by John Glynn | Sep 21, 2016 | Classic Porsche Blog, Porsche News
Ferdinand Porsche’s second postwar visit to the USA was in August 1952. The trip was arranged by Max Hoffman, who had visited Austria for a summer vacation and brought news of a possible consultancy opportunity with Studebaker. This gave the Porsche chief a very good reason to travel.
To discuss the Studebaker project and to catch up with what else was going on across the Atlantic, Ferry, Dodo (his wife) and engineer Karl Rabe (pic, left) sailed to America on board the Queen Elizabeth from Cherbourg to New York. The following passage is from “We at Porsche”: Ferry’s autobiography, which was written with the help of John Bentley.
“I went on to Detroit and called on an old friend, Zora Arkus-Duntov, who had transformed the original lifeless Chevrolet Corvette into a world-famous sports car – in fact the only true machine of this type built in the United States. He took me to the Research Centre of General Motors where I met Bill Mitchell, the chief of styling. We talked about new cars and walked through his office where he had some models. He pointed to a particular one and held it up. Here was a typical example of the communications problem between styling and engineering.
“”To get a nice looking front end on this car,” Mitchell said, “the engine must be lowered. I therefore modified the carburetion system to bring it lower and made other changes in the engine.”
“Arkus-Duntov, who was standing beside me, did not react favourably. “What nonsense,” he said. “There is no way to build such an engine.”
“This was all I needed to realise how far apart a stylist was from an engineer. If it was necessary to bring these two minds together, a third person would be needed who had a clear idea of what could and could not be done by both parties. Such an individual need not be either the best stylist or the best engineer, but he must know exactly how to bring about the most effective compromise.”
Given the unique look of the 356 and the first 911s ahead, Ferry’s opinion on the need for compromise between styling and engineering is interesting. One could say that this was the key skill of Erwin Komenda (pic, centre), who brought such life to the early Porsche products. A talented engineer and a great visual artist, Komenda was perhaps the ultimate agent of positive compromise.
The original meaning of ‘compromise’ suggests a joint agreement, from the Latin ‘com’ (together) and ‘promittere’ (promise). The word has taken on a negative aspect in recent times, as in “compromised security”, which is just a soft PR way of saying broken, failed or ineffective. This sense of compromise is not how Porsche would have viewed it, but some of the compromises made on later models could be regarded as counterproductive. There is seldom an upside in compromised principles to reach shallow goals.
However styling and engineering were balanced, durability was never negotiable. Reliability was Ferry’s first priority in all things Porsche. Herr Doctor would sacrifice anything else to ensure Porsches were reliable, as no Porsche should ever be seen broken down. He would not have handled a flat tyre in a car with no spare wheel very well.
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 | Jun 20, 2016 | Market & Prices, Porsche News
I had an interesting conversation with a well connected dealer friend a few days ago regarding the UK market for RHD Porsche 991 GT3 RS, which suggested that the days of six-figure markups for the latest 911 RS were over and done.
A nice RS had just arrived in stock and was offered to a number of prospects at well below the average market price. Some of his would-be buyers replied with claims of cars being offered behind closed doors for much less than the price my friend offered. Evidence went backwards and forwards until a much lower price was eventually agreed as the RS seller was keen to move on. The seller still cleared the best part of £45k profit out of the deal after paying the dealer’s fixed-price commission.
Average Market Prices for Porsche 991 GT3 RS
Average selling prices for 991 GT3 RS are not easy to calculate without access to accurate transaction data, but the average asking price is pretty straightforward. The premier classified ads site currently has 22 991 GT3 RS models on offer in the UK with prices from £195,000 to £289,995 (22 is not exactly what one might call rare). Average asking price for these cars is a heady £246,000.
This data does not tell the whole story. Amongst these 22 911s are cars with far more than delivery mileage – over 3,000 miles in some cases – and one zero-mileage LHD example. Stripping these cars out and confining data to just RHD cars with fewer than 400 miles on the clock reduces our sample to just twelve cars. Average asking price for these cars jumps to £252,270.
