by John Glynn | Feb 28, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Race and Rally
News from the Americas! Hayden and Steven have just enjoyed their second rest day of the event, at Puno in Southern Peru, on the shores of Lake Titicaca. This update was from Tuesday night.
Nice drive this morning, 0500hrs wake up to leave La Paz early enough to avoid road blockages by striking workers. Lovely drive and little barge crossing to Peru border, leaving beautiful but contradictory Bolivia behind.
Great hotel on Lake Titicaca makes rest day tomorrow even more anticipated. Lola still faultless, but the Porsche 356 will get a greasing and general spanner check. That said, Lola needs new plugs again, as poor fuel has been hard on plugs in all the old cars. T is bringing three more sets to Cusco in 2 days.
We have run at over 14,300 feet without re-jetting the carbs, so very happy and proud of our sea level work and the choices Brian and I made in setting these up! Our faith in physics continues.
Yesterday on the way into La Paz, we sat at 120 km/h (72mph) for an hours or so at just over 3,900 metres, or almost 13,00 feet. Where else in the world can you do that? That’s like a highway joining all the high peaks of the Rockies. Amazing!
Today rest day, tomorrow Puno to Cusco, in the foothills south of Machu Picchu. Next day is another rest day to allow some exploring in the legendary Peruvian ruins, followed by a 600-kilometre drive to Arequipa, not Aeroquipa as per the rally notes.
Second biggest city in Peru, the historic centre of Arequipa has been granted UNESCO World Cultural Heritage status. The old town’s beautiful heart is balanced by some of the highest levels of solar radiation in all of South America, thanks to the nearby Atacama Desert and local air pollution. Break out the UV sunblock! More news when we get it.
by John Glynn | Feb 20, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Porsche News
We’re following the WEVO Porsche 356 crew of Steven Harris and Hayden Burvill as they rally through South America on the Great South American Challenge 2013.
Yesterday was downtime for the boys in South America. They spent the day visiting the nearby waterfalls, pointing me towards other rally resources – the rally website is getting some routes wrong – and attending to Madam Lola’s every need.
Madam is doing well, which is more than can be said for Hayden. “Picked up a GT (generous traveler) flu on the way down from SF to Rio. I’m into the runny nose and hacking cough day and feeling pretty rough, but some spanner work on Lola will distract me and make me feel better.”
Hayden facebooked the top pic of Lola in bits for obvious servicing checks, carb tweaks and wiring in the Yellowbrick GPS tracker. There’s a good pic of Hayden’s rear end on Chuck Shwagger’s blog, tweaking something in the driver’s footwell: I’m sure he’s not backing out the throttle stop.
Today is Day 5 of the rally. They start at Foz do Iguacu (NE of the centre of this pic). The route heads north on secondary roads, skirting the Brazil/Paraguay border, formed by the Paraná River. The river is the second longest in South America, and takes its name from local words for “big as the sea”.
Paraná swallows the Paraguay River on its journey south, then merges with the Uruguay River and forms the vast Rio de la Plata before entering the Atlantic. The scale of the river as they travel north alongside it should be an eye-opener for the rallyistes.
The road continues to their overnight in Dourados on the fertile river plain: 503 kms in all today – about 300 miles. I don’t know what the stage plans are, but no doubt H will fill me in later.
by John Glynn | Feb 19, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Race and Rally
WEVO Hayden has just finished Day Three of the 2013 Great South American Challenge with Steven Harris in Lola, the 1964 Porsche 356C. This is the fifth event of Hayden’s marathon rally career that I’ve covered as official WEVO blogjacker and it’s bound to be another good story.
Last used in anger on the 2010 Peking to Paris Rally, Lola has undergone a programme of evolutionary improvements on its P2P spec. Steven has a bit more experience under his belt and Hayden has done a few rallies with the competitive, experienced and thoroughly hilarious Alastair Caldwell, so is now a surgically precise co-driver navigator. I’m expecting cool runnings from Lola and her crew this year.
Team WEVO’s hard-earned expertise broke cover for the first time yesterday, when Steven and Hayden took first place on the day’s sole special stage of 19 kilometres: the only car to clean the run. Lola took the complete day’s drive of 693 kilometres from Curitiba to the wonderful Foz de Iguacu waterfall on the Brazil/Argentina/Paraguay border in her stride, a minor misfire at the end of the day due to suspected dirt in a fuel jet.
