by John Glynn | Dec 13, 2012 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
I’ve been looking for a second impact-bumper Porsche 911 Coupé shell for a while, as shells are getting harder and harder to find, and I am not done with building hot rod 911s quite yet.
Built from May 1975 to July 1976 and for the US market only, the Porsche 912E (factory type 923) has the narrow IB body: quite rare with a galvanised shell and a look I really like. Yesterday was 12/12/12: the most perfect day ever to buy a 912E, so I bought the one you see here.
The 912E was originally equipped with a 90hp 2-litre flat 4, but I bought this one without running gear. Not that I’ve got anything against flat 4s – after all, I drive Subarus every day – just this was in my (cheap) price band as being sold with no engine or transmission.
Between the 914’s demise and the 924’s arrival, the 912 filled the entry-level Porsche slot. I’ve already got a 924 Turbo and a no-frills 944, so I’m happy to have secured this little 912 chassis. History tells us that the bargain basement cars are often the ones that don’t get saved, so it’s good to keep this one together.
Will it go back to factory? Beyond the paint code, I doubt it. Ferdinand’s 912E has some dodgy white paint over factory Arrow Blue – one of my favourite colours. So we will put it back to Arrow Blue but not with the stock running gear.
The plan is to bring it back to the UK from its current CA home and build something on it eventually. No idea what yet: maybe a backdate 3.6-litre 911 ST: something like a backdated 911 using EB Motorsport 911 ST body panels, or just a narrow body 4-cylinder, but not with Porsche 4-cylinder power unless they do some 1.8-litre Turbo Boxster down the road. Probably flat-4 VW 1.9 or 2.5 from the WEVO stable if we go 4-cylinder.
I have a bunch of Porsche parts in CA that need to come home, so they can all travel in this now. Pretty excited by my purchase, as you can imagine!
by John Glynn | Dec 8, 2012 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
Porsche has just given a brand new 991 Carrera S to the man it calles ‘the best private Porsche driver in the world’. And he’s from Great Britain.
Following his first full season in international GT racing, twenty eight year-old Nick Tandy can celebrate winning the Porsche Cup as the best private driver in the world. On the occasion of the Night of Champions on 8 December in the R&D Centre at Weissach, Nick Tandy received the Porsche Cup from Dr. Wolfgang Porsche, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Porsche AG.
The Porsche Cup carries a total value of €253,000. Drivers earn points in eighteen Grand Touring and prototype race series worldwide, as well as selected long distance races. Entering the season as reigning Carrera Cup Deutschland champion – no mean feat in itself – Nick raced International GT Open with Marco Holzer in the Manthey GT3 RSR, in a 911 GT3 R in ADAC GT Masters, in ALMS for Flying Lizard and TRG, and in a GT3 R in the British GT Championship.
Part of the prize was a new Porsche 911 Carrera S, after the Briton scored the grand total of 7,510 points across his season. Second-place Raymond Narac received €30,000, while third man Paolo Ruberti went home with €25,000.
Tandy’s story is an emotional one – more of that later – so a big well done on this marvellous achievement. When the flag drops, the bullshit stops: a few racing critics out there might do well to remember that.
by John Glynn | Dec 7, 2012 | Porsche News, New Models, Race and Rally
Porsche Motorsport has just sent over this teaser pic of a new 991 race car with its nose sticking out of a garage. It’s a very small view of next year’s big deal, but still creates some excitement.
This new 991 racecar is showing GT3 R-style/Cup Car bodywork: quite a bit narrower than the Porsche 991 RSR spy shots we revealed a few days ago. The rear shot attracted the most likes ever on the burgeoning Ferdinand Porsche Mag Facebook page, with almost 600 thumbs to its credit so far. Here’s some video of the new 991 in action:
Stuttgart is starving us of technical details for the 2013 Cup car and RSR programmes, but we’ll share what we learn as it comes along.
Ferdinand blogs my freelance adventure with Porsche at the centre. To support the blog or engage with me in other ways, you can:
![Works Porsche 991 RSR at Le Mans & World Endurance]()
by John Glynn | Nov 30, 2012 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
Porsche has just announced it will race its 991 GT3 RSR (sexy spy shots) at Le Mans and in the 2013 World Endurance Championship.
For the 2013 racing season, Porsche AG will field two new GT racecars based on the newest generation of the Porsche 911 at the Le Mans 24 hour race and in the World Endurance Championship (WEC).
The two new Porsche 911 RSR(s), which race in the GTE category, will be run by Porsche AG Team Manthey. The role of team manager goes to the experienced endurance specialist Olaf Manthey, who has celebrated five overall wins with Porsche at the Nürburgring 24 hour race, and recently fielded a 911 GT3 RSR in the International GT Open.
“The new 911 RSR is currently being developed by our engineers and tested by our works drivers,” says Porsche Head of Motorsport, Hartmut Kristen. “What better time could there be to introduce the new car than the Porsche 911’s 50th anniversary?”
This is a very exciting development for fans of Porsche Motorsport. World Endurance saw some great 911 wins in the wet last year, but we were usually caned by a faster Ferrari in the dry – Bahrain WEC was one exception. Bring it on now, Maranello!
A few dry wins won’t do sales of the standard 991, or upcoming 991 GT3 and Turbo road cars any harm, either. Good stuff!
by John Glynn | Nov 28, 2012 | Classic Porsche Blog, Porsche People, Race and Rally
Tuthill Porsche Safari contender, Franz Wunderlich, will follow in the tyre tracks of the original Paris-Dakar rally when he takes part in the Sonangol Africa Eco Race, which kicks off over Christmas.
Starting in Morocco on December 29th, the rally runs through North Africa en route to Senegal and a finish in the capital on January 9th, following the vision of Dakar founder, Thierry Sabine. Competitors in the classic category run along the same rugged desert tracks as modern competitors, but avoid the worst of the car-claiming dunes.
Racers benefit from identical logistic and medical support to those in the grand event. Sonangol Africa Race Classic competitors also enjoy the bivouac with regular participants, so there is some relief from cabin fever at the end of a day.
Sporting Director for this epic desert rally is René Metge (above): the famous Porsche wheelsman who claimed Dakar victory in the 959. Taking last year as a model, René has no plans to dish out easy rides.
“Just looking at the maps, we knew the 2012 edition would be difficult, and it was. What we did not anticipate was the weather, especially in Mauritania, where the sandstorm began to blow before we arrived and stayed ten days. The Mauritanian desert was then totally changed.
“Although I know the route by heart, I saw that some places became invisible and many dunes appeared where a few weeks ago, there was nothing. This bad weather forced us to cancel one leg. After several days of stress everyone was very tired including vehicles. The cancellation of the special stage between Akjoujt and Tenadi allowed them to start on the last Mauritanian leg with energy.
“The 2012 edition was difficult, but I think we took the right option. Dense race, “serious” navigation and intense crossing but not too long. We tried to have a minimum of rocky terrain all along the way but in Morocco, for example, it is quite impossible to avoid any rocky area.”
This event will be no cakewalk! We’ll be doing our best to follow Franz and his adventures, so keep it here for more updates.
Ferdinand blogs my freelance adventure with Porsche at the centre. To support the blog or engage with me in other ways, you can:
