911 & Porsche World issue 211

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October 2011 www.911porscheworld.com

NEW 911 It’s here in the metal.

Full launch details inside

RISING STARS 911 2.0 SWB * 911 SC * 930 Turbo * 964 C2/C4 * 996 GT3 911S ON THE CUSP: GET ONE WHILE YOU STILL CAN

RWB PORSCHE JAPAN PORSCHE CULTURE JAPANESE STYLE

PORSCHE CLUB GB AT 50 THE PORSCHE CLUB THAT WON’T STOP GROWING

PORSCHE 914s AT REIMS

MULTI-COLOURED MID-ENGINED GATHERING

HOW TO: 996 SUSPENSION TUNE PROJECT 996 C4 GETS BILSTEIN SUSPENSION

TURBO, TRACK DAY, 3.8 and 3.7-litre conversions

MODIFIED CAYMANS

£4.50 US$9.99 CANADA $12.95 No.211 www.911porscheworld.com

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RISING STARS

There are some Porsches that have gained hugely in value in recent years, putting them beyond the reach of most of us.

But what’s next on the appreciation scale? These are the five cars that we reckon are on the cusp. Buy one now we say Words: Adam Towler Photography: Antony Fraser

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ooking at the image of these 911s together you’d be forgiven for thinking this was a pretty disparate bunch. A short wheelbase 911 and a 930? A 964 Carrera 4 and a 996 GT3? There doesn’t seem to be much overlapping there.

Nevertheless, although far be it for us to hand out financial advice, backed up by the opinions of those in the trade all of these feel like fairly safe places to put your money – and beyond that, maybe to experience a decent return in a few years’ time. A great number of 911 models have risen terrifically in value through recent years: we set to thinking about which versions, if any, had missed the classic car rush.

Of course, different cars appeal to different people, and anyway, we’re firm believers that you should buy a Porsche to drive first, and to make money from second. The classic car market has become ever-more fixated on the very best examples in recent years, precisely because expensive restoration and running costs can easily eat into a fat profit margin as prices rise across the board. That said, running any 911 can throw up the odd nasty financial surprise, particularly

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if you intend to use the car as its maker intended. This then is our selection.

1968 SWB 911 2.0 Early cars. No point using up words describing why you might want one of these: they’re the original 911 idea, and their aesthetic and dynamic purity can melt even the staunchest anti-911 exponent. The trouble is, if you’re looking for bargains or investments you’ve largely missed the boat. This much your Editor Bennett and I pondered more than just a little bitterly as we waited for this 2-litre car to be photographed.

You remember – 10-15 years ago a decent 2.4 S would only rise above £20,000 if it was the very best available. These days the same car is pushing the £90,000 barrier with probably a little way still to go.

Caught in the back draft of the 2.7 Carrera RS values of every chrome bumper 911 have shot skywards.

More recently a favourable exchange rate meant scruffy pre-74 cars were coming across from the USA for less than £15,000, but again, those circumstances and that supply of cars has largely dried up.

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NEXT BIG THING BUYERS’ GUIDE So, are there any bargains left in the pre-impact bumper world? We spoke to a range of specialists before conducting this feature and the response was lukewarm at best. Even the ‘T’, the entry-level model in this era and possessing a fairly meagre power output (although that shouldn’t put you off) has transcended what it was once worth. Moreover, cars of this era need to be bought on condition more than anything else, unless, that is, you’re prepared to spend an awful lot of money on restoration costs. That can make a superbly presented ‘T’ more appealing than a rotten example of its more illustrious bigger brothers.

Nevertheless, if you look hard enough there are a few decent deals on the periphery. One possible area is with the pre-1969 model year cars. The defining characteristic of these early 911s is the shorter wheelbase, easily spotted by the reduced gap between the end of the chassis tube and the rear wheel arch.

A lot of SWB models have been converted into race and rally cars for historic competition, but this later car we have here has survived as a road car – albeit one lightly modified for fast road/track work. Yes, the ‘S’ badge is a bit of a misnomer, for it is in fact a standard 2-litre engine, but for a reasonable £26,000 this ex-American car offers a lot of one very important commodity: fun.

If nothing else, it looks absolutely brilliant: as if it’s turned the wrong way off the Targa Florio course; then there’s the noise, a metallic thrap that drifts over Salisbury Plain as we watch the car approach. And the best bit is that it’s simply hugely enjoyable to drive: very light, delicate, responsive, and no doubt requiring skill and commitment to drive quickly thanks to the shorter wheelbase.

Porsche specialist dealer Paul Stephens has now sold this car, but its new owner is surely going to enjoy it greatly.