Cost New versus Average Price for 991 GT3 RS
A brand new Porsche 991 GT3 RS bought with no options will set you back £130,296 cost new from Porsche Cars Great Britain, but no one buys a standard RS. A sensible options package of decent paint (£1800), leather trim to the 918 seats (£2k), LED lights (£2k), Front Axle Lift (£2k), PCCB ceramic brakes (£6k), Sport Chrono (£1k) and PCM with Sound Package Plus and phone prep (approx £3k) adds the best part of £20k, which takes the cost new to £149,755.
This £150k list price is for a brand new car with 10 miles or less on delivery, built to your spec and you are the first owner in the log book. The only snag is you cannot order one new: production has been allocated to an oversubscribed list. However, it does indicate what the manufacturer believes their car should be priced at, given the cost to build and their standard margin.
Taking this £150k list price against today’s average UK asking price of £252,270, we see a premium of more than £100k for a car that’s already had one or more owners and may come with up to 400 miles on the clock. If you think that sounds pretty extreme, there is more than one story of a slot on the 991 GT3 RS waiting list being sold for as much as £200k over list at the height of the fever.
Porsche 991 GT3 RS Price Premiums Shrinking
I’ve not driven a 991 GT3 or an RS – these cars simply do not interest me as a driver – but I have looked at plenty up close. The overall impression is of a car that can get away with a £150k price tag, but not a hundred thousand pounds more than that. Lack of supply when the cars were newly-announced sent prices soaring, but now that the RS is two year-old technology and the demand from collectors has likely been satisfied, the low supply premiums are shrinking.
With prices of £190-195k rumoured for cars sold under the radar, that puts the premium closer to £40k for a delivery mileage, one-owner 991 GT3 RS. No doubt some will insist these prices are not happening, but I do trust my source.
Porsche is not building any more 991 GT3 RSs as far as I know, so the chances of these cars – even 10k-mile examples – selling for less than list price in the near future is unlikely, but exactly where over-list premiums will settle is uncertain for now. Will they drop much below £40k? That is entirely possible: premiums usually keep coming down until there is a sudden injection of demand, or supply shrinks as the market soaks up everything available.
Common drivers behind increased demand is a screamingly low price (exchange rate changes for overseas RHD buyers) or a sudden influx of liquidity to the buyer pool, such as city bonuses, pension payouts, capital gains tax breaks or similar. It’s unlikely that a vote against Brexit in this Thursday’s referendum would cause RS prices circa £260k to suddenly look sensible if people are paying less than £200k elsewhere, but there would likely be a lift in demand for sensibly-priced desirable cars like the 991 GT3 RS if economic uncertainty was eased.
Given this prospect, sensible dealers might be considering a reprice right about now. £200k is still £50k profit on list for a well-specced example. Perhaps sellers are not paying attention to the rest of the market, or banking on a big hit to Sterling exchange rates on Thursday. That’s a pretty big gamble if there are only ten buyers out there and they all do deals tomorrow and Wednesday.
by John Glynn | Jun 19, 2016 | Race and Rally
Twelve hours into the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, Porsche is still in LMP1 contention, with the number 88 911 of the Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing team also fighting for the overall lead in GTE-Am. Both factory RSRs have retired with mechanical failures.
The race has not been plain sailing for Weissach. Minutes before Brad Pitt was due to wave the starting flag, the heavens opened, soaking the track and causing the race to be started under the safety car for the first time in its history. The 919s went alright in the rain, but when the green flag waved after 52 minutes, the RSRs came into their own.
Driving the number 92 car, Fred Makowiecki launched a charge and took the GTE-Pro lead, thanks in no small part to the 911’s superior traction. Patrick Pilet joined him at the front of the pack, and the pair swapped the overall lead until the track dried enough for their advantage to be nullified. Inevitably, the Ford GTs came into their sweet spot and swept to the front.
Behind the Pro RSRs, Wolf Henzler held a convincing lead in GTE-Am in the KCMG RSR, dicing with fellow works driver Patrick Long in the Abu Dhabi Proton 911. Even as the track dried out, the pair battled for the lead until the KCMG car hit problems.
Both works RSRs also had problems. The 91 car holed a rad and had to dive in the pits for a radiator change. Number 92 broke a steering support and lost a bundle of time in the garage. Both cars ended up back on track, but 91’s card had been marked. Soon after Kevin Estre jumped in for his night stint, there was a huge plume of smoke that could only have come from an engine failure. The course went full yellow, then safety cars came out as the marshalls worked hard to clear up the oil.
