Unless I’m much mistaken, this video shows two R Gruppe friends of mine weaving Cult of Porsche through the California pines. Sums up what happens on a lot of the R Gruppe Porsche hot rod drives I’ve taken part in.
Check out the comments: there’s always someone who wants to rain on a parade. Whatever way you turn the wheel and whoever makes a comment, fun is fun. Critics can only take the fun away when you give them the power.
The thrill of working with Ricoh UK to print our first Cult of Porsche book keeps growing. This week is my first design meet with the creative team, so Jamie and I have been chopping and changing the list of cars to feature in our three-book series.
We have lots of content to draw upon. As well as shooting brand new material only available in this series, there is some epic work dating back across our seven-year association. Do we try to pick our favourites for book one, or do we go with famous names, fancy locations, biggest build budgets?
None of the above. Our work is not about money, stance or scene. It follows an atomic string of Porsche through standard cars and hot rods, race cars and projects. It is the ghost that rides in the passenger seat, occasionally inhabiting the driver.
With light and shade at the heart of our material, it takes a special kind of photography to really tell the story. Jamie’s multi-layered images pull every ounce of drama from the subject. The energy Mr Lipman brings to our partnership is indescribably excellent.
Reviewing the work we’ve done to date for our first book together, I can’t imagine that many people get to experience chemistry this explosive. Working with James is the most exciting thing I have ever done. It’s not a job: it’s a match made in heaven. And so are these cars and their owners.
An interesting conversation tonight about WEVO’s 915 GateShift kit versus the classic WEVO shifter.
After years of using a WEVO shifter in my own 911, I recommend the beautifully engineered WEVO shifter as the number one upgrade on any impact-bumper Porsche 911 running a 915 transmission (seen below on a Tuthill rally build). Surprisingly, the man who invented, designed and manufactures both products says different.
“At Windrush, we say the best upgrade for the 915 is the internal gate of the WEVO GateShift kit”, says Hayden Burvill. “The internal architecture of the 915 is such that extra control of the shift rail mechanism can greatly reduce the risk of a potential missed shift.
“Chassis twist, drivers hanging on the shift lever and the unmanaged freedom of the internals of the 915 mean that you can mis-select gears without feeling any real tactile warning. The GateShift kit (below) installs a “spoiler” between the gear planes, creating an obstruction that will warn you that the gear you are heading for is not here! You stay in neutral, not selecting a potentially destructive ratio.
“The driver with a steady hand and smooth shifting style will hardly notice it is there. It’s dormant: only coming into effect when you inadvertently cut the corners of the shift pattern.
“For those who have driven with the GateShift kit, I believe very few would ever build another 915 without one. We drove ours for a long time with a completely stock shifter, only the stock coupler had new round hole aftermarket bushes. It was wonderful, we have since added a WEVO 915 Classic Shifter (base detail below), mostly for the reduced lever travel.”
Quite the revelation. Turns out you can also fit WEVO’s GateShift without removing the transmission. You learn something new every day! Despite Hayden’s wisdom, I still place my shifter at the top of the upgrade list, and have never felt the need for a GateShift. But, were money no object, I would have the WEVO lot!
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Finally managed to synchronise my amigos in sunny California, and had my project 1976 Porsche 912E roller moved to its new home for the next few months at Porsche specialists, The Stable in San Francisco.
Formerly owned by Alan Klingen, The Stable is now managed by our good friends and long-time Porsche technicians, George and Brian. The guys have widened the range of Porsche servicing to include Boxster and 996 as well as the 356 and all classic air-cooled 911, which The Stable at 1700 Pine Street has long been renowned for.
The Stable offers Porsche owners in this glorious city by the bay a wide range of services, one of which is storage. My 912 is downstairs amongst very good company: I couldn’t be happier that the boys have it tucked away safe and sound.
Obviously this project is a LONG way off, but the idea is to capitalise on the 912E’s slimline rear quarters and build something longhood. Currently liking the idea of a black standard body early car, or a Conda Green ST using EB Motorsport Porsche 911 backdate parts and body panels. Engine will be a 3.6, and a friend of mine just told me he has one of those for sale…
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It’s the Silverstone Classic this weekend, with added Porsche content by way of the UK 911 50th Celebrations and the FIA Masters Historic Championship, featuring the Tuthill-built 3.0 Porsche RS and RSR of EB Motorsport.
Taking place from Friday 26th to Sunday 28th of July, Silverstone Classic claims to be the world’s biggest classic motor racing festival. The spectacular three-day event features the best historic racing, covering more than eight decades of motor sport.
Tickets for this year’s Silverstone Classic have only been available to buy online in advance, with no tickets sold on the gate. We’ll see how that works over the next three days: hopefully everyone who’s hoping to come got the memo.
For those who do get in the gates, the festival has something for all race fans, including Sabine Schmitz in a 962! Classic F1, Group C heroes, sportscars like the Lola T70 and classic Chevrons and a ton of car club parking to wander through.
I’m there with Mark and James from EB Motorsport. EB’s yellow Porsche 911 RSR is currently running joint second in the 2013 championship and the boys are hoping for some rain this weekend to give EB a chance of pulling points back. The forecast is not too encouraging for rain, but you never know at Silverstone!
EB cars qualify today and race tomorrow. Sunday is the Hungarian GP – a tough one to resist on Sky F1 – but also on Sunday, the Porsche Club GB will have over 1,000 911s lapping the track, in celebration of the model’s 50th birthday. Somewhere in there will be Tuthill’s Safari-winning Porsche, fresh from Goodwood, the EB Motorsport cars and who knows what else.
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Ferdinand blogs my freelance adventure with Porsche at the centre. To support the blog or engage with me in other ways, you can: