by John Glynn | Feb 23, 2015 | Classic Porsche Blog, Market & Prices
The Silverstone Auctions sale at RaceRetro 2015 brought mixed results for classic Porsche 911s. A number of promising Porsche entries were withdrawn pre-sale – a nice 2.7 911 and early 911T amongst them – but a pair of cars caught my eye from either end of the classic price spectrum.
Porsche 930/911 Turbo Targa at auction
This right-hand drive 5-speed Porsche 911 Turbo Targa is a rare car that sold well inside predictions, suggesting the body might have hidden a few more secrets than the auction description suggested. Not sure how likely that is as the pics make it seem pretty reasonable: maybe it was just the Marmite widebody Targa effect.
The very last year (1989) of Porsche 930 with a Targa roof is a very rare car, but the £35,438 this car sold for would just about buy a very nice 3.2 Carrera Targa nowadays. With the clutch replaced in the last 5k miles and a service 2k miles ago, if this a solid 930 with no major oil leaks, someone did well for themselves.
1965 Porsche 911 SWB prices
Elsewhere in 911-land, this apparently very nice LHD 1965 SWB Porsche 911 2.0 blew its £100-120k estimate well out of the water, selling at £133,875. Owned by a Norwegian since 1998, the description for the left-hand drive European example made no real mention of history prior to the current owner, save some details on a rebuild for the matching numbers engine some twenty years ago.
Four owners have kept this SWB looking straight and apparently honest. With the general condition described as “usable with a fair patina”, the decision to send the car to auction paid off. Matching numbers 1965 911s are highly sought-after now, and to exceed the estimate by over 10% shows just how fevered the market can get for early SWB cars. I can’t help feeling that these cars have not reached their peak: I’d rather buy SWB than RS at current prices and I can’t be alone on that.
Porsche 911 Auction Prices UK
I see from the Silverstone Auctions site that a bespoke “Porsche Sale” is planned for October. I have decided to sell my non-sunroof LHD Series 1 Porsche 924 Turbo this year, and it could take me that long to find enough time to put the trim back on the newly-painted bodywork. Might be an interesting story to put the car through auction and see how it does.
by John Glynn | Feb 8, 2015 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
This smart Porsche 356 Carrera 2 is currently going back together following a forty-year spell as a project car. Owned by the right reverend Francis Tuthill, the main man took it apart in the 1970s when it had a bit of rust in the sills. It’s taken a mere four decades to find time to put it back together.
Before the 356 boys chime in with a million questions, I don’t have all the details to hand at present: it was a flying visit en route to somewhere else when Francis grabbed me with the usual: “you don’t want to be taking pictures of that. I’ll show you the real story.” One does not refuse such offers.
I hear this car is one of four right-hand drive cars manufactured: other sources reckon there were six. This is not Fran’s only four-cam project and it is going back together to be driven, although I don’t quite know where to at the minute. I’ll definitely be blagging a spin in it when done.
The Carrera 2 remains a rare bird, especially in right-hand drive. Fuhrmann’s four-cam engine reached its peak here in the Type 587 version: 1966cc of revvy flat four, delivering around 130 bhp.
The engine is shown here in a stand, which is where most servicing must be done with the four-cams. Wider than the normal engines, these four-cams come out when its time to do the plugs: hence why Francis called me down for a look. “You won’t see a thing when this is back in the car.”
I do like the Porsche 356. It still has such a great shape and Carreras were right on the pace of the early 911s: one reason there was so much dissent when the 356 was displaced by the new boy. Driving a ‘regular’ 356 is easy, relaxed, evocative. Light, direct steering and a welcoming cabin makes a very comfortable environment for mile after mile. How much it changes with a four-cam, I hope to report sometime soon.
by John Glynn | Jan 15, 2015 | Classic Porsche Blog, Modified Porsche Hot Rods
Swapped some good emails with Jonny, a fellow impact bumper 911 man earlier this week regarding an agreed insurance valuation for his newly-restored Porsche 911 SC. The car is just about finished, so it’s time to make sure that this investment is properly protected in case anything should happen. The car is absolutely lovely: well worth sharing on Ferdinand.