1977 911 SC The dear old SC has usually had a rough time of it.

Conceived as a run-out model for the 911 – which Porsche believed would soon be replaced by the 928 – it consolidated all the period 911 qualities into one stoic all rounder. The three-litre engine from the Carrera 3.0 was retained (and shared with the Turbo) but was de-tuned for flexibility and the ability to run on poorer quality fuels, while a Sport kit featuring the whale tail, Fuchs and sport seats was an option in the UK. Later cars have more power, primarily due to the new management in period having a volte-face on the future of the 911.

SCs are tough, honest cars, but perhaps because of that very usability and dependability they’ve perennially been seen as the ‘starter 911’. Ubiquity has played its part in suppressing values too, along with performance that, in truth, is not explosive by modern standards. In addition, it’s only in recent years that the impact bumper cars have attracted quite the same following in the historic arena as the chrome bumper lot.

The net effect of all this has been the undignified end of many an SC. They’ve often been bought second hand by an owner that couldn’t really afford the maintenance, and as such many have fallen into disrepair, particularly as they take abuse and neglect well – for a while. The difficulty with a 911 like the SC is that its restoration costs are little different than that of a 2.7 Carrera RS – but the finished article is worth just a fraction of the price. Restoring an SC for the sake of retaining a straightforward SC, well, that really needs to be a labour of love. In addition, many have donated their ‘shells to the creation of an early 911 replica, typically the 2.7 RS. All of which is a shame when you take this car as an example. We know it well, for it has appeared in this magazine on at least two occasions in recent years,

An odd bunch? Well collectively there’s little to link them except for the fact that we and others reckon each one of these cars is about ready to rise in value, just as the pre ‘74 cars and the 3.2 Carrera and 993 have in recent years

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Words: Johnny Tipler Photography: Antony Fraser

SACRÉ BLUR

From all over Europe, hoards of 914s converge on Reims’ former GP circuit for a blast on the hallowed blacktop

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he back end of the 914/6 squats down, there’s a snarl as its driver blips the throttle, and like a scalded cat it blares off down the pit straight, shamelessly showing off to its assembled siblings. It’s like Tom Cruise in Top Gun buzzing the control tower after a successful sortie. Except this one’s German, and, spectacular as it is, the organisers are not impressed. Partly because, these days, Reims’ pit straight, once the scene of frantic mechanical activity during the French Grand Prix, is a two-lane public highway, and also because we have 85 sister cars lined up here, their owners chatting and wandering awestruck among the relics.

Welcome to the tenth annual gathering of the international 914 clan. It’s a pleasant surprise to see so many in one place. Hosted by Jean-Paul Grimbert, president of the Vincennes-based Porsche Club 914 France, the theme is ‘70s – prompting a rash of Afros,

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flares and Elton John stack heels. In the past decade they’ve boogied down to Barcelona and the Costa Brava, and swung over to Switzerland under the auspices of the national 914 club, and last year PCGB staged the event at Symond’s Yat in South Wales, staying at Porschephile Paul Howells’ Royal Lodge Hotel on the banks of the River Wye. Two or three hours southeast of Calais, Reims is convenient for Northern European owners who make up the majority here. The retinue is billeted at a posh hotel in Épernay, a couple of dozen clicks away in the terraced hills of champagne country, but Snapper Buddy and I are bent on savouring the atmosphere so we camp in the old paddock behind the pits. We dine at La Garenne restaurant by the old Thillois hairpin and repair to our spooky billet. Ghosts! There must be loads, given the throngs milling about here on race day, 50, 60 years ago, not to mention a few fatalities like

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914S AT REIMS

A rainbow colour collection of 914s captured on snapper Fraser’s fish eye lense. It’s a glorious sight and an instant reminder of the '70s when colour was encouraged. Imagine what an equivalent collection of Boxsters or Caymans would look like today? Reims backdrop is wonderful too

Ferrari ace Luigi Musso, killed just up the road at Gueux in the 1958 GP in a fruitless chase of Mike Hawthorn.

But there’s no waft of Castrol R vapours; just the soundtrack of thundering camions. In its heyday Reims circuit was a kite-shaped triangle forming an 8.347 km (5.187 miles) lap, its long straights punctuated by a couple of tight hairpins and some demanding curves.

