ISSUE No.100 NOVEMBER 2023 £9.99

BUMPER 132-PAGE SOUVENIR ISSUE

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NEXT ISSUE ON SALE

FRIDAY 17TH NOVEMBER

elcome to the
hundredth issue
of Classic Porsche
magazine. A
centenary is an
impressive milestone
in the often difficult world of publishing. I’d
like to take this opportunity to thank all of
the title’s contributors — past and present
— for their hard work, a major contributor
to Classic Porsche’s success. I’d also like
to acknowledge the raft of new subscribers
and advertisers joining our ranks in recent
months. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Here’s to the next hundred issues.
This year has been significant for fans of
air-cooled Porsches. Of course, 2023 is the
Stuttgart concern’s seventy-fifth anniversary,
marking the birth of the 356, but we’ve
also been celebrating sixty years of 911, a
manufacturing landmark inspiring countless

commemorative events all over the world.
Throw in preparations for the hundredth
issue of Classic Porsche, as well as reaching
the 350th issue of our sister title, 911 &
Porsche World, and it’s clear to see we’ve
had an exceptionally busy summer.
When looking back at the previous ninetynine issues of Classic Porsche, it proved
impossible to pick out star cars sitting
head and shoulders above all others, which
is why we decided to feature every major
air-cooled Porsche production car in this
specially presented souvenir issue. Besides,
the scene has changed dramatically since
the magazine’s first outing in late 2009 —
automotive trends have come and gone.
I dare say we’ll look back at today’s
Porsche landscape with similar thoughts
fourteen years from now.
The very first issue of Classic Porsche
posed a simple question: what exactly is a
classic Porsche? A line was drawn in the
sand at discontinuation of the G-series 911.
Today, we cover all air-cooled Porsches,
including the 964 and 993, considered too
new when this title was launched. We’re
thrilled to have you along for the ride.

Dan Furr Editor
@FurrsFleet

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356 A

LONG-DISTANCE RUNNER
Matt Cramp has owned his stunning 356 A for two decades, during the course
of which he’s driven it to far-flung destinations, such as Lucerne and Le Mans,
with a restoration at Sportwagen along the way...
Words Johnny Tipler Photography Dan Sherwood
e all have tales about what
first turned us on to Porsche.
As I’ve written in these pages
previously, around 1962, my
father went backwards though
a hedge in his pal’s 356. I was
smitten from that point onward. I don’t recall Dad being
quite so enthusiastic. Then again, he did buy himself a
brand-new Beetle 1200 soon after the event. Parental
influence is also partly responsible for Matt Cramp’s
love of Porsche. He’s the owner of our star car.
“As a boy, I used to attend car shows with my dad,
who would be
driving his Aston
Martin DB2 Mk III.
I first saw a 356
A on one of our
days out together.
It was a Speedster
finished in black. I
was fifteen years
old and that was the beginning of my obsession
with Porsche.”
Fast-forward a further fifteen years. Matt’s desire
to own a 356 had grown strong, leading him to take
the plunge. By coincidence, Paul Smith, head of
renowned Billericay-based 356 specialist, PR Services,
was a friend of Matt’s from school days. Needless
to say, Paul helped Matt find this car. Why a 356 A,
though? “At the time, I didn’t know about the Pre-A,” he
admits. “I assumed the 356 A was Porsche’s starting
point. I wasn’t as knowledgeable about the brand’s
products as I am today. In truth, I probably couldn’t
have afforded a Pre-A, anyway — the earlier 356 has
always been more expensive on account of its rarity.
I’ve always preferred the style of the early 356 models,
though. They’re a little curvier and less upright than the
shape became in later years. It’s also worth noting, I
wasn’t looking for a car in a specific colour — securing
a good, solid 356 A was the objective.”
After looking at and driving a few 356s, including a
red example in Manchester and a Meissen Blue one
in Suffolk, Paul informed Matt of the 1959 T2 coupe
being offered by Bruce Cooper, head of Volkswagen
and Porsche bodywork specialist, Sportwagen, located

east of Southend-on-Sea. Aptly registered JSL 356, the
car was precisely what Matt was looking for. He’s been
in possession of it the for the past twenty years.
His ownership experience started off well enough —
here was an apparently sound, cared-for A-star silver
bullet. There was, however, trouble ahead. It took the
form of a wayward garage door. “I’d had the car about
six years,” Matt remembers. “I’d just got married,
bought a new house and moved in. The garage made
use of a big up-and-over door, which contrived to fall
off its runners and land on top of my poor Porsche.”
Say hello to Sportwagen once more. “My hand was
forced into having
to shell out for
unexpected
bodywork repairs.
That said, as is
the case with all
classic cars, you
don’t really know
what you’ve got
until you start dismantling.” Indeed, the more paint
Sportwagen took off, the more corrosion Bruce’s team
found. “What looked like a beautiful car was hiding
tell-tale signs of poor restoration work carried out by a
previous owner, possibly in the 1970s, when a 356 had
a much lesser financial value and when the quality of
automotive restoration and associated workmanship
wasn’t anything like as good as it is today.”
At this point, with further investigation work
required, Matt resigned himself to having reached the
point of no return. “More paint came off and more
rusted metal required removal. Ultimately, the car
ended up having a hefty body restoration in 2009.
356s make use of very convoluted shells and have
specific flash points for corrosion. There’s a big team
of bodywork specialists at Sportwagen. The company
is renowned for being a leading light in the field of 356
and early 911 restoration. All the work is carried out by
hand. The 356 is essentially rolled metal, apart from
the nose clips, which are major segments available to
buy off the shelf. I knew my car was in safe custody.”
Here’s the worksheet: Sportwagen completed full
structural restoration of both doors, both front wings,
both rear quarters, replaced both outer sills, the rocker

WITH FURTHER INVESTIGATION
WORK REQUIRED, MATT RESIGNED
HIMSELF TO HAVING REACHED
THE POINT OF NO RETURN

Facing page Where
once the early 356 was
considered laughably
basic, it is now
appreciated for beauty
through simplicity

November 2023 9

panel assemblies and applied a full
respray in original Porsche Silver
Metallic (colour code 5706), along
with full anti-corrosion treatment
and underbody recoating. The car
recently returned to Sportwagen for
further attention to each door. Matt
tells us the bodywork demanded
250 manhours. As for the cabin,
“the interior is actually in very good
condition,” he confirms. “It remains
as it was when I bought the car.
Don’t get me wrong, the upholstery
isn’t original. It was re-trimmed long
ago, under a previous owner’s rule,
but the furnishings and material
remain in good order.”
There are unlikely advantages
to living in south-east Essex,
one of which is the plethora of
356 specialists in the area. “I’m
fortunate,” Matt smiles. “In this
neck of the woods, there are
many companies specialising
in early Porsches. PR Services
and Sportwagen are two such
businesses, but there’s also
10 November 2023

Brightwell Motor Company and
Karmann Konnection, both within a
stone’s throw.”
Mechanically, the car has been
maintained by PR Services for the
duration of Matt’s tenure. “I know
Paul and his team well,” he says.
“They take care of mechanical
work, refit and reassembly, but
not bodywork. Cars are handed
to Sportwagen for this aspect of
a PR Services restoration project.
It’s quite a niche market, obviously,
but the PR Services team and the
Sportwagen crew have worked
closely together for many years
and pass business to-and-fro
whenever it overlaps.”
Under Paul’s supervision, the
standard sixty-horsepower 1.6litre engine was rebuilt using new
barrels and pistons, increasing
displacement to 1,720cc. As regular
readers will know, this is a common
upgrade for a Porsche air-cooled
flat-four. “It gives these cars more
power, making them more drivable

on today’s roads. The increase
isn’t massive, obviously. It certainly
doesn’t make the 356 a fast car.
Despite the change, the host
Porsche retains its character, but is
a little easier at making progress in
modern traffic and when cruising on
long journeys.”
Matt’s 356 A retains its original
appearance, complete with USspec bumpers and single door

Above Corrosion
proved too difficult
to ignore, resulting in
a body restoration

356 A

Above and below
Interior isn’t original
to the car, but was in
excellent condition
when Matt took
ownership of the
Porsche, which was
originally supplied
by Max Hoffman

mirror, which is an encouraging
achievement in itself — we are all
aware of the temptation to modify
our cars one way or another, but this
particular Porsche
has been kept
on the straight
and narrow. All
credit to him for
doing so. After
all, it would have
been all too easy
to have elected
the Outlaw style during restoration.
Knowing something of the car’s
original owner may have influenced
Matt’s decision to stay true to his
Porsche’s roots.

It was first registered on 1st July
1959 and sold via New York-based
Porsche importer, Max Hoffman, the
Austrian founder of Hoffman Motor

by the 1970s, owned Harry Mann
Chevrolet, the USA’s largest Corvette
dealer. Turns out, Milne was a
colourful character. For example,
during the Prohibition
era of the 1920s and
early 1930s, assisted
by his father, he would
smuggle liquor into
the US from Canada,
sometimes being
hotly pursued by the
Feds. We’re taken by
the idea this is where he picked up
his love of sports cars.
During the Second World War,
he served in the army and was
stationed in France, Belgium and
Germany. In 1948, he landed a job
at Harry Mann Chevrolet in Los
Angeles. By 1953, when the Corvette
was introduced, Milne was general
manager of the dealership.
When Mann retired in the early
1970s, Milne bought the business
and continued to promote Corvette,
not only through sponsorship
of race cars, but also by careful
product placement, chiefly the
loan of ‘Vettes to Hollywood stars
and film companies. He bought
the Porsche specifically to drive it
during a European holiday he had
planned for 1960. The fact a 356 is a

WHEN MANN RETIRED IN THE
EARLY 1970s, MILNE BOUGHT THE
BUSINESS AND CONTINUED TO
PROMOTE CORVETTE
Company, the east coast’s premier
sales centre for European sports
cars during the post-war years.
Matt’s 356 A’s first owner was an
American named Frank Milne, who,

November 2023 11

conspicuous contrast to a Corvette
— certainly in terms of construction,
size and power — doesn’t escape us.
“I managed to trace his daughter,
Mimi Milne,” Matt recalls. “She
confirmed my 356 A was purchased
for her parents’ summer trip to
Europe in 1960, and how her dad
shipped the car back to Germany
in readiness for the holiday after
buying from Max Hoffman.”
The Milnes visited Mimi’s greatgrandmother in Berlin and her
paternal grandmother in Maidstone.

PERMANENT VACATION
Here, the ownership trail goes cold,
though Matt has a tantalising old
black-and-white photograph of the
car bearing what could be a Zwickau
(Saxony) registration plate. “I don’t
know whether Milne shipped the car
back to the USA or whether it stayed
in Europe. Mimi was unable to
remember. Either way, he seems not
to have kept it for long,” he shrugs.
The Porsche was imported
12 November 2023

into the UK from Munich in March
2000, which suggests, perhaps, it
remained in Germany for the forty
years following Milne’s European
vacation. Unfortunately, when cars
are imported, it’s easy to lose a
clutch of period information. For
the sake of context, let’s set this
aside for the moment and remind
ourselves of the evolution and
specification of the 356 A.
At the Frankfurt Motor Show in
September 1955, in time for the
1956 model year, the Pre-A 356 was
replaced by the much-improved 356
A, which introduced a single curved
windscreen in place of two adjoined
flat panes of glass. From launch,
the model was available with no
fewer than five different-capacity
flat-four engines: the 1300 with
44bhp, the 1300 Super with 60bhp,
the 1600 with 60bhp, the 1600 Super
with 75bhp, and the mildly exotic
1500 GS Carrera with 100bhp. The
upgrades were known as Technical
Programme 1, abbreviated as T1.

The 1,582cc engine had a higher
compression ratio, enabling it
to take advantage of the higheroctane fuels then available, while
Zuffenhausen’s Versuchsabteilung
experimental department produced
numerous suspension and
powertrain-mounting improvements,
including softening springs by
removing leaves from the torsion
bars and fitting stiffer dampers.

Above Matt isn’t
afraid of putting
miles on his classic
Porsche, taking it
all over Europe to
events, including the
Le Mans Classic

356 A

Above Flat-four has
been enlarged to 1.7
litres, giving the car
a little more pep in
its step and more
able to keep up with
the challenge of
modern traffic

Better contemporary tyre technology
enabled smaller-diameter fifteeninch rubber and wider treads to be
used, along with reduced pressures.
The front indicators were now
integrated in the horn grilles, and
all models in the range featured a
modified front-lid handle with inset
Porsche crest. From March 1957,
taillights were teardrop-shaped.
At the 1957 Frankfurt Show, the
T2 was announced. The tailpipes of
the 1600 models ended between the
bumper guards to give more ground
clearance, while the chromiumplated housing with number-plate
illumination and reversing light was
mounted below the plate itself.

Mechanically, the T2 stopped using
roller-bearing crankshafts and the
Hirth crankshaft in the Super models,
while carburetion switched from
Solex to Zenith 32 NDIX. The 1300
models were discontinued with the
introduction of the T2, and by the
1960 model year, the 356 A was
replaced by the 356 B.
Under his watch, Matt’s 356 A,
boasting transatlantic heritage,
hasn’t sat idle for long. “It’s not a
garage queen,” he avers. “It gets
driven. It’s done a tour of France,
several 356 Internationals, including
those taking place in Switzerland
and the Netherlands, plus countless
weekends away in the UK. I’ve

completed two trips to the 24 Hours
of Le Mans in this car and, in 2018, I
drove it to the Le Mans Classic. My
dad came along in his Aston and my
father-in-law joined us in his Morgan.
We got to drive two laps of the track,
pre-race, which is something you can
do at the Le Mans Classic. Taking
this 356 around Circuit de la Sarthe,
running flat-out down the Mulsanne
Straight and barrelling through the
curves and chicanes, was a thrilling
experience and gave a hint of what
a 356 must have felt like for drivers
campaigning these cars in the main
race all those years ago.”
As intimated, Matt is a regular
attendee of continental club events
for 356s. He paints a picture of one
of his favourite jaunts, which was
to Switzerland in 2019 for the fortyfourth International Porsche 356
meeting. An Essex departure point
enabled him to make light work of
the sixty-eight-mile run over the
Dartford crossing and down the M20
motorway to the Euro Tunnel for a
7:50am shuttle.
“The roads were empty,” he recalls,
“although traffic built during the
drive. At the terminal, I met up with
drivers of three other 356s, people
I didn’t know personally, but had
November 2023 13

corresponded with by email and
WhatsApp. Cars are a great leveller
— we all have something in common
through them. From Calais, we drove
170 miles to Reims for an overnight
stay. We couldn’t resist a stop-off at
the former Circuit
de Reims pits,
which is a must-do
photo opportunity.
Dinner was at an
excellent traditional
French Brasserie, Le
Boulingrin. On the
Wednesday morning,
we drove 232 miles through lovely
rural French countryside, avoiding
the Autoroute, and arriving at Hotel
Issenberg near Colmar. This hotel
is used to hosting classic cars, with
safe and secure parking and on-site
CCTV. Here, we met up with a dozen
356 drivers making their way to
Switzerland.”

hundred metres above Lake Lucerne,
we arrived at the Burgenstock
Resort. This was one of the most
spectacular hotels I’ve ever stayed
in. I believe it’s listed as one of the
top hundred hotels anywhere in the

and saw 356s set off on the touring
rally through the Bernese Oberland.
“The scenery gradually changed
from towns to small villages, hairpin
hill climbs and, eventually, mountain
passes,” Matt enthuses. “The
roads got wet from
streams cascading
off neighbouring
rocks. As we
climbed ever higher,
the temperature
dropped and the
air thinned. This
made my 356’s
engine struggle. The carbs were
less than happy, but the punchy
little flat-four kept going. The views
were spectacular, the snow-capped
mountains seen through clean

IT GOT OFF TO A GOOD START,
CROSSING THE ATLANTIC TWICE,
PRETTY MUCH BEFORE IT HAD
EVEN TURNED A WHEEL

MEETING POINT
At daybreak, the group headed off in
different convoys, taking alternative
routes to one another, albeit bent on
reaching the same final destination.
“The route my group opted for was
more direct,” Matt muses. “After a
short burst on the motorway, we
pulled off at Lucerne. Soon, we were
climbing narrow winding roads, like
fairground switchbacks, and at five
14 November 2023

world. Built in the 1870s, it was the
place to stay during the 1950s and
1960s. Famous actors, such as
Sophia Loren, Audrey Hepburn and
Sean Connery, were on the regular
guest list. The latter has a plaque
dedicated to him by the pool, a
consequence of him staying on-site
whilst filming Goldfinger. There were
at least a hundred 356s of various
ages and configurations gathered
for the event. The collection
presented quite a spectacle, even
when lined up in the underground
car park.”
Until this point of the trip, Matt
had been travelling solo, but his wife
flew to Switzerland and joined the
leg of the drive to Lucerne. Friday
was the official first day of the tour.
It commanded a nine o’clock start

Above Look out for
the car at 2024’s
356 International
Meet in Estoril
Below You might
want to update your
window sticker, Matt

356 A

Above USDM
bumpers highlight
an import from
America, yet the
car was returned to
Germany almost as
soon as it was sold
in New York

fresh air and clear blue skies. The
journey downhill was faster, while
the switchback roads through
the Swiss countryside were jawdroppingly exhilarating. We arrived
at the Grandhotel Giessbach for
lunch, and everyone revelled in how
amazing the morning had been.
There followed a short drive back to
the Burgenstock Resort hotel, giving
us time to chill in the rooftop spa and
infinity pool with a glass of wine.”
On the Saturday, the gathered
masses drove their vintage fourcylinder Porsches through Lake

Lucerne’s coastal Seeland, stopping
for lunch before a drive back to the
Burgenstock. “The following day,
I bade farewell to my wife as she
headed off to catch her flight home.
After she left, I hammered on back to
Reims for an overnight stay ahead of
the final leg of the journey home. As
I arrived in the city, however, the car
lost power. It felt like it was running
on three cylinders. The engine was
making a terrible staccato noise.”
Flames were shooting
dramatically from the exhaust.
A worry, for sure, but one quickly

quelled when poking around
highlighted the cause of the problem:
simple exhaust gasket failure. “I have
zero mechanical skills, but luckily, I
was travelling in convoy with a 356
crewed by two practically minded
classic Porsche buffs,” Matt smiles.
“Using the few tools we mustered
between us, and by referencing a 356
workshop manual on an iPhone, they
managed to change the gasket while
the car was in an underground car
park. This meant I was able to drive
home the following day, completing
an epic 1,200-mile road trip. It ranks
as one of the best I’ve ever done.
For 2024, the 356 International
will be held at Estoril, Portugal. I’m
looking forward to it. It’s going to be
a long drive for my 356, and I haven’t
quite worked out the route I’m going
to take, but I suspect it will involve
hopping on a ferry to Santander and
a five-hundred-mile run from there.”
The fact Matt goes the distance
(literally) with his 356 is truly
inspirational. As for the car itself, it
got off to a good start on its own,
crossing the Atlantic twice, pretty
much before it had even turned
a wheel. Believe us when we say
there’s plenty of get-up-and-go left in
this long-distance runner. CP
November 2023 15

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Roger Bray Restoration specialises in supplying parts and the restoration of classic Porsches 356, 911, 912 and 914. We have
been around classic Porsche cars since 1985 and have a large amount of knowledge from dealing and working on these cars daily.
Not sure which part – speak to one of our parts advisers

SHOP ONLINE AND GET 15% OFF SELECTED PARTS
ON THE WEBSITE

Call: +44 (0)1404 822005 E: parts@rogerbrayrestoration.com www.rogerbrayrestoration.com
Milestone Business Park, London Road, Whimple, Exeter EX5 2QB

NEWS

LIVEWIRE
Our look at what’s happening in the wonderful
world of air-cooled classics…

MARKET IN STATE OF REALIGNMENT
Members of the UK’s National Association of Motor Auctions (NAMA)
are reporting the market is steady, and there is strong optimism this will
be maintained for the remainder of the year. “There have been cases of
seasonal trend, but overall, auction members have been pleased with
the busy summer,” says Paul Hill, NAMA spokesman, following a recent
meeting with key industry figures to discuss the current sales climate.
Whilst the market is moving at a steady pace, values are down half a
percent when compared with those twelve months prior. Furthermore,
values have dropped six percent during the past three months, though
due to an overall lack of stock, values are predicted to at least remain at
their current level for the rest of 2023.
“Demand has been impacted by the holiday season, but we are
starting to see other external factors, such as the broader economic
climate and the cost-of-living crisis, which are having an effect on
the demand for mid-priced cars. There has been also been evidence
of regional dealers in and around London placing extra emphasis
on sourcing ULEZ-compliant cars,” Hill continues. “Trading is steady,
though, even with the market dropping by six percent. Historically, this
would have been cause for concern among NAMA members, but the
consensus is that these trends are to be expected and suggests the
market is in a transition of realignment.”

SPEED ENCORE
Classic and sports car dealer showroom sales across Europe remain
strong, with many of our advertisers reporting a spike in interest as
the new registration plate season comes into force. Netherlandsbased ER Classics, one of Europe’s largest classic sports car dealers, is
experiencing particularly strong interest in its offerings, which include
the 1955 356 Pre-A Speedster pictured on this page. Characterised by its
Schiefergrau dark grey paint job and twin-tone black-and-grey leather, the
open-top stunner features a foldable roof finished in ruby red and rolls on
its original Rudge knock-off wheels. Additionally, the car is being offered
with a snug-fitting hard top, making it perfect for winter cruising.
This attractive classic Porsche hasn’t been treated like a garage
queen — its punchy 1.6-litre flat-four and sublime handling capabilities
have made it a great choice for a number of road rallies, including
Argentina’s Mille Miglia Sport, as well as ten outings in Italy, including
the Mille Miglia, Targa Florio and, impressively, Nuvolari no fewer than
seven times. Subject to a full, bare metal restoration in Germany seven
years ago and kept as part of a private collection (frequently emerging
for rallies and tours), this excellently maintained and well-documented
Speedster is ready and waiting for its next owner.
Valuable Porsches, such as this, are often kept unused and hidden
from public view. We’re delighted to see this gorgeous 356 used as its
maker intended. For full details, visit erclassics.com.

18 November 2023

COMPLETE YOUR
COLLECTION OF
ORDER BACK ISSUES

bit.ly/issuescp

AT

RUF AUTOMOBILE HONOURS THE 911 WITH
NEW 550BHP 3.6-LITRE AIR-COOLED MODEL
“Celebrating our sixty-year love affair with the 911, we are bringing back
one of the elements shaping the heart and soul of this iconic automotive
masterpiece,” smiles Alois Ruf Jr, head of RUF Automobile. He’s referring to
the legendary air-cooled flat-six. “We are proud to introduce a new air-cooled
engine to our product line. This new development is a testament to our brand’s
heritage, which blends harmoniously with contemporary innovation.”
The new RUF engine features a block and cylinder heads manufactured from
aluminium, three valves per cylinder, camshaft adjustment with valve timing
and lift, hydraulic valve adjustment, dry sump lubrication, twin turbochargers
and intercoolers, Bosch electronic engine management, fly-by-wire throttle,
cylinder-specific knock control, stereo lambda control circuits, static highvoltage distribution, individual coils and two three-way catalytic converters
with metal substrates. Delivering maximum output of 550bhp at 6,750rpm
and 553lb-ft torque at 4,500rpm, the engine is available as part of a new RUF
carbon-chassis performance package.
Ah, yes. The host vehicle. 2023 marks not only the sixtieth anniversary of
the 911, but also six decades since a 911 first rolled into the RUF’s workshops
in Pfaffenhausen, located approximately one hundred miles south-east of
Porsche’s headquarters in Zuffenhausen. To pay tribute to both milestones,
RUF has developed a new car in which to install its mighty new powerplant.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the new model is named Tribute.
“This remarkable vehicle is a nostalgic journey back to our roots, embodying
the spirit of Porsche’s classic air-cooled engine, while infusing it with a touch
of modernity, such as four-cam technology with variable cam timing, variable
valve lift and three-valve cylinder heads,” Alois Jr enthuses. “The engine is

THE HOST VEHICLE MIGHT LOOK
LIKE A CLASSIC PORSCHE, BUT IT
WILL FEEL LIKE A THOROUGHLY
MODERN ROCKET SHIP
bristling with the character only air cooling can provide, while the chassis is
fully carbon-fibre and makes use of our present modular system of double
wishbones in all four corners and horizontally mounted dampers lifted
directly from motorsport. Our proprietary integrated roll cage stiffens the very
lightweight chassis.”
All the RUF essentials are combined: steering brimming with tactility, an
engine overwhelming the senses (in all the best ways!) and an overall feeling
of lightness, agility and strength. This new air-cooled engine adds something
special to the modern RUF pantheon, taking the best of the motoring past and
injecting the technology of the present to create a flat-six, not to mention a new
sports car, quite unlike any other, Porsche or otherwise. “At RUF, we believe in
the importance of tradition, consistency and innovation,” Alois Jr highlights.
“This new engine pushes our boundaries in engineering and design. The aircooled flat-six has always been near and dear to our hearts, and we are thrilled
to be carrying the torch of this iconic layout into the modern motoring age.”
The Tribute was announced alongside the new CTR3 Evo and R Spyder at
Monterey Car Week. The price of acquiring a Tribute has yet to be announced,
but for further information regarding availability, technical specification or to
request a brochure, readers are encouraged to visit rufautomobile.co.uk.
November 2023 19

NEWS
HISTORIC RACING PORSCHES BREAK
COVER TO BE OFFERED FOR PRIVATE SALE
A private sale sure to get Porschephiles excited is the first-ever 935 race
car. The history of 935-001 has its origins in a major revision to the FIA’s
Group 5 category. For the 1976 racing season, the FIA changed the rulebook
to allow extensive modifications to production-based vehicles homologated
in Groups 1 through 4. These “Special Production Cars” followed the
‘silhouette’ rules, permitting major bodywork and chassis upgrades if the
basic silhouette remained unchanged. Porsche was prompted to refine the
turbocharged 911 and compete for the manufacturer’s championship with
a highly developed works entry, resulting in the venerable 935.
Development of the model began in late 1975 with 935-001. The car’s
radically styled fibreglass bodywork, coil-spring suspension, massive
rear tyres and turbocharged flat-six engine came together to produce
a competition machine capable of producing 590bhp, with as much as
630bhp available for short bursts, when permitted.
Acquired by the current owner from the Drendel Family Collection in
2012, 935-001 has since been restored to exacting, concours standards by
the renowned Cavaglieri Restorations, with an engine rebuild carried out by
Ed Pink Racing Engines. Presenting accurately in its victorious 1976 Martini
Racing livery, 935-001 is being offered for private sale through specialist
auction and brokerage business, Gooding & Company (goodingco.com),

PORSCHE WAS PROMPTED TO
REFINE THE TURBOCHARGED
911 AND COMPETE FOR THE
MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
as is 904 chassis 60. Delivered new to Porsche enthusiast, Albert Gwinner,
this particular 904 was never raced — Gwinner retained the car strictly for
road use. It was later imported to the USA, where it wound up in the hands
of Porsche collector, John Wean, of Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania. Wean owned
the Silver Metallic marvel for approximately twenty years before selling it
to Ernie Spada of Oswego, Oregon. Under Spada’s ownership, 904-060 was
comprehensively restored to show-quality condition and exhibited to great
acclaim. Acquired by the current owner in 1998, 904-60 has since benefited
from a complete engine rebuild conducted by Porsche in Germany.
Remarkably, the car retains its original, matching-numbers engine (99054)
and transaxle (904-060), unlike the majority of four-cam Porsches. Available
for the first time in decades, 904-060 presents virtually as new.
Another Gooding & Company sales sensation is the 1983 TAG-Porsche
TTE P01 F1 engine sold at the firm’s recent London auction. One of the
most revered powerplants in F1 history (and McLaren’s trusted engine type
from 1983 to 1987, during which the team won three drivers’ titles and two
constructors’ championships), this historically significant engine sold for
£65,000, some fifteen grand above estimate.
Gooding & Company has a long and fruitful history of finding new homes
for classic Porsche competition cars. In 2022, one of only six 904/6s built
by the factory sold at the firm’s Amelia Island sale for $2,205,000, while the
Dick Barbour 935 driven by Paul Newman, Brian Redman, Bobby Rahal and
Ralf Stommelen at the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans sold at the company’s
2016 Pebble Beach auction for a whopping $4,840,000.
20 November 2023

65-67 USA Headlight Assemblies
NEW reproduction
of the original Hella
headlights for the
early USA cars.
Part # 901.631.102.01

Correct screws with oval
head, not just flat head
machine screws... and they
are chrome plated.
Bucket is powdercoated in
the correct shade of gray
and has a copy of the Hella
date stamp as well.
Raised script on the glass
(sorry no Hella logo),
correct SB 19-20-21 script
and we used a special glass
type called “Borosilicate”...
it’s stronger than standard
glass and will resist rock
chips and breakage better
than the standard glass!
Complete with the bulb
springs, and the correct
attachment screw.
Perfect fit right out of the
box, just install your own
7” bulbs, plug, and play!

These have been
unavailable for many
years. Use with standard
7” USA sealed beam bulbs,
or drop in a pair of 7”
Hella H4’s, Cibie Bi-iodes,
or your favorite LED
lighting.
We used brass for the trim
ring, which is then chrome
plated just like OEM.
We didn’t just use stamped
steel which rusts....and
doesn’t fit well.

1965 to 1967 parking brake boot.
No slits and no side tabs,
all original molding
details are correct

cars is back in stock! Correct satin
brushed finish, and the hardware is
included as well

New “128” fog lamps are back in stock
with the “clear” reflector. Perfect
chrome, and correct raised lettering
w/ correct logo, 12V bulb included

We have the 1969 to 1972 horn grill in stock. Steel alloy,
perfect chrome and all done in the USA. Perfect fit!
No more trying to fit the gap between the hood and the
grill or the grill and the turn signal lense

Auto-Foreign Services

Tel: +1-206-321-2960 E: autoforeign@gmail.com
www.autoforeignservices.com

Eric Linden, 29 year PCA member, 29 year 356 Registry member, also writing in the
Early S Registry as “Soterik”. All parts manufactured exclusively for us from NOS originals,
and guaranteed to fit. Many more items to come!

