Innehållsförteckning för December 2024 från Classic Porsche

PORSCHE MODERN CLASSICS BOOKAZINE New from the team behind 911 & Porsche World magazine comes this 164-page celebration of the 996- and 997-generation 911s and their Boxster/Cayman 986/987 counterparts. We chart the design and evolution of this hugely popular range of Porsches, going on to examine the long-lasting impact these cars have had on all subsequent Porsche products, not to mention the sports car world as a whole. Along the way, we get behind the wheel of standout models, delve into owner stories, explore ground-breaking engineering and show you what to look out for when on the hunt for an early water-cooled 911 or Boxster/Cayman to call your own. Essential reading for marque enthusiasts, this beautifully presented bookazine comes hot on the heels of our successful Porsche Air-Cooled Classics title…

In 1961, the Porsche factory racing team introduced several new versions of the veteran Type 718 Spyder chassis. They were calculated to get the best results from the model’s existing four-cylinder engine, but also to make room for the Type 771 two-litre edition of the works team’s Grand Prix flat-eight, which was expected to be track-ready that year. Porsche’s new 1961 two-seaters marked the first sharp break with the characteristically rounded Spyder lines established in 1957 with the first RSK. All three were bodied by Wendler in aluminium on modified Type 718 chassis resembling that of the RS 61. One of them, the only open car, was four inches longer in the engine compartment to suit the two-litre eight. The other two were coupes on the standard RS 61 wheelbase.…

Let’s face it, any car surviving from the early or middle of the last century is a bit of a hero. The fact it’s still around shows its owners have valued it enough to keep on top of maintenance and, where deemed necessary, restoration. We were therefore intrigued to discover this 356 B Super 90, which has been returned to as-new condition, albeit with elements of the Outlaw tendency thrown in. WITH THE SUBTLE CHANGES, THIS PORSCHE PRESENTS NOT UNLIKE A SEMI-LIGHTWEIGHT PERIOD RACE OR RALLY CAR Under the circumstances, as-new isn’t quite an accurate description. The original model didn’t come with 550 Spyder seats, lowered suspension, nor a bumper delete. Aesthetic appreciation is a personal thing, and there is an argument bumpers ruin the lines of any self-respecting sports…

It all began with a decision Ferry Porsche would long regret. Beginning in 1970, the familial tensions described by Ferdinand Piëch were thus. “In our family, there’s a kind of unspoken law, whereby Porsche is Stuttgart and Piëch is Salzburg,” he said. Porsches were taking the top jobs in Zuffenhausen and a few Piëchs were heading there, too. In 1971, a new management board convened. It included members of both sides of the family. Created on April 1st 1971, Ferry Porsche was its chairman. Ferdinand Piëch was a member, as was Ferdinand Alexander ‘Butzi’ Porsche. Michael Piëch was added to the management board in charge of administration. The fifth man was to be a neutral party, neither a Porsche nor a Piëch. He was Heinrich ‘Heinz’ Branitzki. ALTHOUGH HE WAS…

Richard von Frankenberg told the story of an industrialist who, on leaving Stuttgart after a heavy air raid in the autumn of 1944, passed a Volkswagen parked high on the city’s periphery, where its houses and industries were spread out below, as in an amphitheatre. Hundreds of fires were visible below pillars of smoke wavering in the wind. Near the Volkswagen, the industrialist recognised Ferdinand Porsche, witnessing the devastation of his adopted city with tears in his eyes. “Must it really be like this?” the engineer murmured, half to himself. “Tell me, is this necessary? Is this war?” ZELL AM SEE, IN THE AMERICAN-RULED ZONE OF AUSTRIA, WAS CORDONED OFF FROM GMÜND IN THE BRITISH ZONE Since 1943, Albert Speer had been urging the Porsche cadre to desert Stuttgart (a…

Admittedly, I am a little distracted. It’s been a bit of a mad day. Editor Furr, being the hard taskmaster that he is, has already had myself and demon lensman, Ade Brannan, despatched to Bicester Heritage to shoot and drive a short-wheelbase 911 S. A first-world problem, I agree, but Furr is insisting we squeeze in another shoot, this time at the Cranfield headquarters of independent classic Porsche sales and restoration specialist, Export 56. It’s always a pleasure — never a chore — to catch up with company founder, Mick Pacey, and his right-hand man (and son), Ben, but traffic has been a bit, y’know, and we’re running later than anticipated. Oh, and what is it we’re driving again? “It’s a 916,” says Mick. And so it is, but not…

During the many years Classic Porsche has been in circulation, we’ve described a fair number of the cars featured in our pages as ‘bitsas’. This is to say bitsa this and bitsa that, where the star car is an amalgamation of various items pilfered from the prolific Porsche parts bin. Before the meteoric rise in value of Stuttgart-crested air-cooled cars, piecing together a Porsche from donor vehicle components was de rigueur — there wasn’t always such high regard for ‘matching numbers’, chiefly because, well, away from sports racers and limited-volume models, there wasn’t much financial interest in such things. One certainly can’t say the same about today’s Porsche marketplace. FRENCH HIGHWAYS LEGISLATION DICTATED DAMAGE BEYOND A SPECIFIC THRESHOLD REQUIRE A FULL RE-BODY Of course, we’re talking about cars pieced together…

Meet Kerry Coverdale and her black 993 Carrera. She’s also the proud owner of a 964 Targa, which we will meet another time. The 993 is a homage to dad Richard’s black 911 Turbo. Did he ever use it to chase villains, perhaps with blue light temporarily clamped to the roof? A bit of Starsky and Hutch going on? “Not that I know of,” she laughs. “He did manage to send it flying backwards through a wall, though.” Ouch. “You can’t grow up with a black 911 Turbo in the family and not get bitten by the Porsche bug, can you? I mean, it was the ultimate poster car back in the day. Dad owned a 944, too. I was his grease monkey. That’s what he called me. I was…