Indholdsfortegnelse for May/June 2025 i Classic Porsche

Regular readers will know we were recently blessed to have Goodwood Motor Circuit to ourselves in order to test some of the rarest air-cooled Porsches in existence — a genuine works 914/6 GT and the first right-hand drive 356 Carrera GS were among the star cars we got to play with at the famous Chichester motorsport venue. We shared our experience of seat time in these classic Porsches in previous issues of this magazine, but we were holding off publishing our account of time in charge one particular Porsche until now. The car in question is the genuine 911 S/T featured on the cover of this very issue of Classic Porsche. A remarkable survivor from a limited run of vehicles pre-dating arrival of the Carrera RS 2.7, this lightweight 2.5-litre…

Stephen Radcliffe pauses for a moment, then gives his verdict. “I have to say,” he begins, his broad Yorkshire accent leaving no ambiguity regarding which part of the world he hails from, “the 964 was never really a particularly good race car, especially when you compare it to the abilities of its successor, the 993.” This is an intriguing observation from somebody who not only has bucketloads of experience campaigning Porsches in the fiery crucible of motorsport, but was also dead set on upgrading his 964 Carrera 2 into specification matching that of same-age Cup cars. He bought the air-cooled classic in January 2006, but began competing with Porsches more than a decade earlier. “I raced a Carrera RS 2.7 back in 1992. The car was prepared and run by…

Lockdowns brought about by COVID-19 fuelled a somewhat unexpected boom in the automotive aftermarket. Mainstream media suggested the bottom would fall out of the classic and modern-classic car scene due to owner inability to hit the road, commentators going on to hypothesise cherished four-wheelers would suddenly become little more than expensive ornaments. This analysis of the situation turned out to be extraordinarily wide of the mark — demand for cool older cars reached new highs, while the value of premium marque legacy models, such as air-cooled Porsches, shifted far beyond price rises observed in the wake of the Great Recession, another global event naysayers suggested would call time on the inflated values of retro rides. The fortunes of automotive parts manufacturers and retailers, many of whom feared catastrophic consequences for…

Picture the scene. You’re walking the mean streets of London and a safari-specification 911 passes by. You’re likely to gesticulate in astonishment or feel complete indifference. Well, this is London, after all. It’s the city where anything can happen and, let’s face it, usually does. Why should a jacked-up 911 rolling on all-terrain tyres, sporting bull bars and a roof-mounted LED lightbar seem out of the ordinary in this traffic-heavy capital, where people think nothing of driving brand-new Lamborghinis and Ferraris, despite mandated twenty-miles-per-hour speed restrictions and the very real possibility of total gridlock. If you’re of the former camp, you’ll probably stop in your tracks and ask why somebody driving in London needs what looks like a desert dweller. Total overkill, right? Well, maybe, but considering the state of…

This particular 930 is much more than a 911 Turbo. It should be noted, we don’t always go a bundle on celeb-owned Porsches, 930 or otherwise. Even so, it’s true to say air-cooled 911s have proved consistently popular with pop and rock groups over the years. As a case in point, I once saw the Bros bros, Matt and Luke Goss, cruising in identical Guards Red 911 Turbos through London. There are others, too. The boys from Spandau Ballet? Check. Cliff Richard? Check. As regular readers will know, we recently featured the impressive collection of old and new Porsches owned by Def Leppard guitarist, Vivian Campbell. Heavy metal glamsters, Judas Priest, even recorded a tribute to the classic 911 on their 1986 album, Turbo. The song is named Turbo Lover…

COMPLETE YOUR COLLECTION OF Classic PORSCHE ORDER BACK ISSUES AT bit.ly/issuescp BARELY USED ‘YELLOWBIRD’ SETS WORLD RECORD AT AUCTION FOR RUF SALES As reported last month, Gooding & Company announced a stupendous line-up of lots for its Amelia Island sale, including some of the most influential sports cars manufactured. A 1997 Adriatic Blue RUF CTR2, a 1988 959 Komfort and a 1964 904 were all offered at the company’s highly anticipated event (held at the Omni Amelia Island Resort across 6th and 7th March), as was the 1989 RUF CTR seen here. In isolation, the sales figures reached for the Porsches we’ve just mentioned ($2,645,000 for the RUF CTR2, $2,205,000 for the 959 Komfort and the same figure for the 904, which featured in the news pages of the April…

Another day, another 911-based restomod, hot rod, retromod or backdate. Call them what you will. Of course, Porsches aren’t the only cars subjected to personalisation, but you could be forgiven for thinking so, such is the prevalence of altered air-cooled classics. Why, then, does the 911 lend itself so well? Well, think cult appeal, motorsport heritage, Porsche’s own mix-and-match parts bin, not to mention a healthy aftermarket of tuning and styling components. Plus, of course, a ready supply of donor cars, thanks to the 911’s sixty-plus years in production. That said, the early, mainly pre-1974 cars are now considered sacrosanct when it comes to modifying. They are already uber-classic and carry financial value very likely wiped out if they went under the knife. The sweet spot is with the later…