NEWS

SUSTAINABLE FUEL FOR
CLASSICS NOW ON SALE
Renewable fuel specialist, Coryton, has
launched the UK’s first publicly available
sustainable fuel. The Sustain Classic range is
specially formulated for historic vehicles with
internal combustion engines and allows them
to be powered by environmentally friendly
plant-based fuel without the need for engine
modifications.
This marks
the first time
members of the
public have been
able to purchase
the drop-in
replacement
fuel, which offers
a significant reduction in emissions when
compared to fossil-based equivalents.
Created in Coryton’s state-of-the-art UK
laboratory, the specially formulated fuel is
a direct replacement for forecourt petrol.
The product is formulated using advanced
second-generation biofuel manufactured from
agricultural waste, including straw and other byproducts, which wouldn’t otherwise be suitable
for consumption. Coryton’s first Sustain fuel
was released last year, with Sustain Racing
proving its worth on gruelling endurance racing
events, including the Dakar Rally.
Three versions of Sustain Classic are
available: Super 80, Super 33 and Racing 50.
Super 80 is priced from £4.65 per litre and
contains at least eighty percent renewable
content, saving more than sixty-five percent of
greenhouse gas emissions over fossil fuels.
Super 33 contains at least thirty-three percent
renewables, cutting more than twenty-five
percent of gases and costs from £3.80 per
litre. Both are rated to 98RON, the equivalent
of traditional Super Unleaded, and contain a

bio-ethanol content of less than one percent.
Racing 50 is a high-performance fuel rated
to 102RON, making it ideal for high-octane
applications, including motorsport. Containing
at least fifty percent renewables, this Sustain
variant saves more than thirty-five percent of
gases and costs from £5.24 per litre.
“We believe Sustain Classic is the world’s first
sustainable fuel catering for classic vehicles,
providing a
credible and
convenient way
to run vintage
cars without the
need for fossil
fuels,” says
Coryton CEO,
Andrew Willson.
“It’s fully certified, tested and developed right
here in the UK at our world-class blending
facility. By creating a collection of secondgeneration biofuels compatible with the needs
of classic cars, we hope to provide these muchloved motors with a more sustainable future.”
Although the fuels are not yet fully
sustainable, Coryton’s Business Development
Director, David Richardson, believes they
are a significant step in the right direction.
“Every kilogram of CO2 we avoid adding to
our atmosphere is a win. We don’t instantly
have to go for the full switch to start making
a genuine impact. We are setting truthful and
realistic goals, producing fuels delivering a
meaningful difference, whilst meeting the
demands of the user. While we could use
‘mass balancing’ techniques to certify this fuel
as fully sustainable, we believe it is important
to be open about technology’s readiness and
traceability. The industry will get there with
the right support, which is why we think it’s
important to get these products into the hands
of consumers now.” Visit coryton.com for info.

ADVANCED SECONDGENERATION BIOFUEL
MANUFACTURED FROM
AGRICULTURAL WASTE

22 November 2023

356 Speedster

911 2.4 S

911 Turbo (991.2)

911 Turbo (991)

Signal Red • Black Leather Sports Seats
15” Steel Wheels with Chrome Hub Caps
Chassis No. 83032 • Certificate of
Authenticity • Tool Kit & Jack • Previously
Sold & Serviced by Paragon • 1957

Silver Metallic • Black Leatherette Seats
with Houndstooth • 15” Fuchs Wheels
Porsche Certificate of Authenticity • LeftHand Drive • Previously Sold & Serviced
by Paragon • Matching Numbers • 1972 (K)

GT Silver • Bordeaux Red/Black DualTone Leather • PDK Gearbox • 20” Turbo
III Wheels • Sport Chrono • Glass Electric
Sunroof • Previously Sold & Serviced
by Paragon • 18,583 miles • 2016 (66)

Basalt Black • Black Leather Sports
Seats • PDK Gearbox • 20” Turbo Centre
Lock Wheels • Touchscreen Satellite
Navigation • Sport Chrono • Carbon
Interior Pack • 16,012 miles • 2015 (15)

£314,995

£174,995

£102,995

£91,995

911 Turbo (997.2)

911 Carrera 2 (993)

911 Carrera 4 GTS (997)

911 Carrera 4 S (991)

Meteor Grey • Black Leather Adaptive
Sports Seats • PDK Gearbox
19” Turbo II Wheels • Touchscreen
Satellite Navigation • Sport Chrono
33,619 miles • 2010 (60)

Arena Red • Classic Grey Leather Seats
Manual Gearbox • 17” Cup Wheels
Air Conditioning • Previously Sold &
Serviced by Paragon • 72,325 miles
1996 (N)

Meteor Grey • Black Half-Leather Sports
Seats • PDK Gearbox • 19” GTS Centre
Lock Wheels • Sport Chrono • Previously
Sold & Serviced by Paragon • 33,829
miles • 2012 (12)

Guards Red • Black Leather Sports Seats
PDK Gearbox • 20” Carrera S Wheels
Touchscreen Satellite Navigation
Switchable Sports Exhaust • Bose Sound
System • 22,782 miles • 2014 (64)

£79,995

£74,995

£69,995

£67,995

911 Carrera 2 S (991)

911 Carrera 4 (993)

911 Turbo (997)

911 Turbo (996)

Basalt Black • Black Leather Sports
Seats • PDK Gearbox • 20” Carrera
Classic Wheels • Touchscreen Satellite
Navigation • Switchable Sports Exhaust
Sport Chrono • 39,561 miles • 2013 (63)

Arctic Silver • Classic Grey Leather Sports
Seats • Manual Gearbox • 17” Cup Wheels
Air Conditioning • Blue Power Hood
Previously Sold & Serviced by Paragon
63,365 miles • 1997 (P)

Meteor Grey • Black Leather Adaptive
Sports Seats • Manual Gearbox
19” Turbo Wheels • Sport Chrono
Previously Sold & Serviced by Paragon
60,258 miles • 2008 (08)

Seal Grey • Black Leather Seats
Manual Gearbox • 18” Turbo II Wheels
Fully Electric Heated Seats • Electric
Sunroof • Previously Sold & Serviced by
Paragon • 47,872 miles • 2003 (52)

£62,995

£59,995

£56,995

£54,995

01825 830424

sales@paragongb.com

www.paragongb.com

We have superb in-house workshop and preparation facilities. Each car is supplied fully serviced with a new MOT and our
12-month/unlimited mileage comprehensive parts and labour warranty. See more of our current stock at paragongb.com
PA R AGO N G B LT D

F IV E A S H E S

E A ST S U S S E X

TN20 6HY

PRODUCTS
Hot new products for you and the precious
air-cooled Porsche in your life…

CLARKE BLUETOOTH BATTERY MONITOR
The new Clarke CBBT1 is a must-have affordable gadget for anyone looking
to keep a watchful eye on their car’s health, allowing users to monitor key
battery-related information via a dedicated smartphone app. Helpfully,
the app allows up to four devices to be monitored at the same time. The
CBBT1 monitors a range of information from your car’s twelve-volt lead acid
battery, allowing you to see charge percentage, voltage and temperature
at a glance. The app will even send you an alarm notification if the battery
is registering unusual readings. The device can store historical data for up
to thirty days, saving the data every two minutes. You can save unlimited
historical data within the app. The CBBT1 also records the last known
parking position, providing a handy ‘car finder’ function through the app.

Price: £28.79
machinemart.co.uk or call 0115 956 5555

GTS CLASSICS SEATS FOR PORSCHES
A leading provider of custom classic car seats and boasting what’s
thought to be the largest selection of designs worldwide, GTS Classics
focuses on high-quality materials, period-correct designs and excellent
customer service. Whether you’re restoring a classic Porsche or simply
want to upgrade the comfort and style of your car’s interior, GTS Classics
has the product to achieve your goals. To serve customers better, as
well as improving on expediency, practicality and cost, the company has
developed a car seat kit range. By purchasing a seat kit, you can now
have the upholstery taken care of locally. The appropriate pre-cut foam
and installation hardware is included in each kit. Options include multiple
headrest and bolster designs, as well as sliders and tilting brackets.

Price: From $695
classiccarseats.com or call +1 702 353 7175

CLASSIC CAR LEDS LIGHTING SOLUTIONS
British brand, Classic Car LEDs, produces six-, twelve- and twenty-four-volt LEDs,
as well as flasher relays and ancillaries for classic and modern-classic vehicles.
New from the company is an H4 LED kit offering superior exterior lighting for
Porsches making use of traditional P45T R2 reflectors. These new LED bulbs
are a direct replacement for standard H4 bulbs and don’t require fiddly adapters,
meaning installation is simple and the look of the host Porsche remains
unaffected. Available with a classic warm white output or a cool modern white
to suit the look you prefer, these brilliant bulbs are MOT-compliant for cars first
registered before April 1986. The bulbs are sold as a pair. Worldwide carriage is
offered, with UK deliveries attracting postage without charge.

Price: £76.80
classiccarleds.co.uk or call 0800 246 5678
24 November 2023

RECARO CLASSIC LX SEAT RANGE
Beauty and safety — an automotive match made in heaven! If you’re
looking for sensible seating which doesn’t cut back on individual comfort
or sophisticated design, then look no further than the Recaro Classic
LX. The moment you sit down, you’ll know this retro-styled seat
ticks all the right boxes. The comfort of the Classic LX is
enhanced by an extendable front cushion helping to relieve
strain on the thighs. The combination of structured and
breathable cushion material provides optimal climate control,
even in extreme temperatures. And, with a variety of finishes,
there’s a Classic LX to suit the interior of your air-cooled Porsche. Proving
the point is the online store of Porsche parts and accessories specialist,
Cargraphic, which is currently offering the Classic LX with black leather and
chequered plaid fabric alongside variants featuring full black leather and
a choice of half-leather with houndstooth (Pepita) or black corduroy centres.
Runners to suit various models of Porsche can be ordered separately.

Price: On request
cargraphic.de or call +49 06341 968 911 0

RENNLINE TUNABLE SEMI-SOLID ENGINE
MOUNT FOR CLASSIC 911 AND 930
The Rennline semi-solid tunable engine mount for the classic 911
and 911 Turbo (930) offers the ultimate in adjustability for your car.
Replacing compliant factory mounts with Rennline’s offering will
decrease engine movement, resulting in better acceleration, improved
handling and significantly increased shifter feel. CNC-machined from
billet aluminium, the mounts are sold in pairs and are supplied with three
sets of polyurethane inserts, each presenting its own density. Use the
softer inserts (75A) to reduce engine slop and avoid missed shifts in your
street car. Utilise the stiffest inserts (95A) to get the most from a more
focused track car. You can even mix and match, giving you nine possible
combinations allowing you to dial in your personal preference, including
a hybrid of street and track use (85A). These superbly manufactured
mounts are available to order direct from the Rennline website, where you
will also find the company’s range of solid engine mounts.

Price: $249
rennline.com or call +1 213 224 7393

PORSCHE CLASSIC PINK PIG DUFFEL BAG
Whether a fashionable companion for the gym, the perfect overnight
bag or your road trip load lugger, this ‘Pink Pig’ duffel bag from Porsche
Classic measures 550x265x265mm and features a spacious main
compartment, an inner compartment with zip, two side pockets and a
detachable shoulder belt. The bag echoes the livery of 917/20, entered
into the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans as a rolling race car laboratory for
aerodynamic testing and Can-Am development. Named Trüffel-Jager von
Zuffenhausen (Truffle-hunter of Zuffenhausen), 917/20 featured the names
of butcher cuts and was a tribute to rillettes, the pork delicacy served local
to Le Mans. Buy the bag direct from the Stoddard online store.

Price: $200
stoddard.com or call +1 440 869 9890
26 November 2023

INTRODUCING
Electronic Fuel Injection

Throttle Body Kits

Black Anodized

“R” F in is h

THE

CHOICE
IS
YOURS
• Precision CNC Machined and Hand Assembled
in Anaheim, California.
• All PMO EFI Throttle Bodies are Manufactured
Using the Finest Aerospace Grade Materials.
• Available in 40mm, 46mm and 50mm Sizes
Natural Aluminum or Black Anodized “R” Finishes
• Sealed Ball Bearings for Long Life and Utilizing a
One-Piece Throttle Shaft for Consistent Alignment
and Superior Throttle Response.
• Ultra Precise Air / Fuel Metering for Higher
Performance.
• Tapered 52mm Throats for Significantly Improved
Airflow Capabilities.
• Billet Fuel Rails Accept Bosch Style Injectors
( 3/4” x 16 TPI female threads )
• Direct Fit on PMO Manifolds and PMO Throttle
Linkages Using Extended Arms.
• Utilizes PMO Water Shield or ITG High
Performance Air Filters.
• Compatible with EFI Control Systems including
Haltech, Megasquirt, MoTeC and More.

Congratulations Classic Porsche

On Your 100th Issue!!
Phone: 714-421-4970

empius.com

|

Fax: 310-394-6313

|

Email:sales@pmoinduction.com

PMO Products are exclusively available through PMO and EMPI distributors

CLARKE DEVIL 370SPD WORKSHOP HEATER
Machine Mart has grown its extensive range of workshop and garage heaters
with new models from Clarke’s Devil range. The first of these models is the
370SPD remote-controlled quartz halogen heater. Providing instant, clean,
odour-free infrared heat, this unit is ideal when spot heating of objects or
persons is required. The elements will only heat solid objects, rather than air,
which makes this heater extremely efficient — ninety-five percent of input
energy is converted into heat output. The 370SPD is made of rugged all-steel
industrial casing and is mounted to a lightweight tubular frame. It features
a swivel head for direction specific heating, which means it can be used
for both indoor and outdoor maintenance areas. This model also features
an automatic shutdown timer, six heating settings, a multi-function remote
control for ease of use and a stylish LCD panel to show the current heating
mode. Output is a maximum of 2.8kW. Supply voltage is 230V.

Price: £263.98
machinemart.co.uk or call 0115 956 5555

NUFLOOR POLYMERS FLOORING
Create a wow-factor welcome for your Porsche with Nufloor Polymers.
Based in Sandbach, Cheshire, the company is dedicated to providing
high-performance flooring and resin-bound stone systems transforming
garages and driveways, ensuring you can drive your Porsche home to
luxury. Working directly with customers all over the UK, Nufloor Polymers
tailors each of its installations to suit individual needs and works around
each client’s schedule to minimise disruption. The firm is proud to use
high-performance coating systems from Vebro Polymers, resulting
in seamless slip-resistant floors, which are both durable and easy to
clean, with special finishes to withstand the toughest of challenges,
including the rigours of heavy machinery and chemical spillage. Able to
tolerate extremes of temperature, Nufloor Polymers floors are ideal for
domestic garages and workshops, as well as high-intensity commercial
environments, and are complemented by the company’s range of water
permeable, weed resistant, resin-bound stone driveway systems.

Price: From £1,500 (subject to VAT)
nufloorpolymers.co.uk or call 07802 571175

AA PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS 74MM
FORGED CRANKSHAFT FOR 356 C/912
Based in Covina, California, AA Performance Products is known the world
over as the leading manufacturer of pistons and liners for air-cooled
Volkswagens and four-cylinder Porsches. In addition to these parts, the
company also produces flywheels, connecting rods, cylinder heads and
crankshafts for a wide variety of vehicles from Stuttgart and Wolfsburg.
Offered through precision Porsche performance specialist, LN Engineering,
is this AA Performance Products 74mm forged crankshaft for the 1.6-litre
Porsche flat-four fitted to the 356 C and 912. Suitable for the 356 SC and
nitrided for strength, this expertly engineered crankshaft is micro-polished,
balanced within a gram and features 55mm journals. Manufactured from
super-strong 4340 chromoly, this precision part joins a wide range of new
Porsche engine hardware at LN Engineering’s Illinois headquarters.

Price: $1,367.95
lnengineering.com or call +1 815 472 2939
28 November 2023

DANSK 356 SPEEDSTER BUCKET SEAT
FOR HOME, WORKSHOP OR OFFICE
The 356 Speedster is one of Porsche’s most desirable products. Among
the individual components which make the model so identifiable are its
seats, specifically developed to fit the Speedster chassis and taking the
form of a metal bucket pressed from a single sheet to ensure lightweight
construction. JP Group (the parent brand of Porsche restoration parts
manufacturer, Dansk) has now re-launched the 356 Speedster seat as
a family of chairs for enthusiasts to park in their showrooms, garages,
mancaves or other cosy environments. Bringing the exact seating
position of the 356 Speedster from car to chair rack, this hand-crafted
Porsche pew maintains the original bucket’s seat angle. The framework
is constructed from 22mm-diameter pipe with stabilisers in 6mm steel
(choose between chrome or powdercoated black finishes), while the
seat bucket is pressed from 1mm rigid deep-draw sheet metal. For
enhanced comfort, an exclusive perfect-fit leather cushion can be
optioned in either white or black. A reclining frame is also available as an
optional extra. Order direct from the Design 911 online store.

Price: From £882
design911.co.uk or call 0208 500 8811

ELEPHANT RACING ADJUSTABLE SPRING
PLATE FOR CLASSIC 911/912/930
Updating rear suspension camber curve of pre-964 911s (and the 912)
to meet the needs of modern, wide, low-profile radial tyres, Elephant
Racing’s adjustable spring plates deliver superior grip in turns and
straight-line braking, as well as providing the benefit of reduced tyre
wear. Replacing the troublesome stock eccentric adjusters, Elephant
Racing’s simple double-adjusters allow settings to be dialled in with
vehicle weight resting on the tyres, making it easy to read a camber/
toe gauge while changing settings. Quick and easy alterations can even
be made trackside when a camber gauge is unavailable. Replacing the
stock 1969-1989 spring plate blade and cover, this superb suspension
solution is a direct bolt-on. Designed to work with torsion bars or
coilovers, these adjustable spring plates are suitable for use with any
standard size bushing, although PolyBronze is recommended. The kit
requires the splined hub portion from factory adjustable spring plates or
the Elephant Racing QuickChange Spring Plate splined hub.

Price: $2,500 per kit
elephantracing.com or call +1 408-297-2789

WEBCON IDA3C MANIFOLDS
Fuel system and intake product manufacturer, Webcon, has announced
the availability of its long-awaited inlet manifold sets to suit the Weber
IDA3C carburettors fitted to air-cooled Porsche flat-six engines.
Beautifully crafted by Webcon in the UK, these fantastic new manifolds
are 90mm tall and boast extra strengthening to ensure superb
performance and longevity. They also feature the correct-shaped
ignition plug lead holes to allow continued use of OEM plug lead
grommets. Suitable for both 40IDA3C and 46IDA3C.

Price: £790.80
webcon.co.uk or call 01932 787100
30 November 2023

BEVERLY HILLS CAR CLUB
SPECIALIZED DEALER OF EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN CLASSIC CARS

1952 Porsche 356 Pre-A 1500S
Reutter Cabriolet #14567
Available in a gorgeous color combination of Strawberry Red with a Sand Beige interior. Equipped with a 4-speed manual transmission,
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1970 Porsche 911E Coupe #16572

1959 Porsche 356A Coupe Outlaw #16806

1979 Porsche 911SC Coupe #16368

1989 Porsche 930 Coupe #14613

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1979 Porsche 911SC Targa #16100

1988 Porsche Carrera Cabriolet #16154

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1973 911T CIS Targa Sportomatic #15259 1995 Porsche 993 Carrera Cabriolet #16615

1987 Porsche 911 Carrera Targa #15716

1976 Porsche 914 2.0 #15176

1988 Porsche 928 S4 #16787

1991 Porsche 964 Carrera Coupe #16058

Featured with matching numbers and only 9,103 miles on
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LOOKING FOR CLASSIC OR LUXURY SPORTSCARS?
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Please check our website as we have cars being delivered daily
Alex Manos, BEVERLY HILLS CAR CLUB 4576 1/2 Worth St., Los Angeles, CA 90063
T: (310) 975-0272 http://www.BeverlyHillsCarClub.com E: sales@beverlyhillscarclub.com

911 2.0

IN THE RED

Opening Porsche’s motorsport account in the UK, this surviving 1966
two-litre 911 landed in living rooms with a bang, crash and wallop, before
propelling Vic Elford to international stardom…
Words Dan Furr Photography Dan Sherwood
sk any petrolhead to bring to mind
the cars of rallycross and they’ll
almost certainly conjure up images
of the Austin Metro 6R4, Ford RS200,
Audi Quattro S1, Citroen Xsara and
maybe even a classic Mini mud
machine. Air-cooled 911? Not so much, which is why
it may come as a surprise to learn a two-litre 911 was
campaigned by Vic Elford in the inaugural rallycross
event at Lydden Hill on 4th February 1967. Broadcast
on British national television, the event was motorsport
like no other, and though we’re familiar with the sight
of 911s in various
road, race and
rally trim today,
things were quite
different in the
mid-1960s.
Elford began
his professional
career as a codriver, teaming up with BMC works pilot, David SeigleMorris (best remembered for running the punishing Gulf
London rally in the late 1960s) in a modified Triumph
TR3A. Elford, however, harboured desire to become
a first-rate driver in his own right, ambition leading to
the purchase and preparation of a Mini for the 1961
rally season. Advancement through the ranks eluded
him and, come season end, the Mini was sold, but
determined to bounce back, the Londoner jumped into
the hot seat of a factory-backed Auto Union DKW Junior
and began to enjoy success as the 1962 season wore
on. Twelve months later, he was back in a Triumph,
throwing a TR4 around in such convincing fashion Ford
offered him a drive in a works Cortina. This invitation
promised the backing of team who could guarantee
mechanical reliability, something which had been
lacking in all the cars Elford had driven thus far, despite
his impressive performances and ever-quicker pace.
Ford and Elford enjoyed a successful three-year
stint together, but at the close of the 1966 season, he
needed a fresh challenge and a new car to compete in.
He’d accepted an invitation to drive the relatively new
911 with fellow Brit, David Stone, serving as co-driver
for November’s Tour de Corse, and after finishing third

overall (pipped to the post by Rolland Jean and Augias
Gabriel’s Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA, and event winners,
Piot and Jacob-Jean Francois, in the Renault 8 Gordini),
the pair achieved the same again in a 911 at the 1967
Monte Carlo Rally, held in January. Needless to say,
when the invitation to participate in the following
month’s made-for-television rallycross event came
Elford’s way, it was the air-cooled, two-litre, German
sports coupe he immediately thought of as the perfect
tool for the job. There was only problem: despite Elford’s
recent podium finishes and obvious talent behind the
wheel of the 911, factory motorsport director, Fritz
Huschke von
Hanstein, had no
real interest in
rallying Porsche’s
flagship product,
preferring to
concentrate the
works team’s
efforts on circuit
action. Besides, there were no 911s available in
Stuttgart for Elford to make use of in February. “Speak
to AFN. See if they can help,” came the instruction.
The first UK-sold Porsche was supplied to its proud
purchaser in 1954 by Archibald Frazer Nash (AFN) from
premises at Falcon Works, located on London Road
in Isleworth, Middlesex. Two years later, AFN became
the sole UK concessionaire for Porsche Cars until the
formation of Porsche Cars Great Britain in 1965. By the
time of Elford’s enquiry, AFN boss, John Aldington, was
Porsche Cars Great Britain’s Managing Director, but
even he was without any available 911s, a consequence
of the model not being particularly well-known outside
of Germany and UK stock levels kept correspondingly
low. The only car Aldington could offer was AFN’s own
demonstrator, one of the earliest right-hand drive 911s.
In standard specification, the red two-litre Porsche
wasn’t the ideal solution, but it was the only one at
Elford’s disposal. At least, Aldington argued, Elford
could attend Lydden in a 911, even if was pitched
against motorsport metal specially prepared for the
event. Besides, there would be valuable television
coverage for Porsche, Elford and AFN to come from the
arrangement. Everyone would be a winner.

THE RED TWO-LITRE PORSCHE
WASN’T THE IDEAL SOLUTION,
BUT IT WAS THE ONLY ONE AT
ELFORD’S DISPOSAL

Facing page A remarkable
survivor, given the car’s
history doing battle in the
heat of motorsport, not to
mention failed attempts
at restoration and huge
mechanical failure

November 2023 35

‘Grudge match’ is the best way
to describe what followed. Elford’s
former Ford teammates — including
Cortina drivers, Roger Clark and
Brian Melia — were determined
to beat him, immediately turning
rallycross into a heavy contact sport.
Aldington must have spat coffee
all over his tellybox when he saw
GVB 911D being smashed to pieces
live on ITV. We can’t say for sure
whether he ejected caffeine from
his nostrils, but we know he was so
incensed by what he was witnessing,
he immediately telephoned Elford’s
wife, demanding to know why AFN’s
valuable Porsche was being writtenoff in full view of the entire nation.

SMASH AND GRAB
By event end, not a single panel was
straight, the 911’s windscreen was
cracked and its lights were missing
in action, yet despite the rear-engined
tin-top’s road car specification, it
reigned supreme on the mixedsurface circuit — Elford had done the
unthinkable and won, albeit by the
narrowest of margins.
Fellow rallycross competitor and
classic Mini driver, Roy Edwards,
offered use of his trailer to enable
Elford to carry the battered 911
36 November 2023

back to Aldington. To Edwards’
amazement, Elford declined the
offer, instead kicking the windscreen
free, donning goggles and driving
home, where an infuriated Mrs Elford
recounted tales of an angry Aldington
quizzing her down the blower.
Understandably, her betrothed felt
more than a little sheepish when
he returned the battle-scarred 911
to AFN the following morning. He
needn’t have worried. Aldington’s
fury had already turned to joy by the
time man and machine arrived at
AFN’s headquarters — the company’s
phones had been tied up with a
high number of enquiries from
prospective Porsche purchasers
impressed by what they’d seen on
TV. Motorsport’s win on Sunday,
sell on Monday motto was ringing
undeniably true.
GVB was shipped back to Stuttgart
for repair. Huschke von Hanstein,
alerted to Elford’s winning ways,
asked him what he wanted to do
next. His ambition had, in fact, been
circuit racing, but working with a
modest budget, rallying was all
he’d been able to afford. Rallycross,
however, proved Elford to be quicker
on asphalt than on mud, which is
why Porsche agreed to hand the car

back to him for participation in the
British Saloon Car Championship,
a competition the 911 was eligible
for due to its 2+2 cabin layout. GVB
would be far from the same-spec
road dweller it once was, though —
by close of March 1967, the car was
kitted out with a 906-derived twolitre flat-six in more or less Le Mans
specification, including titanium
connecting rods, lightweight cam
drive, Weber carburettors (in place of
the standard Solex units) and many
prototype parts besides.
Entered into the competition’s
two-litre class under the AFN banner,
Elford scored a third-place finish
at both Brands Hatch outings, a
second-place finish at Silverstone
and other impressive placings, all
of which contributed to the two-litre
class win. It’s worth noting, his ontrack rivals included Graham Hill,
Jackie Oliver, Tony Lanfranchi, John
Fitzpatrick and overall championship
winner, Frank Gardner.
By now, Aldington was full of
enthusiasm for ‘Quick Vic’ and
how he could make the 911 sing.
Stuttgart, too, was impressed,
giving Elford a left-hand drive 911
to contest the 1967 European Rally
Championship, which he won. He

Above Strangely,
the car made use of
Jaguar brakes when
Rob’s father bought
it way back in 1982

was also given a drive in the 906
alongside Dutchman, Ben Pon, for
the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans. It
was a dream come true and a favour
Elford returned to Porsche in the
form of a class win, finishing seventh
overall after completing 327 laps.

FAST FOCUS
This was clearly one of the most
versatile drivers in the business, and
though further outings at Sarthe
followed (notably a string of drives
in partnership with Richard Attwood,
Gerard Larrousse, Kurt Ahrens Jr and
Gerhard Mitter, with cars including
the 908 and 917 between 1968
and 1971, before a switch to Alfa
Romeo’s competition department,
Autodelta, and scoring another firstin-class with a Ferrari 365 GTB/4 for
Charles Pozzi’s team in 1973), not
to mention a career in Formula One
(driving Coopers, a McLaren and a
BRM P160), all eyes were on what
Elford could do with the 911 in 1968.
Porsche and AFN were keen for
spectators to think the Stuttgart
concern was fielding a new car,
which is why GVB was stickered
with a fictitious registration number:
38 November 2023

BEM 911F. The B referenced chief
sponsor, Bill Bradley, the E stood for
Elford, while M paid tribute to race
engineer, Christopher Maltin. This
was, though, every bit GVB. The car
was promptly entered into the twolitre class of the 1968 British Saloon
Car Championship to pick up
where it left off.
Preparation for the 500km of
Snetterton (the final round of the
European Touring Car Challenge)
also occurred, work seeing a
long-range fuel tank, lightweight
polycarbonate windows, wider
wheels and fatter tyres fitted to the
car, but a regrettable DNF due to
a loose camshaft and a ruptured
oil pipe meant Elford’s racing glory
would need to be earned elsewhere.
It didn’t take long for him to find
it, winning the 1968 24 Hours
of Daytona in a 907 shared with
Jo Siffert, Hans Herrmann, Rolf
Stommelen and Jochen Neerpasch
(Porsche’s first overall win in a
daylong endurance race), bagging
top honours at the year’s Monte
Carlo Rally in a 911 T with his old
chum, David Stone, and winning the
Targa Florio with Umberto Maglioli

in a 907, despite losing eighteen
minutes due to a burst tyre on
the first lap.
Obviously, GVB played a huge
part in helping Elford progress his
motorsport career, but all things
must pass, and so it was with
his time in charge of the red road
and rally rocket. Indeed, by Easter
1968, his F1 duties and wider
responsibilities to Porsche’s global
motorsport programme were taking
up so much of his time, he exited the
British Saloon Car Championship,
but not before once again scoring

Above This superb
911 helped launch
the successful
motorsport career of
not only Vic Elford,
but also Nick Faure

911 2.0

Above The shortwheelbase 911
is a basic car,
even before being
prepared for racing
Below Quick Vic
took time out to
vandalise the car
with a Sharpie

the two-litre class win. Subsequently,
GVB’s original registration number
returned to the car and it was offered
for sale through AFN. Enter Nick
Faure. A Porsche devotee who
achieved fame through racing and
selling 356s in the 1960s, he would
go on to compete at Le Mans eleven
times between 1975 and 1985, racing
the 911 Carrera RSR alongside John
Cooper, as well as strutting his stuff
for Kremer Racing in the 935 K2
with John Fitzpatrick as co-driver.
Before all this, however, seeing how
competitive GVB was, and identifying
the 911’s huge potential to enable
him to eclipse his achievements
with the 356 in motorsport, Faure co-

bought a stake in the car (retaining
its 906-sourced beating heart) and,
sponsored by Demetriou Group,
entered the two-litre Porsche into
various races at the back end of
1968, before competing in the
bulk of the 1969 British Saloon Car
Championship.
Faure finished fourth in three
British Saloon Car Championship
races: Silverstone, Snetterton and at
the televised round at Crystal Palace.
A sixteenth-place overall finish in
championship standings meant he
was fourth-in-class come season
end. Impressively, his lap times
were even quicker than Elford’s. It
was a similar story for the next few
years — Aldington was so dazzled, he
offered Faure a seat as an AFN driver
in a Carrera RS 2.7 Lightweight for
the 1973 British Production Sports
Car Championship, before the team
switched him to the duck-tailed
model’s three-litre successor in 1974.
Faure also drove an RSR for Ecurie
Francorchamps at the 1974 1,000km
of Brands Hatch, leading to the first
of his Le Man outings with the RSR a
year later (a performance ending with
sixth place overall and second-inclass). Once again, GVB had acted as
stepping stone for a promising young

driver to advance their racing career.
Faure didn’t only use GVB to get him
around a track quickly, though. To
support his time in motorsport, he
was working as a freelance illustrator
on Fleet Street. Regularly, he’d hop
into GVB — which remained road
legal, despite its motorsport activities
and blaring megaphone exhausts —
and floor it all the way across London
in the middle of the night to hand
his work to editors working on
pressing deadlines.

