The classic Porsche road trip I took to France earlier in the month yielded some great results. I got to take a lot of pictures I liked, lots I didn’t like but that taught me a few things, and also made a pair of great articles out of it.
One of them is a piece for Total 911 magazine on our road trip to Classic Le Mans: the driving, the drinking and the atmosphere. I met Jamie down there to shoot the pics and he did a cracking job.
Le Mans atmosphere research is straightforward enough: wander about, see the big guns, find out who’s up to what and make copious notes on everything. As the journo is responsible for setting the tone on a piece like this, it was my challenge to decide on the opener: that full-spread start picture that sets the tone and lures the reader in.
After a few days’ thought, I decided on a gaggle of 911s on classic two-lane blacktop: one of those tree-lined Frenchie boulevards, with stone farmhouses dotted either side of the road and peasants on bikes wobbling up the middle. Onion strings would be a plus.
Just up the road from my rented gite was the perfect location, spotted as I arrived in the Orange from Monaco on Thursday afternoon. One sunny morning, we took 4 of my housemates’ cars down to the perfect spot, briefed them on what was required and Jamie got the shot on the second run. As the car world’s number one snapper said immediately afterward: “if there’s one thing we do to the max, it’s nail a tracking shot!” Here’s a little video of lining the cars up before turning around and doing the business.
The mag may decide to go another way on how to lay it out, but this is how I saw it on location. Check the finished product in an upcoming edition of Total 911 magazine.
Just sorting through the pics of the recent R Gruppe Grand Tour for a Porsche World magazine feature. Here’s one that brings back happy memories: the time the front runners came around a corner at a rate of knots, to find one mountain collapsed in a landslide and a road full of Volvo earthmovers shifting the debris. Everywhere we went, workmen were repairing landslide damage.
Sam and I actually came back down this road about twenty minutes later. There was a ten-ton rock in the middle of the road, right where my car is parked out of shot. It fell off the top of the cliff just a few minutes after we left to head back up the Col as part of a second, smaller landslide. Two lucky R Gruppe escapes in one day! We were on our best behaviour after that.
Don’t suppose I need to say that a bit of Porsche tyre smoke needed to clear before I could take this picture.
About Alpine Landslides
Landslides are apparently pretty common around these parts. According to this New Zealand geology website, “in the terrain made up of hard rock and steep, high slopes, landslides range from huge rock avalanches that can shape mountain peaks and travel several kilometres in minutes, to massive rock slides, rock falls and debris flows.
“It can be difficult to distinguish between rock avalanches, and ice or snow avalanches. Most avalanches originate as falling snow or ice, which can include rock and other debris. Avalanches of rock can also pick up ice and snow.” The landslide seen here originated as falling rock, which are “typically characterised by rapid, turbulent movement.
Classic Le Mans was HOT. Too hot! As we were so busy with shooting a Total 911 piece and sorting bits for Jamie’s uber-cool Renault 8S, I didn’t get much time to wander around the car park to see anything resembling a Porsche hot rod either.
Thankfully, I can count on some stalwart Porsche pals to help me out with keeping an eye on the public parking. My buddy Chris Tarling took a couple of shots of an interesting early 911 (since discovered to be an SC backdate).
The colour on this hybrid Porsche hot rod looks like Irish Green. I love the front flares and curved rear quarters. Black-rimmed rear lenses do the business. Contrasting bumpers and engine grille are groovy, and loud pipes save lives!
Banded steels and sticky tyres are a look – no idea what it must drive like with all that dish.
The front end is love or hate, with grilled-out markers and indicators and the black-rimmed lights. The flip up centre filer is sweet, and I love the wiper-off look. Like being back in California. I think the whole thing is old-school cool.
I’ve been giving serious thought to selling my Carrera 3.0 and building something irreverent on that early T shell I have. I’m sort of on the fence over whether to sell the T as a potential rally car project or just do something with it and buy another Varmint-type SC from the US. I’m not dead set on owning an all-original early 911, but this car gives me the hots for the early 911 outlaw look. Tough to decide which way to go sometimes.