The circuit had not been green for very long, when the number 92 car came in to pit lane, clearly struggling to plough a straight furrow. Commentators ascribed it to a possible puncture, but it looked rather more serious to me. Eventually, Porsche tweeted retirement for car 92 due to a snapped front wishbone pickup and that was it: both works 911s were out. The number 77 RSR of Dempsey Racing is still running in GTE-Pro: 7th in class and a lap off the lead, but its last lap matched the leading Ferrari’s pace almost identically.
In LMP1, the number 1 Hybrid suffered high engine temps and was pulled into the garage for a water pump change. Soon after it got back to racing, it hit more trouble and limped back to the garage under half power. A few hours later, it rejoined the race and is again running well, albeit down the field. With only the Toyotas and the number 2 919 Hybrid running reliably up front at the halfway point, who knows what could go wrong in the second twelve hours.
by John Glynn | Jun 17, 2016 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
There were highly emotional scenes in the Porsche Le Mans press conference this afternoon, as frustration with ACO’s Balance of Performance rules boiled over for Doctor Frank Walliser, Head of Porsche Motorsport.
The conference began in the usual Porsche way, noting that no other manufacturer has been as successful at Le Mans, where Porsche has claimed seventeen victories. Porsche historical archive boss, Dieter Landenberger, and multiple Le Mans winner, Hans-Joachim Stuck then took to the stage, to discuss Porsche’s early Le Mans racing and how research and development carried out on the racetrack has informed production vehicle technology.
Dr Frank Walliser on Porsche Le Mans BoP
As Dieter and Stuck left the stage, the compere welcomed motorsport bosses, Fritz Enzinger and Frank Walliser, to discuss the state of play with the current Porsche motorsport team. “What are your expectations for the race?” Dr Walliser was asked. “Balance of Performance was the key word in the last two days?”
“Balance of Performance,” he began. “Looking at the expectations, especially in the qualifying result, we had really a perfect car. Feedback from the drivers was tremendously good: the best car they ever received for Le Mans. Balance, tyres, aerodynamics: everything good. And then, if you find yourself in eighth position, 3.8 seconds behind the car with the F, it makes it really difficult.
“For sure you have to come then to a point where are you say it’s definitely not our team, the performance, there is something on BoP. We all know we need BoP: it’s important, it is relevant for the sport, it enables GT racing. But we do not need this kind of BoP; this is definitely not what is expected.
“We trust as we do always that the officials will take the right measures within the next hours to rebalance again, and that we can… there is a chance to have the best GT race ever – as we have five brands and fourteen cars – for the sake of the sport and for the fans.”
At this point, Frank became quite emotional and broke down a little: something not often seen in motorsport press conferences. It was a clear insight into how deep these emotions are felt, and the pressure Frank and his team are under to keep the RSR up to speed against the Ford GTs and Ferraris which many commentators have accused of sandbagging here in Le Mans and also at the recent 6 Hours of Spa.
Racing is not just Machinery
Having spent much of last night in tears, watching news broadcasts and so many tributes to the young mum and Yorkshire MP who was murdered outside her Yorkshire constituency office, I feel Frank’s emotion. These events may have very different significance, but both are all about people and how deeply we feel our strongest convinctions.
World Championship motorsport is not just about the machinery. This is an intensely human contest, in which the extreme highs and lows are amplified by the global stage on which they are fought. I know I’m not alone in having shed many tears over motorsport events – not least the modern-day losses of Joey Dunlop, Allan Simonsen and Jules Bianchi – and that is just as a spectator. Quite how much frustration the boss of a huge motorsport team must feel when the sport’s governing body is blatantly biased against one’s equipe is hard to imagine.
ACO has since looked again at the Balance of Performance and added some weight to the Fords (+5kg) and Ferraris (+25kgs). It has also pulled boost pressure from the turbocharged Ford GTs. The Astons and Corvettes have been gifted slightly bigger air restrictors to increase engine power. As for the Porsche Le Mans 911 RSRs, they now have an extra 8 litres of fuel capacity. It is the worst kind of joke: no wonder Frank is not laughing.