Today is the first rest day of the event, so time to visit the falls, clean the car and the carburettors. The team can catch their breath after a rushed start to the event, when Lola was delayed through customs: arriving at the start point (above) well after other competitors had finished packing their cars and stickering up.
So it was that Lola ran naked through the initial 488km transport stage from Rio to Campinas, skirting the edge of Sao Paolo in an enjoyable first day’s driving. Day 2 was another sub-500km run from Campinas to Curitiba, through the open plains of Brazil’s wheat bowl region, before climbing into the Apial Hills.
Parking alongside this magnificent straight-eight Buick shows her size in relation to most other competitors but they don’t spare the old stuff on these rallies: everything gets a proper thrashing. Car budgets include the build cost and the repair cost afterwards!
Today’s rest day will be mostly about settling into the marathon rally rhythm. Extended rallies are not just driving: there are rest/tourist days and fixit days, days to catch up with overseas news but any real downtime is about soaking up the unique pace of life: a pace that will dominate until March 24th, when the rally finishes in Tierra del Fuego: South America’s southernmost point.
Thirty-nine days rallying in a Porsche 356. I think we could all go for that, right!?
by John Glynn | Feb 13, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Porsche People
Another bereavement in the Porsche community this week, when the respected technical writer, Bruce Anderson, passed away at the age of 75. Bruce’s wife, Stephanie, sent me the following story of how Bruce got into Porsche cars and built a career from his passion:
“Bruce was head of publications for Hewlett Packard’s Santa Clara Division in California. He was a tech writer first at HP. At the same time, he was a Porsche guy. Can’t tell you how many he owned back in the day but his love was the air cooled 911 etc. He and his friend, Bob Garretson, would tinker on the cars on the weekend. Thus they began “Garretson Enterprises”, which in fact was primarily owned by Bruce and his brother, Clark. Then in 1974 Bruce decided to quit HP and open a real shop.
“When that relationship fell apart in 1986, Bruce decided to write the “911 Performance Handbook”. He was Tech Chair for the Porsche Club of America and did that for 21 years, helping guys work on their cars in the garage. He also became a great photographer: most of the photos in his books are his. He also served as the Technical Editor of Excellence Magazine from its inception until he passed.”
I never met Bruce, but his writing was a favourite source when I first came to Porsche. My first-edition copy of his Porsche 911 Performance Handbook is on the desk as I type, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to know air-cooled.
Never wishy-washy in opinion, Bruce did his research and was ready to stand by his point of view. His attention and forthright delivery set a proper example: this loss leaves a hole that will prove tricky to fill. There’s no doubting his place as a much-loved member of the tight Porsche community and Bruce will certainly be missed.
Friends of the man speak warmly of days spent at Monterey listening to jazz – a great love of Bruce’s – and long nights at Daytona and Le Mans. With a taste for red meat and fine wine, Bruce was all about living his passions, and his writing is rich with the same. Few authors share as much detail on the technical aspects of engines and performance as Bruce: visit the Bruce Anderson blog to read some for yourself.
Former Porsche CEO, Peter Schutz wrote the foreword to Bruce’s performance book. Peter is sincere in his appreciation for the man’s driving force.
“Bruce is one of those people who never does anything half way. His knowledge of Mexican food and jazz is exceeded only by his knowledge of Porsche, and particularly the 911 in all its variations. It is thus in the true Bruce Anderson style that he has decided to share his love and knowledge with the rest of us, in this book. Beyond all else, Bruce is a sharing person.”
Bruce had been in and out of hospital for months: purgatory for one who so enjoyed being out and about in the company of Porsche heads. With his passing comes peace in the sound of air-cooled flat six engines in Porsche heaven. Best wishes to his family and friends, surely blessed to have known him. The rest of us will continue to enjoy Bruce’s work through his legacy of words and ideas.
RIP Bruce Anderson: May 27, 1938 – Feb 9, 2013.
by John Glynn | Feb 6, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog
UPS just arrived with a parcel to be proud of: the Porsche – Die Marke. Die Werbung. book I ordered from the Porsche Museum Shop last week.
Having a copy to leaf through at the Silverstone Porsche Experience Centre is one thing, but having your own copy in your kitchen is something else. I had almost forgotten how nice this book was. I heartily recommend that you all get one, too!
The huge number of pictures alone are worth it for me, but it reminds me that I really should start learning German. My eldest studies German in school, so I’ve got someone to speak it with at home.
Thanks to author and walking Porsche encyclopedia, Herr Landenberger, for signing this wonderful work of art especially for me! Something to treasure, for sure.
