by John Glynn | Dec 12, 2014 | Porsche Cayenne, Project Cars
Not reported on my Cayenne for a little while, so that is worth an update. It’s been a busy bus and not had much love since fitting the new propshaft in September. You might remember that I bought a recon shaft and that was not right so had to send it back, then bought a new one and that had a small vibration when I fitted it.
My plan was to refit that second one using a Porsche propshaft alignment tool and then have my original shaft reconditioned by some old-school guys in Nottingham and fit that to sort it once and for all. A great plan and so far I have managed to achieve none of it! Busy, busy, busy: it may happen over Christmas.
Minor vibration notwithstanding, the Cayenne trucks on regardless. I had to top up the coolant by quite a lot for the first time in months the other day, so I guess I have a leak. As the Cayenne is approaching 140k miles, it could be water pump or could be rad wearing out. The centre coolant pipes in the V8 have been changed to aluminium, so unlikely to be that. I’ll look at it when it’s next on a lift.
It being winter, the starter has gone sluggish again, rarely starting first time from cold. I have another starter to recon and fit, but that’s another project not sorted yet. I did manage to swap the worn-out summer tyres for nice set of part-worn Pirelli Scorpion winter tyres on 19″ wheels. I like the look on the original Cayenne wheels, and the early 19s are wider than later rims. Not convinced about ultimate grip of the Scorpions but a: they are better than nothing and b: they are on the car now so we will wear them out. I’ll wash the truck when I change back to summer tyres.
Swapping the wheels gave me a chance to to check the brakes: still looking good after plenty of miles. A big tick for lifespan of Mintex discs and pads for Cayenne. Things that will not last much longer include the rear light units – will have to replace the offside one soon as it has now started filling up with water over time. Resealing the unit made no real difference, so I drilled a few small holes in the base to let water escape. It’s had condensation problems since the day I bought it, which is common on Cayennes and very annoying.
A change to new Philips X-treme headlamp bulbs brought a lot of irate drivers on a high-speed thrash up the A34 from Portsmouth one evening. Coming up behind people quickly with my headlamps on dipped beam, the Philips pattern was obviously dazzling the car in front, but turning the headlamp beam height adjuster had zero effect on angle. Took the lamps apart the following day to find neither adjuster was working internally, so I am looking for headlamps now also: new ones are mega expensive.
Having recently used the Big Pig to tow Tuthill’s 997 R-GT rally car to a PCGB GT3 Register open day, a good friend asked me this morning what he should be paying for a used Porsche Cayenne, to do a bit of towing and usual mix of everyday work stuff. I have to confess, I pointed him towards a Landcruiser instead. He may still buy a Cayenne, but it won’t be on my say-so.
You’ll pay a bit extra up front for the Landcruiser (a proper 4.2 TD Landcruiser that is, not a 3.0 Colorado or whatever), but it comes with better reliability, better economy and better residual values. You don’t get quite as much personality, but personality is well down the list when a truck can’t hold itself together at 140k miles: small beans for a working machine. That said, I have a Landcruiser in the garage, and no plans to sell the Cayenne, so what the heck do I know! 😀
by John Glynn | Aug 22, 2014 | Modified Porsche Hot Rods, Porsche News
The Mexico Blue Porsche 997 GT3 RS 4.0 has just sold at JZM Porsche. Finished in what might be the ultimate paint-to-sample shade, the lack of decals is what most people I spoke to seemed to bring up – that and the price, of course.
For sale at a heady £350,000, people were always going to talk about the advertised price. “That’s not us driving the market,” say the sellers, “that is what the owner decided would convince him to part with it. The last RHD 4.0 RS to sell was a more common white car, which sold at £320k. The market has jumped since then and our customer was happy to keep this low-mileage one-off if his return wasn’t worthwhile.”
Such is life as a dealer: balancing customer sentiment with market activity. And it’s not always positive. Agressive dealers keen to push the market up for other 911s have dragged others with them, hurting everyone’s prospects as a consequence. One particular specialist known for scary prices has been listing 911 Turbos – mainly 993s – at huge money this year, forcing other sellers to list cars beyond their comfort zone, to prevent more realistic prices from inferring poor condition. I’m not saying dealers are scared of pushing prices, but there’s a fine line between market top and madness.