BALANCING ACT
During Faure’s time with GVB, its
original oil tank was modified and
relocated to sit in front of the rear
wheel, rather than behind it. AFN
spanner man, Maltin, reasoned
this would help the 911’s front-toback weight distribution, thereby
improving handling. It worked, but
with Faure setting his sights on
more powerful Porsches at the start
of the 1970s, and with increasingly
more competitive cars taking the
fight to the 911 in the British Saloon
Car Championship, GVB was once
again put up for sale through AFN.
The buyer was Christian Favre, ninth
generation of the famous Favre
family of Swiss watchmakers, who
November 2023 39

took ownership in January 1970, but
little is known of the car’s activities
during the course of the following
two years, save for a catastrophic
engine bay fire. The cost of
rebuilding the 906-specification
two-litre flat-six
proved prohibitively
expensive for Favre,
who chose to box
all of the unit’s
component parts
and store them in a
friend’s garage with
what had become
little more than a rolling shell. By
1972, Favre was being asked to
rehome his part-dismantled Porsche,
which is why ownership passed to
sports car enthusiast, Roger Connell.
Connell bought GVB as a
restoration project (before 911
restoration was fashionable)
unaware of the air-cooled Porsche’s
illustrious — and, at the time,
relatively recent — history, which
Favre did little to highlight. It took
Connell until 1980 to resurrect the
car, grabbing hours at weekends and
in evenings as and when motivation
to work on the project engaged him.
In truth, this extended period of dry

storage and retirement from racing is
likely what saved the poorly Porsche
from being cut, shut and crashed
during a time early two-litre 911s
weren’t worth a huge sum of money.
Even so, Connell commissioned

a standard two-litre flat-six and
rebuilding the car to as close to AFNfresh condition as he could achieve.
In 1982, somewhat disillusioned
with the way his time with GVB had
panned out, Connell accepted an
offer for the car
from Peter Russell,
who many will know
as a key player
in establishing
today’s classic rally
movement. His son,
Rob, the car’s current
custodian, picks up
the story. “I was born in 1973,” he
reveals. “As a child, I remember my
father saying he’d always wanted
an early 911, and shortly before
my ninth birthday, he bought GVB.
He loved the lack of whale tail and
impact bumpers and, as someone
active in the rallying scene, reasoned
GVB would be an excellent choice
for tarmac rally stages.” Rob
remembers the day the car joined the
Russell household. “My brother and
I were hanging off the roll cage,” he
laughs. “Dad dropped the windows
and booted it through the Dartford
Tunnel. The noise was exhilarating!”
Russell the Elder (a seasoned

ON THE FIRST, HIGHLY ANTICIPATED
TURN OF THE KEY, THE OPEN
THERMOSTAT ALLOWED DIRT TO
BE FIRED INTO THE ENGINE

40 November 2023

a rebuild of the 906 engine to
original specification, resulting in a
competitive 911 more or less in the
same condition as when Faure last
sat behind the wheel.
Unfortunately, while dormant,
spent lubricant in the oil cooler
lines calcified. On the first, highly
anticipated turn of the key, the
open thermostat allowed dirt to be
fired into the engine, immediately
hammering the bottom end and
causing catastrophic mechanical
failure. It was a heart-breaking
moment for Connell, but he had
the good sense to keep hold of
the busted boxer, despite sourcing

Above Rob was
delighted to drive
the car by invitation
at Goodwood after
fearing it might not
be compliant with
event regulations

911 2.0

Above Engine is a
906-sourced twolitre unit rebuilt by
Tuthill Porsche

rally man who’d competed in the
London-Sahara-Munich World Cup
Rally in a Triumph Dolomite Sprint,
often cited as the world’s first massproduced multi-valve car) would
use GVB to compete in the 1983
Coronation Rally (hosted in Wales
and regarded as the first proper
historic rally), winning the two-litre
class. Further class wins followed. It
came as little surprise when Rob and
his brother were also bitten by the
bug. “We’d enjoyed family holidays
to Ireland in the 911, but by the late
1980s and into the early 1990s, the
car was almost exclusively being
used for participation in historic
rallies. My brother and I would

attend these events and, somewhat
predictably, I became Dad’s co-driver.
During this time, the replacement
two-litre engine let go when a cam
follower decided to give up the
ghost. A protracted period of flat-six
restoration took place thereafter,
with classic Porsche rally specialist,
Frances Tuthill, given the broken
flat-six and the boxes of 906 parts
handed to us by Roger Connell.”
The engine returned to the Russell
clan from the Tuthill team made
use of the standard crankcase, but
was equipped with the 906 cams,
titanium rods and Weber 45 carbs,
which were recommended for
increased drivability over the more

aggressive 48s fitted in period.
Meticulously serviced ever since, the
resilient flat-six provides GVB with a
solid, dyno-verified 178bhp.

COAT OF COLOUR
Time had, of course, taken its toll
on this well-weathered 911. A small
patch of fresh metal in front of the
fuel cell (the same enlarged-capacity
tank fitted back in the day) was
required, and in response to the
original red paintwork starting to
peel, the car was treated to a full
respray. By now, Rob was rallying as
number one driver, first in a classic
Mini, then a Nissan Micra and, later,
in various Peugeots. In a case of role
reversal, Peter served as navigator.
As father helped son spread
his motorsport wings (“until my
girlfriend became co-driver”), the 911
remained largely unused. It would
remain dormant for some time to
come — in 2000, Peter passed away.
“I learned a lot from my father,”
Rob tells us. “As is the case with
many involved in the rally scene, I
take care of most mechanical work
and maintenance myself, just as
Dad did. As a family, this approach
is the only way we could afford to
do compete.” Family would also
contribute to the car’s next phase
November 2023 41

of limited activity — Rob’s first
daughter was born in 2002. For the
following three years, save for the
occasional sprint, GVB was kept in a
state of suspended animation. With
the emergence of classic motoring
events, including
the Goodwood
Revival, however,
a desire to show
GVB to an audience
appreciative
of its historical
significance as one
of the first 911s to
achieve serious competition success
led to its recommissioning in 2010.
The dampers were sent to Koni
for a full rebuild and the remaining
suspension was overhauled. The
alternator was refurbished and
the carburettors were given a new
lease of life. Andy Prill, head of Prill
Porsche Classics, provided Rob with
invaluable advice along the way, but
even this celebrated marque expert
was unable to explain the presence
of Jaguar calipers.
“Nobody seems to know where
they came from,” Rob laughs. “I
suspect they were fitted before
Roger bought the car, but with no
old photographs showing it with
the wheels removed, it’s almost
impossible to prove. Because of
this, I was unable to get FIA papers
allowing me to race at Goodwood,
which is why I’ve fitted standard
911 anchors until solid evidence

confirming period appointment of
Big Cat brakes materialises.”
Rob went on to enter GVB into
the Historic Sports Car Club’s 1960s
Roadsports races at Brands Hatch
and Oulton Park for two years

Speed display organised by Retro
Rallycross. The second was the
opportunity to drive the length of
Goodwood’s famous hillclimb as part
of Porsche’s seventieth anniversary
celebrations at the 2018 Festival
of Speed. Mission
accomplished.
Various track days
(pleasingly, some
at Goodwood) have
been enjoyed since.
“I’d love to
compete in this
car again,” Rob
confirms. “HSCC events are great.
The drivers are very respectful of
one another, as well as the value
of participating cars. GVB has only
covered forty-eight thousand miles
from new, meaning there’s plenty
of life left in this little Porsche. I
don’t have absolute plans, but Dad
bought this 911 to be used for high
days, holidays and rallying, and I’m
determined to continue ownership
in the same spirit. Of course, I’m
aware of the car’s financial value in
the current climate, and I’d certainly
hate to prang it, but I’ll continue
to use this air-cooled classic long
into the future.” This is music to our
ears, though it’s safe to work on the
assumption Rob is likely to be a tad
more considerate than Quick Vic
when this radiant red 911 burst onto
television screens fifty-six years ago.
Even so, take our advice, Mr Russell:
steer clear of Cortinas. CP

THE DAMPERS WERE SENT
TO KONI FOR A FULL REBUILD AND
THE REMAINING SUSPENSION
WAS OVERHAULED

42 November 2023

running, with third-in-class at the
Brands Hatch Superprix and success
competing in the Aldington Trophy
(named after AFN’s founder and
open to pre-1967 two-litre 911s)
rewarding his efforts, but with no
clear route to generating an invite
to Goodwood for either Revival
or Festival of Speed exhibition
purposes, sporadic use on street and
circuit followed. “I drove the 911 to
my brother’s wedding in the south
of France and to various Porsche
Club Motorsport track days, as well
as to and from the Pyrenees, but my
focus was on securing an invite to
Goodwood. I simply wasn’t sure how
to go about getting one,” he shrugs.
Two key anniversaries provided
the solution. The first was a
celebration of the fiftieth anniversary
of rallycross in 2017, when historic
rallycross cars were brought out of
retirement for a special Festival of

Above Rob intends
to use the car
regularly enough
for fans of historic
motorsport to enjoy
witnessing this
special Porsche
strutting its stuff
long into the future

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912 AND 993

CONSTANT EVOLUTION
We continue plotting Porsche’s air-cooled evolution, but take
a slight detour by uniting a 912 with a 993...
Words Steve Bennett Photography Dan Sherwood
nniversaries abound. For starters,
this is the hundredth issue of Classic
Porsche, a publishing milestone if
ever there was one. And, of course,
we are celebrating seventy-five
years of Porsche as a manufacturer
(and therefore seventy-five years of 356), as well
as sixty years of 911, without which, it’s doubtful
Classic Porsche would exist. Sure, there were plenty of
Porsches before the 911, but it was post the model’s
1963 launch that Porsche really found its place in the
world, going from a manufacturer of small, cult, quirky
sports and race cars, to something altogether more
sophisticated and
modern, which
would guide the
manufacturer
for the next six
decades and
counting.
The 911 should
have been the
901, but for Peugeot’s insistence three number model
designations with a zero in the middle was very much
the French brand’s territory. Not needing the legal
aggro, Porsche capitulated. 901 became 911 and the
legend was born. Not that Porsche would know the
impact its air-cooled six-cylinder sports car would
have. Indeed, given a crystal ball, company bosses
might have been shocked at the monster created and
its final air-cooled incarnation, that being the 993. We’ll
save that bit of time travel for later.
Back to the swinging sixties. Porsche mindset was
that of creating, developing and satisfying demand
for its products. It wasn’t all about the 911, though.
If it were, the company might have stalled. Realising
its sophisticated new sports car — complete with
its 130bhp two-litre, quad-cam flat-six, its five-speed
gearbox, disc brakes in each corner and super-efficient
aero shape — was, perhaps, a financial bridge too
far for its traditional customer base, the pragmatic
approach of creating a base model was adopted.
Actually, forget the financial bridge too far. It was more
a chasm. The 911 was just plain expensive, whichever
way you cut it. It was, of course, a massive leap over
the 356 in every conceivable way, but at DM22,900

versus the outgoing 356’s DM16,450, Porsche faced
an uphill struggle to sell enough 911s to cover the
costs of production.
Enter, then, the 912. If you count the 901, this was
the third three-number iteration of Porsche’s new
sports car. In a stroke, Porsche had developed a new
car with both a nod to the past and a leap into the
future. The 912 is a different prism through which
to view Porsche’s rise in the 1960s. Here was a car
developed to nurture and assist the 911.
To all intents and purposes, the 912 was pretty
much identical to the 911, save for the motivating
sting in the tail. It might seem almost sacrilege, but
that wonderful
130bhp sixcylinder boxer
was sacrificed
in favour of the
90bhp 1.6-litre
overhead-valve
flat-four from the
356 SC. Not that
it was viewed negatively when Porsche unveiled the
912 in 1965. Nobody had complained about the 356’s
performance — ninety ponies were considered more
than ample. Besides, an alternative to the 911 was
seen only as a good thing, spreading the new coupe’s
appeal. In Autocar’s first road test, the UK weekly
praised the new arrival for its “consistent, vigorous
performance, helped by excellent five-speed gearbox,
with perfectly spaced ratios.” The magazine went on to
highlight the 912’s “light, rack and pinion steering and
outstanding cornering, wet or dry.” It doesn’t get much
more unequivocal than that.
In terms of Porsche’s continued growth as a
manufacturer, the 912 was easily as important as the
911, maybe more so. The first entry-level Porsche? A
gateway drug, in modern parlance. It was certainly a
product capable of introducing a new demographic
of owners to the Porsche way of life. Naturally, the
firm’s hope was that 912 buyers would, at some stage,
progress to the 911. This blueprint worked miracles
for Porsche’s bottom line and, unsurprisingly, its
image. After all, the 912 set the marketing template
for the 914 and 924 (both projects developed in
collaboration with Volkswagen), as well as the Boxster.

IN TERMS OF PORSCHE’S GROWTH
AS A MANUFACTURER, THE 912
WAS EASILY AS IMPORTANT AS
THE 911, MAYBE MORE SO

Facing page Adrian owns
outstanding examples
of both the 912 and the
993, two very different
Porsche products, but
sharing common DNA

November 2023 45

Huge sellers, one and all. While
it’s unlikely Porsche would ever
build a contemporary 912 (never
say never!), the modern equivalent
would be along the lines of putting
the turbocharged 2.5-litre flat-four
from the 718 Boxster/Cayman twins
into the back of a 992.

GRAND DESIGNS
In 1965, the 911 sold to UK buyers
for £3,438, while the 912 could
be had for a more financially
manageable £2,466. As near as
makes no odds, a saving of £1,000,
back when a grand really meant
something. Having said this, an
MGB would set you back just £855.
Regardless, in Porsche product
hierarchy, the 912 looked something
of a bargain, offering all the style
and dynamics of the 911, but minus
two cylinders, 400cc and forty
horsepower. And what of that loss
from a figurative point of view?
Flat-out, the 911 was a 130mph
projectile, hitting 60mph from rest
in 9.1 seconds. Despite its engine
displacement, cylinder count and
power losses, however, the 912 still
managed to reach 119mph and
46 November 2023

despatched the dash to 60mph from
a standing start in thirteen seconds
dead. Kerb weight helped — the 912
tipped scales at a skinny 970kg, the
911 weighed in at a full-fat 1,080kg.
Neither car is porky, but 110kg
gets noticed.
Porsche was right about the 911
potentially being a slow burner and
the 912’s position as support. As
we now know, however, the 912
was much more than that. Was it
Porsche’s intention the entry-level
model should outsell the main
act? This isn’t clear, but sales is
sales — during its first nine months
in production, some 6,401 912s
were produced, either by Porsche
at Stuttgart or the Karmann
Karosserie in Osnabrück. By way of
comparison, just 3,390 911s were
sold in the same period.
The story was much the same
the following year, with 3,730 911s
produced against 9,090 912s. It
would be 1968 before sales of the
911 overtook those of its ‘budget’
brother. Perhaps, then, it was job
done for the 912, particularly since
the base 911 L was only 20bhp up
on the four-cylinder car?

The 160bhp 911 S was launched
in 1967, marking the introduction of
a three-model 911 line-up against
the 912’s singular offering. As it
was, the 912 made it to the 1969
model year, inheriting the 911’s
extended wheelbase, achieved by
lengthening the rear suspension
trailing arms and slightly modifying
the rear arches. This was Porsche’s
first stab at improving the
occasionally wayward handling
of its products.
Was the 912 really that close to
the 911? The power sacrifice was

Above Irish Green
was a popular
choice among 912
buyers when the
model was new

912 AND 993

Above and below
Though the base
912 was originally
offered with a
three-dash layout
(mimicked in the
later Boxster),
Adrian’s car benefits
from the full quintet

a given, and the base 912 made
use a four-speed version of the
Type 901 gearbox, but many buyers
optioned the fivespeed option.
Otherwise, it was
the very same
bodyshell and the
same 2,211mm
wheelbase. The
same disc brakes,
too, plus rack-andpinion steering, rather than the 356’s
rather vague ZF steering box. Very
early 912s had a three-dial dash, but
very soon reverted to the full-five.
Standard rubber floor mats were
usually substituted for better-quality,
square-weave carpet. Seats were

the same flat and bouncy perches.
The 911 of the 1960s could never be
described as in anyway luxurious.

two thousand examples were
manufactured between April 1965
and July 1969. This wasn’t quite
the end of the line,
though. In 1976,
Porsche introduced
the 912 E, a curious
mix of G-series 911
and 110bhp flatfour. This US-only
model was devised,
so the story goes, to
account for a delay in introducing
the 924 as a replacement for the
914, as well as to use up a stockpile
of Volkswagen two-litre engines.
Unlike the original 912, it’s fair to say
few people saw the point of the 912
E. Very soon, it was little more than
a footnote in Porsche’s past. Having
said this, the 912 E has a champion
in Wheeler Dealer, Mike Brewer.
Maybe reappraisal is due?
We digress. How about a 912
appraisal right now? The very
traditional Irish Green example
pictured on these pages is owned
by Classic Porsche reader, Adrian
Malthouse. He also owns the 993
Carrera 4 we will journey toward,
thus bookending more than thirty
years of air-cooled Porsche product
development. Indeed, Adrian has
dismantled both these cars and can

INSPECTION PROVED THE 912’S
FLAT-FOUR WASN’T ORIGINAL AND,
BIZARRELY, THE ENGINE LID WAS
PUNCTURED BY A BULLET HOLE
The 912 was no different.
Much was made of the 912’s
handling, giving it an alternative
dynamic to the 911, which from the
get-go had developed something
of a negative reputation, albeit
one only punishing the most cackhanded test pilots. As mentioned,
weight is the enemy. Not only is the
912 110kg lighter overall, but most
of this weight loss is from the rear
(the flat-four being substantially
lighter than the flat-six) with less
weight overhanging the rear axle. To
get technical, the weight distribution
of the 912 is 44/56 front/rear.
Compare this to 41/59 for the 911.
With the 911 model range
covering all bases, there was no
point in developing the 912 any
further. It was very much a case
of ‘job done’ for the 912. Thirty-

November 2023 47

confirm, remarkably, they possess
interchangeable parts.
Adrian’s path to Porsche
ownership comes via the muchtrodden MG route. Like so many
British sports car enthusiasts, his
interest in Stuttgart’s finest was
piqued by curiosity — “to see what
all the fuss was about,” as he puts
it. Interestingly, he also attended the
same Sheffield school as Porsche
maverick and dreadlock enthusiast,
Magnus Walker, albeit not quite at
the same time.

STATES OF PLAY
Typically, Adrian’s 912 hails from
California, which is where the
bulk of production was originally
sold. A right-leaning 912 is a very
rare thing, but left-of-centre 912’s
are relatively abundant after the
seemingly mass importation event
started by Volkswagen fanatics in
the early 1990s. That said, there are
still plenty of survivors in the US.
With this in mind, in 2015, Adrian
— via popular online classic car
marketplace, Hemmings — found
this 1967 example in Ohio.
He paid £26,000, or “a straight
swap for an MG TD.” The Porsche
was fairly typical of the breed, being
48 November 2023

a little scruffy. Despite being a US
car, it was also surprisingly rusty,
although its condition was nothing
compared to what an unrestored UK
car would resemble, providing you
could find one.
Not untypically, the car had little
history to speak of, save for the
fact it had been owned by Porsche
Club of America (PCA) member,
Mike Robbins, for twenty-six years.
Robbins is well known in PCA circles
for clocking half a million miles in a
356 Speedster.
Inspection proved the 912’s flatfour wasn’t original and, bizarrely,

the car’s engine lid was punctured
by a bullet hole. This definitely
wasn’t a factory option. Then
again, Elvis Presley was famous for
shooting his De Tomaso Pantera
after it wouldn’t start for the
umpteenth time. Maybe the
fad caught on?!
As is the case with so many
912s heading to the UK from North
America, the car’s first port of call
was to see Max Levell, founder of
marque specialist, Revival Cars.
In Max’s care, the car was treated
a tidy-up in advance of a period
of general use before the main

Above and below
The power offered
by the 912’s punchy
flat-four might
be modest, but a
greater percentage
of its output is
more readily and
more frequently
accessible on the
public road than that
of a same-age 911

event: a full rebuild by Adrian
and trusted collaborators. A new
floorpan was installed, but all
main body panels
were retained and
repaired, save for
the need to fit a new
driver’s door skin.
Body preparation
and paintwork was
entrusted to Alan
Ribbens Ltd in
Marden, Kent.
Mechanically, Adrian
certainly pushed the envelope,
commissioning Revival Cars to
rebuild the gearbox, while the
engine was stripped and rebuilt
by Prill Porsche Classics. The
refreshed powerplant makes
use of a balanced bottom end,
hand-finished heads and capacity
increased to 1,720cc. Prill Porsche
Classics boss, Andy Prill, insisted
on reverting to original-specification
Solex downdraught carburettors,
a move contrary to the perceived
wisdom Webers rule. Power? A solid
116bhp. We remind you, the 912
weighs but 970kg.
Aside from the engine, the rest of

this 912 has been rebuilt to standard
specification and was largely
reassembled by Adrian himself. The

engineering after a lifetime of MGs?
“I was certainly impressed with the
build quality and longevity,” he says.
Mind you, as we’ve
already established,
you could buy nearly
three MGBs for the
price of a single
912. What of the
driving experience?
Let’s find out before
we make the great
leap forward.
Let’s get the noise thing out of
the way first, shall we? Crank the

THERE IS ONE CAR, WHICH COULD,
OR INDEED SHOULD, HAVE TAKEN
PORSCHE INTO THE 1990s,
BUT WAS CANNED

50 November 2023

front Koni dampers had the original
1967 date stamp on them and
were in perfect condition. The rear
Bilsteins were equally serviceable.
Keeping the car on the road is
new period-correct 165-profile
Pirelli Cinturato rubber supplied by
Longstone Tyres.
The interior was treated to new
dashtop, door trims and originalstyle square-weave carpet from
Lakewell. Neat touches include an
original Blaupunkt radio hot-rodded
to incorporate twenty-first century
Bluetooth technology. The work
was carried out by classic car
in-vehicle entertainment specialist,
Chrome London.
Adrian’s thoughts on Porsche

Above The 993 is
known for being
the last of the aircooled 911s and is
therefore viewed my
many enthusiasts
as the last model
remaining true to the
original 911 concept

912 AND 993

Above and below
Largely unchanged
since introduction
of the 901 in 1963,
the 911’s dash
layout was decidedly
cluttered by the time
of the 993, although
the interior as
a whole was far
more sophisticated

912 and you might recoil at the
clattery machinations from the rear.
The flat-four clearly doesn’t play the
same tune as its six-cylinder sibling,
lacking the turbine-like shriek, but
the four possesses its own distinct
vibe and soundtrack.
When perched on the bouncy
seats, you notice a distinct spring
to the controls, as well as the usual
contortions required to operate
the pedals in a Porsche of this
vintage. The cable clutch pushes
back against your foot, while the
dog-leg five-speed gearbox works
on the reverse plane of a standard
H-pattern five-speed. This is to say
first is back and to the left, while

second is forward, with a jink to
the right. It’s a race car thing. The
gearbox itself is precise in slotting
into gear, if a little wobbly around
the gate.
Sitting upright behind the thinrimmed wheel, progress at first
feels vague, but you soon realise
the meaty steering associated with
later 911s isn’t present. The thinner
tyres react immediately to inputs,
but on account of the much-reduced
footprint and front-end weight, the
feedback is delicate and detailed,
rather than heavy with grip and
kick-back from the 911’s wider
rubber. There’s a similar poise to
the ride quality — a 912 drifts over
broken surfaces with the deftness
coming from a light body, low
unsprung weight and tyres with an
unfashionable profile. The weight
balance compared to that of a 911?
The numbers don’t lie — the 912 has
a balance all of its own.
As for the Prill-built motor, it’s a
gutsy, torquey thing for sure, but
with a balanced smoothness and
a willingness to rev, where the
standard flat-four is reluctant.
The 912 is a different take on
Porsche’s air-cooled development
trajectory. It’s time to walk the path

rather more trodden, leading us to
the end of the air-cooled 911 era.
We’ll have to crank up the time
machine, of course. In a blur, we’ve
left behind the A-to-F series 911,
including the Carrera RS 2.7. The
‘impact bumper’ cars and the mighty
911 Turbo (930) are history, while the
modernising 964 is a mere blip in the
timeline. The 993, on the other hand,
is the end of the classic 911 story
and the culmination of all things aircooled Porsche, starting with 1948’s
Gmünd-built 356 roadster. Quite
the legacy.

FIVE ALIVE
Before we delve into the 993,
there is something of a 1980/90s
development footnote. It is integral
to the 911 story, the 964 in particular,
and to a lesser extent, the 993. Why
look back? Because there is one car,
which could, or indeed should, have
taken Porsche into the 1990s, but
was canned just eighteen months
ahead of its 1991 launch. We’re
talking about the ill-fated Type
965 (the model designation often
incorrectly applied by enthusiasts
to the 964 Turbo).
Confusingly, the 965 was a
959-influenced sports car scheduled
November 2023 51

to be sold as the 969. It would
have sat alongside the 964 as a
sophisticated alternative to the
911 and was aimed squarely at a
different customer base. It would
have introduced water-cooled
engines ahead of the 986 Boxster
and 996. V6 and V8 concepts
were evaluated and tested, both
developed from Porsche’s Indy
motorsport powerplant. The engines
would have been used in both the
964 and the 969.
Sadly, internal factions at Porsche
battled it out over the future
direction of the 911 and proposed
range-topping 965, of which sixteen
prototypes were built, complete
with requisite development V6 and
V8 engines. All but one 965 was
crushed following discontinuation
of the project. Crushed too were
Porsche’s finances. After much
investment in essentially a twomodel 911 range, the resulting 964
was all that could be salvaged. It
didn’t last long. Some of the 965
project’s styling cues, however,
managed to jump a generation and
were implemented on the 993. The
front-end treatment, for example,
52 November 2023

is pure 965 (and 959 before), as
was the distinctly wide-hipped
rear. Porsche’s styling ambition
was to restore a sense of agility
and modernity to the 911. To this
effect, the ‘greenhouse’ was subtly
modified, with the windscreen
moved forward by three millimetres.
The rear quarter windows were
pushed out by seven millimetres.
Amazingly, perhaps, at the start of
the 993 project, there was still talk
of using a water-cooled V6 or V8. An
Audi V8 was fitted to a test ‘mule’,
but as ever, money was too tight
to mention, meaning the 964’s 3.6litre air-cooled flat-six came in for a
thorough re-working. It’s a stretch
to call the resultant engine all-new,
but it wasn’t far off, benefiting from
many engineering improvements
making the unit much stronger,
lighter and more reliable. As
launched, the 993 Carrera developed
272bhp, a useful 22bhp up on the
equivalent 964. At model end, with
Varioram, 285bhp was very much
peak air-cooled production flat-six.
Other 993 developments included
a six-speed version of the Getrag
G50 gearbox and, at the rear, a

sophisticated multi-link suspension
and engine cradle set-up, another
carryover from the stillborn 965
project. At a stroke, the 964’s stodgy
handling was addressed. Perhaps
the only aspect of the 993 that
disappointed was the all too familiar
interior design and layout.
Be careful what you wish for,
though, because the replacement
996 interior hasn’t exactly stood the
test of time. At least the 993’s fivedial layout can be traced all the way
back to the 901 of 1963.
Launched in 1993, a full thirty
years on from the 901, the 993 was

Above 993 did
away with ‘torpedo’
front wings and
introduced a softer
body style, typical of
automotive design
emerging in the early
to mid-1990s

912 AND 993

Above and below
Adrian was adamant
he wanted a
Variocam-kitted 993,
hence his decision
to buy this beautiful
late Carrera 4

met with universal approval. Here
was an all-new 911 (well, nearly)
designed to appeal to Porsche
customers old
and new. Enough
of the original
911’s character
was retained,
but in a modern
package pointing
toward what we
now know would
become a water-cooled future. And,
despite burning bright for just four
years or so, the 993 range was the
most comprehensive the 911 had
ever presented. Base Carrera and
Carrera 4 models were introduced,

plus fatter S versions of both.
Cabriolet and all-new sliding roof
Targa versions came along (as

To Adrian’s really rather
lovely 1996 Carrera 4 and the
aforementioned great leap forward.
“I didn’t plan to
own examples of
early and late aircooled Porsches at
the same time,” he
says. “It just sort
of happened. As
far as the 993 is
concerned, however,
I was adamant I wanted a Varioramkitted car.” This is exactly what
we have here. It hasn’t always looked
this good. Adrian bought the Polar
Silver stunner in 2021, when it was
somewhat down at heel after a
succession of owners had failed
to lavish the required amount of
love. This was reflected in the car’s
eventual price, reached after a fair
bit of haggling. Bottom line, Adrian
has rescued and restored this 993
to near as-new condition. And while
you might argue to buy a good 911
is a better (and, perhaps, more costeffective) strategy, he likes to be
hands-on, so much so he stresses
stripping a car to its bare essentials
is the best way to understand not
only its true condition, but also what
makes it special.

