OWNER / Porsche 928

OWNER

Porsche 928 / Dan Curwin

Coming out of lockdown was a relief for all of us classic car owners because it gave us the chance to do what we love again! There’s only so much car tinkering and cleaning and polishing (so dull) one can do.

During lockdown I was invited to Porkers in the Peaks by Pigs Will Fly who I only know through Instagram but I thought “bugger it” their content is

always funny so its gotta be okay and I have never driven those roads and passes in my 928. So with July arriving there was a lot of excitement for this weekend and it didn’t disappoint. There were lots of classic and more modern Porsches, mainly 911s and a few others like a 914, supercharged 924, BMW 2002 and my 928. My car has recently had a big service and is running great and it rose to the challenge perfectly, the roads and company were amazing, the car was great and didn’t miss a beat whilst handling the curves perfectly.

Photo: Paul Davy @goodvolks_magazine

The 928 is very happy on B roads, contrary to popular belief, as long as you have the right set up, a manual gear box and sports suspension helps this and a LSD. A lot of the cars were over 35 years old and its amazing how well they all did. We covered about 170 miles on the Saturday alone and a lot of high octane fuel.

With all the excitement of the weekend in the Peaks over, my car covered in flies and mud has been making a few strange squeaks and noises, but I would as well

after all that exercise! The A/C decided to stop working having been ICE cold, so off I went to Richard Armstrong of Ritech Systems who is the 928 A/C expert in the UK and quickly he realised the Freestat had given up the ghost, luckily he had a spare sitting on the shelf and within an hour it was blowing cold again which given the crazy heatwave recently has been a god send. 928s as most owners know were designed to have AC as the engine sits very far back in the front to give it better weight distribution but the drawback is engine heat! Whilst at Ritech Systems Richard showed me his 928 Series 1 race car which def needs to get back out on track.

With AC sorted I headed up to The Classic Motor Hub to meet Del & Steve from b500 magazine for a photo shoot. It was one of the hottest days on record and the car was great and performed like clockwork…again beautiful roads and amazing cars up there.

Coming up are Boxengasse / Simply Porsche / Sunday Scramble and Rennsport Collective at Stowe School (which will be poignant for me as its my old school).

The 928 will hopefully keep generating smiles for me over the coming months.

Words: Dan Curwin. Photo: Del @b500magazine

Photo: Dan Curwin @928porsche

Photo: Del @b500magazine

AUCTION NEWS

Silverstone Auctions

If you cast your mind back to March, you will recall the Prime Minister declaring that we were going into lockdown as a result of Covid-19. Life as we knew it changed and here, we take a look at how one business transitioned from operating at events, to successfully riding the storm online.

You will be used to seeing classic and competition car specialists, Silverstone

Auctions, at many of the UK’s automotive events including the Silverstone Classic, Race Retro, and the NEC Classic Motor Show. Since the global pandemic hit and events have been unable to go ahead, the UK-based auction house has had two outstanding auctions in a ‘live online’ format.

The first took place in May (89% sold) and more recently, their flagship auction which should have been at Silverstone Circuit, took place over two days on the last weekend of July. Whilst both were hugely successful, the latter was the company’s highest grossing auction ever (£15.8 million) and saw a 77% sales rate. They also believe it to have been the largest auction in Europe to take place behind closed doors this year.

If those stats are not enough, the Silverstone Auctions team also sold their highest value car to date, a righthand drive 1972 Lamborghini Miura

SV, which sold for £1,912,500. Some of the other highlights include a glorious 1965 Citroen DS19M Decapotable (Coachwork by Henri Chapman) which sold for £148,500 and a 1998 Subaru Impreza 22B-STI which sold for £130,500. This small snippet highlights the diverse yet exceptional cars which Silverstone Auctions are consigning and then selling, satisfying both their sellers and buyers.

So what exactly is a live online auction? The main difference is that buyers cannot bid in the room, they can however bid on the phone, online or via a pre-bid. Silverstone Auctions have also been offering viewings by appointment for a much longer time frame in the run up to the auction, where the team can spend time with potential buyers.

The next auction is due to take place at the NEC Classic Motor Show (13 – 15 November) with entries now invited. If the event does not go ahead, they will be able to host the sale as a live online auction.

www.silverstoneauctions.com 01926 691141