JZM has since re-priced its low-mileage Porsche 993 Turbo to what it believes is a more realistic level. Further down the price scale, I’ve spoken to a number of other dealer friends this week who, fed up with silly prices for projects, have been bidding much lower then the asking price and not coming home empty-handed.
One dealer who recently inspected a 1970 911 for a customer valued the car at just 60% of asking. “It was up for one price but with non-matching numbers, rust to repair and no shortage of issues to point at, I offered much less than the advertised price and told him to try and do better. A few days later, the phone rang to say come pick it up.”
What would a potentially slowing project market prove? Not much we don’t know. Prices for good cars are one place, prices for projects are somewhere else entirely. Few people want to buy huge amounts of work as most specialist repairers are pretty booked up, and restoration prices are climbing as parts get harder to source. At some stage there may be a tipping point: if it comes, I’m assuming it will be interest rate related.
There’s no harm in sellers making hay while they can if that what the market is willing to pay. Hurts that genuine enthusiasts are being blown out by investors, but let’s see how it all plays out.
by John Glynn | Aug 15, 2014 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
So much for more time for Ferdinand after last weekend: this week has been even madder than last. Much activity has centred on the WRC debut of the Tuthill Porsche 997 RGT car.
Originally intended to debut on the Ulster Rally, the schedule did not allow for transport to the first test to Germany on the following Monday: Germany is too far away at 53 mph in the race truck. So it is straight off to Germany today, to arrive on Sunday. There follows a week of full on activity with testing, recce, shakedown and then the rally proper.
I had a look through the WRC event paperwork with Richard this morning and it’s amazing what they give the teams to get their heads around, even before the co-driver paperwork. Speaking of which, Stèphane Prévot is co-driving with Richard next weekend, and that is another delight.
Stephane started with Bruno Thiry in European rallying before moving to WRC in 1993. He then partnered Francois Duval, Stèphane Sarrazin and now runs with Subaru/Hyundai WRC pilot, Chris Atkinson. The pair are not racing again until Australia, so Prévot can partner with Tuthill. Stèphane is well known to the team, as he often sits alongside Glenn Jannssens, Tuthill’s Belgian Historic championship winner.
An unbelievable amount of work has gone into the 997 development and launch, so opportunities to really enjoy that achievement have been few and far between. Richard took the car out to bed in new brakes last night and said that the nicest surprise was the smile that appeared on his face half way around our local test route. “The 997 GT3 might look big, but it doesn’t feel big once you get moving,” said Richard. “Our aim in Germany is just to enjoy being back in a WRC paddock, with what we think is the coolest car.
“We’ll be looking for reliability as it’s not an easy car to service and we still need to understand the best approach to that side of things. It is so exciting and there is a huge amount of interest in what we’re doing. I’ve got to shut that excitement out, find some space and just focus on the road.” The enormity of a Porsche 911 in full-on FIA WRC rallying makes me nervous just standing next to the machine, so I am super excited for the team.
by John Glynn | Aug 8, 2014 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
Been a very busy boy lately with a bunch of new website builds and a lot of new products and projects to look after. It’s left little time for Ferdinand, but I should start catching up after this weekend.
Undoubtedly the biggest Porsche story of the past two weeks has been the launch of Tuthill Porsche’s 911 WRC car. Built to comply with complex FIA R-GT/RGT regulations, the project was led by Graham Moore, who also managed the original Aston Martin V8 Vantage Rally GT project. Graham is super interesting to talk to, and following Team Tuthill’s work in getting the car through the various levels of FIA approval has been highly illuminating.
Graham Moore – Chief Engineer Tuthill Porsche 911 Rally Car
Like many of the engineers and technicians who work with Tuthill Porsche, Graham started with Prodrive in the early 1990s and gained experience across all of the projects of the time, including BMW and Alfa Romeo touring cars. He then switched to Subaru’s Group A and WRC teams, where his work as head of powertrain helped Colin McRae secure Subaru’s first World Rally Championship.