“The brief for the car was an ‘everyday’ hot rod based largely on standard components and some period accessories – hence ‘stock rod’,” says Jonny. “The car as purchased was scruffy but largely sound. The shell needed repair to both kidneys, sills, one inner wing and the oil tank aperture.”
Porsche 911 SC Hot Rod begins
“I contacted well known body man, Barry Carter, about tackling the bodywork. He was at the right end of the country for me and has done some lovely metal restoration on 911s. Barry’s mission was ‘search and destroy’ all rust. After a lot of detailed repair work, I believe this has been accomplished.
“While Barry was working on the rust problem, he also addressed the metalwork in other areas that I was changing, to make the shell perfect. This included a mirror hole delete, side skirt delete, side repeater delete, rear fog light delete, front spoiler delete and rolling the wheel arch edges.
“When the bodywork was done, I stripped the car back to bare metal myself and the shell then went to Steve Utting at DC Coachworks. Steve carried out a complete colour change to Porsche Delphi Green – a 914 colour, similar to some 911 shades. The new paint extends to the wheelarches, engine and luggage bays.
“Former Paragon engine builder, Lee Colbran, rebuilt the engine with standard pistons and cylinders (rebored and Nikasil coated) 964 cams, and SSI heat exchangers. We also backdated the heating: taking the secondary air blower out of the engine compartment. I rebuilt the Bosch K-Jet CIS injection and had the fan and housing refurbed. Mike Bainbridge rebuilt the transmission for me, also fitting a Quaife LSD to the car.
“There’s nothing wrong with standard SC brakes, so no upgrade was necessary. I had the calipers reconditioned by Classic Brake, and replaced every part of the braking system. All the suspension was also removed, stripped and refinished in the correct plating or powerdercoat. New suspension bushes are a mix of standard and Superpro, as this is not a track car. Rear torsion bars went to 26mm, with a 22mm front anti-roll bar. Turbo tie rods were fitted to my 911 SC, as they make a difference.”
Jonny is an electrical engineer, so there are some clever bits and pieces on the electrical system – more on that in a later post. The interior is very period, with the original brown dash, door caps and trim, some manual Porsche sports seats and very smart Mercedes “Brazil Brown” carpet, as it tones well with the Porsche palette. The door panels and rear quarter trims are covered in “Domino” Alcantara. Rear seat backs have been deleted but the handy “jump seat” cushions are still in place.
Kudos to Jonny for getting in early and snapping up an SC before prices went crazy, then working his way through a detailed “update” restoration so the car can be used every day. Undervalued for far too long, the 3-litre 911s are still my favourite and I love what Jon has done with the Delphi Green stunner. Looking forward to having a drive sometime soon.
by John Glynn | Dec 12, 2014 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
Spent a morning this week at Tuthill Porsche, watching a proper 3.0 911 RSR engine go together. The most interesting thing about this engine is it was built using rare factory sand-cast engine cases: something apart from the norm and a nice link to RSR heritage.
Richard Tuthill has always promised to help with a top end rebuild on my Carrera 3.0 engine, currently resting with tired valve guides and a cracked head stud. The C3 engine has much in common with the RSR motor, so there was plenty on this build that would also apply to my own. I’d seen these cases when they first arrived in the parts washer, so looked forward to watching them come back to life: it was going to be educational.
Engine builder Anthony served as Francis’ apprentice and has since built countless Porsche engines and transmissions, using a mix of Fran’s teachings and knowledge gleaned from other engine gurus. It will be a few years before he has the wrinkles to countenance his impressive store of knowledge, but no doubt he’s en route to the top of his field.
As you’d expect, this was not the first time the race engine had been stripped, and some bits needed a rethink. When the original crank was found to need oversize bearings at three grand a set from our German friend, it made more sense to keep the ancient crank safe, and prepare a new crankshaft to RSR spec.
