by John Glynn | Jun 10, 2017 | Porsche News, Market & Prices, Porsche People
Words fail me today as I have just learned of the death of Chris Drummond: a friend and Porsche enthusiast, who I first encountered back in 2008. After a long-term love affair with the Porsche marque, Chris had finally found his way to the impact-bumper 911s, ended up at my forum at impactbumpers.com and started to understand how modifying Porsche 911s brought the best out of them.
Chris Drummond – Apprentice Porsche Outlaw
Up to that point, Chris had owned two 944s, a 968, a 964, a 993, three 996s including a Turbo S, which he had at the time that we first got together. He went on to add a Cayenne S to his history, but of course it was his G50 Carrera which outlasted the rest. Once he found IB, he enjoyed a few runs in various modified impact bumper member cars and loved the loud and lightweight ethos. He soon set about dumping weight from the 3.2 coupe and making the car sharper.
Various Chris D threads began to appear on the board, including “how do I upgrade my brakes?”, “what big end shells do I need?” and “who do I talk to to refurbish my Fuchs?”. Chris embraced the modifying big-time and loved to tinker at home. We got together to talk about lots of stuff, including maybe doing some work together, and spent an afternoon discussing how to use social media to promote his HR business. All the time we were talking shop, I knew Chris just wanted to talk about Porsche and of course that never changed.
Once I went solo freelance in 2010, I went off to work flat out on other stuff and only bumped into Chris here and there. He was always smiling, always friendly and always had plenty of questions! The IB crew around Chris’s house stayed busy with him and no doubt he made some great friends with his car.
The years ticked on, we caught up every once in a while when he needed an updated insurance valuation. The last time was in May 2015, and all went quiet until the following year, when he emailed me out of the blue to tell me his news. It was absolutely shocking.
In June 2016, Chris Drummond sailed out of New York as part of a crew on the final leg of the Clipper Round the World yacht race. Five days into the voyage and 200 miles out to sea, he suddenly developed serious chest pains – they thought a heart attack. Medics on board stabilised his condition and called on the Canadian air force to airlift him to urgent medical care in Halifax. Here’s what happened next in Chris’s own words:
After two weeks hospitalisation in Halifax, Nova Scotia I was told my heart was OK, however following tests and scans they identified that I had advanced secondary cancer of the liver. The medical team in Halifax, who were absolutely brilliant, arranged for me to have further tests and biopsies when I returned to the UK to find out where the primary cancer was located.
Following scans and biopsies in mid-August (2016), my oncology consultant told me the primary cancer was in the oesophagus, that there was no cure for my condition and that any treatment would be about prolonging life. The prognosis was that I had between 12 and 18 months at best, depending on how I responded to chemotherapy treatment which I started in early September.
January 2017: I’ve now completed the six-cycle regime of chemo and will have a scan at the end of this month to find out whether the chemo has arrested the cancer or not. The mid-term review after 3 cycles of chemo was pretty positive so fingers crossed.
Chris Drummond’s Race Against Time for Stand Up to Cancer
Chris was a man who always saw opportunity, and he quickly realised his time was limited in making the most of this one. Once he had told his family what was going on, he set about launching a public campaign to bring awareness to the early diagnosis of this disease, noting that he had experienced symptoms of esophageal cancer for nine months before doing anything about it. By the time he saw a doctor, it was too late.
The story resonated heavily with me, as a similar thing happened to my brother-in-law, David, who had lived with pain for months before talking to someone. The end came swiftly for David and also for Chris. After posting his final blog in April, Chris finally passed away last week.
When Chris emailed me to share his news about cancer, he asked for ideas to help with fundraising. He had a few things going with PCGB and Cancer Research, involving using the Porsche to draw attention to the message, but all input would be greatly received. The journalist in me focused on the deadline of 18 months away, so I considered that there was some time to get this organised. Chris was not urgent, so neither was I! I had a few thoughts, but was busy on so much other stuff that I didn’t really get my first ideas going until a month or so ago.