Moving to the race track, Graham worked on the Drayson Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT2 program in Le Mans, American Le Mans and the 24 Hours. The team then built the first bio-fueled, Judd-powered Lola LMP1 to race in Le Mans Series. The car snatched pole in Japan ahead of a full season of Le Mans Series, ALMS and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2010.
Since then, Graham has been focused on developing high power electric drivetrains for electric racing championships like FIA Formula E, and served as Chief Engineer on converting the LMP1 Lola chassis to race with pure electric power. Graham’s lead role in the Tuthill Porsche RGT project has been a real dream come true for all at Tuthill Porsche in Wardington.
Porsche 911 FIA WRC Rally Car: Restrictions
It will come as no surprise to learn that the FIA’s RGT category is power restricted. The 911 has to run an inlet air restrictor, which limits outright performance on FIA events. This creates an interesting challenge to get the best performance, but Richard and Peter Lythell enjoyed their first outing at Harry Flatters, where the Tuthill 997 RGT car ran as course closing car with an official dispensation from the MSA.
“We had an amazing first day in the car,” said Richard Tuthill, who drove the car on the event. “The main aim of the day was to get miles under our belts. We tried a variety of setups and tyre combinations. Our target for the 911 WRC car was create a Porsche that is easy and fun to drive, and which will appeal to all levels of drivers.
“We’re delighted to report that the car lands beautifully from jumps, is incredibly nimble through the narrow tight twisty stuff and hugely competent in the fast sections. It was born to rally: there is also no doubt that it will be extremely competitive in the overall standings.”
Porsche 911 FIA RGT car at Ulster Rally and WRC Germany
Next outing for the Tuthill Porsche 911 WRC car is next weekend’s Ulster Rally. From Ulster it goes straight to Germany for testing for WRC Germany, and then possibly on to Scandinavia. We are waiting to hear! There may even be a video crew following the Tuthill Porsche in Deutschland, so we look forward to great content after that event.
The plan is to race this car to iron out any bugs and then open the order book for customer versions. Anyone interested in the Porsche 997 GT3 FIA WRC car should email Richard Tuthill and get talking, as build slots will fill up quickly. It takes very little work to switch the car from track day use to rally spec, so it is a true all-rounder.
Rally Pics by JMS Photographic
by John Glynn | Jul 22, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Market & Prices
Another pair of low mileage collector Porsche 911 models has come up for sale. The prices have already started online tongues wagging, but that is no bad thing when the cars concerned are rare and ooze quality.
Porsche 996 GT3 RS Low Mileage for sale
If someone had told me this time last year that prices for 996 GT3 RS would touch £150,000 within twelve months, I’d have grown a second pair of eyebrows to raise in response. But this low mileage Porsche 996 GT3 RS now on sale is priced just off that.
It’s brave pricing but, with just 9,300 miles on the clock and apparently no track use in its past, this could be a last chance for serious collectors to grab a mint RHD 996 GT3 RS in their ascent towards air-cooled 911 Carrera RS price levels in thirty years.
Before you slam the keyboard, I’m not saying the two are comparable or that 996 GT3s will ever hit half-a-million quid a piece: I’m just throwing it out there. I’m already dazed by current 911 Carrera RS prices, so who knows what is possible for the water-cooled classics.
Porsche 993 Turbo S Low Mileage for sale
In the same used Porsche showroom as the low-mileage Porsche 996 GT3 RS is this rare Porsche 993 Turbo S for sale. Amongst the rarest of the rare air-cooled Turbos, the black-with-tan Turbo S has done just 17,100 miles from new and is offered at a price I am scared to say out loud.
I like 993 Turbos – really like them – but they are one of those super-capable Porsche 911s where, no matter what you do, the car will generally sort your mess out. It is hard to hoon around in a 993 Turbo and seriously scare yourself. In any case, this 450 bhp Turbo S cannot be hooned or used to frighten the driver. The value is in its rarity and low mileage, so no point spending all that cash on a car to go crazy in.
That said, there is more money in the world that I can comprehend, so these two could be gone by the weekend.