The 6-bolt crankshaft was knife-edged, polished and nitrided (hardened in a 72-hour process) before being fitted with the original connecting rods. These were original and I thought quite lovely. Edges had been ground and polished before the rods were shot peened: nothing overly dressy. These engines are all about go, not show.
One illuminating job on the crankshaft assembly was stretching the rod bolts using a rod bolt stretch gauge. The bolts are at max clamp load when stretched by 10 thousandths of an inch, so Anthony’s junior held the ARP gauge while the bolts were stretched up to spec.
With the crankshaft assembled, the builder spent a long time cleaning and lubricating the first case half, installing oil seals, oil pump, timing chains and intermediate shaft before dropping the crank in, adding more seals, using a variety of sealants to prep the case further, then turning his attention to the other case half.
This was given the same close attention: lots of cleaning, lubrication and then a different sealant. When everything was ready, the case halves were joined together and Anthony worked quickly to get it all buttoned up while the sealant was curing. Next job was to install pistons and cylinders and measure the heights and CCs, so they could be sent off for finishing. More on that next time (it’s good).
by John Glynn | Dec 12, 2014 | Porsche Cayenne, Project Cars
Not reported on my Cayenne for a little while, so that is worth an update. It’s been a busy bus and not had much love since fitting the new propshaft in September. You might remember that I bought a recon shaft and that was not right so had to send it back, then bought a new one and that had a small vibration when I fitted it.
My plan was to refit that second one using a Porsche propshaft alignment tool and then have my original shaft reconditioned by some old-school guys in Nottingham and fit that to sort it once and for all. A great plan and so far I have managed to achieve none of it! Busy, busy, busy: it may happen over Christmas.
Minor vibration notwithstanding, the Cayenne trucks on regardless. I had to top up the coolant by quite a lot for the first time in months the other day, so I guess I have a leak. As the Cayenne is approaching 140k miles, it could be water pump or could be rad wearing out. The centre coolant pipes in the V8 have been changed to aluminium, so unlikely to be that. I’ll look at it when it’s next on a lift.
It being winter, the starter has gone sluggish again, rarely starting first time from cold. I have another starter to recon and fit, but that’s another project not sorted yet. I did manage to swap the worn-out summer tyres for nice set of part-worn Pirelli Scorpion winter tyres on 19″ wheels. I like the look on the original Cayenne wheels, and the early 19s are wider than later rims. Not convinced about ultimate grip of the Scorpions but a: they are better than nothing and b: they are on the car now so we will wear them out. I’ll wash the truck when I change back to summer tyres.
Swapping the wheels gave me a chance to to check the brakes: still looking good after plenty of miles. A big tick for lifespan of Mintex discs and pads for Cayenne. Things that will not last much longer include the rear light units – will have to replace the offside one soon as it has now started filling up with water over time. Resealing the unit made no real difference, so I drilled a few small holes in the base to let water escape. It’s had condensation problems since the day I bought it, which is common on Cayennes and very annoying.
A change to new Philips X-treme headlamp bulbs brought a lot of irate drivers on a high-speed thrash up the A34 from Portsmouth one evening. Coming up behind people quickly with my headlamps on dipped beam, the Philips pattern was obviously dazzling the car in front, but turning the headlamp beam height adjuster had zero effect on angle. Took the lamps apart the following day to find neither adjuster was working internally, so I am looking for headlamps now also: new ones are mega expensive.
Having recently used the Big Pig to tow Tuthill’s 997 R-GT rally car to a PCGB GT3 Register open day, a good friend asked me this morning what he should be paying for a used Porsche Cayenne, to do a bit of towing and usual mix of everyday work stuff. I have to confess, I pointed him towards a Landcruiser instead. He may still buy a Cayenne, but it won’t be on my say-so.
You’ll pay a bit extra up front for the Landcruiser (a proper 4.2 TD Landcruiser that is, not a 3.0 Colorado or whatever), but it comes with better reliability, better economy and better residual values. You don’t get quite as much personality, but personality is well down the list when a truck can’t hold itself together at 140k miles: small beans for a working machine. That said, I have a Landcruiser in the garage, and no plans to sell the Cayenne, so what the heck do I know! 😀
