10 minute read
LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE
Eric Lipper's Lightning in a Bottle
A 930 restoration converts a new member
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WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY ERIC LIPPER
On November 25, 1987, a man named JH Wessels walked into Pensacola Imports in Pensacola, Florida with the intent to purchase a new Guards Red 1987 Porsche 930 Turbo. Although the car had a sticker of $63,295, Mr. Wessels negotiated a price of $55,500 for the car and traded his nearly new 1987 Porsche 928 S4 as part payment. Mr. Wessels was extremely meticulous at keeping every piece of paper associated with the purchase of his 930 Turbo and even kept the plastic wrap that covered the seats and the bubble wrap that encased the owner’s manual on the dealership shelves. Clearly Mr. Wessels loved this car during his ownership, and he showed it in a variety of local car shows as evidenced by a series of photos and trophies now in my possession.
Unfortunately, by 2013, it came time for the Wessels family to part with their cherished 930 and a local car dealer listed the car for sale. When the buyers were not flocking to the 26-year-old car the decision was made to list it on a website that had just announced it was going to start an auction format in competition with Ebay. This new auction site was called Bring a Trailer Auctions which, to that point, had been only a classified site connecting buyers and sellers of mostly project cars. They promised a new concept called a “curated format” where BaT wrote the copy and arranged the photographs to promote the cars. Shortly after BaT went live in its Beta mode this car became one of the earliest cars that moved through that site. The sales price was extraordinarily fair in large part because the site was still in its infancy. Today cars sell on BaT at a huge premium but it was certainly not that way in the beginning.
When the car arrived, it was in unbelievable condition and surely not something that would typically have been on an auction site. It was so original that it sat on 1987 tires, had a 1987 dated battery, and included loads of paperwork that elevated its provenance. The paint was perfect with hardly a defect to be found anywhere. The plastics were unfaded and the leather interior had no blemishes and not even the slightest hint of wear in the seat bolster. On top of her excellent condition the car came with additional items that contributed to her “lightning in a bottle” uniqueness:
Although I expected this, the other bonus was that the car ran and drove in exactly the manner you would expect for a super low mileage 930.
1 Factory wheel locks with the plastic covers to protect the lock cylinders
2 A factory car cover with the receipt for its purchase
3 The original (circa 1987) Porsche leather cases for each set of keys
4 The paper Porsche tags from the Porsche parts department for the leather pouches
5 All service records
6 A Porsche branded cassette tape explaining the features of the car
7 The salesman’s business card
8 Unmolested stickers in the engine compartment
9 A complete and original accessory kit in the frunk including gloves, the plastic frunk liner, the tool set, and the tire inflator
10 A complete set of Porsche service manuals
I own a bunch of hobby cars and perform a wide variety of maintenance tasks on them myself. So by having a reasonable mechanical aptitude in the garage there have been a variety of car “projects” that I have successfully tackled in my spare time.
Although it was intimidating because I had never worked on a Porsche before, I kept telling myself that it is just a car and that I should just take my time. I am a multi-brand collector with a lot of experience working on cars from Maranello so why not try working on a Porsche? I found great resources on the Internet, YouTube and with Pelican Parts. I also retained my sanity when wrenching by following the Porsche service manuals, which I found to be surprisingly well written.
The most difficult Porsche project was removing the insulating blanket on the firewall in the forward area of the engine compartment. I tried to preserve the blanket but it was just not meant to be as it was shedding on every drive both making a mess and potentially leaving pieces to be sucked into the engine intake.
One particularly rewarding project entailed removing the valve covers, adjusting the valve clearances, and replacing various seals and hoses. I also tackled replacing the fuel pump that was operational but sounded like it had inhaled a bunch of rocks.
And just to fully indoctrinate me to the Porsche brand, I broke a bolt during one my Porsche maintenance tasks but successfully extracted it after a bit of cussing. Most recently, I had the underside of the car dry ice blasted by Texas Polar Jet here in Houston and the results of that process were amazing. This car is probably the cleanest non-trailer queen out there.