STRIPPING A CAR TO ITS
BARE ESSENTIALS IS THE BEST
WAY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT
MAKES IT SPECIAL
documented elsewhere in this
issue), as did the four-wheel drive,
twin-turbocharged Turbo. There were
homologated racers in the form
of the Carrera RS 3.8 and GT2 and
much more besides.
With the 993, Porsche managed
to turn the tide and snatched
success from the jaws of defeat,
but arguments at boardroom level
couldn’t be allowed to continue. It
was recognised from within that the
era of air-cooled Porsche production
was over, curtailed by impending
emissions and noise regulations.
Enter, then, new company boss,
Wendelin Wiedeking, and the
mother of all shake-ups. The 993
was the last pre-Wiedeking Porsche.
Some would say it was the last
‘proper’ Porsche.

November 2023 53

Originally supplied by Glenvarigill
(now Porsche Centres Edinburgh
and Glasgow), this 993 suffered
(as all Scottish cars can) the harsh
northern climate
and the UK-wide
insistence on
salting roads during
cold snaps. While
corrosion wasn’t
extensive, much
of the underside
and aluminium
components were in need of
refurbishment. As was the case
with his 912, Adrian dismantled
the 993 in its entirety, restoring or
replacing suspension components
as necessary. He did the same with
the brakes and brake lines.
The shell was handed to Adrian’s
favoured body and paint specialist,
Alan Ribbens, for a fresh blast
of Polar Silver. The wheels were
dispatched to Lepsons for a
makeover and were equipped with
N-rated Michelins. Adrian chose
Charles Marsland in East Malling,
Kent, to check over and overhaul the
engine, gearbox and running gear.
Charles is one of those specialists
who rather flies under the radar, his
work largely generated by reputation
and word of mouth. In other words,
if you know, you know.
We’ve mentioned time travel. If
I were Dr Who, I would take this

993 back to Porsche’s 1960s 911
development team and show
them what they were working
toward. To jump from an air-cooled

operation and rich in feedback, the
low-profile tyres transmitting a more
precise reading of the road than the
912’s skinny interpretation. Crucially,
even on the Surrey
roads we are
travelling, the ride
quality is compliant,
rather than iron-fist.
The 912 delicately
drifts its way
around corners
before almost
falling over on itself when speed
builds and body roll takes over. The
993 has a flatter and more stable
platform with which to generate its
grip. Perhaps this is the greatest
difference between Adrian’s two
cars? If it were raining, of course,
the 993 Carrera 4’s abilities would
be even more magnified.
There is the small matter of
another two cylinders and the extra
169bhp. Even with the 993 clocking
1,420kg, the 912 can’t compete.
The 993 has it all — the power, the
torque and, ultimately, the glory.
A fascinating exercise. Not just in
air-cooled evolution and Porsche’s
development flightpath, but also in
vehicle dynamics. It’s still ongoing.
Equally fascinating, one day, would
be a similar plotting of the watercooled trajectory, where I’m not sure
evaluation of Porsche’s progress
would be quite so flattering. CP

PLACING A HAND AT TWELVE
O’CLOCK ON THE STEERING WHEEL
AND BEING ABLE TO TOUCH THE
INSIDE OF THE WINDSCREEN

54 November 2023

Porsche manufactured in the
1960s to one built in the 1990s is
fascinating. Despite being more
or less dimensionally identical,
the interior of the 993 feels much
tighter. The transmission tunnel and
door furniture pin you in, as do the
modern, supportive chairs you sit
into, as opposed to perch on. There
is still that trick of placing a hand at
twelve o’clock on the steering wheel
and being able to touch the inside
of the windscreen by extending a
middle digit. It’s compact. Two-up,
you’re rubbing shoulders.
Operationally, the 993 has a
lovely, well-damped feeling, like it
has been dipped in syrup. Gone
is the springiness of the controls.
The hydraulic clutch is smooth and
complements the precision of the
gearbox. The steering — power
assisted to cope with the upfront 205/50 ZR 17s — is linear in

Above The 912 and
993 are cut from the
same cloth, but are
separated by two
cylinders and almost
three decades

Keep it Classic.
CocoMats.
First introduced for the newly developed 356,
CocoMats were the original factory accessory
floor mat. New and improved, CocoMats
are the only period-correct auto mat that will
complement any classic Porsche®. Available
for 356s to Macans.
www.cocomats.com
001.803.548.4809

The Original Auto Mat.

56 November 2023

SPECIALIST

RACING REMASTERED
Born from of a passion for racing air-cooled classics, the team behind EB Motorsport
has turned pastime into profession and is now regarded as one of the very best in the
business for the restoration and recreation of historic Porsche road and race cars...
Words Dan Sherwood Photography Chris Wallbank
ne-stop shop. In automotive circles,
this is a term often bandied to
denote a company capable of
accomplishing a wide range of
services under one roof. While it
may indeed work as a sweeping
description for many businesses, few are in a position
to offer the depth and breadth of expertise, experience
and facilities as historic Porsche specialist, EB
Motorsport. Based in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, the
firm is owned and directed by brothers, Mark and
James Bates, both of whom are keen motor racing
enthusiasts with
a predilection for
Stuttgart’s finest.
The company
is renowned
the world over,
not only for
its flawlessly
manufactured
replacement parts for classic Porsches, complex
repair solutions and painstakingly meticulous nut
and bolt restorations, but also for the incredible
accuracy of its reverse-engineering, enabling rare or
unobtainable components to become once again
available to enthusiast owners.
While this exalted position in the pantheon of
Porsche professionals is one the Bates brothers
are extremely proud of, it was never planned. EB
Motorsport has, in fact, grown from the pair’s
indulgence in their own personal pastime.
“The EB brand was founded by my father, Edward
Bates, back in the 1950s,” Mark reveals. “He patented
the first automatic livestock watering system, which
he followed with numerous innovations concerning
the design and manufacture of storage and conveying
solutions for the agricultural, industrial and renewable
energy industries. The company’s focus was on
innovation, durability, cost-effectiveness and, above
all, product reliability.” Back then, the firm was
known as EB Equipment and, under this moniker,
has continued to operate as a global leader in its
field, persistently investing in the latest technologies
to ensure its products can continue to be built in-

house at the firm’s four-hectare site, which includes a
6,000m2 manufacturing facility.
“My elder brother, James, and I took over the
business from our father when we were still in our
teens,” Mark remembers. “Like us, dad was also a bit
of a petrolhead, but he was more into luxury marques,
such as Rolls-Royce and Bentley, whereas James and
I have always preferred fast sports cars.” The brothers
had grown up racing karts, cars and motorbikes
and, eventually, got hooked on the thrill of trackdays
organised by Porsche Club Great Britain. As time
went by, they ventured further afield, tackling some
of Europe’s bestloved circuits,
including SpaFrancorchamps
and the
Nürburgring.
“At the time,
we were driving
water-cooled
Porsches on track,” says Mark, “but my true Porsche
passion always lay with historic racing 911s. With this
in mind, when an opportunity to acquire an F-series
911 presented itself, I jumped at the chance.” He
admits he bought the car as an investment with a view
to selling for a profit after a round of improvements.
“I’d always loved S/Ts, hence deciding to turn my
newly acquired 911 into an S/T replica. It was a far
from easy task and involved much in the way of
research before I could source the appropriate parts,
which were bought from all over mainland Europe.”
It was while preparing the car for racing that Mark
and James discovered a distinct lack of high-quality
composite body panels and related components
for early 911 race and rally cars. “The scarcity of
genuine parts and the poor quality of replica parts
was astonishing,” James interjects. “As a result, we
decided to use the design and manufacturing skills
we had in-house at EB Equipment to begin producing
our own Porsche parts, starting with a range of
composite body panels.”
The finished S/T build was used by Mark on the
road before it was committed to a racetrack. Initially,
he thought the car’s public visibility would be a good

EVEN THE CLINICALLY CLEAN
WORKBENCHES AND CABINETS
LOCATED AROUND THE WORKSHOP
WERE FABRICATED IN-HOUSE

Facing page When it
comes to classic Porsche
restoration and 911 race
car preparation, every
aspect of a project is
carried out in-house

November 2023 57

way of raising its profile in advance
of sale, but as time progressed,
the car became a test mule for the
development of new parts.

PERSONAL MISSION
“All the components we either
sourced or made were originally
only intended for use on our own
cars,” Mark reveals. “When fellow
Porsche enthusiasts saw the
quality of our work at the various
race circuits our cars frequented,
however, we began to receive a high
number of requests to supply the
same parts for individual owners,
so much so it made sense to build
a team and expand our facilities to
accommodate this demand.” This
new venture became EB Motorsport.
Although extremely disparate
in their end users, the two sides
of EB’s business share many
commonalities, namely excellence
58 November 2023

in design, engineering and
manufacturing, as well as a skilled
workforce embracing the very latest
in cutting-edge technology. “It’s vital
we move with the times, certainly
in terms of the equipment we use,
thereby ensuring we can always
produce everything in-house,”
says Mark. “This is why we have
invested in machinery designed to
work with a wide range of exotic
materials, not limited to titanium
and magnesium. We also make use
of a variety of computer-controlled
HAAS Automation three-, four- and
five-axis CNC machines in order to
create complex shapes for bespoke
automotive componentry.”
Additionally, EB has embraced
3D scanning and printing, fusion
welding and injection moulding,
while retaining traditional
manufacturing equipment, such as
hand-operated lathes and English

wheels. In fact, such is the gamut
of skills, equipment and experience
on display, there’s very little EB can’t
make in-house, as can be seen by
the wide range of unobtanium-level
parts being assembled during
our visit.
From reproduction Fuchs wheels
machined from a solid block of
billet aluminium, to polycarbonate
windscreens and headlight lenses,
carbon-fibre engine shrouds,
custom magnesium engine
blocks and Type 915 transmission
internals, each and every part EB
produces is of the very highest
quality. Even the clinically clean
workbenches and cabinets
located around the workshop were
fabricated in-house. This includes a
wall-mounted display case housing
a horde of gleaming silverware,
the result of numerous successful
track outings.

Above Some of the
company’s standout
projects include a
faithful 911 R replica
and an astonishing
copy of 911 Carrera
RSR Turbo 2.1 R13

SPECIALIST

Above and below
Fabrication and
creation of individual
engine components
for historic Porsches
is an everyday
occurrence at EB’s
Barnsley workshops

“One of the trophies holding a
special place in our hearts was
awarded to us following our firstplace finish at
the four-hour
trophy race on
the Nordschleife,
held as part of
the forty-third
Oldtimer Grand
Prix weekend
in 2015,” Mark
smiles. “To achieve a win against
experienced drivers, including
Olaf Manthey and Frank Stippler,
on what is regarded as one of the
world’s most challenging circuits,
was a dream come true, especially

considering we did it in a car we
prepared ourselves.”
We notice a pair of World

successfully campaigned Carrera
RS 3.0 and RSR race cars for many
years, we added a short-wheelbase
two-litre 911 to our
fleet, which finished
first-in-class at the
historic Spa Six Hours
in 2015. With this
experience under
our belts, we were
keen to explore
lightweighting. We put
our skills to the test by creating a
faithful replica of a classic 911 R.”
The car Mark and James built
served as a showcase everything
their company can achieve.
Completed in 2017 to celebrate
the fiftieth anniversary of the 911
R’s record-breaking 20,000km
endurance speed run (clocking
an average speed of 209km/h in
Monza, Italy), the build was based
on a 1967 short-wheelbase 911.
“The car was a real mess when we
received it in 2013,” recalls Mark.
“It was riddled with corrosion and
almost beyond saving, but during
the next four years, our in-house
team carried out a fastidious
restoration incorporating 911 R
specification, resulting in a classic
Porsche tipping scales at scant
804 kilograms.”

THIS FIRE-BREATHING PORSCHE
IS RECOGNISED AS ONE OF THE
MOST INFLUENTIAL MODELS IN
PERFORMANCE MOTORING
SportsCar Masters Series
trophies, handed to the brothers
in recognition of back-to-back
wins in 2011 and 2012. “Historic
motorsport underpins everything
we do,” says James. “Having

November 2023 59

Loaded with hand-finished
details, from bespoke brake parts
and 906-style inlet manifolds, to the
firm’s own lightweight doors, arches,
bumpers and exhaust system,
the development of the EB 911 R
produced many unique components
swiftly added to the company’s
parts catalogue. In doing so, Mark
and James were allowing other
passionate Porschephiles to build
their own interpretations of this
most legendary of 911s.

THE REAL THING
“It took an exceptionally long time
to research, source, design and
fabricate all the parts we needed
to build a faithful replica,” Mark
highlights. “Luckily, we had a
customer who owned an original
911 R. We spent many months
exchanging information about the
details of various components.
These conversations allowed us to
recreate original factory parts to our
own exacting specification.”
Another of the company’s
standout creations is its Martiniliveried Carrera RSR Turbo 2.1
replica. Launched little more
60 November 2023

than a decade after the 911’s
introduction, the RSR Turbo was
both the first factory-entered 911 to
race at Le Mans and also the first
turbocharged car to ever compete
in the legendary endurance race.
Today, this fire-breathing Porsche
is recognised as one of the most
influential models in performance
motoring history.
“Just four examples of the RSR
Turbo were manufactured, each
one unique,” explains Mark. “Our
painstakingly accurate reproduction
is based on chassis R13, the car
finishing second at the 1974 24
Hours of Le Mans with Gijs van
Lennep and Herbert Müller at the
wheel. Our car has been engineered
and manufactured to an exceptional
level of detail, requiring thousands
of hours of research by our
dedicated team.”
Many people, including renowned
engineer-turned-Porsche-racingdriver, Jürgen Barth, advised Mark
and James not to attempt to
reproduce the car, because, despite
the basic 911 silhouette, virtually
nothing is standard on an RSR
Turbo. “Everything from the floorpan

up is bespoke,” Mark highlights. “It
took us a year to produce the unique
body panels and to manufacture the
required tooling. Moreover, every
fastener on the factory car was
made from titanium, meaning we’ve
had to reproduce the same in order
to meet strict requirements to attain
the FIA technical passport allowing
the car to race. It took us two
years just to find a period-correct
turbocharger,” he adds.
This homage to the golden age
of Porsche motorsport has only
been possible with EB Motorsport’s

Above and below
Thoroughly modern
methods of design
and production,
including 3D
scanning, are used
to recreate no longer
manufactured
Porsche parts to
ensure the cars we
love remain on the
road for many more
years to come

SPECIALIST

Above and below
EB’s paint shop
ensures the
company has
complete control
over the finish of
every build passing
through its doors

extensive in-house capabilities,
including design engineering,
advanced machine shop functions,
pattern making, composite
production, fabrication, graphic
design, paint and assembly. Rare
parts, such as late 917 ‘endurance’
brake calipers, titanium hubs and
driveshafts, have all been reverseengineered and re-manufactured to
replicate originals down to the
finest of details.
The calipers were one such

component crucial for the team
to get right. Based on the 917’s
original cast calipers, they were
reshaped to hold a deeper pad with
more friction material for longdistance racing. Cooling fins were
oriented transversely (rather than
vertically), making them a part easily
recognisable, but complicated
to replicate.
“Casting can be unreliable and
produces a lot of wastage,” Mark
explains. “This is why, to produce

our version of this particular 917
caliper, we used state-of-the-art
software to accommodate scanning,
digitisation and design processes
before the final part was made from
a solid billet of aluminium in a fiveaxis CNC machine overseen by a
skilled operator.”
To complement the billet bodies,
EB Motorsport machines caliper
pistons from aluminium, while the
rest of the fixtures and fittings, such
as the crossover pipes and bleed
nipples, are machined from solid
titanium. The company even makes
its own handbrake mechanisms
and brake pads.
“Of course, making a part that
works and complies with FIA
regulations is one thing, but having
it look period-correct is another,”
Mark stresses. “In the example of
these calipers, we had to give them
the appearance of the original cast
items to ensure they didn’t look
out of place when fitted to the car.”
This level of detail runs through
every aspect of an EB Motorsport
restoration. James and Mark are
particularly proud of their team’s
prowess with paint.
“Complementing our full chassis
fabrication services, which are aided
November 2023 61

by a Celette body jig, plus plasma
and water jet cutters, all finishing
is taken care of in-house,” says
James. “Only the best will do for
our cars — in 2016, we installed a
Dalby spray booth.”
Developed for the
exacting demands
of high-volume OEM
production lines,
but also suitable
for independent
owner-operator
businesses, all of
Dalby’s UK-manufactured spray
booths are capable of producing the
very highest quality finish. “We also
make use of the Glasurit 22 Line
paint system specified by Porsche.
The results on our own builds have
been nothing short of stunning.”

Motorsport’s replacement or replica
composite body panels as part of a
road or race build.
“Our 911 SC RS front and rear
bumpers have been a big hit in

and good of classic Porsche
collectors and enthusiasts — Lord
Mexborough, owner of a 959 and
Rennsports of the 2.7-litre and
three-litre variety, is among the
company’s clients
— you don’t need
to be a lottery
winner or member
of the aristocracy
to benefit from the
massive passion
for Porsche and
extraordinary
skillset in this corner of South
Yorkshire. While a full nut and bolt
restoration to accurate historic
racing specification will obviously
require deep pockets, the huge
range of remastered legacy parts
offered by Mark and James gives
owners a lifeline to components
otherwise horrendously expensive
or, worse, impossible to procure as
the genuine article.
In years to come, the enduring
legacy of EB Motorsport will
surely be the fact Mark and James
have ensured some of the most
historically significant Porsches
ever constructed haven’t been lost
to time. For this, they can be rightly
proud of themselves. CP

THE WHEELER DEALER RUNS
CUSTOMISED VERSIONS OF EB’S
BUMPERS ON HIS BEAUTIFULLY
RESTORED 911 SC

BODY LANGUAGE
You don’t need to commission a
full restoration to take advantage of
EB’s paint and bodywork services —
Mark and James are happy to offer
them to enthusiasts looking for the
very best finish for their cars. The
work might involve simply repainting
standard cars to a flawless factory
finish, but equally, a customer may
wish to install a selection of EB
62 November 2023

the UK and across Europe, but
also in North America, where they
can be purchased through our US
distributor, Rothsport Racing,”
Mark confirms.
Many 911s now benefit from
the cleaner lines, lower weight
and lack of corrosion (to metal
bumper blades) EB’s SC RS front
and rear bumpers bring. TV’s Mike
Brewer owns one such Porsche.
The Wheeler Dealer runs uniquely
customised versions of EB’s
bumpers on his beautifully restored
911 SC, a car taking up residence
alongside a restored 912 E in his
personal Porsche collection.
While EB Motorsport’s clientele
does indeed run to the great

Above We can’t
wait to return to EB
Motorsport to show
you some of the
company’s Porsche
projects in detail

100

100 ISSUES OF

TH

L
ISSUE SPECIA
Y
R
A
N
E
T
N
CE
EDITION

The Classic Porsche editorial team takes a trip down memory lane to celebrate the
hundredth issue of the world’s only magazine dedicated to air-cooled Porsches...
ere we are! The hundredth issue of Classic Porsche. The magazine has come a long way since the very first issue back in
late 2009. Increases in publication frequency, pagination and even the type of air-cooled Porsche featured in our pages
have changed significantly over the years, which is why we decided to take a look back at the evolution of Classic Porsche
by way of highlighting key editions of the magazine, from the very first all the way to the bumper souvenir issue in your
hands right now. If you’re feeling nostalgic, back issues can be ordered direct from bit.ly/issuescp. And, of course, you
can get Classic Porsche delivered direct to your door by taking advantage of our latest subscription deals at bit.ly/subscp.

ISSUE NO.1
Where it all began! Classic Porsche’s sister title, 911 &
Porsche World, had been in print since 1990, making it
the very first independent magazine dedicated to the
Stuttgart brand’s products. Others came and went, but
911 & Porsche World was (and still is) the world’s biggestselling Porsche magazine, covering all ages of Porsche
sports car. What if you didn’t care for kettles, though? Enter
Classic Porsche. Featuring exclusively air-cooled cars, the
magazine got off to a strong start, although there were
arguments in the office regarding which models should
make the cut. The first and easiest decision was to include
all 356 variants, but then came the tricky bit: what about
911s? Launch editor, Steve Bennett, who contributes to
the magazine to this very day, announced the cut-off point
as being arrival of the 964. In other words, all 911s up to
discontinuation of the Carrera 3.2 and 911 Turbo (930),
as well as both iterations of the 912, were fair game.
The result was an eclectic mix of metal in a bumper pilot
publication. Would there be a second issue, though?

ISSUE NO.2
As Barry Manilow once sang, looks like we made it! In early 2010, after an overwhelmingly
positive response to the first issue of Classic Porsche, the magazine was launched with
quarterly publication frequency. Steve Bennett stepped aside to concentrate on his duties
as editor of 911 & Porsche World, allowing Volksworld founding editor, Keith Seume, to take
the helm. The planets were aligning: Porsche was taking huge interest in its legacy products,
establishing Porsche Classic to reintroduce long discontinued parts, while the Porsche
Museum was massively upgraded and extended in the northern district of Zuffenhausen,
next to the company’s headquarters. Appetite for air-cooled classics was on the rise.

64 November 2023

CENTENARY
ISSUE NO.3
The second time’s a charm, but what about tricky number three? Would the novelty of
a magazine focusing only on air-cooled Porsches have worn off by the time the third
issue of Classic Porsche landed on newsstands? The answer was a resounding ‘no’.
Key content in this issue included a homage to Björn Waldegård’s Monte Carlo 911 S/T,
the progress of a 904 Carrera GTS at the Le Mans Classic (where Jean-Marc Luco and
Jacques Nicolet won the Class 6 race in a 936), a highly modified 914-6 and the story
of long-time Porsche owner and racer, John Watson, who told of his love affair with the
manufacturer’s Rennsport-branded products.
Additionally, an immaculate, low-mileage 911 SC argued the case for this particular
breed of classic Porsche to be considered one of the greats. It was, after all, the first
911 manufactured to appeal to motorists outside Porsche’s traditional customer base.
“There are some truly ropey examples out there, and us press chaps have done our fair
share of rubbishing, but please take these pages as my attempt to rehabilitate what is
actually rather a significant Porsche,” wrote Paul Davies. Did his words fall on deaf ears?

ISSUE NO.8
Released with a cover date of November-December 2011, the eighth issue of
Classic Porsche proved this was a magazine capable of going the distance. The
cover featured an award-winning 356 B Super 90 (owned by reader, Rene Santos),
one of the stars of Porsche Club Great Britain’s fiftieth anniversary concours. The
supporting cover car, meanwhile, was a beautifully restored 1968 911 T. A product
of the then young independent classic Porsche sales and restoration specialist,
Canford Classics, the car was transformed from total basket case to “one of the
finest short-wheelbase cars we’ve ever driven.” Praise indeed.
Hot news concerned the sale of Steve McQueen’s Slate Grey 911 S, featured in
his motorsport movie magnum opus, Le Mans, and later shipped to Los Angeles,
where it served as the King of Cool’s personal Porsche. Ten years prior, it sold for
between $20,000 and $30,000, but as Classic Porsche reported, RM Sotheby’s
recorded an astonishing-for-the-time $1.4m hammer price. The car would be
featured in the June 2021 issue of the magazine, alongside McQueen’s 908/02,
entered into 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans to capture action sequences for the film.

ISSUE NO.11
Is the RSR 2.8 the ultimate Carrera? This was the question posed in the eleventh
issue of Classic Porsche, dated May-June 2012. An attempt to answer was presented
in the form of the magazine’s cover car, chassis 911 360 1099, which rolled off the
Zuffenhausen production line in October 1973 and, shortly before the magazine went
to press, was reunited with its original engine (6930152), making it one of the few RSRs
boasting all-important matching numbers.
With heightened interest in Classic Porsche encouraging a switch to bi-monthly
publication, special ring binders were introduced to keep back issues safe. Speaking
of which, by mid-2012, all copies of issues one through three had sold out. Now
considered collector’s items, they fetch a pretty penny when presented for sale.
“Social networking websites are all the rage these days.” Yes, these words were
actually printed in the magazine, alongside a call to action inviting readers to visit the
newly established Classic Porsche Facebook page. Today, it has 19,000 followers.

November 2023 65

ISSUE NO.12
“Porsche’s legendary road-racer turns forty”. This was big news for the July-August
2012 issue of Classic Porsche, which attempted to further broaden the title’s appeal
by reaching out to readers thinking about dipping their toes in the waters of Porsche
ownership. “Every journey begins with a first step, and the journey into the world of
classic Porsche ownership is no different,” we argued, before presenting a selection of
air-cooled cars for audience consideration. How much to pay, though?
Here’s where this issue shows its age. A 356 A, so it was said, could be yours for
£15,000 in project form, stretching all the way to £60,000 for a minter. A 912? £5,000
for a doer-upper, £12,000 for a perfectly presentable example and £25,000 for a
finished restoration. How about £6,000 for a 911 SC in need of work? If readers didn’t
fancy getting their hands dirty, it was claimed £18,000 would return a stunner. As a
real world example, a 1982 SC (the subject of a buying guide), complete with Pasha
trim, was being pitched as available for purchase at £9,995. Oh, for a time machine.
We couldn’t help but flick to the magazine’s classifieds pages. Imagine the teeth
sucking when we spotted an unmarked late Carrera 3.2 going for £6,995.

ISSUE NO.24
We’ve wound the clocks forward to the July-August 2014 issue of Classic Porsche.
The design of the magazine saw a change insofar as cover shots now covered
all the available space. A temporary return to the earlier ‘boxy’ layout would occur
later in the year, before even more layout changes, which we’ll address later in this
article celebrating a scarcely believable hundred issues.
The then editorial team’s apparent amazement at the power of social media (and
the internet in general) continued to make itself known. “It’s an amazing world in
which we live,” ran the opening line to this issue. “How easy it is to get information
at the press of a few keys on a keyboard and the click of a mouse on a mousemat.”
One can only imagine how mind-blowing the arrival of the smartphone was at
Classic Porsche headquarters. Still, this is a magazine dedicated to air-cooled
Porsches, and as such, it’s only right it has a foot entrenched firmly in the past.
You can leave your Betamax videos at the door, though. Thinking about it, you can
leave anti-lock braking systems, semi-automatic transmissions and power-assisted
steering outside, too. Long live analogue motoring. Long live Classic Porsche.

ISSUE NO.36
Dated June-July 2016, the thirty-sixth issue of Classic Porsche introduced an updated
logo and a far simpler cover layout. Regarding the former, the Classic script was
updated to reflect the look of the OEM Carrera script. A nice touch and one continuing
to grace the cover of Classic Porsche to this day.
Further tidying the design of the magazine was the decision to switch to a singlecar cover, giving the star Porsche an opportunity to shine on the newsstand without
the distraction of supporting feature cars or large amounts of text muscling in. It was
a brave move at a time magazine distributors were urging publishers to fill covers with
as much shouty text and as many signposts to content as possible. Reflecting the
aesthetic of ‘collector’ magazines, Classic Porsche’s new look would remain largely
unchanged, save for recent updates to typography.
As for the cover car, it was a freshly restored 1973 911 S 2.4. The build had been
closely followed in these pages, leading to the showcase feature.

66 November 2023

ISSUE NO.43
Motorsport was the focus of Classic Porsche’s March-April 2017 issue. What better
machine to lead the charge than the Salzburg 917 short-tail, winner of the 1970 24
Hours of Le Mans, Porsche’s first overall victory at Circuit de la Sarthe?
Newsflash! The cover car wasn’t the actual 917 driven to victory (against all odds)
by Richard Attwood and Hans Herrmann. The original (chassis no.23) was converted
to a Spyder by the factory in 1971, sold to Vasek Polak in 1972 and subsequently
rebuilt per Le Mans specification, before being sold to the Matsuda collection in Japan
and repainted in the triumphant 1970 Le Mans livery of red with white scallops. The
car was then sold to Symbolic Motors and, by the time the March-April 2017 issue
of Classic Porsche came around, was in the possession of historic Porsche race car
collector, Carlos Monteverde.
The cover car? It was none other than 917 chassis number one, prepared by the
Porsche Museum as a tribute to 1970’s Le Mans victor, the car responsible for ending
Ford’s domination of the famous French enduro.

ISSUE NO.50
Classic Porsche had two reasons to celebrate when the December-January
2018 issue of the magazine went on sale. For starters, this was the fiftieth
issue of the magazine, which had come a long way since rearing its head
in 2009. Eight years on, demand remained strong — the editorial team
was busier than ever, inboxes doubly filled by press releases and event
invitations relating to Porsche’s seventieth anniversary as a manufacturer.
To celebrate these landmarks, a free double-sided poster was given away
with each issue purchased in-store. One side featured the fourth and final
911 R prototype (also pictured on the cover), the other exhibited specially
commissioned artwork from Mark Morgan, who many of you will know by
his artist name, Triple Espresso.
Inside the magazine, the life of former Porsche CEO, Peter Schutz,
was documented, as was the restoration of a rare right-hand drive 1974
Carrera 2.7 MFI. The team visited the Pelican Parts breakfast meeting and
discovered a hidden gem under the skin of an old race car.

ISSUE NO.52
One of the most historically significant classic Porsches graced the cover our MarchApril 2018 issue. The 901’s scarcity explains why the Porsche Museum lacked an
example to sit alongside its other treasures until a German television production
crew uncovered chassis number 300 057 in a lock-up in Brandenburg when filming a
documentary about abandoned barns and their contents.
Under the expert supervision of Porsche Classic, the car was acquired and
restoration began. Back in Brandenburg, 057 had spent decades laid up alongside a
gold 1968 911 L in a similar state of disrepair. Porsche bought both cars, along with
two pallets of assorted spares. Among the mix of parts was a pair of 911 seats. It
was assumed they belonged to 057, but closer inspection revealed them to feature
five pipes (the name given to the vertically stitched subdivisions of each cushion).
901 seats feature six pipes. Fortunately, disappointment turned to joy after a Porsche
Museum technician realised the car’s original seats were bolted into the cabin of the
911 L accompanying 057 to its new home. Phew!