Today I went looking for JustGiving links to finish the thing before emailing Chris, and found out he had recently passed. I am shocked at the speed of his exit and angry with myself that I didn’t move faster – he deserved a good morning’s fun with an IB crew that held him in high regard. I will miss him but that is no good to his cause, so the energy now is in how to support what he hoped to achieve.
Organisations including Porsche, PCGB, Autofarm, Driver’s Collective and more picked up on his campaign and publicised the fundraising, but the total is currently less than £8k with a target of £30k. Here’s how his supporters say that you can help to increase this total.
We can’t stress enough how much it would mean to the family and everyone who’s supported Chris’s campaign, if we could reach his charity target of £30k. If you haven’t donated already, then please text RATP88 £10 to 70070 and together we could achieve Chris’s wish. Please continue to share and show your support.
Chris’s car will be auctioned for Stand Up to Cancer later this year, we will crack on with some fundraising events and find more ways to contribute towards his target. The Race Against Time JustGiving page is here: please give whatever you feel is appropriate to express solidarity. He was a good guy and any one of us could be there but for the roll of a dice in an incredibly random universe.
More thoughts on this in due course – RIP Chris and all my love to his wonderful family. My heart goes out to anyone also experiencing this pain: I know there are a few people suffering. Do not waste time in going to help ❤️
Chris Drummond – RIP
by John Glynn | Jun 10, 2017 | New Models, Porsche News
Porsche has been showing its 991 GT2 RS to a select group of journalists in Germany. Auto Motor & Sport put out a video showing the launch control in action, but it seems that no one actually got to drive it; everyone rode in the passenger seat. Gone are the days when Porsche gave Kacher the keys to a prototype for the weekend.
The fastest production 911 ever has not yet been fully homologated, so the numbers are vague. For the sake of discussion:
- 0-60: under 3 seconds
- 0-124: under 9 seconds
- Power: more than 650bhp
- Weight: under 1500kg
- Weight savings include using smartphone Gorilla Glass
- Lightweight Weissach pack lifts 30 kilos and will cost a small fortune
- GT2 RS will cost more than the house I am writing this in
Looking at 911R/GT3 RS trends and allowing a bit for the GT2’s rarity, we can roughly predict what will happen with prices.
Say the GT2 RS sells at £250k including Weissach pack, it will top £450k within 6 months of release, probably over twice list price for a while. There is no doubt of this. City traders are earning well over a million quid a year now in the City of London and a GT2 RS will be the big thing. The hunger for GT2 will be strong, so £500k is totally happening.
Once they’ve gone through a 12-to-18-month honeymoon, prices will settle somewhere around £100k or so over list, as the next big thing will be out. If you don’t buy one of these cars brand new, you will probably never be able to buy it for list price. So why should you care about this particular example?
Well, look at the photos. This is a mule: a GT3 RS finished in Lava Orange with a tweaked engine from a 991 Turbo S installed. Engineers hacked the tail about a bit, vinyl wrapped the whole thing in black then screwed some bits to the sides to cover the turbos, drilled a load of heat holes in the rear bumper, made a swanky exhaust and the boss ragged it back and forth from home to work for a few months. It is sweaty, scratched and slathered in duck tape: everything a production GT2 RS will never be.
The new GT2 RS in a showroom will just be another unobtanium Porsche that gets professionally detailed twice a year to take the dust off and occasionally turns up at cars and coffee meets to entertain those who don’t get proper old cars. But the GT2 RS development mule – that is a hot rod from Stuttgart and these are the sex kings.
by John Glynn | May 27, 2017 | Porsche Cayenne, Porsche News
Caught up with my mate (and Cult of Porsche book publisher) Andy for lunch yesterday and finally had a chance to see his new Porsche Macan S. The Macan is a lovely example. Andy had a little bit of a battle with Porsche Centre Leeds after purchase, but the official Porsche dealer eventually stepped up and dealt with his issues, so all is now rosy in the garden.
