by John Glynn | Jun 23, 2012 | Classic Porsche Blog, Porsche News
French breathalyser rules could affect Porsche drivers. The UK Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) claims half of all British motorists heading to France this year risk trouble with the Gendarmes by not carrying the correct breathalyser in their car.
A legal requirement for all cars driven in France from the 1st of July, only breath-test devices carrying the blue circular NF logo, the French equivalent of the UK’s BSI kitemark will satisfy the new law.
French Breathalyser Rules
In IAM research amongst 2300 motorists heading to France this year, 80 percent said the new breathalyser rule would make no difference to drink driving in a country renowned for excellence in alcohol. Looking at the bigger picture – testing the morning after and having the ability to check on any doubts – I think it will probaby will have an effect in the long run. The legal limit in France is 50 mg per 100 ml of blood, lower than the UK’s 80mg limit, so a big night on the beer after a track day could make you unwittingly unsafe to be behind the wheel.
I love driving in France – both pics here are of my own 911s en France. The roads are generally excellent, autoroutes are well priced and there’s plenty of space to play in. Making the individual largely responsible for their safety on the road is better than nanny-state England, with its speed camera vans and talk of satellite tracking all cars – my politics do not fit with dumbing down the individual.
Carry an Approved French Breathalyser in your Porsche
If you’re heading to France for Classic Le Mans, remember the approved breathalyser(s), the GB plate, headlamp deflectors on RHD cars, obligatory set of spare bulbs, high-vis waistcoats you can reach from the drivers seats, plenty of water and a decent map! Having a good map to hand can lead you to some epic roads.
I can’t wait to get back to France – hope to see a few of you at the Circuit de la Sarthe.
Update: breathalyser fines postponed indefinitely. Cliek here for the latest French driving fines.
![Porsche 991 gets Top JD Power Rating]()
by John Glynn | Jun 21, 2012 | Market & Prices, Porsche News
American consumer research giant, JD Power, has given top marks to the new 911 in its latest “Initial Quality Study”. The research is carried out three months into ownership, when the halo has not yet worn off and the car is clocking up beauty miles.
Porsche reports that 230 2012 model year cars were sampled, with 228 questions addressing all aspects of customer satisfaction. The new 911 took top spot in the luxury sports car category, as well as recording the lowest number of complaints in the entire survey.
It’s hard not to wonder about these surveys. After three months, you are still getting oohs and ahs from friends and colleagues, and most buyers have barely reached first-service mileage. How likely would buyers of new Porsche sports cars be to record extreme disappointment after 12 weeks of ownership? Thumbs down would hardly be a good reflection on their own ability to spend 70 grand wisely. What might they say – “bit boring, no one lets me in in traffic, sat nav seems expensive for what it actually does?” Maybe that last one was covered in the questions.
More important to new and used car buyers is how the car stands up to 12 months of use, then 24 months and 36 months. Hard to imagine 100% of 996 and early 997 buyers giving gold medals to Porsche after 24 months.
I recently spoke to a guy whose 997 needed an engine rebuild at 25,000 miles, is now up to 28,000 miles total and needs another engine. He is not taking his 911 back to the supposed specialist putting a lot of tuppences into this 53-page thread on Porsche 996 and 997 engine failures. As for my recent education on cracked 997 suspension springs – seems that is no small issue either.
Gen 2 997 seems to be holding up well (better), but always interested to keep track of emerging issues and reliability trends. Hopefully 991 can continue the Gen 2’s good work: let’s see another JD Power report on the same cars this time next year.
by John Glynn | Jun 16, 2012 | Porsche News, Race and Rally
Porsche owns the top three GTE AM slots at the 90-minute point in the 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours. Leading the class is Flying Lizard’s number 79 RSR, followed by the Matmut car and then Prospeed. All cars have made one stop. Patrick Pilet is building a great lead in the category.
P4 in the class is Gunnar Racing’s Gunnar Jeannette in the number 58 Ferrari and he’s going well – his team manager has just been called to race control regarding his team mate. I’m following the race using Radio Le Mans commentary (big Porsche thread going at the minute) and watching the Le Mans live pictures (on mute). Means I can be at the office while the race heads into the night.