68 November 2023

CENTENARY
ISSUE NO.60
Continuing the ‘barn find’ theme, the January-March 2019 issue of Classic Porsche
starred an IROC-styled 911 SC owned by reader, Ryan Hoegner. This was, perhaps,
the first issue of the magazine truly demonstrating the diverse nature of the historic
Porsche scene — Hoegner’s lean, green, 260bhp restomod machine took up residence
on our pages alongside a supercharged 356 Pre-A and an early 911 soft-window Targa.
The day’s news concerned Wolfgang Porsche’s appointment as the first honorary
member of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles in recognition of “his
lifetime of experience with one of the world’s most respected automotive brands.”
His brief was to “offer advice, exchange ideas and foster discussions about future
plans for the museum.” The long line of Porsche exhibitions at the Petersen since the
announcement is probably complete coincidence. Ahem.
Back to the classifieds, and there’s a distinctive Magenta Carrera 2.7 Targa up for
grabs. This car has bounced around a number of different owners and sales centres
in recent years, but in early 2019, it was yours for £155,000. In fact, 911s topping a
hundred grand were, by now, the norm, even if only a humble T.

ISSUE NO.66
In a surprising break from tradition, the September-November 2019 issue of
Classic Porsche featured a 964 in its pages. What’s more, the car featured
on the cover. Granted, it was largely hidden by the Chartreuse Carrera RS
2.7 ahead of it, but there was no way newsstand browsers would miss the
gorgeous Rubystone Red paintwork worn by the 964 in question. That’s right,
the vibrant colour indicated a 964 Carrera RS was in town.
Spy vs Spy. Kremer vs Kremer. Carrera vs Carrera. It was the duel we’d all
been waiting for. Here were two bookends of the Rennsport legend doing
battle, head to head. As if this wasn’t exciting enough, regular Classic Porsche
contributor, Johnny Tipler, “won the golden ticket” with a drive in 917 chassis
008. “Imagine my amazement at being given the keys,” he gasped. Truth
be told, we’re not sure he has fully recovered from that life-changing day at
Donington. The jammy git.
Bad news struck the Porsche world with the passing of Ferdinand Piëch, a
gifted engineer and father of the 917. He was remembered in these pages.

ISSUE NO.75
By 2021, the world had changed forever. The pandemic had struck, bringing misery,
pain and enforced periods of lockdown. Like many magazines, Classic Porsche ceased
production, a reaction to the closure of the high street and the majority of retail outlets,
including newsagents. What publishers hadn’t reckoned on, however, was the world’s
sudden insatiable appetite for entertainment. Classic Porsche was in high demand.
After closure of the title’s original publisher, Classic Porsche changed hands, landing
with leading motoring publication producer, Kelsey Media. With renewed focus and
emphasis on reaching readers through non-traditional means (in other words, not
limited to the high street), the magazine resumed production and, in time for the
January-February 2021 issue, Dan Furr was appointed editor. Launch editor of Ultimate
Porsche, former editor of GT Porsche and current editor of 911 & Porsche World, Dan
was charged with leading the magazine into a new era. Immediately, he included the
964 and 993 as core cars. The April 2021 issue celebrated thirty-five years of 959.

November 2023 69

ISSUE NO.76
By the time of the May 2021 issue of Classic Porsche, the magazine’s future was
looking very bright under new direction, so much so, the number of issues produced
across the calendar year was increased in order to satisfy demand from a new
demographic of reader engaged by the wider range of cars featured. Essentially, the
magazine was now covering all air-cooled Porsches, from the earliest examples of
the 356 through to the very last 993s, which were considered, perhaps, too new for
inclusion when the magazine was launched back in 2009.
The cover featured a fantastic shot of a two-litre short-wheelbase 911 restored
by Porsche Cars Great Britain for participation in the Peter Auto 2.0 Cup and
subsequently painted to reflect the look of 1970’s 917 Le Mans winner. Elsewhere
in the magazine, we celebrated one of the first 912s assembled, spent time with the
most original surviving 904, looked at the different metals used in classic Porsche
production and ventured back down memory lane to look at the origins of Recaro,
famed seat supplier to world’s major car makers.

ISSUE NO.77
In early to mid-2021, changes to Classic Porsche were coming thick
and fast. Already benefiting from more issues each calendar year, the
magazine saw a permanent increase in pagination (an additional sixteen
pages) in time for the June 2021 issue. What better to fill them with than a
celebration of Steve McQueen’s Porsche-tastic Le Mans movie, which was
celebrating its fiftieth anniversary?!
The cover featured Steve’s son, Chad, driving his father’s 1958 356
Speedster 1600 Super. As mentioned earlier, the car’s time with the Bulitt
star was documented inside the magazine, as was the life of his personally
owned 908/02, raced triumphantly at Phoenix prior to being converted to
a camera car and entered into the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans to capture
the required action shots for Le Mans. McQueen’s 911 S was also featured
in this issue, as was 1970’s amazing Sonauto 914/6 GT, the lesser known
Porsche entered into the year’s French enduro. Elsewhere in the magazine,
we sampled a 964 Carrera 4 Targa with a twist.

70 November 2023

ROAD RACER
STREET-LEGAL 330
BHP 911 RSR

REPLICA

356

RESTORATION

1962 COUPE
REBORN

NOVEMBER 2022

KELSEYmedia

£5.99

Air-cooled Porsche restoration specialist, Mike Champion, was so fascinated by
the Jägermeister liveried 934 and Carrera RSRs prominent in the 1970s and 1980s,
he created his own version: a road-legal RSR. We took to the streets in and around
Silverstone Circuit to experience this awesome orange 911 for ourselves.
Like a shimmering trophy in Zuffenhausen’s stuffed cabinet of silverware, the
Speedster designation is a glistening jewel in the Porsche crown. Marking arguably
the purest incarnations of the manufacturer’s most famous sports machines,
the short-windscreened, lightweight legend first slipped into the Stuttgart brand’s
output seven decades ago. For this, the November 2022 issue of Classic Porsche,
we charted the Speedster story, from the 356 America Roadster, through to each
Porsche product to wear the famous badge, including the Carrera 3.2 Speedster.
Along the way, we spent time with a 356 replica powered by a 911 flat-six, plus we
showcased a beautifully restored 1962 356 B T6 coupe, CarBone’s 911 T ‘Queen’
project and told the story of the one-off Porsche-powered Paxton Phoenix.

ISSUE No.90 NOVEMBER
2022 £5.99

ISSUE NO.90

356 AMERICA ROADST
ER l CARRERA 3.2 SPE
EDSTER
STORY OF THE PAXTON
PHOENIX l CARBON
E QUEEN 911
JP GROUP VISIT l VAR
IORAM EXPLAINED
001_CP90_1DF_cover.indd

1

CENTENARY

ELECTRIC DREAMS
TWIN-MOTOR RUBYST
ONE RESTOMOD

935

KREMER SPEC

SEBRING SWAP
SHOP STAR

JANUARY-FEBRUARY
2023

£5.99

If the last few years have taught us Porschephiles anything, it is this: the classic
Porsche scene is a broad church. Concours-quality originals, restomods, hot-rods,
backdates, forward-dates, race cars, road cars and everything in between. Ours is an
exciting corner of the motoring world to take up residence.
Like it or not, battery-electric conversions are now part of our scene, encouraged
by the rollout of emissions-free driving zones in the world’s major cities. We knew
displaying a 911 EV on the cover of our January-February 2023 issue would cause
uproar, but reasoned there is no better way to find out what the fuss is all about than
sampling a professionally converted 911 EV ourselves.
In the event, there were as many admirers of the car as there were detractors. In fact,
this was a big-selling issue of Classic Porsche. We can only assume disgruntled readers
rushed out and cleared the newsstand of all available issues to prevent anyone else
seeing the magazine. Or something.
Don’t worry, features focusing on EVs aren’t about to become a regular occurrence,
but life would be pretty boring if we all drove the same Porsche, wouldn’t it?!

ISSUE No.92 JANUARY-FE
BRUARY 2023 £5.99

ISSUE NO.92

CAPE SPORT 911 BAC
KDATE l ELVA-PORS
CHE
356 CARRERA l STU
TTGART CLASSICA l
TARGA ORIGINS
DAMPER TECHNOLOG
Y l PORSCHE TRACTO
RS
KELSEYmedia

001_CP92_1DF_COVER.in

dd 1

ISSUE No.97 AUGUST
2023 £5.99

ISSUE NO.97

964 CARRERA RS
N/GT PROTOTYPE

RESTORED FORMER
FACTORY

PRESS CAR

959

PARIS-DAKAR
CHALLENGER
REVIVED

AUGUST 2023

DONALD CAMPBELL
'S 1959 356 A l 912
SWB
911 T HOT ROD l ERN
ST PIËCH l GMÜND
SL COUPE
CHARLES IVEY SPECIA
LIST CARS l 356 OUT
LAW

£5.99

KELSEYmedia

Following years of speculation surrounding its identity, we were delighted
to feature this recently restored 964 on the cover of our August 2023 issue.
Confirmed by former Porsche factory engineer and legendary works racing
driver, Jürgen Barth, as being one of two surviving Carrera RS N/GT prototypes
assembled under his watch back in 1990, the car fought hard to win the cover
spot against a very special 356 A coupe.
Owned by land and water speed record breaker, Donald Campbell, the
Meissen Blau belter was used by the world-famous sportsman to assist
holiday park entrepreneur, Billy Butlin, in 1959’s highly anticipated London-toParis Bleriot anniversary race. Following the Porsche’s recent restoration, we
took to the mean streets of rural Bedfordshire, although no prizes for guessing
we didn’t drive the car in the spirit of Campbell in charge of Bluebird K7.
To commemorate launch of the new 911 Dakar, rather than restore the 1986
Ickx/Brasseur 959 to as-new condition, the Porsche Classic team decided to
recommission the car, preserving its hard-won battle scars. We told the story.

001_CP97_1DF_COVER

BUMPER 132-PAGE

SOUVENIR ISSUE

S
RI EXPINGRTOES
S911ASFA
PARIS
DESTINED FOR PEK
100

TH

CIAL
ISSUE SPEARY
CENTEN N
EDITIO

NOVEMBER 2023

£9.99

Here it is! Our hundredth issue! When we began to consider what to include in this
bumper souvenir ‘bookazine’ edition of Classic Porsche, we decided to target every
air-cooled Porsche production car, from 356 to 993. We’ve squeezed them all into this
commemorative 132-page edition of the magazine. What’s more, the 912 and 914 get
equal billing to firm fan favourites, including the classic 911 Turbo and 964.
While the magazine’s contributors can give themselves a pat on the back for a job
well done in shepherding Classic Porsche to this impressive milestone, we’d like to
take the opportunity to thank all our loyal readers, subscribers and advertisers. Without
you, we simply wouldn’t be where we are today. As always, your support is hugely
appreciated. We also need to pay tribute to the huge number of enthusiasts who have
granted us seat time in their treasured Porsches over the years.
We’re thrilled the scene remains so vibrant. Moreover, air-cooled Porsches are more
popular than ever before. Here’s to our next hundred issues.

2023
ISSUE No.100 NOVEMBER

ISSUE NO.100

£9.99

.indd 1

KELSEYmedia

PORT
911 2.0 l EB MOTORS
356 A l VIC ELFORD
l 912
CLASSIC 911 TURBO
993 TARGA l 914 l
EVOCATION l 911 2.7
TIME ATTACK 964 RSR
01/10/2023 18:17:55

November 2023 71

959

NEW

R
QUAIL WINNE
CANEPA CAR
VICTORY

ISSUE No.96 JULY 2023 £5.99

964 CARRERA RS

INTO THE BLUE

TURKISH
DELIGHT
BACKDATED 964 CARRERA 4 TARGA

ORDER
TO DAY!

ISSUE No.97 AUGUST 2023 £5.99

ISSUE No.99 OCTOBER 2023 £5.99

ISSUE No.98 SEPTEMBER 2023 £5.99

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COMPLETE YOUR COLLECTION

1958
356 A COUPE
BACKROAD KICKS IN UNRESTORED ICON

N/GT PROTOTYPE

WHY THE 911 SC WAS PORSCHE'S
KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR

RESTORED FORMER FACTORY PRESS CAR

357 SPEEDSTER
CONCEPT
REVEALED

962

RESTORATION
1988/89 RLR
LEAD CAR

959

PARIS-DAKAR
R
CHALLENGE
REVIVED

AUGUST 2023
COVER STORY 964 Carrera N/GT prototype
INSIDE STORIES Donald Campbell’s 356 A,

Gaswerks Garage, 911 S, 356/2 origins story,
Variocam, Greatworth Classics, 357 Speedster

AIR & WATER
EXCLUSIVE
NEW BOOK

ROAD-LEGAL RACER TRIED AND TESTED

VIPER GREEN 911 SC OUTLAW BITES BACK

TWIN-MOTOR RUBYSTONE RESTOMOD

KREMER SPEC

SEBRING SWAP
SHOP STAR

ICON GOES TO
AUCTION

KELSEY

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RESTORED 1954 356 PRE-A l SBARRO CHALLENGE
912 DUO l 3.1-LITRE FLAT-SIX l 356 B PROJECT
911 R REPLICA l NORTH DEVON METALCRAFT

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£5.99

£5.99

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RESTORED 911 2.7 TARGA l TYPE 370 CISITALIA
914 RESTOMOD l TURBO-LOOK 993 CABRIOLET
WEBCON VISIT l LATEST AUCTION NEWS

ELECTRIC DREAMS
935

934/5

KELSEY

356 SPEEDSTER l ROGER BRAY RESTORATION
912 BITSA l 911 TURBO RESTOMOD l 356 COUPE
CARRERA 3.2 l ZIMMER 910 S l 550A SPYDER

Williams Crawford, 911 2.4 E Targa, Helmut
Schmid, hybrid turbochargers, Herbert Linge

LAST OF ITS KIND

956/962 ICONS
THE BEST AND
THE REST

KELSEY

912 short-wheelbase, 911 T, 356 Outlaw build,
Charles Ivey Specialist Cars, Gmünd SL coupe

964 CARRERA CUP
10

WIN

JULY 2023
COVER STORY Unrestored 1958 356 A
INSIDE STORIES 993 GT2 conversion,

ISSUE No.92 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2023 £5.99

FROM
MILD TO WILD
964 CABRIOLET REBORN AS WIDE-ARCH COUPE

SEPTEMBER 2023
COVER STORY Restored 911 SC rides again
INSIDE STORIES 356 Outlaw, modified 912,

ISSUE No.94 APRIL 2023 £5.99

ISSUE No.95 MAY-JUNE 2023 £5.99

Dauer 962 Le Mans, 964 Carrera RSR 3.8,
Carrera 3.2 restomod, Classic Fabrications

KELSEY

993 GT2 CONVERSION l HERBERT LINGE l EXPORT 56
HELMUT SCHMID l 911 2.4 E TARGA l HYBRID TURBOS
WILLIAMS CRAWFORD l GLÖCKLER-PORSCHES

ISSUE No.93 MARCH 2023 £5.99

OCTOBER 2023
COVER STORY Backdated 964 C4 Targa
INSIDE STORIES 356 B Notchback, 356/2,

KELSEY

DONALD CAMPBELL'S 1959 356 A l 912 SWB
911 T HOT ROD l ERNST PIËCH l GMÜND SL COUPE
CHARLES IVEY SPECIALIST CARS l 356 OUTLAW

£5.99

356 OUTLAW l GREATWORTH CLASSICS l VARIOCAM
TURBO TECH l 356/2 ORIGINS l RESTORED 911 SC
GASWERKS GARAGE l 911 S l MODIFIED 912

£5.99

KELSEY

£5.99

£5.99

KELSEY

356 B NOTCHBACK l CLASSIC FABRICATIONS l 911 T
DAUER 962 LE MANS l 356/2 l 964 CARRERA RSR 3.8
CARRERA 3.2 RESTOMOD l RUF 901 AT MONTEREY

CAPE SPORT 911 BACKDATE l ELVA-PORSCHE
356 CARRERA l STUTTGART CLASSICA l TARGA ORIGINS
DAMPER TECHNOLOGY l PORSCHE TRACTORS

MAY-JUNE 2023

APRIL 2023

MARCH 2023

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2023

COVER STORY Wide-arch 964 C4 backdate
INSIDE STORIES Carrera 3.2, 550 A Spyder,

COVER STORY Road-legal 964 Carrera Cup
INSIDE STORIES Restored 911 2.7 Targa,

COVER STORY Viper Green 911 SC Outlaw
INSIDE STORIES Restored 1954 356 Pre-A,

COVER STORY Electric Carrera 3.2 build
INSIDE STORIES Cape Sport 911 backdate,

ROAD RACER

964

356

IF PORSCHE HAD MADE AN F-SERIES GT3

ISSUE No.89 OCTOBER 2022 £5.99

ISSUE No.91 DECEMBER 2022 £5.99

BESPOKE 911SC

SHELL SHOCKED

STREET-LEGAL 330BHP 911 RSR REPLICA

LARROUSSE TOUR DE FRANCE ST REPLICA
BASED ON EARLY TWO-LITRE 911 S

1962 COUPE
REBORN

Elva-Porsche, 356 Carrera, Stuttgart Classica,
damper technology, Porsche-Diesel tractors

993 CARRERA RS
NEAR 300BHP RENNSPORT JOURNEYS BACK
IN TIME TO MEET 1953 356 PRE-A COUPE

906

964

RESTORATION

WIDE BODY

WORKS GTR
3.8 TARGA

Sbarro Challenge, 356 B project, 911 R replica,
North Devon Metalcraft, restored 912 duo

ISSUE No.88 AUG/SEPT 2022 £5.99

914 restomod, Turbo-Look 993 Cabriolet,
Webcon company profile, 956/962 heroes

ISSUE No.90 NOVEMBER 2022 £5.99

Vivian Campbell’s trio of air-cooled classics,
Zimmer 910 S, 911 Turbo restomod, 912 bitsa

CARRERA 6

SUPER-RARE

ROAD-LEGAL
RACER

FLACHBAU
TURBO S

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OUTLAW 356 COUPE l JACK HEUER’S CARRERA RS 2.7
LIMITED-SLIP DIFFERENTIALS l GHISLAINE KAES
PELICAN PARTS l FOUR-SEATERS l TYRE TECH

DECEMBER 2022

NOVEMBER 2022

OCTOBER 2022

COVER STORY Canford Classics 911 SC
INSIDE STORIES KAMM Manufaktur 912 C,

COVER STORY Street-legal 911 RSR replica
INSIDE STORIES 356 America Roadster,

COVER STORY 911 Tour de France replica
INSIDE STORIES 356 Outlaw, Ghislaine Kaes,

1956 356 A coupe, Austro Daimler Sascha,
356 C design and development, Formula Vee

Carrera 3.2 Speedster, Paxton Phoenix,
Varioram, JP Group visit, Carbone Queen 911

Jack Heuer’s Carrera RS 2.7, Pelican Parts,
tyre technology, limited-slip differentials

KELSEY

912 RESTORATION l 936/77 LE MANS WIN l 911 S 2.4
ZAGATO SPEEDSTER Z l BRUN MOTORSPORT 962
JENVEY DYNAMICS VISIT l NICK HEIDFELD 959 S

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2022
COVER STORY 993 Carrera RS revisited
INSIDE STORIES 1953 356 Pre-A coupe,

Zagato Speedster Z, Brun Motorsport 962,
Jenvey Dynamics, 936/77 Le Mans winner

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356 AMERICA ROADSTER l CARRERA 3.2 SPEEDSTER
STORY OF THE PAXTON PHOENIX l CARBONE QUEEN 911
JP GROUP VISIT l VARIORAM EXPLAINED

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KAMM MANUFAKTUR 912 C l 1956 356 A COUPE
STORY OF THE 356 C l AUSTRO DAIMLER SASCHA
RINDT VEHICLE DESIGN l FORMULA VEE

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KELSEY

£5.99

911

AGENT ORANGE

Paul Leyton rescued a bright orange Singer-lookalike doer-upper and turned it into
a 911 S/T-inspired restomod, complete with, yes, purple upholstery. Donning our
shades, we check out his astonishing paean to acid-loving hippiedom...
Words Johnny Tipler Photography Dan Sherwood
o you dream in colours? If so, do
they harmonise or clash with one
another? Back when mind-expanding
drugs were in vogue, psychedelia
ruled. The wilder the hues, the better
the trip. Paul Leyton harbours no
such motives, but he loves to get a reaction to his
Orange Blossom Special and its Purple Haze upholstery.
His Porsche started life as a 1976 2.7-litre 911. Don’t
be fooled by the external oil filler cap — this car was,
at one time, on its way to becoming a Singer Vehicle
Design wannabe. Paul shows me a photo of the car
when newly arrived
in the UK from
the USA. It was
a lovely-looking
G-series in silver,
endowed with
a tea-tray and
Fuchs wheels.
Under normal
circumstances, you’d be delighted with this spec, but
clearly, it’s nothing like what we’ve got here.
Long story short, Paul bought this 911 as an
unfinished project, totally dismantled, and having
already had a great deal of work done to its shell,
including the dramatic orange paint job. He discovered
the car for sale on Facebook Marketplace. And why
not? I once sold a house in Portugal by giving it its own
Facebook page. True story.
Paul’s 911 was stashed at historic race and rally
specialist, Tuthill Porsche, having been abandoned at
the firm’s Wardington base by its previous custodian.
Apparently, the chap had struggled to find a company
capable of creating the Singer replica he wanted, and
although Tuthill came up with a comprehensive plan to
build it for him, he decided to sell up, allegedly buying
a brand-new 992 Carrera GTS after being fazed by
the numbers he was being quoted. This is when Paul
noticed the car on social media.
“After being imported, the car was first delivered
to classic Porsche restoration specialist, Stuttgart
Classica, where it was stripped and its tunnel modified
to take a Getrag G50 box,” he muses. “When the cost of
the build reached ninety grand, he decided to bail out. I

had long conversations with the owner, and also Ty, the
painter at Riviera Autobody, who’d given the bodyshell
its vibrant coat of colour. I then visited Tuthill in order
to look through all the parts accompanying the shell. I
was essentially considering buying an air-cooled 911
spotted on Facebook and being advertised by a guy I’d
never met. Furthermore, there was no logbook — the car
was listed on the Notification of Vehicle Arrivals (NOVA)
database as never registered.”
Paul talks of sleepless nights as he considered
the implications of his purchase and how the project
might proceed. “Once I’d agreed a price and paid for
the car, I went
back to Tuthill’s
workshops and
collected the
aforementioned
component parts.
I suppose you
could say I bought
a painted orange
shell and three boxes of bits, nothing more.”
Logbook aside, he already had ideas about the car’s
identity. “Contrary to the previous owner’s intentions,
I didn’t want it to be yet another Singer replica,” he
stresses. “There are dozens of them out there. I wanted
this 911 to be, well, different. Hence, I started playing
with interiors, colours and materials. Independent
automotive fabric supplier, Boyriven, is located close to
where I live. I went to see the company’s sample wall,
taking along a swatch of the car’s paintwork. During my
visit, I came up with two or three different options for
the upholstery. I mulled over each, ultimately deciding to
go with purple and orange.” Far out, man (as they’d have
enthusiastically exclaimed at Woodstock).
After selecting the purple fabric, Paul engaged with
trimmer, Stephen Thirkettle, at 13 Stitches, located
in Orpington, Kent, and sent him the samples. “He
totally got it,” enthuses Paul, “and that’s what I needed,
somebody who was going to be on board with my
vision. Stephen is well-known on the Volkswagen scene,
which is how I knew him — my car ownership history is
rooted in air-cooled VWs.” Cooperation and synergy is
what drove the build from thereon.
The interior received sound deadening from Stuart

SINGLE-MINDEDLY, PAUL HAS
OPTED FOR THE S/T LOOK,
COMPLETE WITH WIDE, BULBOUS
REAR WHEEL ARCHES

Facing page Many would
consider a backdate of
this nature to feature a
fire-spitting flat-six, but
Paul has opted for a
modest two-litre unit

November 2023 75

Crombie at Accutek and benefits
from a new headlining fitted by
Paul himself. Stephen installed the
heated seat pads in the course of the
incredible re-trim operation. “I knew it
was going to be a ‘Marmite’ car,” Paul
jokes. “You’ll either love it or hate it.
Having owned a 1956 low-light Ghia
with a snakeskin interior, however,
I’m not exactly averse to controversy.
This 911’s cabin is a real talking
point. To my mind, connecting with
fellow enthusiasts is what classic
Porsche ownership is all about. This
car encourages conversation.”

ZEST FOR LIFE
Back to the build. Single-mindedly,
Paul has opted for the S/T look,
complete with wide, bulbous rear
wheel arches, accommodating
staggered fifteen-inch Fuchs replica
wheels with nine inches of with at the
rear. They’re wrapped in 205/55 and
225/50 Toyos. He’s also deployed
twenty-five-millimetre spacers to
kick the wheels out to the max. As
he comments, “Ty, who painted the
car not once, but twice before I took
ownership, said I wouldn’t believe
how much work and how many
manhours went into developing the
arches. There are subtle differences
76 November 2023

with the standard 911. A typical
911 wheel arch, for instance, curves
around and goes slightly flat at the
top. In contrast, my car’s wheel
arches are completely radial. You
wouldn’t necessarily notice the
difference unless you parked my 911
next to a standard example.”
There are a few details even 911
buffs might not notice. The door
mirrors, for example, are custommade, while the front lid’s Porsche
badge is inset into the metal. There’s
an external oil filler, too, suggesting
we’re in the presence of a 1972 2.4litre 911. “Initially, I wondered what’s
to stop somebody unscrewing it,”
Paul says, “but Ty told me Riviera
Autobody applies this update to lots
of backdated 911s and the filler cap
is rarely connected to the oil system.
Ordinarily, it’s just for show.”
The 993 scuttle panel — an update
mimicking a feature of Singer
Vehicle Design restorations — and
windscreen wiper conversion is
a legacy of the early work carried
out by Stuttgart Classica, factored
in when the previous owner was
calling the shots. “What he hadn’t
considered,” Paul continues, “is how
a 993 wiper motor won’t fit in an early
911 shell. Consequently, we spent

a week scratching our heads and
then two or three days engineering
a hybrid wiper motor assembly,
utilising parts from the 993 and parts
from a 911 of this vintage.”
The car required a new oil tank.
Paul was assisted in the making of
this by an old friend, Trevor Ward,
who used to be a railway engineer
and currently teaches design and
technology at Winchester College.
“He helped me turn two 911 oil tanks
into a fit for purpose item for the car.
Being a 1976 build, it should have a
late-spec oil tank, but when I installed
a two-litre engine in place of the 2.7,
I discovered the fittings are different.
Trevor helped solve this particular
conundrum.” We’ll come to the
engine momentarily.
When Paul bought the car, the
front lid already had the central
orifice for the fuel filler in place.
“It came with the filler cap, but
no neck to connect it to the tank.
Marste Engineering in Winchester
fabricated the filler assembly from
aluminium alloy.” All the build-up and
mechanical work was carried out by
Paul in his garage-workshop at home
in Winchester. He also took care of
the required rewiring, in which task
he was aided by Stuart from Accutek.

Above In previous
ownership, the
Porsche was
destined to be a
Singer clone, but
things changed
when Paul swooped
in and bought the
car, albeit as a shell
and boxes of parts

911

Above and below
There’s no denying
this 911 has a
personality all its
own, characterised
by the cabin’s mix of
orange and purple
leather and fabric

“I cleared my other cars out to
ensure the 911 had my garage to
itself. Parts were spread everywhere.
I then started
working my way
through everything.
The work included
lots of trips to
see my friend, Ian
MacMath, whose
356 and 911 were
recently featured
in Classic Porsche. He allowed me
to take photographs of his orange
911, enabling me to see where
parts went and how they fitted back
together.” Again, there was more
head-scratching. Due to its previous

Singer aspirations, Paul’s 911 was
missing its heater boxes and heat
control flaps, which are hard-to-find

control. I installed a petrol heater
instead. All the heating equipment
is located in the smuggler’s box,
meaning the heat
exchangers in the
exhaust system are
redundant. This winter,
I intend to find out
if the system works
as well as I hoped it
would!”
And now we get
to the fundamentals of the running
gear. Somewhat radically, Paul has
rejected the original 2.7-litre motor
in favour of a rebuilt two-litre flat-six.
“When I bought the car, I was given
the option of buying an engine to go
with it, but the boxer in question was
dismantled and therefore couldn’t be
heard running. It was an unknown
quantity. I wasn’t prepared to take
the risk of putting it back together,
only to find it was in need of major
surgery.” At this point, it would have
been tempting to install a 3.6-litre
M64 flat-six on throttle bodies, but,
as Paul admits, “it would have been
out of character for this car.” The
higher-capacity option was sidelined.
He soon came across a fellow
911 enthusiast performing an engine
swap. It turned out the discarded
engine was a two-litre unit making

EASING BACK INTO THE MINDBLOWING CABIN, WE TAKE STOCK
OF THE EXTRAORDINARILY BOLD
PURPLE SPORTS SEATS
components. There was a pragmatic
solution. “In the end, I decided upon
a heater delete. There are no control
flaps and no levers in the dash,
hence the uncluttered look, assisted
by the lack of stereo and no climate

November 2023 77

use of triple Weber carburettors,
MSD ignition and a Dansk exhaust.
Crucially, it had not long been fully
rebuilt. “I bought it, along with a Type
901 dog-leg gearbox. This is the
set-up I’ve been running in the car
this season.” Following installation
of these oily bits, the car went on the
rolling road at Stanton Motorsport,
Hungerford. Perversely, the session
served to reveal a leaking manifold
gasket. Paul is due to return for a rerun in due course, when he expects
to see 120bhp, midway between a
two-litre T and a two-litre S.

