by John Glynn | Apr 24, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Porsche News
No visit to Techno Classica would be complete without a trip to the official Porsche Classic Essen stand. Slightly over-corporate since they left hall 3 and moved to the Volkswagen group plaza, this year was given a burst of energy by the presence of Magnus Walker signing autographs on the stand.
Porsche cliques are wasting their time being sniffy about Magnus. He doesn’t care what haters have to say, nor should he. There was no shortage of people lined up to grab a few words or an autograph with the Urban Outlaw, and Magnus was very polite to all of them. That’s how the man was raised, and how he treats everyone: not just the train of celebs lining up to see him in LA.
Porsche Classic parts prices have gone up again this year, so maybe Magnus was there to soften the price tags of body panels and other parts on sale. There’s some very nice merchandise coming on line – sweet kids bits and pieces included – which to me shows clear Volkswagen marketing influence. The presence of a hidden diesel spout on the Porsche Classic fuel tanks was another big VW signpost (ouch).
I asked one of the guys where the glitzy Porsche merchandise truck had gone to – not seen that at Essen for a while. “It was in a big crash: we’re building a brand new one for Le Mans,” he said. Not too surprising. A solid Slate Grey 991 Turbo Cabriolet with special wishes red leather from the Exclusive department was no great surprise either. Not sure what residuals will be like on that one.
by John Glynn | Apr 23, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Market & Prices
Another highlight of our trip to the 2014 Essen Techno Classica was this Porsche 968 Turbo S, spotted on the Porsche Centre Bensberg stand. OPC Bensberg has built a strong reputation for finding rare Stuttgart machinery, and the 968 Turbo S is one of the very rarest ’90s Porsche products.
Weissach made just 16 of these cars: turbo 4-cylinders with the late 3.0 block and larger 8-valve head, giving 304 horsepower, 368 ft/lb of torque, sub-5 seconds to 60 and a top speed of 180 mph. The interior is trimmed, but stripped to lightweight buckets with a rear seatback delete.
It’s one of those machines that new Porsche would not contemplate, but the pressured Porsche of 1993 was all for, to get some press interest going. 1993 was the middle of some tough times at Stuttgart: then along came Wendelin Wiedeking.
by John Glynn | Apr 22, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Market & Prices
We’re doing a week of Essen Techno Classica posts as a catch-up post Easter. This second post looks at a classic 1965 Porsche 901 911 I definitely would not have kicked out of bed.
Located in Hall 3 near where the Porsche AG stand used to be when Porsche was still independent, Manfred Hering’s Early 911S stand has become a bit of a touchstone, and was my first port of call on arrival at Essen.
This year, the firm brought a good mix of air-cooled ‘money’ Porsche cars, including this 1965 901 911 in Emailblau (Sky Blue) which had ‘sold’ signs on from the start, an early project 911 example and a mix of impact bumper 911s and the most desirable 964s: 964 Turbo in Rubystone and another 3.6 Turbo in black with Green leather.
Plenty of impact-bumper Turbos on the stand mirrored the 930 content all around the show. These cars are clearly capturing buyers’ eyes. Here’s a link to the Early 911S website.
by John Glynn | Apr 21, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Race and Rally
At the end of 2011, Brumos Porsche in Jacksonville, Florida announced a tie up with Porsche AG to produce a limited 911 edition of just five cars, commemorating Hurley Haywood’s record five overall wins in Porsches at Daytona in 1973, ’75, ’77, ’79 and 1991.
Modelled on Brumos Porsche’s famous Number 59, the base car chosen was the Carrera GTS: easily my favourite water-cooled 911 to date. The UK launch of the 997 GTS was our last trip out with Porsche and, as grand finales go, it was excellent. With over 400 horsepower on tap, 997 Carrera GTS is all the 911 you need.
The Brumos Porsche 911 B59 edition is Brumos’ factory-manufactured special. Featuring custom 59 paint and some cabin decor highlights, the chassis options say it all about sport purpose: LSD with sports suspension, heated front seats with adaptive sports backrests, sports shifter, Sport Chrono Plus and extended navigation.
The limited edition sold out quickly, and Brumos has just released a great short film, showcasing where they ended up. It’s a journey through some incredible car collections, and some indisputable Porsche fans. Take a look:
by John Glynn | Apr 21, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Market & Prices
Back from a week in Ireland, I’ve had a chance to reset and look through a few stories that got missed in the rush through Q1 2014.
I haven’t said much about Essen Techno Classica. This year’s fair was as fun as ever: some great finds dotted around and not all Porsche. Being up close to a works Lancia Delta Group A rally car was quite a treat, as was seeing some of the very high-end handcrafted machinery.
One Porsche stood out in the ‘for sale’ car parks: a 1983 Porsche 930/911 Turbo with Per Eklund as first owner. Very clean in Silver, I couldn’t find much to mark it down on: over-glossy wheel centres maybe if I’m OTT nitpicking. It had recently enjoyed some restorative attention, but everything was super pukka.
Just 57,000 kilometres and up for €67,000, it made my pick of best 911 buy on Day 1. We had currywurst for lunch, sitting on beer crates alongside the Turbo: definitely a high point of 2014 so far.
As all 930s start to climb in value, and early 3.0 Turbos and later blingy 5-speeds get tarted up and sold for silly money, the early ’80s models with low mileage and good provenance seem the ones to go for. Not much advance in an ’87 930: their purple period feels early ’80s to me, unless we’re talking Turbo SE…
