by John Glynn | Jul 11, 2016 | Classic Porsche Blog, Race and Rally
The flag has just dropped on the 2016 Le Mans Classic. Figures released by the organisers show that the event was the most successful to date, with more than 120,000 attending the weekend to celebrate the history of the legendary endurance race.
My first Classic Le Mans was in 2006, when little brother and I took my old 911 SC Cabriolet down to Le Mans, in convoy with other 911s including a 3.2 Carrera and 964RS. With no more than 60,000 people attending the 2006 event, it was a really terrific weekend, apart from when we were bumped out of our hotel to a less salubrious location to keep the Aston Martin Owners’ Club happy. After that, I decided to rent a house and share it with friends in future. We did that in 2008 and for my most recent Le Mans Classic in 2010, and it proved to be the perfect solution.
2010 was a boiling hot year on track: the soles of my shoes were melting in the paddock. With 96,000 people and their cars attending that weekend, traffic was a nightmare all around the city. My Orange Carrera 3.0 arrived with no fresh air blower, having burned it out in the Alps a few days earlier, and Jamie’s Renault 8 also suffered from fuel boiling all weekend. It was still great to see so many friends, but a far cry from the relaxed atmosphere of 2016.
When the weather is not too hot, the atmosphere throughout a Le Mans Classic weekend is terrific – especially if you go down with a big group of friends – but the racing can be quite hard to follow, as the long lap spreads the field out and gives little impression of the battles taking place on track. The racing is closer at some of Europe’s many other historic festivals, including the Spa 6 Hours and Zandvoort Historic Grand Prix.
All things considered, I can understand why so many people return to the Le Mans Classic every two years. It is a great start to a touring holiday in France, and family men can just about get away with it if they rent a house nearby with a pool for the wife and kids to hang out in.
For me, three years watching the racing satisfied my desire to experience spectating at Le Mans for the racing eras I am most interested in. There are lots of other historic racing weekends across Europe with plenty of Porsche content and equally open access to the paddocks, where traffic jams and overheating engines are not the order of the day, so I have been to quite a few of those in the years since my last Le Mans Classic.
Did you go to Le Mans for LMC 2016? How was the weekend? Email your thoughts to mail@ferdinandmagazine.com.
by John Glynn | Mar 31, 2016 | Classic Porsche Blog, Race and Rally
Had an email from friend and illustrator Guy Allen last week, sharing details of his latest Porsche print. Having both bought Guy’s own prints and commissioned him to create art for me, I’m a confirmed fan of the man’s work, and the newest one is no exception.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of my first trip to Classic Le Mans and my first experience of watching a 917 racing in anger at night. It was an unforgettable weekend of classic Porsche fun, neatly remembered by this art print. Working to a 24 Hours of Le Mans theme in an evocative mix of shapes and colours, Guy has captured the 1970 917 Kurzheck racing past the Dunlop Bridge during a balmy Sarthe sunset.
Porsche 917 Le Mans print
I’m sure some Le Mans anorak out there will decide there’s a bit of artistic licence at work here regarding track layouts, the combination of short tail and Gulf liveries and the weather for Le Mans in the early 1970s, as such folk are wont to do. Personally, the timeless theme resonates with me and I really like the print, which is sized to A2 large format (420 x 594 mm) and limited to 200 copies. My print has been put to one side for the new garage, whenever it gets finished: got a lot of art to hang in there now. Buy your copy here: Guy will ship worldwide.
by John Glynn | Mar 10, 2016 | Classic Porsche Blog, Market & Prices
Tomorrow is the Gooding & Co auction sale in Amelia Island, where noted Porsche collector, Jerry Seinfeld, is selling a number of his cars. Eighteen soon-to-be ex-Seinfeld cars including sixteen Porsche models will cross the auction block in this huge sale, which has just twenty-nine Porsches entered in total.
Talking to an American collector friend, this batch of cars is estimated to be circa ten percent of the complete Seinfeld collection. The famous comedian buys and sells many cars – I’ve driven some ex-Seinfeld machinery myself – but most previous sales have been well and truly under the radar. Dealers entrusted with Jerry’s cars who have tried to cash in on the Seinfeld kudos as part of their pitch have allegedly not had an easy ride afterwards, so it is no great surprise that an auction was chosen to dispose of this sizeable tranche, or that Gooding got the commission: the famous Amelia Island sale is the premier East Coast auction in the US and comes just as the market starts to gather pace following the lulls of winter. Many record Porsche prices have been achieved by Gooding at this sale.
Seinfeld shares Porsche Excitement
“The reason I wanted to bid these cars farewell in this way is really just to see the look of excitement on the faces of the next owners, who I know will be out of their minds with joy that they are going to get to experience them,” says Jerry. “Each one of these cars is a pinnacle of mechanical culture to me. Many are the best examples that exist in the world. I’ve loved being entrusted with their care, and I’m proud of the level to which we have brought each and every one of these wonderful machines. Honestly, if I had unlimited time, space and attention span I would never sell one of them.”