FRUIT OF THE LOOM
Oh, the joys of a fresh rebuild. It turns
out we’re privileged to have glimpsed
the car in action — Paul reveals the
engine is currently in bits again. “On
the way to CarFest in August, it blew
a head gasket on number two. The
gaskets were replaced, but having
covered another thousand miles
since, I’ve found more niggles, like
you do with any new construction.
In truth, the engine needs a gearbox
with longer ratios. For this reason, a
gearbox swap will be taking place in
the coming weeks.”
78 November 2023

The suspension consists of
Bilstein front shocks, Öhlins rears,
Eibach springs, RSR-specification
anti-roll bars, adjustable front top
mounts and torsion bar delete. Paul
reckons the spring rates are too hard
for a decent ride in a road car. More
for the snagging list. “Currently, my
911 is running 250lb front springs
and 450lb rears. I’m swapping those
for 150lb and 300lb. I’m hoping the
change will make the ride a bit more
pleasurable. After all, you want to
enjoy the ride, not be banged about.
This isn’t a track machine.”
His critique of the car’s
suspension came after experiencing
seat time in Ian MacMath’s similarly
coloured 911 at CarFest. “Ian was
there with his 356, as well as his
orange 911. He took his 356 around
the track. I jumped in his orange
911 and had a go in that. It was
a revelation. It drove exactly how
I want my 911 to behave.” As a
result, in addition to the engine and
gearbox work, the car’s suspension
is scheduled to come apart over
the forthcoming winter months. All
told, this zesty 911 will reappear in
the spring, looking the same, but

delivering a more comfortable, more
focused drive.
The brakes are non-servo assisted,
comprising billet alloy calipers (sixpot at the front, four-pot at the rear)
and large vented discs, which just
squeeze inside the wheels. Stainless
steel braided hoses and new brake
lines were supplied by Stuttgart
Classica. Before Paul’s ownership,
Stuttgart Classica also provided the
discs, the Bilstein suspension kit,
chrome hinges for the doors, the
bonnet, engine lid and all the early
911 panels. Paul is impassive. “If I’d

Above Man and
machine in perfect
harmony, although
the 911 fights a
Tiptronic-kitted Light
Clam Pearl 964
Carrera 2 Cabriolet
for Paul’s affections

911

Above and below
Engine reliability
and efficiency is
improved through
a host of upgrades,
including a Classic
Retrofit fuseboard
and MSD ignition

found the car before work started
on it, then it probably wouldn’t have
ended up looking like it does now.
I’d have found it hard to justify the
amount of paint and bodywork
expenditure that’s gone into this
build. Don’t get me wrong, the
paintwork is stunning, far better than
you’ll find on any of my other cars,
but nothing lasts forever, evidenced
by stone chips already appearing at
the front of this Porsche. At the end
of the day, though, there’s no point
in having a car like this and hiding it
away in a garage.”
Many of the new parts for the
build came from Design 911. “There
were plenty of bits missing when

I bought the car. I can’t remember
what my total spend is to date, but
much of the project budget has been
spent on parts from Design 911.”
Ian was also extremely helpful to
Paul, donating used components
from his parts archive, many of
which are unavailable from the usual
commercial sources. For example,
he contributed the glass panes
for the opening rear windows. As
Paul comments, “Porsche don’t
make them anymore. I was told
Porsche Classic might put them
back into production at some point
in the future, but there is no firm
commitment. I tried a variety of
automotive glass manufacturers,
including Pilkington, but no joy. When
it comes to parts like these, unless
you can find someone with good
second-hand stuff, a restoration
project can prove very difficult.”
Easing back into the mindblowing cabin, we take stock of the
extraordinarily bold purple sports
seats, which are decorated with
orange stripes and contrasting
stitching. Purple is the colour
of royalty and has religious
connotations, but partnered with
orange? This has to be one of the
wildest colour combinations anyone

could dream of. It’s like the bedroom
of a child in the 1960s. Get your head
around this, baby!

JUICY DETAILS
Consider the wood-rimmed steering
wheel, carrying its wilful Wolfsburg
horn button. “At first, I bought a
MOMO from Design 911, but you’d
have to be an orangutan to reach
the indicator stalks with it in place,”
Paul laughs. “I decided to look for
a steering wheel from the period of
my car’s construction. I raided Ian
MacMath’s wall of steering wheels
and was trying different parts with
different bosses. It was at this point
I realised the splines on my 911
steering column are the same as
those of a Volkswagen Beetle. This
opened up the choice of steering
wheels at my disposal.” Fortuitously,
Aircooled Accessories had started
making replica 911 steering wheels,
primarily for owners of Beetles and
Bay Window buses. Paul ended up
buying one of these parts. It’s what
you see in our pictures. I think the
Wolfsburg crest is actually rather
cool. In a way, it’s part of the mystery
of this classic Porsche.
The gearstick is a Numeric Racing
performance shifter, sourced through
November 2023 79

Design 911. There’s a short-shift
linkage and dog-leg first gear, with
a lock-out for the gate, ensuring
reverse can’t be selected when
changing up from first into second.
It’s a neat, modern tweak and the
switches are mostly
hidden. There’s also
a bespoke wooden
gear knob, created
specially for this
911 by Simon Basil
at BuiltByBasil. The
gauges are selfevidently originals,
providing a genuine period look.
Paul reflects on his personal
automotive philosophy. “It’s about
making a car your own. I suppose
this is influence from my background
owning, building and personalising
countless Beetles and Camper vans.
The classic Volkswagen scene is
all about individualisation, whereas
much of the classic 911 scene is
driven by what people think other
enthusiasts want to buy, as well as
a car’s potential resale value. Many
people have told me this interior
will affect my car’s financial worth,
but I’m not really bothered. I’m
configuring the car for me, nobody
else. Besides, my first drive in the car
was to the annual Stonor VW Show

and, straightaway, somebody was
trying to buy it from me!”
A lengthy history of Porsche
ownership going back some thirty
years proves Paul knows where he’s
coming from. His first 911 was a left-

911. Consequently, a 996 Cabriolet
took up residence in his garage. He
also owned a couple of Karmann
Ghias and a Mercedes-Benz 300
SL ‘Pagoda’ powered by a 4.5-litre
Ford V8. It wasn’t long, however,
before another 964
caught his attention.
This time, he found
himself in charge
of a Tiptronic-kitted
Carrera 2 Cabriolet.
“The unloved model,”
jokes Paul. “I had to
have it. It’s finished
in Light Clam Pearl. From what I’ve
been able to discover, the first owner
was Porsche indie, Autofarm, and the
car was a special order through the
Porsche Sonderwunsch programme.
It’s one of few 964s painted this
colour at the factory.”
In 2024, the VolksWorld Show at
Sandown Racecourse will be hosting
a display of classic Porsches. Event
organisers have cordially asked Paul
if he’ll display the acidic orange 911.
Fair enough, but next time I speak
to him, I’m going to ask if I can take
Agent Orange for a serious burn-up.
Or maybe a road trip? One thing’s
for sure, there’ll be no need for
stimulants when behind the wheel of
this 911. It does the job for you. CP

HE OWNED A COUPLE OF KARMANN
GHIAS AND A MERCEDES-BENZ
300 SL POWERED BY
A 4.5-LITRE FORD V8

80 November 2023

hand drive 964 Carrera 4, the result
of an extraordinary car swap. “I did
a deal involving six Volkswagens,”
he roars. “I was using the 964 daily,
including for work. It was equipped
with H&R suspension, ‘Turbo Twist’
wheels and RS bumpers. At the time,
my three boys were aged one, two,
and three, but as they got bigger, the
964 became less practical. I’d had
it completely repainted, but it sold
it for just £9,500. That would have
been 1998. The 964 was, of course,
relatively unloved back then.”
To accommodate his growing
family, Paul next acquired an Audi
RS2 Avant, another car assembled
by Porsche. The 964, however, had
irreversibly fuelled his passion for the

Above A background
buying, modifying
and selling old
VWs influences
Paul’s decisions
when it comes to
personalising his
air-cooled Porsches

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993 TARGA

SLIDING-GLASS TARGA
Inspired by a concept car many thought ugly, the 993 Targa brought striking new style and
function to the 911. On offer through successive Carrera ranges, this distinctive take on
the Targa concept continues to reward fortunate Porsche drivers and passengers…
Words Karl Ludvigsen Photography Ludvigsen Partners, Porsche Corporate Archives
hen Ulrich Bez returned to
Porsche from BMW and
became the Zuffenhausen
concern’s technical board
director in October 1988,
he was met with senior
management personnel thinking the 911 had outworn
its welcome. “The general view was that we should do
something new,” said Bez. “A new car.” This meant not
a new 911, rather a new automobile. After the flurry
of decision-making marking Ernst Fuhrmann’s reign
as head of Porsche, the company had simply pressed
on with variants
of the cars he
and Helmuth
Bott created.
The traditional
surrogate for the
Porsche customer,
Ferry Porsche,
turned seventynine during the month before Bez took office. While
Bez took care to cultivate his counsel and support,
Ferry could no longer assume his traditional role as
the company’s touchstone for new design concepts.
Moreover, at Porsche’s helm, interim CEO, Heinz
Branitzki, chanted a mantra of stability, not innovation.
Branitzki knew a new Porsche product was needed,
but in the summer of 1988, he expressed his “anxiety”
over its creation. “We have only one shot, primarily
because such a new car will cost a billion marks,”
he reflected. It would be up to Bez to prepare the
recommendation for a new product.
As a concept, Bez had immense respect for the
911. “No other car has such strong brand value, such
driving qualities. It’s the best of the first hundred years
of the automobile.” This bolstered the conclusion he
recommended to Porsche’s board. “We should not
make something new and different,” he told them.
“Instead, we should make the 911 better. This car
is the backbone of our company.” He won guarded
approval. “I fought so hard with my colleagues and
with the supervisory board to make things work,”
he recalled. Though he didn’t get the new roof and
interior he wanted for the 911, the result was a new

and indeed better 911. It took the form of the Type
993. “We had to get the 911 in style very quickly,” said
factory engineer, Helmut Flegl. “This is why the 993
was developed.”
Speaking of style, when Bez left BMW, he was
allowed to take one member of staff with him. His
choice fell on Harm Lagaaij, a Dutchman whose
abilities he rated highly. “We began at once on the
993,” Lagaaij recalled after his after his January
7th 1989 arrival. “In the same year, we developed
the Panamericana.” The latter was featured at the
Frankfurt show and was based on a concept sketched
by British
designer, Steve
Murkett.
Murkett and
fellow designer,
Reinhold
Schreiber, created
by far the most
controversial
concept car in Porsche’s history. If Bez was hoping to
use the Panamericana to communicate the company’s
heightened emotionality as a marque — which he
was — he succeeded. For new design chief, Lagaaij,
the aim of the Panamericana was “to show Porsche
is always ready to set new trends in form, colours
and trim.” It was, he added, “a unique opportunity to
present a car representing everything in which we, as a
sports car maker, take pride.”
Lost in the furore over its unusual appearance was
the highly innovative design of the Panamericana’s
greenhouse, the subject of a patent.
“A crazy idea was to create a roll cage going
around the roof, rather than over it,” said Murkett. “It
protected your forehead. We used this roll cage as
the template for making a zip-up cover for the car.
The notion was inspired by a fascination with boats I
shared with my father. Zip-on covers were the norm.
For the Panamericana, two zips and you have the roof
off.” Combinations of fabric and plastic panels with
versatile fixings allowed five different roof conditions,
from fully closed to fully open. The result, said Lagaaij,
was “not a roadster, not a Speedster, but perhaps a
kind of Spyder with visible safety.”

LOST IN THE FURORE OVER ITS
UNUSUAL APPEARANCE WAS THE
HIGHLY INNOVATIVE DESIGN OF THE
PANAMERICANA’S GREENHOUSE

Facing page Porsche
found just the right way
to highlight the open lid
of the 993 Targa, which in
its day provided motorists
with the ultimate sunroof

November 2023 83

A hint of the Panamericana’s
fastback look emerged when
Porsche unveiled Type 993 body
styles for 1996. One, the Speedster,
was produced in very small
numbers — only a single Speedster
on the new 993 body was made, and
that as a surprise birthday present
for Ferdinand Alexander ‘Butzi’
Porsche, who turned sixty in 1995.
That it was made at all indicated a
Speedster was at least considered
for production by Porsche’s
new management, now headed
by Wendelin Wiedeking. It was,
however, seen as demanding too
much production complexity.
Fresh air was a feature of another
new body style for 1996. This was
a reinterpretation of the Targa,
reviving the model name after the
last Targas of the original design
were made in 1993. Originally
created to serve the 911 as a
substitute for the Cabriolet, the
Targa’s original ‘rollover hoop’
format was no longer required.
84 November 2023

The newer Targa format took up a
roof concept previously considered,
but ultimately rejected. From 1977
into 1980, Porsche evaluated a new
roof design for the 924. Essentially,
a glass panel slid above the
passengers and over the rear screen
to create a spacious sliding open
top. Abandoned for various reasons,
not least its deleterious effect

on rear vision, the idea returned
in much more sophisticated form
for the 993.
“Starting with a standard 911
cabriolet body shell,” said Autocar,
“itself based on the old Targa,
Porsche’s designers and engineers
were set the task of building a
stiffer, safer, easier to use and, of
course, better-looking model to

Above and below
In 1989, for his
eightieth birthday,
Ferry Porsche was
presented with the
Panamericana,
a turnkey design
study featuring 964
Carrera 4 oily bits
and a then exotic
composite body

993 TARGA

Above Note the
Panamericana’s
tyres, featuring
a tread pattern
depicting the
Porsche crest
Right In their
presentation of
the Panamericana
concept car,
Steve Murkett and
Reinhold Schreiber
created a versatile
opening roof, which
went on to inspire
the complex design
of the 993 Targa
Below The concept
car’s bodywork
coming to life

bridge the gap between the letterbox sun-roofed Carrera and the
fully open (but vandal-vulnerable)
Cabrio. Inspiration
came from the
open-topped 1989
Panamericana
concept car, which
dispensed with
the old Targa’s
bulky, transverse
roll hoop in favour
of slender, longitudinal cant rails
stretching from the top corners of
the windscreen frame to the bottom
corners of the rear screen.”
“It’s a wonderfully elegant
solution,” said Lagaaij, “both

structurally and stylistically.
Torsional rigidity and roll-over
protection are both vastly improved

design not once, but twice. The
first patent was lodged on October
15th 1993 by Steve Murkett and
Jürgen Bayer. “The
principal advantages
achieved by means
of the invention,”
they related, “are
that the top with its
roof sections, which
may consist of glass
and may partially
be openable, forms a purposeoriented combination of a closed
and an open body. In this case, not
only does the occupant’s upward
view prove excellent for viewing
occurrences and landscapes
above the roof, but (as a result
of the movable roof sections) a
good ventilation of the passenger
compartment is also achieved.”
The pair continued their
explanation. “The movable roof
sections are constructed in the
manner of a sliding roof, in which
case, the first roof section is a
wind deflector and the second roof
section forms the actual sliding
roof. The latter roof section is
constructed to be adjustable under
the third roof section by means of
appropriate kinematics and guides.
The top comprises easily producible

TWO LARGE BLUE-TINTED GLASS
PANELS, THE REARMOST OF
WHICH WAS BONDED INTO THE
ROOF’S STEEL STRUCTURE
and, for the first time on an open
model, we’ve retained the fixed-head
911’s famous silhouette and sidewindow graphic. The system was
invented in our studio and patented.”
In fact, Porsche patented the

November 2023 85

frames and supports which may
be made of steel, plastic or light
metal. The third roof section (which,
like the other roof sections, is a
piece of glass) and the rear side
windows are inserted into openings
of the top and are fastened by
means of gluing. As a result of this
construction, the top has sufficient
stiffness, while its weight is more
than acceptable.”

TOP TO BOTTOM
The new roof consisted of two
large blue-tinted glass panels, the
rearmost of which was bonded into
the roof’s steel structure. The front
panel was retracted under the rear
glazing by three electric motors.
A small supplementary panel at
the front acted as a handy wind
deflector. Ingenious sealing diverted
any water on the movable glass to
ensure it could be opened after a
shower without drenching the car’s
unsuspecting occupants.
The second patent was filed on
November 15th 1994 by automotive
roof specialist, Bodo Homann, as
well as Jürgen Bayer and Harry
Nennemann, to protect the means
86 November 2023

invented to deal with an issue that
arose during testing.
“It is an object of the invention,”
they stated, “to develop this roof
construction further, such that
unintentional reaching into the gap
by occupants sitting, for example, in
the rear compartment of the vehicle,
is counteracted. According to the
invention, this object is achieved
by providing a roof construction
comprising a rigid roof section, a
movable roof section (which can
be displaced after being lowered
under the rigid roof section) and

a protective and covering strip
mounted on a rear edge of the
movable roof section, as viewed in
a forward vehicle driving direction.
As a result of the mounting of a
protective or covering strip, the
occupants are prevented from
inserting their fingers in the gap
between the two roof sections
so that the risk of injury is at
least reduced.”
“This strip ensures an organic
covering of the transition area
between the second and the third
roof section,” added the engineers,

Above An attractive
alternative to the
Cabriolet, the newlook Targa for the
1996 model year
allowed open-top
driving in a gustfree environment,
especially when the
car’s wind deflector
was raised
Below On Porsche’s
motor show stand,
the new Targa
was billed as “The
Porsche with wind
and sun
as standard”

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“specifically within the passenger
compartment. In other words, it
contributes to optimisation of the
appearance. In addition, the strip
is used for the lateral deflection of
water, which penetrates into the
gap between the roof sections from
water-draining grooves arranged in
the area of the lateral roof frames.”
When it was closed, the curved,
clear top fitted together so well it
looked like a single piece, but there
were actually three separate flushfitting glass panels, as described
above. A press of a button on the
centre console activated two tiny
electric motors erecting the wind
deflector to provide additional
ventilation. Holding the button
down dropped the rear edge of the
roof a few millimetres, ensuring
the whole panel could retract
88 November 2023

beneath the fixed rear window.
“Don’t expect to see much in your
rear-view mirror,” warned Autocar.
“The double layer of heavily tinted
glass makes it all but impenetrable
in poor light. By far the strangest
sensation is felt when the tinted
glass is in its closed position. The
immediate impression is one of
driving a supercharged goldfish
bowl, so exposed and open to view
is the seating position. The added
brightness and extra few millimetres
of headroom are a welcome
improvement over the snug yet
mildly claustrophobic coupe. For
extra privacy, or to exclude summer
heat, you can always resort to the
full-length electric blind, which
follows the roof’s curve from the top
of the windscreen to the top of the
rear window. Porsche claims this

reduces heat build-up to
coupe levels.”
Autocar also suggested Porsche
had made all other removable roof
mechanisms look cumbersome.
“Press the button on the centre
console, even on the move, and
the roller blind retracts, followed
initially by the small front section
of roof, which tilts skyward to act
as a wind deflector. Press again
and the main section of the roof
drops before sliding neatly inside
the rear windscreen. With the roof
open, the Targa remains just a little
too civilized for the serious tweed
hat and goggle types. Even with the
windows down, the effect is more
like that of a large sunroof.”
“Those looking for tell-tale signs
of roof-induced chassis weakness,”
continued Autocar, “will have to

Above From front
or rear, the newlook Targa was an
elegant ornament to
Porsche’s Type 993
range of 911s

993 TARGA

Above Shown in
its partly open
position, the Targa’s
moving roof was
made of thin greentinted safety glass,
although a shade
could be deployed
electrically for hotsun protection
Right The patent
applied for on
October 15th 1993
showed the main
elements of the
Targa’s sliding roof
Below Of every ten
993-generation
911s sold, one was
a Targa

search very hard indeed. The Targa
uses the same reinforced floor
pan as the Cabriolet, which, when
combined with the torsional strength
of the roof’s fulllength cant rails, is
fully fifty percent
stiffer than the
open car and only
marginally less
strong than the
tin-top. Its handling
characteristics are
close enough to the latter to be
imperceptible to all but the most
demanding drivers. Even the coupe’s
good ride quality is maintained, as
is its taut body control. The Targa’s

only disadvantage is increased wind
noise through the thin glass roof.”
Wind noise would have been
noticeable had Autocar been able

100mph from rest in 12.8 seconds.
With a few more miles under its
belt and a dry track under its feet,
we would expect the Targa to crack
60mph in under
five seconds and
100mph in under
twelve seconds.”
Soigné it might have
been, an elegant
concept for 911s
of the twenty-first
century, but the
new-look Targa sure could move
with the best of them.
At this time, a distinct advantage
of Wendelin Wiedeking’s Toyotainspired manufacturing advances
was that much of the detail design
and all the fabrication of the new
Targa’s roof could be made by
an outside supplier. Specifically,
Webasto was given the job. “We
handed over the concept,” said
Lagaaij, “which then developed
further.” In truth, Webasto delivered
the 993’s Targa roof as a ready-toinstall module, which was dropped
atop a specially reinforced Cabriolet
body. Interestingly, the Targa, which
increased net weight over a coupe
by sixty-six pounds, was offered only
on the rear-drive Carrera platform.
Especially when viewed from

MUCH OF THE DETAIL DESIGN AND
ALL THE FABRICATION OF THE NEW
TARGA’S ROOF COULD BE MADE BY
AN OUTSIDE SUPPLIER
to try for the Targa’s top speed, said
by Zuffenhausen to be 171mph. In
acceleration, said the British weekly,
“the Targa slithered its way from
zero to 60mph in 5.3 seconds and hit

November 2023 89

its side, the 993 Targa had a
distinctive look, with a more rakish
side-window line and dedicated
seventeen-inch wheels with a fivespoke split-rim-style design. In the
US, the model was base-priced at
$70,750, some seven thousand
dollars more than
the 1996 911
Carrera coupe. In
the UK, the Targa’s
list price of £64,250
added more than
£5,250 to the cost
of the coupe — with
air-conditioning as
standard — and was just £700 short
of the full drop-top.
Having commanded one in every
ten sales of the entire 993 series,
this flavour of Targa instantly earned
its place in 911 history, but plans
were already being made for the
all-new 996. Introduced in late 2001
as a 2002 model, the 996-based
911 Targa presented a body style
answering a question many had
asked since the very introduction of
the 911: why couldn’t the car’s back
window open to give easier access
to rear storage space?
When this question was raised at
the 993’s launch, Porsche’s answer
was that the bonded-in rear glass
was important for body stiffness,

how paint damage could occur
with movable body parts and that
an opening window could intrude
on rear headroom. Nevertheless,
an opening rear window was an
important Porsche feature during its
days producing front-engined sports

served to increase integrity of the
seals for both the top itself and the
sliding roof glass.
The decade of Targas built
before the 2011 launch of the
991 represents a family of 911s
providing external access to the
interior luggage
area. This was lost
when the pseudoroll-bar motif of the
original Targa made
its spectacular
comeback for the
semi-open-top 991.
The generations
of Targas extending from the 993
through 996 and 997, however,
stand out as special automobiles,
enjoying a unique marriage of
elegant good looks and pure
Porsche performance. And it all
started with the Panamericana. CP

WHY COULDN’T THE CAR’S
BACK WINDOW OPEN TO
GIVE EASIER ACCESS TO
REAR STORAGE SPACE?

90 November 2023

cars. With the 2002 996 Targa,
an opening rear window was
finally provided.
This time, Homann, Porsche’s
sliding-roof specialist, took a
diametrically different approach.
The 993 Targa — comprising a
module plopped down on top of
a Cabriolet body, remember —
suffered from more than its share
of un-Porsche-like squeaks and
groans. For the 996, the 911 coupe
was used as the starting point. The
top module was inserted through
the windscreen opening by a robot
on the production line and lifted into
position from the inside of the body.
Because suction was generated
above the car’s top at speed, it

Above and below
Porsche’s designers
could take pride in
the sleek profile of
the 993 Targa, which
could reach 170mph
and benefited from
enhanced rearquarter glazing

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914 AND 930

OPPOSITES ATTRACT
Porsche worked with Volkswagen to create the 914, providing the Stuttgart
concern with a new entry-level sports car as 912 production was discontinued.
At the other end of the evolutionary scale, Porsche created the mighty 911
Turbo. No other manufacturer has such depth. We go back-to-back with
James Grayston, proud owner of both models...
Words Steve Bennett Photography Dan Sherwood
ow about this for two ends of
Porsche’s air-cooled product
spectrum? 914 meets 911 Turbo.
Of course, this particular duel will
only ever have one winner, but
this isn’t the point of the article
you’re reading. You see, both cars occupy the same
garage. They’re in the possession of Porschephile,
James Grayston. Looking at the dynamic duo sideby-side, it’s hard
to believe they
were in production
alongside one
another, forming
the entry-level
Porsche offering
and the very
pinnacle of its
engineering prowess in the early-to-mid 1970s.
Of course, every classic Porsche is special to us, as
demonstrated by the wide variety of Porsches from
the manufacturer’s legacy output featured in this, the
hundredth issue of Classic Porsche. Obviously, we
couldn’t let our centenary pass without paying homage
to the 911 Turbo, but first, it’s time to big up the 914,
often thought of as an ill-fated Volkswagen-Porsche
folly. Indeed, there are some who would contest
this Targa-topped roadster as worthy of even being
considered a Porsche. Not James, though.
“The first time I saw a 914 was when I found
myself flicking through 1971’s Observer’s Book of
Automobiles,” he recalls. “I’d never seen anything quite
like the boxy two-seater pictured in those pages.” The
914 deserves far more credit than it has ever received.
Sure, there has been something of a reappraisal for the
model in recent years, but even so, it’s one of the few
air-cooled Porsches to fly under the radar and is thus
priced accordingly.
Put criticism related to Volkswagen-Porsche joint
parentage to one side and appreciate the 914 for
being a brilliant mid-engined sports car and one of the
first of its kind. A contemporary of the Ferrari Dino,

Lamborghini Miura, Lotus Europa and, well, that’s
about it. While the quirky ‘plastic fantastic’ Europa was
relatively affordable, the Italian duo were purely for
the likes of Rod Stewart and Tony Curtis. In a world
of traditional British roadsters, such as the MGB, the
914 seemed to be from a different planet. Quirky it
may have been, but for its time, it was ultra-modern in
design and concept.
In terms of engineering, the 914 couldn’t really be
faulted. Its midengined layout,
911-derived front
suspension and
race-car handling
was nothing
short of superb.
The devil is so
often in the detail,
though — contrasting these plus points, the 914 was
offered with what many considered to be the least
desirable Volkswagen engine, an interior peppered
with Wolfsburg switchgear and styling leaving many
folk cold, despite what we might think when looking
back through rose-tinted spectacles. We’re not really
selling it, are we?
Let’s keep going. In many ways, the 914 could
be seen in laudable — even altruistic — terms by
Porsche. The Stuttgart-based manufacturer had
seen its products grow from the early 356 Pre-A into
the complex (and therefore costly) race-bred sixcylinder 911 range. Whereas the first Porsches had
been relatively affordable machines, the company’s
products grew to be progressively more expensive as
the years passed, leaving a big hole for an entry-level
machine to tempt people away from cheaper rivals and
into Porsche ownership. Yes, there was the 912, but
its 356-derived engine was getting long in the tooth.
Besides, as mentioned elsewhere in this magazine, the
912 was conceived to support the 911 as the flagship
Porsche sports car found its feet. When the job was
done and the 911 was firmly established, it no longer
needed its budget-focused sibling.

WHILE PORSCHE MIGHT HAVE BEEN
GOING THROUGH SOMETHING OF
A PURPLE PATCH, VOLKSWAGEN
WAS HAVING A TOUGH TIME

Facing page Take time to
evaluate the mid-engined,
two-seat, open-top layout
and it quickly becomes
apparent the 914 provided
the blueprint for the allconquering Boxster

November 2023 95

While Porsche might have been
going through something of a purple
patch, Volkswagen was having a
tough time, chiefly on account of
its model range being old and tired.
You don’t need a history lesson to
understand the long relationship the
two companies have enjoyed — then
as now, Porsche and Volkswagen
are inextricably linked. When you
consider how the first Porschedesigned sports car was built largely
from Volkswagen components, it
seems perfectly logical the two
companies should collaborate on
a joint venture to build a low-cost
Porsche, which could also be viewed
as a high-level Volkswagen. Nobody
seemed to care this idea might
result in a marketing nightmare.
The project had a lot going for it.
For starters, despite the very first
Porsche being based on a midengined design, and considering
Porsche had enjoyed much success
racing with mid-engined competition
cars, there was no mid-engined
96 November 2023

Porsche production car. As far as
Volkswagen was concerned, the
only vaguely sporty machine in
its line-up was the Beetle-based
Karmann Ghia. Enough said.
Styling-wise, Porsche wanted a
car distinctly different in looks to
the 911. Volkswagen, meanwhile,
needed a car not looking like,
well, as Volkswagen. Outside help
was sought, but the usual styling
houses were shunned in favour
of Gugelot Design, based in NueUlm, sixty miles up the road from
Zuffenhausen. The firm had already
designed a sports car with which
it had hoped to stimulate interest
among several manufacturers,
Porsche and Volkswagen included.
While the prototype was for a frontengined design, it was restyled to
accept a mid-mounted motor per
the Volkswagen-Porsche concept.
The Gugelot proposal was not
conventionally pretty, but it was
distinct. Are we damning with
faint praise? Perhaps. For sure, the

design was sufficiently different to
give the 914 an identity of its own
— nobody would ever confuse the
model for anything else on the road,
of this Porsche could be certain.
Push-me-pull-you styling aside, the
most eye catching feature was the
removable Targa roof panel, which
could be stored in the rear luggage
bay. Pop-up headlights were, for the
day, very modern.

Above The 914’s
design is quite
unlike any other
Porsche and
introduced pop-up
headlights to
Zuffenhausen’s
product range

914 AND 930

Above and below
Interior is very basic,
but this is entirely
befitting of a model
designed to be
entry-level in the
Porsche line-up

The project was unveiled in 1968
and was well-received, certainly
better than perceived wisdom would
have us believe.
Production
started in 1970.
Engine choices
were a 1.7-litre
Volkswagen flatfour making use of
Bosch D-Jetronic
injection and
developing 80bhp, or a pukka
Porsche two-litre flat-six on carbs,
delivering a more wholesome
110bhp. The four-cylinder cars
were assembled by Karmann in
Osnabrück, while the sixes were
built alongside the 911 in Stuttgart.

In time, the 1.7 would grow to 1.8
and, finally, to two-litres and 100bhp.
The six-cylinder 914 was ‘quietly

most of the near 120,000 914s built
(of which just 3,332 were 914/6s)
were split between Germany and
North America,
meaning most 914s
in the UK have been
imported. The 914’s
rate of attrition is high,
too, no matter where it
has lived. Specifically,
Karmann-built cars
were sold with no
underseal whatsoever. At least the
six-cylinder 914 was blessed with a
modicum of protection.

