescence, when his Channel Tunnel engineer father would work on classic sports cars at weekends and invite Guy to assist. Their shared interest encouraged a vast archive of motoring books and magazines, and that passion for period motoring reportage has now led to the creation of a brand new magazine and online media stream: Road Rat Magazine.
by John Glynn | Jun 3, 2018 | Classic Porsche Blog, Market & Prices
My friend Peter has asked me to help him to sell two of his Porsche 911s. First to be offered for sale is this stylish RHD 1988 Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera, finished in Guards Red with black sports leather trim piped in body colour and excellent red carpets trimming the floor pans and door pockets.
Originally registered on August 1st, 1988, this 911 has covered 96,275 miles from new and has an MOT until December 6th. A former PCGB concours competitor, it is in nice condition throughout. The previous owner had it for eighteen years and kept it in very good order. As a 1988 model, it has the sought after G50 transmission and other late 3.2 improvements, including the bigger dash vents.
Being a former concours car, it has not been messed with, so the bodywork and mechanicals are all to original specification. The correct Fuchs alloy wheels are in good condition, wrapped in recent Continental ContiSport tyres. The wonderful 3.2 sports seats with those shapely side bolsters are electrically adjusted and also heated: a rare option on air-cooled 911s. Other nice additions include the electric sunroof, front foglamps and rear wiper. It also has the three-point rear seat belts fitted for junior Porsche enthusiasts.
The majority of maintenance since 2001 has been carried out at Tuthill Porsche. I have a lever arch of service history dating back to 1994, including almost every MOT from new, which shows that it has been well maintained over the years. Over £5,000 has been spent on mechanical work in the last three thousand miles alone, including the fitment of the sleek Porsche Classic stereo with sat nav and bluetooth, and maintaining the Waxoyl underbody protection to keep rust at bay.
Tuthills carried out a major service at the start of last year to include spark plugs, all fluids and filters and valve clearance adjustments and the 3.2 has covered just a few hundred miles since then. Both front brake calipers have been replaced with reconditioned units, as the originals can get sticky with age. The DME and crank position sensor have both been replaced as one would hope at this age and mileage. The clutch was changed by a previous owner and the G50 transmission shifts perfectly.
We have set the asking price at £40k for a quick, no hassle sale. That’s well below the average asking price for apparently similar cars, but this is not a cheap Carrera. This is a very nice car in great condition, priced to sell to a serious buyer who has seen enough average examples. Nothing needs doing to this car and it is ready to be used and enjoyed. Air-cooled Porsche 911s of this calibre do not grow on trees and are a great place to put money; values are pretty stable and the ability to enjoy one’s investment portfolio does not come much prettier than a classic Porsche 911.
Please get in touch if you are a serious buyer keen to inspect a good car. The 911 is located near Banbury in Oxfordshire (straight train from Marylebone or Junction 11 of the M40) and available for inspection on any weekday morning, Monday to Friday.
Update: This car is now SOLD. Many thanks.
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by John Glynn | May 30, 2018 | Classic Porsche Blog, Race and Rally
The latest EB Motorsport Porsche race car build – a reproduction of the 1974 911 RSR – enjoyed a successful debut at the recent Brands Hatch Masters Historic Festival. Racing in FIA Masters Historic Sports Cars, Mark and James Bates took the newly-built RSR to a qualifying time some two seconds quicker than their previous fastest RSR qualifying lap.
“We’re still waiting for the FIA Historic Technical Passport to arrive for this new RSR, so we raced in the invitational class,” said James. “Ours was the only 911 on track, so there was no one to beat. We approached the weekend as more of a test session and experimented with setup changes on every session. The fastest time in qualifying was just two-tenths outside the magic 1:40, so there’s a sub-1:40 lap time in this chassis for sure.
“With much wider track and lower weight thanks to our all-new 1974 RSR bodywork, many re-engineered and optimised parts and exceptional brake performance from our brand new RSR Endurance brake calipers, the new car is terrific to drive. We’re looking forward to trying it at more favourite circuits later this year.”
EB’s 2-litre 911 was also in action at Brands Hatch, racing in Stena Line Gentlemen Drivers. Mark and set the fastest SWB 911 times of the weekend, qualifying on a 1:52.946 and setting a fastest race lap within four one-hundredths of a second of that benchmark, but the car was forced to retire when the splines were stripped from one of the rear hubs.
“The 2-litre is being raced hard again this year,” said Mark. “It’s already been out at Goodwood in MM76, where it came home as first 911. It took another podium at Spa in the first-ever 2.0L Cup race and now we’ve pushed it to the max at Brands. It is probably the most raced 2-litre FIA car in Europe and we learn more about it every time we race it.”
EB Motorsport’s 1965 911 and the 1974 RSR have plenty more racing ahead this year. The 2-litre is back out in June for the 2.0L Cup race at Dijon Grand Prix de l’Age d’Or, followed by July’s Silverstone Classic and the Nürburgring Oldtimer GP and Zandvoort Masters weekends in August. September has the Spa 6 Hours and accompanying Masters Historic rounds, before the season ends with Dijon FIA Masters from October 12-14.
I went to Zandvoort last year and wrote a feature about the weekend for GT Porsche magazine. Not sure which ones I will get to this year but any of these weekends are great fun to attend. Silverstone is next door to me, so I should make that one at least.
Learn more about EB Motorsport Porsche racing and the firm’s vintage Porsche parts and projects at eb-motorsport.co.uk.