In fairness to Andy’s OPC, they looked after him on part ex, with a decent price for his Jaguar. The Jet Black Metallic Macan S with 22,500 miles had just scraped past the minimum tyre tread depth on rear tyres to meet the Approved Used Porsche spec, so he made a bit of noise and managed to get them changed: about £700 worth of Michelins on the 21″ Turbo wheels. Porsche Leeds/JCT600 also fitted a set of front brake pads before delivery.
Porsche Macan S: must-have options
Spec on the 2014 Porsche Macan S is quite nice. The panoramic glass sunroof roof is a good start, and the leather dash and 18-way sports seats would be a must-have for me. Andy’s car also has the PASM dampers, which I have previously thought to be too harsh in sports mode. Andy says the same on the stiffest setting.
Those big wheels set the Macan’s curves off a treat and date my antique Cayenne S on its 18″ off-road tyres. I worry that big wheels ruin the ride but Andy is happy with the quality on Comfort suspension setting and easy it is better than his Jaguar. He also says the Bose hi-fi beats the upgraded Bowers & Wilkins sounds in his previous car, but is missing the Jaguar’s ventilated seats and notes a serious road noise issue with the Macan, citing horrendous road noise on places like the southern M25, especially the infamous concrete sections.
I mentioned excessive noise to a Porsche press officer once, who replied that cabin noise came as standard with a Porsche. This makes one wonder about original Macan S reviews. Auto Express described the Macan S as “superbly refined…with just a whisper from under the bonnet and a faint wind rustle from around the wing mirrors”, which Andy’s experience calls into question. The Cayenne is also quite noisy at speed and 911s are honestly too loud for phone conversations on motorways. Anyone clocking up mega miles needs to road test potential Porsche purchases carefully.
Porsche Macan S petrol vs diesel
The biggest question for mega-mile users will be petrol versus diesel. The same Auto Express journos insisted that the Macan S diesel was the model to have, but this carried little weight with Andy, who insists that no one should buy a Porsche to drive a diesel. And post-VW diesel scandal, who trusts the assertion that a diesel will do 10mpg more than the petrol and deliver the same performance as the twin turbo V6 engine?
Even without the optional sports exhaust, the petrol engine sounds pretty good and goes very well. Andy has been caught out by the performance of his Porsche Macan S once already, when the turbos kicked in coming hard off a roundabout and he almost ended up in the central reservation. He is learning a bit of respect for the throttle. He’s also been considering spending £2600 on retrofitting the sports exhaust system, but I’ve advised him to look at the switchable Akrapovic exhaust setup instead: it is cheaper to buy and will hold a higher percentage at resale. Also easy to take it off and sell separately.
Macan S Ownership Verdict
After a few thousand miles, the Macan S ownership verdict is a big thumbs up and the couple are considering buying another one. It is quite a change from Andy’s original target, which was a 911 Carrera up to £45k. When we’d been out to see a few 911s and then started comparing what spec Macan could be bought for the same money, the 911 dream was over. I think he made the right decision.
by John Glynn | May 18, 2017 | Modified Porsche Hot Rods, Project Cars
The narrow body SC RS front bumper from our friends at EB Motorsport (as seen on the latest Tuthill project above) has proved very popular with hot rod/outlaw 911 builders on both sides of the pond. Now EB has launched a new front bumper in the centre oil cooler 3.0 RS style, to suit narrow body impact bumper Porsche 911s (SCs, Carreras etc). Here are a few pics:
EB Motorsport’s proper wide-body 3.0 RS kit is a long-time favourite with RSR builders. The brothers had received a few enquiries for a standard body version, but the high tooling costs for big parts are never easy to justify. Once sufficient interest had been confirmed to support the narrow front bumper production, it took EB a while to tool up for the new part. The first products are now out of the mould and already heading off to satisfy advance orders.