Here’s the situation in GTE Pro: Aston leads Corvette leads 911 RSR. The pace is pretty tight: Porsche is two minutes back but their best laps are two seconds apart. Remember we have over 22 hours left, so there’s a long way to go.
Up front, it’s Audi, Audi, Toyota, Toyota. More news as it happens.
by John Glynn | Jun 3, 2012 | Classic Porsche Blog, Market & Prices
A few years ago, 911 & Porsche World magazine had the idea of Ultimate Porsche. Each editorial contributor would bring their Ultimate Porsche to Bruntingthorpe, for compare and contrast, and a verdict.
For me, the ultimate Porsche is the 917: no contest. 917, then 908, then the choice gets controversial: I thought maybe latest 911 Turbo. The first two made Porsche the über-brand of the 1970s: a halo it still wears now, though it hasn’t put anything like that level of personal, authentic effort in for many years. Nor can it have, as the men behind 917 and 908 were Porsche, and the family was out of management in 1972.
Not thinking of third position, I went on a hunt for a 917. I only knew of two: one was David Piper’s car (below), which Porsche World had featured in a joint thing with Octane, someone had blown up David’s gearbox on the shoot, there was a big fall-out over the pics and I would not ask the great DP to take part in a repeat fiasco. The only other English 917 I knew had just come back from Classic Le Mans. The 917 and same-stable 908 had raced hard (despite the wrong gearing in the 908) and both were apart for a post-race refresh.
So no 917.
Two cars were in my garage: my Continental Orange Carrera 3.0 Coupe, and a friend’s 964 RS (he’d asked me to sell it). I didn’t want to use my car – ‘ultimate Porsche is the one you own’ was not the way I saw it. The 964 RS had very little history but was the real thing, had been used by Walter Röhrl for Bilstein damper development and was much cheaper than what else was out there, but not one virtual tyrekicker came to see it.
I took the 964 RS to Bruntingthorpe and it made my day. The RS resolved my belief that this was the ultimate air-cooled 911, and was the journos’ road car choice on the day.
Someone brought a 997 Turbo. The latest, greatest 911 was fabulous to drive but a price tag to match, depreciation like any other and hardly maintenance-free. One day, it would be yesterday’s news. The 964 RS was up for less than £40K so was well priced and drove the best of everything there. It was only getting dearer. You could take it ten miles down the road and come back with 100 on the clock. It really was addictive. Not the one that would win Top Trumps, just my favourite.
Eventually, the owner tired of silly offers on the car and it left my care. Another friend’s 964 RS is now for sale for almost twice that price. Way beyond what I can afford but, If you’ve got the money they are worth the effort: runner-up to a 908 and 917 is a hell of a place to be.
by John Glynn | May 22, 2012 | Classic Porsche Blog, Market & Prices
This Bill Gates Porsche 911 Turbo story has been doing the Internet rounds for a couple of days, but some of you may not have seen it. It is definitely worth following!
Bill Gates’ 1979 930 is for sale on an Austrian auction site. The car has apparently covered 89,000 miles, but was restored in 2011, with fresh paint and an engine rebuild paid for by the current owner, a year after it was imported to Austria.
As a ’79, it is of course a 3.3-litre, with the 4-speed transmission. Though it seems in good shape, any prospective buyers would be well advised to have a closer inspection. Early 930s can need more than engine rebuilds at this stage and it did live in Seattle: rain capital of the USA.
One thing you can be sure of is a decent history: Bill is not short of a bob or too. With the best 930s now being offered (perhaps slightly optimistically) at close to £50k in the UK – a LHD car should be expected to fetch more. Add in the kudos of Bill’s original Bill of Sale and who knows what it might fetch.
I’ve driven plenty of 4-speed 930s in the UK, Europe and the USA. Even in the best condition, they can be difficult to get excited about on a twisty mountain road. I don’t think that this car would be worth fortunes to me, but then I’ve been a fan of the 3-litre normally aspirated 911s and a Steve Jobs/Apple Mac user for many years!
What do you think it will sell for? Add your views in the comments. This story came in from Matthew (thanks Matt): email me with other interesting stuff you might see. We are always looking for interesting feature cars. Follow Ferdinand to keep in touch with all the Porsche stories we share online.
