The 911 T was the most stripped-down model in the range, and arguably the most pleasurable experience because of it. No excessive luxuries or functionality to take away from a pure driving experience. Read more about this maximally minimalist Porsche and go behinds the scenes during the making of this film at http://petro.li/911TGallery Drive Tastefully® Discover more at http://Petrolicious.com
The story began in a barn nestled in the Northern California countryside. Amidst the fervor surrounding Porsches this year, Dorian Valenzuela, of DV Mechanics, uncovered a Porsche 964 that had been parked, unloved for years, and remained undiscovered by the droves of eager Porsche buyers. In a previous life, the 964 was a dedicated track car.
Les mer her: http://www.stanceworks.com/2015/11/magnus-walker-porsche-964/
Jay meets Rod Emory of Emory Motorsports to hear the story of the restorations of this remarkable racer hailing from the dawn of Porsche’s motorsports tradition.
“That car isn’t just me, it’s all the people I’ve interacted with to get to this place,” says John Benton. “I bought this car at 23 years old, I didn’t have all the answers…My car is the result of all those little journeys, here and there…”
Now, John has his own shop that caters to classic Porsches, but it’s really about how he got to this point—a journey happened in his beloved 912.
“I’ve heard people say that my car is me. You know, when they see it, when they drive in it, they’re like, ‘Man this car’s you, it’s so obvious’,” he says. “That wasn’t my intent, but it’s neat to hear from people—even strangers—you know, ‘you built this car, it’s so obvious’,” he says.
His car had been found, driven, taken apart, repaired, restored, and loved over his many years of ownership, and the 912 really was his companion. “It was my daily driver…and weekend race car…” with modifications to suit both. Now, its heart is a “Very high-revving, twin-spark 1.7-litre, fuel injected 616 motor…” but to list off specs would do a disservice to Benton’s passion for these machines.
“Everything I know put into a car…” he says. The only thing missing is his friend and former business partner, John Coffee, who died earlier this year…but not before completing his opus, a Datsun 240Z prepared for the Peking-To-Paris Rally. “John just hit a home run,” says Benton “…it’s his legacy.”
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“We’ve had Porsches in our family for decades…my father’s had a billion of them, I think,” says Deryck Shakespeare. “But my very first memory [of this car], and my fondest one, is when I put the keys in the ignition and drove it out of my uncle’s garage.”
The story of how this 1978 Porsche 911 Turbo ended up with Shakespeare isn’t typical, but speaks to the bond between enthusiasts. “My uncle was really ill at the time, unfortunately…Yeah, he was going to die, basically…and he rang me up [from] the hospital and said, ‘Look, wondering if you want my car…”
From that ending, a new beginning: Shakespeare’s young son, Elvis, is now able to bond with his father over their shared love for the Turbo. The younger Shakespeare will need some training, though: these cars aren’t for the faint of heart. Only 28 of these were brought into Australia in 1978, but many haven’t survived.
“A lot of people bought these cars…and didn’t come home,” Shakespeare says, “…these cars ended up around poles, ended up around trees, ended up upside-down…and, the technology isn’t in the car to cope with the amount of horsepower, really.”
It’s all worth, it, though, as long as this cherished family car lives into the future.
“You look at the car and you don’t think, ‘Oh gee, it looks old’…” he says. “What you see is a piece of history that will never be repeated.”
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“This car garners attention from everyone,” says Grant Karnes, “and I think it kind of draws everybody in to what Porsche is.”
Owned by a family friend who later sold it to his father, Karnes had known about and lusted after this particular car for years. A Porsche 911 Turbo, otherwise called the “930”, is a car worth lusting after. For a time, it was one of the fastest production cars in the world, and in stock form is still a strong performer. That said, Karnes did see a problem once he got a hold of his dream car.
“It probably hadn’t been driven enough,” he said. “You know, a 930 begs to be driven.”
Driving it in stock form for a while, Karnes eventually decided to lightly, gently modify the car. “Headers, exhaust, wastegate…” and the list goes on. Why?
“I really had two objectives in the project,” Karnes says, “One was to really preserve the originality of the car and its ability to be returned to stock, and the second was that I really wanted to unleash the potential and see what the 930 was.”
For Karnes, the 930 is a car that fits his personal philosophy perfectly. The car isn’t just an iconic shape or startling performance, it’s about how Porsche managed to harmoniously bring those elements together.
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In the fourth generation of a family of coachbuilders, Rosita grew up surrounded in every way by cars, from the Ferraris her mechanic father picked her up from school in, to the toy cars he brought home for his children. Thing is, even though the family worked on primarily Italian cars, her father’s true love was with Porsche.
Fifteen years ago, the family brought home their very first: a 356 Speedster in dire need of a complete restoration. From the beginning, the family wanted to restore it as a race car, because Rosita’s father had always wanted to have a race team. Being masters at shaping metal, the finished car wears a number of unique touches, from the shape of its nose to the fuel filler relocated to the front hood.
Now pressed into service regularly, including tours and rallies, the car has a chance to stretch its legs. A hand-formed aluminum hood and doors, uprated engine, and close-ratio transmission are tasteful modifications that fit the car’s purpose perfectly.
«Many people think that a classic car is meant to be preserved as a memento, but I enjoy using it and experiencing it as much as possible,» Rosita Corato said. «Even if this means coming home with a scrape or a dent here and there.»
It may have taken a few decades, but seeing Rosita pilot the silver Speedster around the countryside is proof that it’s possible for a car to become part of the family.
Living The Porsche – is a Film by Sydney based company, SoDUS Films. The guys from SoDUS followed Grant and the team at AutoHaus for more than 8 months to capture stories here at the workshop, away at the track and from some of our clients. The film was premiered in Sydney, we were there along with 250 of our good friends. The night was a huge success but obviously not everyone could get there to see the work. Here is the full-length version of Living The Porsche and we are proud to share it with you. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Many thanks to the guys at SoDUS films for letting us share it exclusively on the Autohaus channel.