I mentioned that the EB Motorsport Porsche 911 SC RS bumpers have proved very popular amongst 911 builders and there are two smart 911s currently featured online using the EB part. First is Bring A Trailer’s 911 Targa seen below. A 2.7-litre ’77 Targa in Ice Green Metallic, the car’s short-hood front end and long-hood rear is creating some noise in the comments.
Knee-jerk remarks are easy to throw around but I think the car looks sharp enough. A few Pelicanites went for this SH/LH mix back in the good old days of cheap 911s and I always liked it. Bit too much tartan in the back for my tastes but easy to fold the seats down. That EB front bumper sits well in context, regardless.
The second SC RS-bumpered 911 is the Mexico Blue project now on Petrolicious (below). Strong colour outside, strong colour inside and seems nicely finished by Workshop 5001 (a place I have got to drop into when next in LA). Loving the slick sophistication of this one and the matching rear bumper is so smooth and simple.
These things save a huge chunk of weight and lose the corrosion-prone aluminium blades, which is another plus point for some people. Unsurprisingly for the bloke who started a website called impactbumpers.com, I like the originals, but I see why some people like the change.
No sign of the 3.0 RS bumper on the EB Motorsport shop yet, but I am reliably informed that it will be online tomorrow, along with the all-new aluminium RSR MFI pump base plate that the guys have just finished designing and machining. Work never stops up in Barnsley!
BringaTrailer and Petrolicious images are copyright of their respective owners. Shared for info.
by John Glynn | May 17, 2017 | Modified Porsche Hot Rods, Classic Porsche Blog
My good friend RB has decided to sell his modified 911 hot rod, based on a very late 1989/G-reg G50 3.2 Coupe. He’s owned the car for as long as I have owned Porsches, so it’s a big decision to part with the car, but as there’s a new mega-balls 964 Turbo in the garage (amongst other things), he’s not going to be left short of flat-six thrills.
I’ve driven the Guards Red 911 on road and track and it goes along nicely. I’ve lost count of the road trips I’ve followed this car through the UK and Europe on: my second-ever track day was a trip to Spa with this one, just the two of us. It’s a good, solid, fun 911 that can easily be further tweaked to suit a new owner’s tastes. Even better, the owner is not an idiot, so dealing with him will be easy on the brain.
Here is how RB explains it – (note: this car is now sold! Many thanks for reading)
Porsche 911 Hot Rod Explained
There’s much more to tell than I can fit in an advert. The history and development of this car is transparent – it’s all online. I truly hope someone like-minded can buy this special car and have as much fun as I have had. On the right road, on the right day, with the right people, there are not many better experiences.
Unlike many “recreations”, this is not a 1- or 2- year project produced with a view to resale. In contrast to that, I have owned this car for nearly 16 years, slowly evolving it to what it is now. Everything has been done on my watch, at my expense and by my design. If you fancy a walk down internet lane, you can trace much of the car’s history on impactbumpers.com where I have posted under my own name for many years. And what you can’t find there, I have documented in a comprehensive history file.
Based on a 1989 3.2 Carrera, I have taken everything I know about 911s and used that to develop what I think is a fantastic, sports purpose, lightweight 911 with much of the character of Porsche’s own RS cars. Initially built for fast road and track days, but more recently focussed on European road trips, this is one of the most developed G-series 911s you will find anywhere.