If this car rings a bell with anyone, get in touch!
As I write, the 2010 Le Mans Classic is in full swing. The weather here is incredibly hot: Porsche restaurant tent temperatures hit a reported 45 degrees yesterday and Arnage lunch was taken in similar heat. Not all that comfortable, unless you went to McDonalds for the air conditioning and free wifi, like Mr James Lipman and I.
As per usual, base for our little ImpactBumpers.com crew is the peaceful Moulin du Prieure in Dissay sous Courcillon, 37 miles south of the track, on the edge of Sarthe province. It’s far enough away to feel like real France: Le Mans town becomes a tourist meltdown and traffic nightmare for this event.
That said, I got my first taste of Le Mans camping on this trip, by visiting the Dutch contingent at Karting Nord for the R Gruppe BBQ, and last night’s Leftovers Special. Their set up of tents around bivouac, with inflatable sofas and permanently active grill is perfect: food for thought in 2012.
I also had my first taste of ACO this weekend, as I arrived with media accreditation instead of my usual Porsche ‘Club Ticket Package’. Have to say I am not super impressed with the media dispensations and would probably have been as well off to travel as a paying enthusiast. It’s funny how some of these media junkets play out.
Porsche tent access is a worthy addition to the event and, despite positive confirmation of entry beforehand, it was not available to common-or-garden journos like me on the day. Talk about disappointed! I did get a very nice enamel badge to carry around and keep as a souvenir though, and the media girls are exceptionally pretty, so thumbs up for that.
Now I am freelancing full time, CLM is a good opportunity to bump into other writers and photographers and catch up with the news. Researching features in 45-degree heat really shows who walks the walk! It was good to see two UK classic magazine editors on site: Phil Bell from Classic Cars and my old friend Gary Stretton from Classics Monthly. Both were loving it, and I got an update on their own old machines: an E-Type and a very rare Peerless.
This is the Classic Porsche Blog though, so we’ll post Porsche pics and updates once we’re back at home on Tuesday. In the meantime, check out a few iPhone shots taken in mind-bending high 40s heat. Gotta love Porsche reliability!
Today was the last day in Monaco for the 2010 R Gruppe Grand Tour. With no group plan for the day, I was up at 7.30 and out in the Orange 911 Carrera 3.0, to repeat yesterday’s drive up the Col De Turini, and the amazing road from Turini to Sospel.
Col de Turini is the heart of the Monte Carlo Rally. As Monte has been a dream event for me for many years, driving the core stage of this monumental test of man and machine was a must.
At just 1607 metres high, Turini is a relatively low mountain pass, but that does not take away from the sense of occasion one enjoys upon reaching the summit. Once at the top, there was no doubt in my mind: a life goal had been reached.
After driving up the Col, I spent the early part of the morning seeking out locations for a photo shoot planned for later that day. I came up with some places and plans, which ultimately did not work out anything like I’d intended but, regardless of the operational challenges, it was great to spend time with the five faithful Gruppers who returned to the mountains to help me with the work. Many thanks to Leonard, Jan, Guenter, Gerd and Martin.
Tomorrow we drive to Le Mans, for a weekend at the biannual Le Mans Classic. It’s my first time there with press accreditation, so I’m looking forward to the challenge of working at Classic Le Mans, rather than just being there as a Porsche fan and car guy in search of entertainment.
Not that there won’t be entertainment to hand! My fellow Bergmeisters are all coming to Le Mans, where we’ll be joined by the ImpactBumpers.com crowd, and the Dutch R Gruppe posse. The Amsterdam massive includes good buddy Arjen Bosman, who has rented a (British) caravan to camp at the event: bound to be unmerciful fun.
The exception to the attendees will be little brother Sam, who flies back to Dublin from here tomorrow. He has been to every CLM with me so far, so it’s going to be strange not having him with us this time around.
We leave Monte Carlo at 7am. After today’s drive down from the mountains through Castillo and the other lovely villages overlooking the bay, I’m missing it already.
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