Situated in the north-east corner of Florida just inside the Georgia border, the almost perfectly named Fernandina Beach is finely dressed in Southern Victorian architecture and lined with more than thirteen miles of beaches. It’s a great escape for the rich and famous, but there will be no escaping market forces when twenty of Seinfeld’s own Porsche cars cross the podium from 11am tomorrow.
Classic Porsche Prices Market Trend
Prices at the very top end of the classic Porsche market have tailed off in recent months – at least for the cars you see at open sale. Sellers claim that many deals are done behind closed doors for stronger prices than seen in public, but even in these secret deals for the very best cars, buyers are applying pressure. Twenty percent off a $5 million car is a sizeable discount, so if the market is showing obvious softness, and both parties know it, there’s a poker game happening.
Doing eighteen poker deals behind closed doors, most likely through middle men, would be a long and expensive pain in the arse for Herr Seinfeld. Sending these cars to auction, with ten weeks of everywhere promotion, and a glitzy end-of-sale in prospect for Jerry, looking at the faces of buyers set to be “out of their minds with joy” is a reasonable recipe for respite from a high-end Porsche market that has consistently failed to deliver record-breaking prices since the middle of last year.
Affordable Classic Porsche prices remain steady
Further down the price range, our Porsche Valuations market price tracker is seeing continued health in the market for cheaper classic Porsches. Collectable RHD water-cooled 911s are in fine form, with low mileage Porsche 996 GT3s and GT3 RS models selling quickly. Good RHD Porsche 930s are still good sellers, as are RHD 911 3.2 G50 Carreras (especially the Club Sport) and 964 Carrera 2 models in top condition.
Seinfeld’s big hitters – the 550 Spyder, 718 RSK, and 917/30 – will fetch what they fetch and add to the existing market trend info, but more interesting will be the market for the Carrera GT prototype. Bought by Seinfeld directly from Porsche, and disabled before purchase from any possibility of being driven, this handmade CGT prototype has never been previously offered to the market. For some, it may be a potential jewel in the crown of a water-cooled Porsche collection, for others it is a pricey handmade paperweight. If any car were to illustrate prevailing price sentiment amongst serious Porsche collectors, then this should be it.
My favourites in the big Seinfeld sell-off are the Volkswagens: a 1964 Volkswagen Camper with less than 20k miles in simply perfect condition and a beautiful 1960 VW Beetle in original, unrestored condition, with just 15,500 miles on the clock. Of all these cars for sale, why sell this one? Assuming America turns out for Amelia, a top estimate of $55k on the Beetle could prove significantly behind the market. I would be keeping this car: it would be the last car I’d sell. Which means that Seinfeld has even nicer Beetles. Lucky man.
All images copyright and courtesy of Gooding & Company. 550 Photo by Mathieu Heurtault. Other photos by Brian Henniker.
by John Glynn | Dec 18, 2015 | Classic Porsche Blog, Market & Prices, Modified Porsche Hot Rods
I’m working outside the UK at the minute, catching some winter sun in Fuerteventura. As ever, I’ve brought a few books along in case of long lunches, including ‘We are Porsche’: Ferry Porsche’s first autobiography, written with John Bentley in the early 1970s.
I’ve read this book many times, as Ferry’s words both inspire and encourage. All freelancers face constant changes and challenges, which can often feel insurmountable. Ferry’s story demonstrates that, no matter what life throws in one’s path, patient perseverance will find a solution. Hard work and the occasional retreat to simple pleasures can power body and mind through tough situations.
Ferry Porsche and his BMW Motorcycle
As a young man, one of Ferry’s simplest pleasures was motorcycling. At the age of eighteen, Ferry got his motorcycle licence and shares how the independence of increased mobility brought new opportunities to meet girls. “I no longer had to rely on the family car to get me from one place to another in a hurry,” he recalls. “The motorbike I then used was a 500cc BMW and this proved useful in more ways than one.”
This would have been circa 1927, making Ferry’s bike an R42: Max Fitz’s blueprint for just about every BMW road bike made afterwards. Pristine R42s now sell for big money – £40k or more – so Ferry’s mount was well chosen. Given Doctor Porsche’s interest in BMW motorcycles, I wonder what he’d make of the machine seen here, being offered by Bonhams at its Paris sale on February 4th: a 1952 Sunbeam S8, with Ferry Porsche power.
BSA bought the rights to Sunbeam’s motorcycle business in 1943 and revived the brand after the war, when it was given German motorcycle designs as part of the war reparations. Based on the BMW R75, the Sunbeam S7 had a pre-war-designed inline twin which left it low on power, and its successor, the Sunbeam R8 was apparently not much better.