For disclosure, I need to start by pointing out that the car was Cat D recorded almost twenty years ago. Like many other 911s in that era, a small accident plus low values conspired to create an insurance write-off. I had the car stripped and jigged immediately after purchase, and then condition inspected. It’s now straight and has had a full body resto since then. Cutting to the chase:
Bodywork
- A rust free car subject to a full body restoration when converted to wide body approx 7 years ago
- The rear flares are steel 930 and most everything else is plastic for low weight
- The sunroof was deleted and the fuel tank is centre fill under the bonnet
- Bumpers are 3.0 RS/IROC pattern and the rear tail is IROC – being the most efficient “non-wing” tail you can get, front bumper just repainted
- Headlights were new during the rebuild and the wiring is all through a modern blade fuse style board greatly enhancing reliability
Engine
- Engine rebuilt by Steve Winter at JAZ (part of about 15 years of JAZ history) with standard 3.2 pistons and cylinders, 993 Supercup cams and a 964 plastic intake
- Built for 7000+rpm but limited to 7000rpm making 283hp via Wayne Schofield tuning
- Lots of other good bits in the engine build sheet
- Turbo Thomas custom exhaust (just repacked)
- Not a (normal) lazy 3.2, but an engine inspired by the MFI RS engines, one that loves to rev and has throttle response that non-MFI 911 engines dream of
- With a kerb weight under 1050kg, the power-to-weight ratio is more early GT3 than 3.2 Carrera
Transmission
- Being an ’89 car, the gearbox is G50 meaning a 240mm hydraulic clutch, modern shift feel and a largely fail safe shift action
- The clutch is a spring-centred 930S clutch, the pressure plate is light aluminium and the diff is a Powerhaus II assymetric plate type LSD – like 993RS
- Gearbox mounts are poly as are engine mounts. The shift action is precise and falls naturally to hand with a slightly extended shifter
Suspension/Wheels/Brakes
- Carefully and thoughtfully upgraded suspension. Torsion bars are 22/29mm Sander Engineering hollow bars and the rear anti-roll bar is an adjustable 22mm bar
- Dampers are custom valved Bilsteins to the JAZ Porsche recipe
- Bushes are Neatrix rear and polybronze front
- Offset monoball top mounts to remove stiction and add precision
- Brakes are 964 front calipers over 944 Turbo discs and C12 rear calipers over 3.2 discs
- Wheels are 8 & 9 x 16″ Fuchs with spacers/adapters and good Bridgestone tyres
Interior
- A mix of light weight and just enough comfort
- Recaro Pole Positions with custom leather covers and alcantara cushions provide the comfort and lightweight sound deadening, closed cell foam and OE carpets keep just enough noise at bay
- The cage is an FIA spec OMP 6 point with welded in mounts
- The steering wheel is a 996 Cup Car item and the doorcards are 964RS style with alcantara covers
- Heat is 3-season with small heat exchangers providing enough to clear the screen and take the chill off
- Six-point harnesses and a fire extinguisher complete the mix
The honest truth is that most of this car has been tested and replaced. The fuel pump quit in the Swiss Alps and is now a Bosch motorsport 044 pump. The steering rack was replaced at one point: the list goes on. But what this car is really about, is a platform developed and optimised for great road trips.
Over the last few years, I have been as far as Slovenia, though the Alps twice, the Route Napolean and through the Pyrenees. Track days at Spa, Le Mans and the Ring plus the usual UK tracks are all notches in the belt. I have tested most everything you can test and the car stands ready for it’s next big trip. Ready to create new memories with someone else.
At times, it has felt like I have poured my heart and soul into this car and when the roads and the company are just right, the highs I have experienced are about as much as anyone can hope for in a car. I cannot emphasise just what an amazing package this car is. The handling balance is just perfect, the diff gives amazing drive and the engine sings its little heart out time and again as it reaches for the rev limiter.
I am not selling a concours car or a replica of anything, but I am selling a car that you will build memories with. If you want a car that lets you joins Euro R-Gruppe events, the Bergmeister or my own “Porsche Peleton” trips then this is it.
I have rambled on in my description, but I have 16+ years of story to tell. I know I have left out a load of stuff, but if my 3.2 sounds like you, then let’s talk. Far be it for me to suggest what a new owner may use this car for, but if they want to join me (and my fellow road trippers) in new Euro adventures, then I sincerely hope that is something that I can look forward to.
Boring stuff – the car will come with a new MOT in May and a service from JAZ. I am happy to deliver the car to JAZ Porsche in St Albans for Inspections. See contact details in the for sale ad here.