YOU WON’T BE SURPRISED
TO LEARN HE FOUND WHAT HE
WAS LOOKING FOR AT
AUTOMOBILE ATLANTA
dropped’ after three years or so in
production.
This is something of a clue (if
one were needed) regarding the
eventual fate of the 914. One of
the major problems, as far as sales
were concerned, was that the model
ended up too expensive to fulfil
the role for which it was intended
— too overpriced to be a humble
Volkswagen, too expensive to be
an entry-level Porsche, particularly
when a 2.2-litre 911 T cost just
£200 more than the 914/6’s £3,475
asking price. A base 914 at £2,165
was more than twice the price
of an MGB. Quite simply, the 914
barely sold at all in the UK, not
helped by the fact it was never
officially available in right-hand
drive, although Crayford offered an
aftermarket conversion. Indeed,

GOOD SPORT
The 914 was dropped after seven
years of production. That said,
Volkswagen and Porsche repeated
the exercise with 924, although this
time, Volkswagen ended up handing
the entire project to Porsche,
perhaps still burned from the 914
and realising its future lay in a quick
round of Golf.
Whatever, the 914 has its fans
and its time is very much now.
This semi-open-top classic is an
appreciating leftfield alternative to
an air-cooled 911. James would
know — he’s had plenty of classic
Porsches, but his early 1970 914,
finished in Venetian Red, is a keeper.
November 2023 97

“I’ve owned it for a decade,” he
reveals, before a quick run through
of the other Porsches he’s been in
possession of over the years. “My
first was a 964, followed by a 996,
which was great. I’ve had a high
number of 928s, but to be frank,
they are all money pits. I’ve just
sold a late manual 928 S2 bought
as a project during COVID-driven
lockdowns. Previously, I owned a
metallic blue S2 with a Can-Can red
interior. That was a bold look! Oh,
and then there was a black 944 S2.
Let it be said, the 944 is a better
drive than any 911.” A controversial
statement, although, as a serial 944
owner, I’m not going to argue too
vigorously against his assessment.
Thanks to the aforementioned
Observer’s Book of Automobiles, the
914 was a scratch James needed
to itch. Even if you know only a little
about 914s, you won’t be surprised
to learn he found what he was
looking for at Automobile Atlanta, a
haven for 914s since 1978. “The 1.7litre models are somewhat unloved,”
he reckons. “My car cost $6,000,
which at the time of purchase
equated to £3,000. Back then, there
was no import duty to worry about.”
An absolute bargain in our book.
98 November 2023

Not a perfect car, but solid. “I
put a post on the Die Deutschen
Klassiker (DDK) forum asking if
there were any 914 specialists out
there. Kevin Clarke replied.” Again, if
you know anything about 914s, you
will know Kevin is widely recognised
as ‘Mr 914’. He’s an advocate for the
model, to the point even Porsche
bows to his knowledge, not mention
his incredible 914 collection.
“He looks after my car’s
mechanicals,” James continues. “It
was in excellent overall condition
when it arrived from Auto Atlanta,
but the injection system wasn’t

working too well. Kevin replaced all
the wiring, which was past its best,
and the car immediately sprang into
life. He sorted the gearbox linkage
and rebuilt the brake calipers,
too. More than anything, the car
needed paint, which I entrusted
to Classworks in Sunbury. They’re
entrenched in the UK’s Volkswagen
scene. The 914 has a big following
among the VW crowd, a result of the
model’s heritage and connection
with Wolfsburg.”
Save for a Scart exhaust, the car
is completely standard. “It wore the
classic optional mag wheels, but I’ve

Above and below
Engine is tucked
away behind the
rear seats, although
Porsche found
enough room to fit
a two-litre flat-six

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fitted steelies. This Porsche isn’t
particularly fast, but then, I’m
not much of a fast driver. It gets
regular use, though, even for my
work commute into London. In my
opinion, every classic car should be
used at least once a month.”

FUTURE SHOCK
Opportunities to get behind the
wheel of a 914 don’t come around
too often, such is the model’s
relative scarcity. Any 914 drive is a
rare treat. James’s early model is a
reminder of just how advanced this
car was at its point of manufacture.
Fuel injection, five-speed gearbox,
disc brakes in each corner, torsion
bar suspension at the front,
coilovers and semi-trailing arms
at the rear. Little wonder the VWPorsche alliance struggled to keep a
lid on production costs.
When snuggled into the bucket
seat, it’s fair to say the interior is
rather more VW than Porsche, but
then again, 911s of the era were
100 November 2023

hardly what you’d call plush, and
the 914’s function in life is that of a
basic sports car. Being an early 914
means the passenger seat is fixed.
Pleasingly, the original ‘dog bone’
footrest has survived. The brown
vinyl trim and carpets are also
original and have the patina to prove
it. Surprisingly, the black dashtop
remains intact.
The 1.7-litre flat four chatters into
life. Enter the distinctive VW ‘vroom’.
The Type 901 gearbox is the reverse
of conventional, presenting a dogleg
first. No problem — I’ve recently
spent 150 miles in a similarly
equipped 912. Brain and hand are
memory compliant. That Porsche
was a left hooker, too.
It may only have 80bhp, but
this car weighs just nine hundred
kilograms. Performance is therefore
on the positive side of brisk. Driving
the 914 is a delight. It’s just a lovely,
lovely car to be in charge of. It’s light
and exquisitely balanced, rolling on
skinny 155-profile Michelins and

responding to delicate steering
inputs to guide (rather than throw)
into corners. Get over-exuberant and
the car will simply roll onto its side.
Yes, the 914 demands a different
kind of driving, one encouraging a
lighter touch, where you skim the
surface instead of bludgeoning it
into submission.
The engine is done by 4,900rpm,
but it delivers 98lb-ft torque at

Above 911 Turbo
looks fabulous in
Minerva Blue with
White Gold Metallic
Fuchs wheel centres

914 AND 930

Above Compared to
the 914’s cabin, 930
interior is the very
height of luxury
Below Low mileage
makes this 911
Turbo a car James
intends to keep for
the long term

2,700rpm, which makes the sweet
spot for relaxed performance
somewhere in between the two.
This is an active
deterrent against
giving the fourcylinder engine
a sound and
pointless thrashing
and encourages
progress with
momentum in mind.
With the flat-four chuntering away in
the background, and with a mild bark
from the Scart extractor and the roof
panel stowed away, it’s really a very
pleasant place to be.

The 914 surely deserved more.
Had it been a little cheaper when
new, then maybe it would have

to the Italian stallion and the raging
bull. With the 930, Porsche changed
the rules on road and track forever.
In modern
parlance, the 911
Turbo dropped
at the 1974 Paris
Motor Show in
readiness for a
spring 1975 launch.
There had been
turbocharged cars
before, but not like this. Porsche
utilised the experience it had gained
in turbocharging the 917’s flat-twelve
for Can-Am racing and applied it to
the 911’s flat-six. 260bhp in street
specification was barely pushing
the envelope, but even with both the
512 Berlinetta Boxer and Countach
pushing beyond 300bhp, the 911
Turbo had them both covered,
primarily thanks to its devastating
mid-range power, superior handling
and the fact you could drive rather
wrestle the car into submission. Oh,
and the Porsche’s Bosch K-Jetronic
fuel injection system ensured
starting the Turbo was a mere
formality, unlike the experience of
sports car owners dealing with a
bank of carburettors needing to be
primed and fettled into action.

SPECIFICATION REMAINED
LARGELY THE SAME THROUGHOUT
THE TURBO’S FIFTEEN-YEAR
PRODUCTION RUN
been more widely appreciated?
Irrespective of cost, maybe the
market wasn’t quite ready for this
low-slung roadster? For James,
owning a 914 is the realisation of a
childhood ‘wow’ moment and, as he
impresses on us once again, this aircooled classic is a keeper.
This leads us to his other keeper
and an entirely different kind of
classic Porsche, one needing no
qualification or apology for its
existence. Unlike the 914, there’s
nothing entry-level about the 911
Turbo. Porsche took the entirely
opposite track by taking what
could have been nothing more
than a limited-run, born-to-race
homologation special and developed
it into an air-conditioned, rangetopping supercar taking the fight

November 2023 101

The kit Porsche wanted to
homologate for racing included the
now familiar wide body and extreme
aero appendages, plus seemingly
impossibly wide fifteen-inch Fuchs
wheels measuring seven inches at
the front and eight at the rear. The
911’s suspension was completely
re-worked for the Turbo. The front
transverse links and cast aluminium
rear semi-trailing arms were newly
designed hardware. Front and
rear anti-roll bars were beefed up.
Bilstein developed new gas-filled
dampers. Brakes were vented in
each corner, with powerful four-pot
calipers at the front.

FOUR TO THE FLOOR
The only anomaly was the Turbo’s
four-speed gearbox, which seemed
at odds with the rest of the
specification. The ever-pragmatic
Porsche decided it would be too
expensive to develop a Type 915
five-speed unit capable of handling
the Turbo’s torque (253lb-ft at
4,000rpm), and so settled on four
beefed-up ratios. Besides, as
Porsche pointed out, with so much
torque available, who needed five
102 November 2023

gears anyway? A fair point, and it
has to be said, the Turbo’s gearbox
and its four ratios are as much a
part of the driving experience as the
engine itself.
Specification remained largely
the same throughout the Turbo’s
fifteen-year production run, with
only two major revamps occurring
along the way. In 1979, capacity
and power were increased to 3.3
litres and 300bhp respectively.
Braking received a boost by way of
bigger discs and finned aluminium
calipers lifted from the 917. The
Fuchs wheels grew to sixteen
inches. Beyond these updates, in
1989 (the classic 911 Turbo’s final
year on assembly lines), Porsche
finally installed a five-speed
gearbox. It wasn’t so much a case
of relenting to pressure from critics,
more the fact Porsche finally had
a transmission to the job. It was, in
fact, a unit developed for the rapidlycoming-down-the-line 964.
James’s 911 Turbo is a 1979 build
and therefore benefits from the full
3.3 litres and 300bhp. Finished in
Minerva Blue, it’s something of a
rarity, too. “I was holding out for light

metallic green, which looks great
with the Turbo’s black trim and silver
Fuchs,” he says “The problem with
wanting exacting specification is
that I could have ended up waiting
forever. Minerva Blue looks good.
At least the car isn’t finished in
black, white or red, which is how the
majority of Turbos are presented.”
James bought the Porsche
from Clinkard Performance Cars
in Southampton, the previous
owner having purchased it from
Dorset-based independent aircooled Porsche restoration and
sales specialist, Canford Classics,

Above 3.3-litre
turbocharged
flat-six provides
peak 300bhp at
5,500rpm after a
force-fed thud in
the back

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for a rather higher price in a more
heated market. In a Porsche world
dominated by perfect restorations
held hostage
to mileage and
condition, James’s
Turbo makes for a
refreshing change.
“It’s not perfect,” he
shrugs. “It has been
resprayed, but not
brilliantly. There’s is
a bit of corrosion I need to address,
but restoration projects are difficult.
To be honest, after my experience
with 928s, I’m not sure I’ve got the
stomach for it.”
Wise words. “This is no garage
queen. If it was fully restored and
immaculately finished, I probably
wouldn’t use it, whereas in its less
than perfect state, I’m happy to drive
the car in all conditions. I’m probably
the only person commuting into
London in a classic 911 Turbo in

this day and age! The car took me to
Techno-Classica at Essen last year.
That was a good run. And I’m happy

really knows his stuff. I decided to
refinish the Fuchs, too. The default
decoration is, of course, a silver rim
with centre. Period
options were bodycoloured centres
or what was known
as White Gold
Metallic, which I’ve
replicated.” It’s an
unusual choice now
as it was back then,
but there’s no denying it looks great.
Owning two extremes of the
Porsche pantheon, James is in a
good position to talk running costs
and the realities of ownership. “It is
what you make it,” he says. “The 914
has been a lovely thing to own, and
because it cost me relatively little,
save for paintwork, it’s been pretty
cheap to maintain and run, certainly
in Porsche terms. The 911 Turbo?
I’ll let you know. Matthew Skeete at
Carrera Classics looks after it. So

ON THE SUBJECT, NEITHER
FERRARI OR LAMBORGHINI
WOULD EVER HAVE BUILT AN
EQUIVALENT TO THE 914

104 November 2023

fettling at my own pace. I’ve just
fitted new front carpets, but where
do you stop? Once an old Porsche is
stripped or the engine is out, there’s
no going back, is there? I’ve been
there before.”
Keen Porsche spotters will note
James’s Turbo wears US-spec
indicators and sidelights up front.
“I prefer them,” he tells us. “I source
all my parts from Porsche Centre
Guildford. The site’s parts guy, Paul,
has been there since the 1970s. He

Above As far as a
two-car Porsche
garage goes, we
reckon James has
picked perfectly

914 AND 930

Above and below By
his own admission,
James’ 930 isn’t
a garage queen,
meaning he is happy
to use it wherever
and whenever the
fancy takes him

far, so good, but who knows what
could be coming down the line? It’s
really down to me, isn’t it? Do I chuck
a load of money at it or not? Did I
say it was a keeper?!” Yes, James.
You most certainly did.
“The problem is, I’m always
looking. I’ve got my eye on a 993
in the USA. It’s Riviera Blue and
equipped with the X50 performance
package. Oh, and if a really good 944
Turbo Silver Rose came along, well,
that might change everything.”
Back to his Minerva Blue 911
Turbo. We rather like it and its
honest patina. Classic Turbos

are tough old things and supersimple compared to the space-age
911 Turbo of today. Basic Bosch
electronics controlling injectors
to synchronise with the force-fed
engine’s fuelling demands. To wake
the beast, you need to keep it in the
second- and third-gear spin cycle
above 3,500rpm. With a thunderous
thud, the turbocharger wakes up
and delivers a concentrated rush
of boost, with power peaking at
5,500rpm. That’s more like it!
Stretching so much power over
just four ratios feels slightly odd, but
once you get your head around the

idea, not to have to pedal up down
the gears is really rather relaxing.
Just concentrate on pointing the
Porsche projectile in the right
direction. I’ve been lucky enough
to have a driven a Lamborghini and
a Ferrari of the era. Compared to
the 911, they drive like trucks and,
in truth, are a bit silly, even if they
do possess five-speed gearboxes.
Their whole mystique has a whiff of
Emperor’s New Clothes about it. The
930’s arrival called them out.
On the subject, neither Ferrari
or Lamborghini would ever have
built an equivalent to the 914. Their
brand identities rather depended
on being above that sort of thing.
Perhaps they were right? After all,
it generally only ever backfired for
Porsche (as an example, look at the
fallout from the 924). Then again,
the Porsche world would be a poorer
place without the 914 (and the 924,
for that matter), and we can all agree
the intention was laudable.
As someone who owns fine
examples of two ends of the
air-cooled Porsche production
spectrum, it’s clear which of the cars
on these pages has endeared itself
to James. And he’s right, it really is a
“lovely thing.” CP
November 2023 105

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911 S

HIGH-SPEED DIRT
Thanks to its owner’s ambition of competing in the Peking to
Paris endurance rally, this once humble G-series 911 S has been
transformed into super-Safari specification...
Words Dan Furr Photography Dan Sherwood
he 911 is the only car you can drive
from an African safari to Le Mans,
then to the theatre and onto the streets
of New York. So said Ferry Porsche.
Wind the clock forward to 2023, and
it’s clear Porsche intended for the
new 911 Dakar to live up to Ferry’s bold claim. Indeed,
before the car was unveiled in full, we were told about
a torturous endurance test schedule subjected to a
series of prototypes. The work included three hundred
thousand miles of driving. Of these, six thousand miles
were off-road. Cold-weather testing was carried out
on the snow and
ice of Sweden,
heat testing was
conducted in
Morocco and,
impressively,
Porsche engineers
managed to
convince their
bosses the car needed to be blasted up fifty-metre-tall
sand dunes in the United Arab Emirates.
These days, of course, the 911 is offered in various
guises to suit a wide range of lifestyles, but many of you
will suspect the new 911 Dakar is a cynical marketing
exercise intended to extract a huge amount of cash
from Porsche enthusiasts. After all, although the new
car is based on the 992 Carrera 4 GTS, only 2,500
examples of the Dakar will be manufactured. Want
one? The starting price is a gobsmacking £173,000.
That’s forty-five grand more than the standard GTS and
doesn’t include the cost of applying Rothmans-aping
Roughroads livery, as seen in press pictures. Then
again, corporate branding legalities aside, we can’t
imagine any of today’s car makers would want to slap
the name of a cigarette brand on one of its products.
Roughroads body decoration comes as part of the
£21,198 Rallye Design Package, which also delivers
model-specific white alloy wheels, a Roughroads
puddle light, GT sports steering wheel, blue seatbelts
and various other interior tweaks, including Race-Tex
fabric for the dashboard. For a further £2,846, the
Rallye Sport Package comes with six-point harnesses,
a fire extinguisher and a bolt-in roll cage. All told, this

is already closing in on two hundred grand, and that’s
before totting up the cost of dealer-supplied water
and fuel canisters, recovery boards and even Porschebranded spades. There’s also a storage-friendly roof
basket with auxiliary headlights, which plug into an
external twelve-volt power source. None of this is
cheap, but at least you’ll have somewhere to keep your
Porsche-branded tent.
As is the case with most new Porsche products, the
Dakar has received rave reviews, but let us ask you a
question: how many buyers have bought this flavour
of 911 for anything other than posing? We’ve lost track
of the number of
owners posting
photographs to
social media
of their Dakar
on the weakest
of off-road
terrain — grass
verges and gravel
driveways rank high on the ‘challenging’ surfaces many
Instagrammers have found themselves tackling. How
on earth do those Pirelli Scorpion off-road tyres cope?
Following a chunky two-carcass design with strong
resistance to damage and minimum tread depth of nine
millimetres, it’s a wonder they’ve managed to survive
trips to the garden centre and the weekly shop.
Arguably the most cringe-inducing use of the Dakar
— the first 911 to be offered with all-terrain tyres as
standard equipment — is commuting in central London.
Guilty parties seem hell-bent on promoting the fact,
oblivious to how ridiculous they look. The Chelsea
tractor set can be heard letting out a sight of relief as
focus has finally shifted away from their use of
Cayenne Turbos and Affalterbach-fettled G-Wagens
for the school run.
Air-cooled 911s have a long history of being used
off-road. Think of Quick Vic Elford making the 911
sing on its way to winning the 1967 European Rally
Championship, not long after wowing television
audiences by taking the fight to Lotus-developed Fords
in the inaugural Rallycross competition, where he
competed in a standard two-litre short-wheelbase 911
(an AFN dealership demonstrator, no less). There’s the

FIVE TEAMS ANSWERED
THE CALL, SHIPPING CARS TO
THE FRENCH EMBASSY IN PEKING
FOR DEPARTURE

Facing page Destined to
compete in many off-road
endurance competitions,
this stunning Safari-spec
911 S was built following
its owner’s exposure to a
television documentary
featuring the Peking to
Paris Motor Challenge

November 2023 109

Dakar Rally itself, of course, which
the first four-wheel-drive 911 won
outright in 1984. There are also the
many Safari-specification 911s built
by privateers over the years.

NAME DROPPING
The new 911 Dakar was, in fact,
originally intended to be named
911 Safari, but as widely reported
at the beginning of the year, Indian
carmaker, Tata, owns the rights
to the Safari name — which it has
applied to a mid-size SUV unlikely to
see a speck of dust — for automotive
production. Tata bosses refused to
give Porsche permission to use the
Safari nameplate for its new 911,
hence Dakar, which the Stuttgart
concern has licensed from the
organisers of the legendary rally.
Amusingly, in the style of Singer
Vehicle Design’s logo, the Safari
nameplate appears on the back of
the stunning 911 on these pages.
It belongs to Paul Eperon, a serial
Porsche owner who was inspired by
a television programme he watched
back in 2019. “I owned my first 911
when I was seventeen years old. It
was a pedal car,” he laughs. “A mate
knew I loved Porsche sports cars
and bought it for me as a joke. Since
110 November 2023

then, I’ve owned a 964 Cabriolet,
an Aerokitted 996 and a Taycan 4S,
which I currently use as my daily
driver. My wife runs a 718 Cayman
GTS. They’ve all been standard cars,
not modified.” Quite the departure
from what we have here, then.
“I was watching a documentary
charting various long-distance road
trips, some taking the best part of a
month to complete,” he continues.
“One of the events was the Peking
to Paris. I was amazed at what I
saw and was instantly motivated
to buy and prepare a car for the
event.” Originally staged in 1907, the
Peking to Paris race was inspired by
a challenge published in the Parisian
newspaper, Le Matin, on 31st
January that year. “What needs to be
proved today is that as long as a man
has a car, he can do anything and go
anywhere. Is there anyone who will
undertake to travel this summer from
Paris to Peking by automobile?” Five
teams answered the call, shipping
cars to the French embassy in
Peking for departure on 10th June.
The winning seven-litre Itala (driven
by Italian aristocrat, Prince Scipione
Borghese) arrived in Paris after
journeying 14,994 kilometres. Along
the way, it fell through a bridge.

Much of the route had previously
only been attempted on horseback.
This made it an unintentional
proving ground for the durability
and performance of the day’s
automobiles. The forming of the
USSR after the 1917 Russian
Revolution made staging repeats
of the competition difficult until
the fall of the Soviet Union in
the early 1990s, after which reenactments of the 1907 event
were held sporadically until 2013.
In 2022, however, after three years
of “closures, planning, recces and
re-routing” due to the pandemic,
the war in Ukraine and closure (and
re-opening) of Chinese borders,
the event’s organiser, HERO-ERA,
announced an exacting route for the
eighth staging of the Peking to Paris,
which is open to historic vehicles and
will run from 18th May to 23rd June
2024. The route will avoid Russia,
but is still expected to take thirtyseven days and will cover in excess
of 14,000 kilometres. A repeat of the
event is scheduled for 2025.
Entrants will cross nine countries
and eight time zones, taking in
remote desert, forest and mountain
tracks, all while competing against
the clock. “Initially, I considered

Above No expense
has been spared
in ensuring this
fantastic 911 is
not only capable
of effortlessly
tackling the most
inhospitable terrain,
but also to ensure
its occupants are
comfortable over
bumpy surfaces

911 S

Above and below
Retrim makes
use of caramelcoloured leather
and basketweave
covering brandnew electrically
adjustable Recaro
Ergomed ES seats

buying a classic Ford Mustang and
converting it to Safari specification
with competition suspension,” Paul
asserts, “but after
speaking with
various people
about the outlined
route, which
traverses the
deserts of China,
the Mongolian
Gobi and on to the
hidden wilderness of Kazakhstan,
it became clear I needed a car as
bulletproof as can be.”
Gone was the notion of buying an
American Pony, in came the decision
to invest in an air-cooled 911, a car
with

more than a few off-road excursions
to its credit. The 911 Paul ended up
buying was a G-series S finished

enjoyed for the majority of its life.
Additionally, it had covered only
eighty thousand miles from new. “I
bought the Porsche in
January 2021 during
pandemic-enforced
lockdown,” Paul
explains. “There was
very little rust to speak
of, but as a precaution,
the car was handed
to Riviera Autobody
for full body restoration. The sills,
front wings and both door skins
were replaced due to showing signs
of previous repair. There was a little
rust on the nearside A-pillar and the
kidney bowls were tidied, but overall,
the car was in excellent condition.”
Following stripdown and repair, the
shell was sand-blasted and prepared
for paint. After considering yellow,
the colour Paul settled on was
inspired by a Singer Vehicle Design
variation of blue, which changes in
intensity depending on the angle of
light. A tough roll cage was installed,
heralding the process of reassembly,
albeit with a raft of alterations
to make the car totally ready for
the challenge ahead. Adhering to
strict event regulations, however,
was of paramount importance.
For example, it would have been

AN ELEPHANT RACING LEVEL 2
SAFARI KIT, SELECTED DUE TO
ITS SYMPATHY TO THE 911’S
ORIGINAL CHASSIS SETUP
in Ice Green Metallic and first
registered in October 1975, making it
one of the first galvanised Porsches.
Further assisting in the battle against
corrosion was California’s mostly
warm climate, which the car had

November 2023 111

easy for Paul to elect oversizing of
the car’s 2.7-litre flat-six to three
litres of displacement, but doing
so would have excluded entry into
competitions requiring the basic
specification of the participating
vehicle to remain intact — though
Peking to Paris is the goal, shorter
rallies are likely to be precede
Paul’s participation in the main
event. Essentially, he doesn’t want
to limit his car’s eligibility for any
competition, be it the China-France
enduro or otherwise.
The engine and gearbox were
shipped to Northway Porsche in
Reading, where technician, Paul
Stacey, oversaw strip and rebuild of
the flat-six, while company boss, Ray
Northway, rebuilt the transmission.
“This car now has the smoothest
Type 915 gearbox I’ve ever sampled,”
Paul reviews. “Several enthusiasts
who have driven this car since its
completion have said the same
thing. The work invested in getting
the transmission this good was
extensive, especially considering the
necessity for new ratios due to the
car’s intended use and its giant BF
Goodrich Baja Champion tyres.”
112 November 2023

The rubber carries 215/65 profile
in each corner and necessitated
modification of the wheel arches and
bumper trims to not only fit, but to
allow sufficient travel over uneven
surfaces at speed. As you can see,
the wheels are Fuchs-style sixteeninchers, manufactured by Braid and
sold through independent Porsche
parts retailer, Design 911.
Suspension centres around an
Elephant Racing Level 2 Safari kit,
selected due to its sympathy to the
911’s original chassis setup. A full
coilover conversion would have
brought obvious benefits, but as
already mentioned, Paul didn’t want
to fall foul of strict event regulations
with emphasis on a vehicle’s original
specification. The Elephant Racing
kit includes Von shock inserts, RSRstyle adjustable anti-roll bars, a tyre
rub prevention kit, competition struts,
quick-change strut braces, hollow
torsion bars, a quick-change spring
plate kit, a shock tower and spring
plate reinforcement kit, 911 Turbo tie
rods and various uprated bushings,
including those for the strut top
camber plates, control arms, spring
plates and trailing arms. Speaking of

which, the car’s original suspension
arms were vapour blasted prior to
being reinstalled.
The front and rear exterior crash
bars were individually fabricated
from steel by Jason Bond, a talented
member of the Riviera Autobody
team. The car’s impact bumpers
were modified to enable the gloss
black bars to sit tighter to the
body, thereby allowing installation
without altering vehicle length (yet
another potential consideration for
event scrutineering). Jason also
constructed the exoskeleton fully

Above Underbody
protection is
provided by full
coverage of
aluminium plates
attached to a
custom exoskeleton

911 S

Above and below
In the interests
of satisfying
historic race and
rally regulations
stipulating no
deviation from core
vehicle specification,
Paul has been happy
to leave the flat-six
at its stock 2.7 litres

protecting the underside of the
car by way of aluminium plating.
The ends of the assembly can be
seen extending out to where the
number plates sit and, at the back,
accommodate the tailpipes of a
centre-exit SSI exhaust system
supplied by Dansk.
New synchros were ordered, as
were various gear dog rings and
other parts, including a Quaife ATB
limited-slip differential, but there was
a frustrating three-month delay in
delivery of a new crown wheel and
pinion from Porsche Classic. “The
biggest challenge throughout this
project was waiting on delivery from
various suppliers spread around

the world,” Paul frowns. “I didn’t get
my hands dirty with the build of the
car, but I sourced the majority of
its new parts. I quickly discovered
there was something of a postcode
lottery taking place, meaning it was
difficult to anticipate exactly when
components would arrive, leading to
delays slowing build progress.”
Nevertheless, Paul and Ray were
told to replace any part showing
even the slightest wear — reliability
is the single most important aspect
of endurance racing. After all, before
you can win, you need to finish. “The
engine and gearbox parts alone
totalled almost fifteen thousand
pounds,” Paul shrugs. Among the
bounty were new Mahle pistons and
barrels, all new bearings, fasteners,
renewal of the fuel system, a new air
box and a twin-spark CDI+ ignition kit.
Independent Porsche parts retailer,
Design 911, supplied an oil cooler.
Above the front plate resides a
pair of 911eleven LED headlamps
and frunk-mounted Cibie spotlamps,
essential equipment for rallying.
The overall electrics of the car were
in good order, but a premonition
encouraged Paul to invest in a stateof-the-art Kroon wiring loom. “I was at
Donington watching historic racing,”

he remembers. “All of a sudden, a
beautiful old Ferrari went up in flames
due to an electrical fault. I’d intended
to have my 911’s original wiring
restored, but after seeing the Ferrari
burned to a crisp, the plan changed.”