Porsche Engine in a Motorcycle Frame
In 1969, the then owner of this S8 decided to upgrade the power with a 1200cc motor from a Volkswagen Beetle. This was not the ultimate incarnation, as he subsequently ditched the Beetle engine, replacing it with a 1955 1300cc Porsche motor featuring bespoke cast aluminium bellhousing and rocker covers.
The Sunbeam’s first outing was to the 1972 BMF show, where it caused a sensation. MCN’s John Ebbrell tested the bike for the paper, and the Sunbeam was also shown at Olympia, fitted with Amal concentric carburettors a la Triumph and others. A BMW tank was added later, along with Norton Roadholder forks and some other cool touches, including a Vincent Black Shadow speedometer.
For sale due to the advancing age of its owner, the Sunbeam was offered at Bonhams’ last sale in the RAF Museum at Hendon where it failed to find a new home. Given that the price aspirations seem sensible (£9.5k), I was surprised by this, so I emailed Bill To at Bonhams to get his thoughts on why such an interesting piece failed to sell.”We were a little surprised ourselves, but I guess that’s the nature of public auctions: we just don’t know what to expect on the day,” said Bill.
I’m not the world’s biggest vintage bike fan, but I do like this. If it’s something you are also inspired by, get yourself to Paris on February 4th, or contact Bonhams to register as a bidder. I want a ride if you buy it!
by John Glynn | Oct 13, 2015 | Classic Porsche Blog, Porsche News
I love a good art gallery or museum exhibition. Hamburg’s Prototyp Museum has just announced something special for fans of the Porsche 356 and early Porsche heritage: the ‘Very Important Porsche 356’ exhibition from November 13, 2015.
Twelve of the most important Porsche 356s will be shown at the wonderful Hamburg Automuseum, including the oldest-known German manufactured 356. Of course, an Austrian-built Gmünd Coupe also forms part of the exhibition, as well as two early pre-Stuttgart Convertibles: a 1949 356/2 Beutler Convertible and a 356/2 Keibl Convertible from the same year.
Three Gmünd Porsche 356s at Hamburg Prototyp Museum
While the museum has gathered twelve 356s in total for this exhibition, the trio of early Porsche 356s alone should attract a number of visitors, keen to see three early Gmünd-built cars in one place. I can’t think of anywhere these three rare cars would have been gathered together at once in the last five years, so new arrivals to the world of classic Porsche will find these cars fascinating.
For my money, nothing sings more of undiluted Porsche DNA than these very early 356s, pieced together by hand in a converted Austrian sawmill, nestled in the foothills of the Central Eastern Alps. Ferry Porsche wasted no time after the end of the war in making his dream of Porsche-produced sports cars a reality. Every ounce of Ferry’s passion – a passion that was shared by the great team around him – sings from the aluminium bodywork of each of these cars in a hymn of devout inspiration.
Porsche 356 Gmund Styling
Once Porsche 356 production moved to Stuttgart in 1950, the bodies were stamped out in steel and much of that precious Gmünd styling was lost including the low, narrow roofline and the careful detailing through the front end. Photos never do these cars justice: you have to stand beside a Gmünd car to experience all of what they communicate. To me, the 356/2 Keibl Convertible built by Karosseriefabrik Ferdinand Keibl in Vienna (top pic) is one of the most beautiful road cars ever built: small wonder that Ferry was also a great admirer, and bought the only surviving example back for his personal collection.
Perhaps the most surprising part of this exhibition to those unfamilar with the very first cars produced by the genius Ferry Porsche will be the colour and sharpness of an early 356. We’re so conditioned to seeing these Porsches in grainy old black and white photos, that we expect the reality to be monochrome paintwork and workaday VW plastic on the dashboard, and tend to ignore opportunities to get close to these cars as a result.
I am always quite taken aback by the joy with which these cars were built and finished. Some of the colours are simply incredible and the shapeliness of the early 356s is quite honestly mesmerising from almost every angle. The crispness of a coachbuilt convertible top removes any thought that new cars rule for quality and the elegant palette of colours across bodywork, trim and soft tops is just beautiful. I encourage you to go along to Hamburg for a day while the exhibition is open from November 13 to March 27, 2016. Entry is only €13.50 and the museum is well worth the journey.
The cars of the Very Important Porsche 356 exhibition:
- 1949 Porsche 356/2 Beutler Convertible
- 1949 Porsche 356/2 Keibl Convertible
- 1949 Porsche 356/2 Gmünd Coupe
- 1950 Porsche 356 Chassis 5006
- 1951 Porsche 356 Gläser Convertible
- 1952 Porsche 356 America Roadster
- 1953 Porsche 356 1500 S USA de Luxe Convertible
- 1957 Porsche 356 A 1500 Carrera GT Speedster
- 1960 Porsche 356 B 1600 Carrera GTL Abarth
- 1963 Porsche 356 B 2000 GS-GT „Dreikantschaber“
- 1964 Porsche 356 C 2000 GS Carrera 2
- 1964 Porsche 356 C 1600 SC Polizei Convertible