I now have 16,000 miles on the car and drive her only on sunny days because I am now preserving a piece of rolling history. I recently brought her to the show at the Kemah Boardwalk and, I am embarrassed to say, it was the first thing that I did with the Lone Star Club. I quickly realized the difference between this club and the one celebrating the cars from Maranello and it can be said like this: Ferrari guys battle for whose cars have the lowest miles and Porsche guys battle for whose cars have climbed Pike’s Peak. I can tell you that I would have no hesitation driving the 930 Turbo anywhere (except perhaps Pike’s Peak) but I would think twice before I left 77027 in the Prancing Horse. I have now started attending the various Lone Star events and hope to see you at one soon. J
WHEELS & WARBIRDS
WHEELS & WARBIRDS
WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY ALEX BESZTERDA
The line of Porsches stretched far into the distance before holding the morning safety debrief at the gates of West Houston Airport, which lead to the hangers of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) – Houston Wing. This was Warbird Weekend and the Lone Star Region Porsche Club members were eager to see the historic bombers, fighter planes, and combat vehicles on display.
Warbird Weekend, held on April 30th and May 1st this year, is an open house event and mini-airshow presenting some of the finest vintage military aircraft in the world. Several car clubs support the Houston Wing CAF including the Porsche club, which hosted the car show this year alongside the incredible aircraft being showcased. The really cool vintage warplanes parked next to LSRPCA members’ Porsches presented some truly unique photo opportunities.
But why display modern and classic Porsche cars next to vintage airplanes? Interestingly, there is a connection between Porsche and aviation that stretches back before the start of the sports car brand. Ferdinand Porsche, early in his career as a technical director at Daimler-Motoren-Gessellschaft, designed a four-cylinder engine for a gas-balloon airship and even after Porsche started his own company he continued to develop new aircraft engines. Notably after his passing, Porsche designed the Type 678 engine, the first German post-war aircraft engine, based largely on the 356 automobile engines. Porsche aircraft engines were the power plant for several airplanes throughout the 1980’s such as the Cessna 182, and the Porsche PFM 3200 aircraft engine still enjoys cult status among sport pilots today.
For the LSRPCA members, the event started as a parade style procession with car photos taken in front of two World War II bombers (thanks to the photo skills of Porsche club member Zerin Dube and Houston Wing CAF event photographer Kevin Hong). The co-headliner bombers featured were the iconic B-17 Flying Fortress Texas Raiders and the B-25 PBJ-1J Devil Dog.
The B-17 Flying Fortress was a four-engine heavy bomber developed in the 1930’s and used extensively in the daylight strategic bombing campaigns of World War II. First restored by volunteers of the CAF in the 1960’s (as a memorial to Texas aviators who served), Texas Raiders is one of only 5 remaining active flying B-17s out of 12,731 that were made and is one of the most widely recognized and famous Flying Fortresses on the airshow circuit today. Currently the Texas Raiders is cared for by the Gulf Coast Wing of the CAF out at the Conroe/North Houston Regional Airport.
The PBJ, as the B-25 was designated when used by the US Marine Corps, was used for “night-heckling”, anti-shipping missions or close air support of beachheads and landings during World War II. Based on the B-25 Mitchell medium range bomber the Marine Corps’ PBJs flew mostly low altitude missions, thus the standard glass of the nosecone/bombardier position was unnecessary and replaced with a solid nose armed with up to 8 x .50 caliber machine guns. The Devil Dog is based out of Georgetown, Texas and cared for by Devil Dog Squadron of the CAF.
Apart from the bombers, another crowd favorite was the P-51D Mustang fighter plane Glamorous Glen III. The P-51 Mustang was primarily a long-range escort fighter and also a ground attack fighterbomber, participating in World War II and the Korean War. The fast and sleek fighter plane certainly looked glamorous, especially next to what could be described as a Porsche fighter jet on wheels, the black Porsche 918 Spyder. Though this year’s Warbird Weekend preceded the release of the blockbuster movie Top Gun, Maverick, fans perhaps knew from the trailer that a P-51 and a Porsche 911S make appearances in that movie.
The Warbird Weekend also featured live history re-enactors from the 6th Cavalry dressed in authentic uniforms and driving period ground vehicles while local vocal artist Maria Thorne sang Big Band standards of the 1940s. There was also a stunning commemorative fly-by which included the missing man formation. Though the day was hot, this was truly a fun and unique event for the LSRPCA to be a part of. A BIG thank you goes out to the Houston Wing CAF (www.houstonwing.org) for hosting the Porsche club and to all the volunteers and organizers that made this event possible.
Check out more info on the B17 Texas Raiders at www.b17texasraiders.org and the B-25 PBJ Devil Dog at www.devildogsquadron.com J