ELECTRIC DREAMS
Kroon took the car’s additional wiring
needs into account and uprated
power cables to accommodate a
175-amp alternator supplied by
Classic Retrofit. Company director,
Johnny Hart, also recommended
a Classic Retrofit dual-condenser
electric air-conditioning system, as
well as one of the firm’s slimline
fuseboards, both popular items
among today’s 911 backdating and
restomodding fraternities.
On the face of it, air-conditioning
might seem like functionality Safari
specification could do without, but
as Paul describes, “when competing,
I might be in this car every day for
a month or longer.” Comfort was
therefore more of a priority than style
or adding a few grams to kerb weight.
It’s also the reason he invested in
two brand-new Recaro Ergomed
ES seats, boasting elegant looks,
premium quality and all the electric
adjustment options a 911 driver
November 2023 113

could wish for. Furthermore, ES
pews come complete with a climate
package comprising seat heating
and integrated air-conditioning.
James Giddings, owner of
automotive trimming shop, Steer
in Style, was given the job of
transforming the 911’s cabin from
zero to hero. He stripped and
recovered the
seats to match a
bespoke retrim, top
to bottom. Countless
modifications
have contributed
to the stunning
finish, including a
custom rear shelf,
quarter panels and carpets to allow
for the roll cage. The dashboard
incorporates custom panels
integrating the user interface of a
Porsche Classic Communication
Management head unit. Look closely
and you’ll also spot a 997 cup holder
and charging points for every variety
of USB you can think of.
The caramel-coloured
basketweave and matching leather
was supplied by Brian Rasch at
Achtungkraft in Wisconsin and is
used not only in the cockpit, but
also in the frunk. Achtungkraft
also supplied window winders and
replacement steering wheel stalks.
The latter was deemed necessary
after installation of a Design
911-sourced MOMO Prototipo
steering wheel and Snap-Off quick-

release steering wheel hub, the
depth of which made reaching the
standard stalks difficult. Design 911
also supplied a roof rack to allow
transportation of a spare tyre. The
rack was being customised at the
time of our photo shoot.
The door pockets and door mirrors
were provided by Stuttgart Classica,

The more you look around this
911, the more detail pops out.
There’s a leather-trimmed brake fluid
reservoir cap, trimmed seat belt
guides, a WEVO shifter, a storage
pocket where an ashtray once
lived, the centre-mounted fuel filler
(feeding a long-range hundred-litre
tank), not to mention the oil filler
on the offside rear
quarter. This has to
be one of the best
turned-out Safari or
rally-specification
911s we’ve ever
come across.
“Feedback from
Porsche enthusiasts
at the recent anniversary event
at Brands Hatch, as well as the
Fairmile meet at Cobham, was very
encouraging,” Paul grins. “A project
like this is always personal to its
chief architect, but it’s always a relief
when Porsche professionals and
marque experts give your finished
car their seal of approval.”
And why wouldn’t they? His is
a wonderfully presented Safaristyled classic 911 S ready to do
battle in some of the world’s most
challenging driving environments.
That it has been finished to such
a high cosmetic standard is all the
more pleasing. We can’t wait to find
out how it performs in the events
Paul enters in the run-up to his goal
of participating in the Peking to
Paris. Dakar owners take note. CP

THE WORK IS SO GOOD, CUSTOMS
OFFICIALS REFUSED TO BELIEVE
THE STUNNING DASH DIALS WERE
ANYTHING BUT NEW

114 November 2023

as were the beautifully crafted hinges
for the frunk and ducktailed engine
lid. The dash clocks, meanwhile,
were fully rebuilt and backdated with
green faces by Classic Autoclock
in Poland. The work is so good,
customs officials refused to believe
the stunning dash dials were
anything but new. “They were held
in quarantine by Polish authorities,”
Paul sighs. “They refused to believe
these were refurbished old clocks.
Unfortunately, it was an argument I
wasn’t going to win. In the end, it was
less of a headache to simply pay the
tax being demanded of me.”
On the plus side, this refusal to
accept the condition of the parts
as anything but new is fantastic
testament to the high standard of
Classic Autoclock’s work.

Above We’re excited
to see what the
future holds for
this excellently put
together Safari 911

Independent Porsche Specialist
Sales, servicing and repairing Porsches for over 25 years

T: 0118 971 4333 M: 07831 424 911
Workshop: info@northway.co.uk Sales: ray@northway.co.uk

www.northway.co.uk

964 RSR EVOCATION

ON THE RIGHT TRACK
At first glance, it’s difficult to believe this 485bhp 964 Carrera RSR evocation
began life as a classic 911 Turbo with Flachbau styling...
Words Dan Furr Photography Dan Sherwood
oday’s Porsche world is full of
backdates. Indeed, it is rare for an
issue of Classic Porsche to pass
without featuring a 911 remodelled
to look like a much older incarnation
of the Porsche flagship. There was a
time, however, when 911s were being forward-dated.
Typically, a G-programme model would be treated
to a 964 makeover. This might come as a surprise
to younger readers who have only ever heard stories
relating to the 964 being ‘the great unloved’ of the 911
world prior to the model’s relatively recent stratospheric
rise in popularity. As enthusiasts of a certain vintage will
attest, however,
there was a time
the 964 was in
the doldrums.
Its integrated
polyurethane
bumpers
were seen as
complicating
the 911’s clean silhouette, while complaints regarding
increased kerb weight (especially in four-wheel-drive
trim) did nothing to endear the model to so-called
purists. One can only imagine what they’d have made
of the frankly massive 992-generation 911, given
access to a crystal ball.
Not helping matters, 964s were famous for their
oil leaks. Owners may have nervously laughed off
the complaint as a sign their cars were sweating
horsepower, but for many 964 pilots, the cost of
remedial work was a bridge too far for a 911 worth a
fraction of today’s values. As a result, a great many
964s were driven hard without being afforded proper
servicing and maintenance, further contributing to the
model’s reputation as less than desirable.
Things changed when a new generation of
Porschephiles came of age. These enthusiasts were in
their formative years when the 964 was in production.
It was therefore ‘their’ 911 and the Porsche poster car
pinned to their bedroom walls. Naturally, of all 911s, this
was the model they gravitated toward when their life
reached the point P-car ownership turned from dream
to reality. Consequently, the 964 was saved — this
new breed of owner was prepared to lavish time and

money on the 964 where others neglected, contributing
to reappraisal of the model and the beginning of its
extraordinary rise to prominence in the hierarchy of
Porsche’s legacy products.
The 964 Turbo 3.6’s supporting role in the hit Will
Smith movie, Bad Boys, must also be recognised for
the hugely positive impact it had on perception of the
964 (not just the Turbo, but the range as a whole).
Interestingly, by the time of the film’s release on 7th
April 1995, the 964 was long discontinued — the 993
was almost eighteen months into production. We’ve
lost track of the number of Porsche fans who cite the
Speedline-rolling, big-winged wonder as the catalyst for
their love of the
911. More recently,
Singer Vehicle
Design’s decision
to use the 964
platform — more
advanced than the
Carrera 3.2, less
complex than the
993 — as the basis for its ‘reimagining’ of the 911 has
also seen this particular flavour of air-cooled Porsche
find favour, not only among the Porsche faithful, but the
also the wider world of sports car devotees.
What if you were a 964 fan already in possession of a
G-series 911, but didn’t want to trade up? Enter forwarddating. With a bit of fettling, the 964’s bumpers, side
skirts and rear reflector strip can be made to fit an older
911. This update proved popular in the late 1990s and
early 2000s, when negatively impacting the value of a
911 wasn’t a concern — these cars weren’t worth much
back then, remember?!
From time to time, we encounter a G-series survivor
carrying forward-dated bodywork applied in period.
Depending on the quality of execution, the updates
range from not-at-all convincing to a near perfect
facsimile of a 964. The latter is what we have here.
What makes this particular 964 evocation more
interesting than most others is the fact the base 911
wasn’t a Carrera. It was, in fact, a 1985 911 Turbo
(930). Moreover, it was a 930 with Flachbau styling,
thought to be optioned by the original buyer direct from
Porsche’s Sonderwunsch (Special Wishes) department.
A rare thing then and even more so now. Granted, the

HE PREVIOUSLY SERVED AS
DRIVING INSTRUCTOR TO THE
964 OWNERS CLUB AND HAS
COMPETED IN TIME ATTACK

Facing page Originally a
1985 930 with slantnose
front-end, this 911 now
looks every bit a 964 RSR

November 2023 117

935-inspired slant-nose is something
of an acquired taste, but it has its
fans (extremely dedicated fans, in
fact), meaning you’d need to be brave
to delete such a distinctive front-end.
Nevertheless, this is precisely what a
previous owner did to our star car.
As you can tell from our
photographs, it has mutated
significantly since being chopped and
changed from original specification.
We’ve come to acquaint ourselves
with the radiant red track attacker
at the East Midlands headquarters
of premium sports car sales and
restoration specialist, Car-Iconics.
“We took the car in as part exchange
against a BMW M3 CSL,” explains
Daniel Gannon, the company’s
Managing Director. “The Porsche
looked more or less as it does today.
This was back at the start of 2020.
The was no roll cage in the cabin,
but the paint and bodywork was
completed to a high standard and the
3.6-litre M64 engine was already in
place, complete with conversion to
forced induction.”
The car was being prepared for
sale, but Daniel was frustrated by
its inability to run consistently. “For
the most part, it would tick over just
fine, but then I’d find myself sitting at
a set of traffic lights and the engine
118 November 2023

would cut out. My suspicion was that
the ECU calibration was less than
optimal, which is why I booked time
with Wayne Schofield at Chipwizards,
a company specialising in mapping
older Porsche and BMW factoryinstalled ECUs for both competition
use and improved road travel.” The
car had other ideas. Indeed, the
engine cut-out completely en route to
Schofield’s Rossendale base.
Back at Car-Iconics, Daniel began
an inspection to diagnose the fault
and discovered a problem with the
wiring loom. “It was knackered!” he
laughs. “I was relieved to find the
problem lay with the information
being sent to the ECU, rather than
the ECU itself.” Essentially, the tired
and damaged wiring was sending
errant readings to the car’s electronic
brain, causing it to get confused and
shut down. The obvious solution
was to install a new loom, but with a
mapping session on the cards, Daniel
reasoned now would be a good
time to upgrade the turbocharger. “I
began wondering what else I could
do to improve the car with a view to
making it even more focused for the
track,” he smiles.
Daniel has a long and fruitful
history of pedalling Porsches around
race circuits. “When I was seventeen

years old, my father, Stephen, bought
a 964 Carrera RS N/GT from a seller
in Germany. Back then, you could buy
an N/GT for a five-figure sum. In our
family’s ownership, the car was only
driven on the road whenever we were
travelling to or from a racetrack. I
was fortunate to be able to drive that
Porsche hard at some of the world’s
best-loved circuits, including Spa and
the Nürburgring, which I remember
lapping in snow.” All told, Daniel was
familiar with the 964 from an early
age and, thanks to being accustomed
to the model in competition
environments, had a clear idea how
to transform the forward-dated 930
in his custody into a formidable
track weapon.
It should be noted, his experience
at the track isn’t limited to fatherand-son days at the Green Hell.
He previously served as driving
instructor to the 964 Owners Club
and, over the years, has competed
in various BMW championships and
Time Attack, one of today’s most
significant and engaging forms
of motorsport. Originating on the
racetracks of Japan in the 1960s,
it’s a supremely accessible series
— amateur and professional racers
alike are encouraged to participate
on a level playing field, where each

Above Weighing
just 1,050kg and
delivering 485bhp
at a restrained
1bar boost, the car
promised to be a
force to be reckoned
with in Time Attack

964 RSR EVOCATION

Above and below
Daniel stripped
the interior and
equipped it with new
Recaro race seats, a
comprehensive roll
cage and an AIM
digidash data logger

entrant races against the clock
to register the quickest lap in a
production-based car.
Modifications
are openly
encouraged,
resulting in
vehicles exhibiting
extremes of
handling and
performance. In
fact, the Time
Attack rulebook promotes the idea
of running a car to its absolute limit.
This no-holds-barred approach to
racing means engines are often
running on a knife’s edge, while
chassis equipment is put to the
test in the most punishing of
driving environments.

After Time Attack landed in
Britain in 2006, manufacturers and
aftermarket equipment suppliers

car to a raft of upgrades to make it
more competitive, he enlisted the
services of Harvey Gibbs, founder
of Peterboroughbased Supreme Car
Services, lauded as a
leading light in race
car preparation and
engine building. The
name will be known to
anyone familiar with
fast Fords, largely on
account of Harvey’s reputation as
the go-to guy for Sierra and Escort
RS Cosworth upgrades. It should
therefore come as little surprise to
discover Blue Oval parts have made
their way into the 911’s engine bay.
“The old twin-spark distributor
was junked when the new loom
was installed,” Daniel continues.
“Instead, two Mondeo V6 coilpacks
were added, one linked to the flatsix’s lower spark plugs, the other
linked to the upper plugs. This is
a more modern and much more
efficient system. The old ECU was
also dismissed. In its place is a new
Life Racing ECU, giving thoroughly
modern functionality, huge levels of
customisation and the ability to be
configured remotely from anywhere
in the world, which is ideal if the
car is a long way from home and

HUGE LEVELS OF CUSTOMISATION
AND THE ABILITY TO BE
CONFIGURED REMOTELY FROM
ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD
quickly identified the sport’s potential
to become the ideal testing ground
for performance parts. Since then,
the UK’s Time Attack Championship
has grown to become the largest
and most professional series of its
kind anywhere in the world. It attracts
drivers and teams from all over the
British Isles, as well as many who
travel to compete in the competition’s
various categories (chiefly classic,
retro, clubman and extreme) from
overseas. The upshot of this
global interest is an eclectic mix
of modified machinery fascinating
the competition’s thousands of
spectators and online followers.
Daniel harboured a desire to
return to Time Attack and rightly
recognised the RSR-aping 930 as
the perfect tool for the job. Deciding
to go the whole hog and treat the

November 2023 119

adjustments are needed to suit
individual track conditions.”
The turbocharger was fully rebuilt
with modern internals, including new
turbine and compressor wheels.
After the upgrades were completed,
the car was mapped. “It registered
485bhp on the dyno,” Daniel beams.
“This was with a conservative one
bar of boost pressure. Considering
the car weighs only fifty kilos over a
tonne, I came to the conclusion this
level of power is more than sufficient,
even there is the possibility of
extracting more from the engine.”
As mentioned earlier, the
boisterous boxer was already in
place and was equipped with forced
induction by the time Daniel took the
Porsche in part-exchange against
the Bimmer. The unit hasn’t been
rebuilt under his watch. “I couldn’t tell
you the specifics of its mechanical
make-up,” he admits. “It performs
brilliantly and was obviously
configured to take big turbo power,
but, for example, I don’t know which
pistons and connecting rods were
used.” Confirmed by Harvey, the
engine was built to a high standard,
which is just as well, considering
the beating it was likely to get when
competing in Time Attack.
120 November 2023

“While I didn’t dismiss the idea of
selling the car, I also had no problem
with keeping it for my own use,
hence altering specification to suit
my needs and tastes,” Daniel muses.
A bespoke set of split rims were
put together using new BBS barrels
and lips, as well as new magnesium
centres. After stripping the interior
and building it back up with only the
bare essentials, Daniel also invested
in two new FIA-compliant Recaro
race seats, new harnesses and an
AIM digital dash and data logger.
Arguably more extreme than
overhauling a normally aspirated
M64 engine in order to prepare it
for turbocharging was the previous
owner’s decision to cut the rear shell
in order to accommodate the 993’s
subframe-mounted Light, Stable,
Agile (LSA) aluminium multi-link
rear suspension system. Designed
to put an end to the capriciousness
of the 911’s backside, the LSA’s axle
kinematics ensure the host 911’s
suspension compresses significantly
less when accelerating and
cornering, thereby stabilising overall
handling. Having the added benefit
of keeping unsprung weight low, the
system enables lane changes quickly
and safely, even at high speed, with

the added bonus of reduced rolling
noise and vibration. The advantages
for motorsport are obvious.
Surprisingly, this wild-looking
Porsche’s suspension doesn’t centre
on outlandish, infinitely adjustable
coilovers, but instead makes use
of straightforward Koni dampers.
“They’re perfectly adequate,” Daniel
relates. “The car drives absolutely
brilliantly. I saw no need to replace
them.” In contrast, the six-speed G50
gearbox in place has been rebuilt
and was upgraded by Matt Counsell,
owner of Porsche competition car
maintenance and preparation outfit,
Fearnsport. The Getrag unit now
utilises a 991 GT3 RS clutch and

Above Car-Iconics
client, Mark Pollard,
bought the car
it had a chance
to strut its stuff
in a competition
environment

964 RSR EVOCATION

Above and below
Modified Carrera
powerplant and its
conversion to forced
induction were taken
care of before arrival
at Car-Iconics,
although Daniel
commissioned
further upgrades

flywheel, as well as a straight-cut
crown wheel and pinion.
Perhaps the most immediately
apparent change to this reworked
Turbo following its arrival at
Car-Iconics is the presence of a
comprehensive roll cage. Fabricated
at Daniel’s instruction and stretching
from front to rear turrets, the
substantial tubework introduces
welcome safety to proceedings,
as well as significantly increasing
structural rigidity. Assembled by
a company specialising in the
development of drift cars, the
assembly has been built to meet
international FIA regulations.
Superior stopping power is

achieved by way of 993 Carrera
RS-style ‘Big Red’ calipers loaded
with Pagid RSL 29 pads, which are
more than up to the task of bringing
a 1,050kg 911 to a swift halt. There
is no anti-lock braking system, no
power-assisted steering — just a set
of pedals, a steering wheel and the
basic necessities to turn a 911 all the
way up to eleven. Quite the machine,
but how did it fare in Time Attack?
The question has yet to be
answered. You see, early on in the
project, Car-Iconics client, Mark
Pollard, took a keen interest in the
Porsche, so much so that by the time
Daniel finished bringing it up to his
ideal specification, Mark swooped in
and made an offer to take ownership.
“To date, he has enjoyed the car on
a few trackdays, but he hasn’t yet
campaigned it in a race series,” Daniel
confirms. Watch this space.
This point in our story seems like a
good time to outline how Car-Iconics
differs from other traders of premium
marque sports cars. The key is
transparent brokerage. “The company
was established in 2014 by myself
and my father, a serial 911 owner,”
Daniel recalls. “We have personal
experience of garages selling our
cars on a sale-or-return basis, but

we found it difficult to ascertain the
margin a garage would make on each
sale, especially when part-exchanges
were included in the deal. We
concluded sale-or-return is a recipe
for uncertainty. We reasoned there
was a different, more honest way of
operating a car sales business and
put our idea it into practice.”
The method is simple: when CarIconics sells a car, the buyer pays the
vehicle’s owner directly. Separately,
Daniel and Stephen invoice the
seller for the sale’s brokerage and
marketing costs, meaning each party
involved in the transaction knows
exactly what is being paid and who
is receiving the money. There’s no
ambiguity, no risk of mistrust. Sure,
sale-or-return might bring in more
of a commission than the approach
Car-Iconics has adopted (to great
success), but total transparency
promotes a loyal customer base
and has forged the company a welldeserved reputation for complete
honesty in the trade. Of all the unique
selling points a business could wish
for, it doesn’t get any better.
How did the idea come about?
“Dad and I aren’t natural car
salesmen,” Daniel stresses. “Our
background is in the building industry,
November 2023 121

dealing with blue chip companies,
including many of the best-known
home improvement brands. We
noted the level of business acumen
we possess is rarely seen in the
classic car trading
arena and, through
our own experiences
buying and selling
cars, acknowledged
a gap in the market
for a fresh approach.
Ultimately, it comes
down to integrity
above all, a fundamental principle
informing the way we operate and
earning Car-Iconics its position as a
trusted company.”
Reinforcing the point, the firm’s
brand ambassador is Tony O’Keeffe,
former Heritage Communications
Officer at Jaguar Land Rover, a
company he served for more than
forty years. “Tony started out on
the Jaguar production line, working
his way up to executive-level
employment, where he took on
responsibility for the acquisition and
restoration of Jaguar Heritage Trust
exhibits,” Daniel describes. “He found
our open-book approach to classic
car sales very refreshing and turned
down opportunities with far bigger,
more established organisations in
order to come and work with us. We
are very proud to have him onboard.”
Restoration is a relatively new

aspect of the Car-Iconics offering.
“In 2021, we started Revive-Iconics
as a sub-brand of the main business.
We found ourselves preparing
approximately sixty high-end cars for

recreation, 993 Carrera 4S and firstgeneration 991 Turbo S currently in
stock), but with an increasing number
of interesting vehicles from the older
classic market passing through
the firm’s Oakham
workshop doors, it
became clear the
Car-Iconics business
model could be
applied to the sale
of cars of all ages,
hence the recent
forming of another
sub-brand to deal in the buying and
selling of daily drivers. The same
rules will apply: totally transparent
brokerage relating to cars “we would
be happy to own ourselves,” meaning
clean, low-mileage, brilliantly
presented vehicles, but aimed at
young drivers or those looking for
a premium everyday car to run
alongside their cherished weekender.
“Everything from Fiesta STs to Audi
RS6s,”as Daniel puts it.
With rapid expansion of the
business bringing a larger client
base necessitating increased staff
headcount, 2024 is shaping up to be
a busy year for Car-Iconics. We wish
Daniel and Stephen every success.
And Mark, if you’re reading this, let us
know when we can see your fantastic
former Flachbau attacking the
asphalt. We’ll happily provide
the lap timer. CP

THE FIRM’S BRAND AMBASSADOR
IS TONY O’KEEFFE, FORMER
HERITAGE COMMUNICATIONS
OFFICER AT JLR

122 November 2023

sale each year, but we were having
to pay a third-party for some of the
work. It is difficult to be in complete
control when using a subcontractor,
which is a concern when we pride
ourselves on bettering client
expectation. With this in mind, we
founded Revive-Iconics, not only to
take care of servicing, restoration and
preparation of the classic cars we
sell, but also to look after customer
cars. Anybody with a classic or
modern-classic can take advantage
of what’s on offer.” As a case in point,
not long before this issue of Classic
Porsche went to press, the owner of
a 356 commissioned Revive-Classics
to install a fuel injection system.
Originally, Car-Iconics focused on
the buying and selling of modernclassics (typically spanning dates
of manufacture from 1980 to 2015,
evidenced by the 964 Carrera RS

Above Unlike a great
many forward-dated
G-series 911s, the
work converting this
classic 911 Turbo
into a 964 RSR
impersonator is
very well-executed

DANIEL: 07891 010719
STEPHEN: 07834 620589

WWW.CAR-ICONICS.COM
ENQUIRIES@CAR-ICONICS.COM

1997 PORSCHE 993 CARRERA 4S

£99,995

A beautiful example ordered via the Porsche Exclusive Programme, finished in
Ocean Blue Metallic with Classic Grey pleated leather. This 993 has covered 71,000
miles since new by 6 owners and is one of the best examples we have seen. The first
owner of the car was stationed in Germany and ordered his Porsche 993 4S direct
from the factory. The car stayed with him in Germany until he completed his duties
and returned to the UK when the car was less than 3 years old. From the start of the
millennium, the service book proves a continuous UK maintenance record with 22
services and a new clutch and flywheel fitted at 68,703 Miles. The 993 is the last of the
air-cooled 911s.

£99,995

2014 PORSCHE 991.1 TURBO S

This stunning Turbo S is very highly specified, complete with extended leather interior,
consisting of two tone Agate Grey and Pebble Grey leather which work superbly
against the Achatgrau Metallic exterior. The car also has the panoramic glass sunroof,
Burmester sound system, carbon interior package and much more. Having covered
just 11,200 miles from two owners since new, this car has only been driven in good
weather and also benefits from full Porsche main dealer service history. The Turbo S
also comes with a full set of fresh Porsche rated tyres and Porsche extended warranty
until 14/07/2023, so it’s ready to be enjoyed by its next owner.

2017 PORSCHE 991.2 CARRERA 4S CABRIOLET

£74,995

A 991.2 finished in the fantastic colour combination of Carrara White against red
leather and red convertible soft-top, featuring a high specification also.
The car comes with the upgraded Sports Exhaust, PASM Electronic Damper Control,
premium navigation and much more. Additonially, this car has been very well cared
for during its life, featuring full Porsche main dealer service history and has covered
just 28,155 miles from new from 5 owners.

1991 PORSCHE 964 CARRERA RS RECREATION

£79,995

A beautifully built and presented Porsche 964 RS recreation. A no-expense spared
conversion that started as an immaculate 964 C4, which through a painstaking
process has been meticulously morphed into an incredibly capable and enjoyable
911 RS. Inside you will find a bespoke interior that has been carefully planned to give
the perfect combination of an original RS verses a more ‘back date’ feel. This superb
car has covered 60,957 miles from new by 7 owners and is ready to provide a raw
driving experience for its next owner.

1973 PORSCHE 911 2.4 S

£149,995

This Silver metallic 911 2.4S is bodily and mechanically excellent, having been
restored in 2006 and being meticulously maintained since by some of the most
well-respected names within the industry. This included an engine rebuild by
David Sutherland (David is highly regarded for his engine knowhow looking after
Jack Tordoff’s rally 2.7 and 3.0RS in the day). Recently it has been to Nick
Fulljames (one of the most internationally respected engineers for early Porsche
911’s) for an engine and fuel set up. This is just a brief insight into how well the car
has been looked after and has also covered just 2,000 miles since 2015.

@CARICONICS

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CARS FOR SALE

PORSCHE 911

PORSCHE 911

PORSCHE 911

2003, 53000 miles, £24,000.
Lovely 996 soft top c/w hardtop
as well, only 53,000 miles, had the
ims and rms replaced, history with
all its books etc, extended leather
and aluminium interior option,
never failed an mot or had a single
advisory, a lovely 996 C2 Tiptronic
very hard to fi nd one as nice as
mine. Please call 07972756423,
North West.
.116307

1989, £84,995. This car is now an
incredible package, its beautifully
finished and presenting in exceptional
condition with a top quality bodyshell
and paint finish. The original interior
is beautifully presented and well kept,
and on the road this 911 is impressive
with its strong, fit, recently rebuilt
engine, smooth manual transmission
and in typical 911 fashion offers
impressive handling and road
holding. With impressive history,
paperwork and its current condition.
Please call 01944 758000, Yorkshire
and the Humber. (T)

PORSCHE 3400

2012, 66000 miles, £66,000.
Registered in 2012 this Porsche Boxster
S 981 series is fitted with the desirable
PDK 7 speed gearbox. Powered by the
3.4 litre flat 6 cylinder ‘Boxer’ engine, it
is one of the last models available with
this 6 cylinder engine, producing 315
bhp. Finished in Platinum Silver metallic
paintwork with a contrasting black
leather interior, with under 66k miles
this Boxster S presents in superb order
throughout. Please call 07577 575770,
South East. (T)

1996, £125,000. Porsche 911 Carrera
(993) 1996 road/race car, N reg.,
3.6 lt twin turbo, 6 speed gearbox,
turbos recently rebuilt and fuel lines
replaced. Engine 500 bhp (approx.)
Brembo race brakes (road units also
supplied). Gt 2 wide body kit fitted
with 8x10x18” BBS alloys. Welded
custom cage, fire eater system,
air jack system (as per Brit car).
Competed in AEMC and ASEMC sprint
championships and DOMC North
Sports Saloon Championship. Please
call 07860379440, East of England.

113397

112913

PORSCHE 911

119350

PORSCHE 911
1984, £89,995. From 1984 this
911 RS tribute utilised a C16, righthand drive 3.2 Carrera Coupé as its
starting point. Specifically, this was
a healthy well-serviced example
with a good history file. This tribute
car presented here pays homage to
the legendary 1973 2.7 RS, echoing
that famous silhouette very well,
and was professionally built. This
striking car, now reborn, looks just
right in the classic combination
of Grand Prix .Please call 01798
874477, South East. (T)

1988, 66900 miles, £48,995.
Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera Coupe
Sport. Grand Prix white, white Fuchs
forged alloys, white leather interior
(linen), original Blaupunkt London
SQM 37 radio cassette, electric
seats, electric sunroof, rear wiper,
G50 gearbox, rear spoiler. .Please
call 07949105338, Greater London.

116683

118101

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PORSCHE

912
Sales
Service
Resto

revival-cars.com
07768 791802
Keeping the 912 faith

PORSCHE 911

2001, 112000 miles, £42,250.
PORSCHE 911 TURBO FOR SALE.
C16 UK Car, Porsche Exclusive
Manufacture, Manual Transmission,
Non Sunroof, Sports Hardback Seats,
Extensive History. South West.

PORSCHE 924

PORSCHE 928

PORSCHE 944

110000 miles, £29,999. coupe (pre-Smodel). auto, a very desirable car royal
blue leather, full-service history. Please
call 01452 731289, South West.

1990, 123000 miles, £28,500.
Porsche 944Turbo (1990) for Sale.
Built in December 1989, this model
year 1990 Porsche 944Turbo
is being offered for sale. First
registered in August 1991. Please
call 07825 621020, West Midlands.

120448

PORSCHE 912
£4,750. Very Tidy Porsche 924 with
1 years MOT and ready to drive away.
Its only done 53000 miles. Runs and
drives very well. Please call 01875
820527, Scotland. (T)
113125

1969, 100300 miles, £50,000.
Manu. 3/6/69. Porsche col 8A3
reg California Imported Uk 1/5/98.
BGU440G Exported to algarve Portugal
29/10/2008. 2016 Total restoration
began. Back to metal. Photos. Like
original. Twin webbers. 2 batteries
on/off switch. Drilled and vented
disc. Classic/mad. Radio. Please call
00351964768068, Rest of the world.
120121

TO ADVERTISE VISIT:

110220

120639

PORSCHE 944
PORSCHE 944

PORSCHE 928

1990, 72000 miles, £42,000. One of
just 38 right-hand drive and manual
gearbox. Please call 01765 609798,
Yorkshire and the Humber. (T)

1990, 133000 miles, £12,950. 944S2
Cabriolet, Guards red, black interior.
Lovely condition, total 3 owners,
doting last one for 29 years. Every
document for that period. Please call
07711703542, South East.

1989, £13,950. 944 S2 Cabriolet. Lovely
Looking Appreciating Classic in Black
over Cream Leather Interior. Please call
07835 877345 , South West.

117274

113090

110586

WWW.MOTORFREEADS.CO.UK

FOR OVER 35 YEARS

SPECIALIST PORSCHE INSURANCE WITH YOU IN MIND 01480 484839

MOTOR FREE ADS
BESPOKE AUTO TRIM
Classic, vintage & veteran trimmer

 SEATS, DOOR CARDS, HEADLININGS, SIDE SCREENS & CARPET SETS
 LEATHER, VINYL & FABRIC
 BESPOKE RESTOMOD INTERIORS

Call Piers on 07583 247533
Email: onyourway1234@gmail.com
www.bespokeautotrim.com
Based in IVER, Buckinghamshire SLO 9AH

PARTS & MISC.

PORSCHE 944

PORSCHE

46000 miles, £13,950. 944 S 16V
Coupe. Lovely Original Condition
Throughout. Please call 01245204345,
South East. (T)
113141

PORSCHE CAYMAN

£1,500. Porsche Boxter S 18” alloys,
newly refurbished with Bridgestone
Potenza tyres. The tyres have done
less than 1000 miles. Please call
07546 270971 , East Midlands.
119488

PORSCHE 911 /
BOXSTER TURBO
STYLE WHEELS
2010, 67500 miles, £25,000. My
295 bhp, 3.4 Cayman S has more
bang for its buck than any other car
in its price range. People stop and
stare. Colour? absolutely unique. In
terms of upkeep, MOT Aug 2024.
Following on from a 40,000 mile
service by SCS Porsche in Honiton.
Please call 07508001304, South
West.

£595. Very good condition with god
Michelin 225/40 ZR 18 Tyres. PCGB
Member. Please call 07446881808,
East Midlands.

120710

119322

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PORSCHE LEFT OUT TO PASTURE
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