The lap record was left at 2m 11.3s, 145mph, by Ferrari’s Lorenzo Bandini in 1966. Half the circuit layout is still discernible, including the pits straight and a series of corners that sweep past the village of Gueux – through which, amazingly, the pre-1954 circuit actually looped – though the longest straight, downhill from Muizon to Thillois hairpin, has been buried by autoroute. Like redundant churches, the grandstands, control tower, pits and timekeepers’ booth stand sentinel to the shades of Grands Prix, F2 and international 12-hour sportscar races long past. In use

between 1926 and 1972 and hosting the French Grand Prix (alternating with Rouen and Clermont Ferrand occasionally) from 1948 to 1966, memorable F1 battles included Mike Hawthorn’s Ferrari 500 beating JuanManuel Fangio’s Maserati A6GCM by a whisker in 1953, the lead having changed on every corner of the 60 lap race; and in 1954, Fangio and team-mate Karl Kling going neck-and-neck for 60 laps of this slipstreamer’s paradise in their works Mercedes-Benz W196s – till the last lap, when team orders bade Fangio take the win.

Then in ‘61, Dan Gurney in the works Porsche 718 had to settle for 2nd to Giancarlo Baghetti’s Ferrari 156 in the split-second slipstreaming surge for the finish line.

In the 12-Hours international sports car races, Jaguar enjoyed a string of wins, including Stirling Moss in 1953 and Duncan Hamilton in ‘56, while Porsches were regular class winners till the event was abandoned in 1966. Reims also put on the Grand Prix de La Marne,

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FASTER CAYMANS

Porsche’s focussed mid-engined Cayman lends itself to the art of modifying more than the 911. We gather a turbo, two big capacity conversions and a tweaked 3.4-litre car for a tuned showdown Words: Adam Towler Photography: Antony Fraser

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MODIFIED CAYMAN GROUP TEST

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his year we finally got our go-faster Cayman from the factory. Just as this generation of the Cayman is coming to the end of its life, Porsche unveiled the Cayman R, and like seemingly everything associated with this coupe it was controversial.

Just why should that be with this car? Everything, from its styling, to its market positioning, its performance and its pricing, the Cayman has always generated heated opinion and debate. With the R it was whether a sacred badge from Porsche’s distant past was really appropriate for a car with only a modest power hike and a minor weight loss. Either way, in due course we found out that the R was a good deal more than the sum of its parts, and one of the most

rewarding cars in the Porsche range, let alone sports cars on sale today.

Still, there is a great deal more you can do to make a Cayman go faster, so we’ve assembled a group here to show some of the possibilities of what can be done.

Two of these cars we’ve featured before, the Autofarm 3.7 ‘RS’ and the Parr Motorsport Cayman Turbo, while we’ve added into the mix a M97 3.8 Carrera S engined Cayman and a Gen 1 Cayman S with a host of add-on modifications. We nearly managed to get a supercharged car along for the day, in which case we’d have had one of every kind of performance enhancer possible: engine enlargement, turbocharger, engineswap and supercharger! Nevertheless, the variety on offer is intriguing all the same.

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Words and pictures: Dino Dalle Carbonare

D L R O W H G U RO

Welcome to the drift inspired world of Japanese Porsche tuning and culture and meet main man Nakai-san at Rauh Welt Begriff. This is different, this will change Euro Porsche tuning. You read it here first 36

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RWB PORSCHE JAPAN

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o fully comprehend the cars you see in these pages you have to completely drop any type of prejudice. Purists may shudder seeing such extreme transformations carried out on models they know and love, but passing judgment at this point would hinder any attempt at grasping the essence of the cars Nakai-san at Rauh Welt Begriff (RWB) creates. In the nine short years the little body shop in rural Chiba has been in business it has managed to make a name for itself, reaching nothing short of a cult status thanks to the wide reaches of the internet. These extreme wide body conversions have become as much a part of the Japanese car culture as things like drifting, but to get a true insight into what Rough Welt is all about we spent a very enlightening afternoon with the man himself.

Nakai is a man of vision and insight; traits you can instantly feel during the first few minutes you spend with him. Like an eccentric artist he is deeply focused on what he creates to an almost maniacal level. His creativity is an expression of his need to build cars with a never before seen amount of visual impact, a presence that will stop onlookers dead on their feet.

He approaches every project as a challenge to create the best possible match to the customer, which is why before he even gets started there is a sort of interview period. Much like a doctor and his patient, Nakai tries to get an insight into the character of the owner, finding his interests and of course understanding how the car will be used. He even keeps a chart for every project, where he jots down ideas or sketches.

Entrusting your pride and joy with Rauh Welt assures that your car is dealt with more like it was an object of art than a regular car. Nakai almost always sleeps in his workshop, like an artist he is never too far from his creations if a sudden wave of inspiration was to hit. He tells us he prefers to work at night, the perfect time

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