Innehållsförteckning för No. 142 från Total 911

Two continents, one passion Dear Sir, First of all, congratulations to Lee for the purchase of his first Porsche 911; hopefully it’s not your last. I always wanted to write a short passage on my yearning to have a 911 and thought, why not? My story and dream starts off somewhere in 1984 in a small town called Umtata on the east coast of South Africa. A good friend of my parents popped by for a quick visit to present his newly purchased red 930. I was around 12 years old then. The closest to a Porsche I had ever been was via the posters on my bedroom wall. After he took me for a spin, I knew that one day a Porsche would adorn my driveway. Fast forward to…

The financial cost to Porsche with the 959 might have been punishing, but the legacy it created would permeate through the company for many decades. Technologically, the 959 created a seismic shift in the sports and supercar marketplace that would see rivals take years to catch up. Its resonance is obvious today, and the 959’s legacy would be immediate too, the 964-generation being the first 911 to benefit from the advances it introduced. Four-wheel drive offered on the standard Carrera line-up, along with power steering and ABS, was offered in 1989. All 964s would benefit from the suspension revisions that the Carrera 4’s four-wheel drive necessitated, with the front and rear torsion bar setup from the previous 3.2 binned in favour of MacPherson struts at the front, with concentric coil…

“Don’t rule out a car that’s seen regular track action – it is, after all, what the GT3 was made for – but scrupulous maintenance is important here” When Porsche was looking to homologate the Neunelfer for the GT3 endurance racing category, it turned to the first water-cooled generation in the 996. As the first model to carry the now famous badge on its decklid, the first-generation 996 arrived in 1999 sporting a 360bhp, 3.6-litre flat six and a healthy dose of motorsport attitude. What interests us here, though, is the Gen2 model launched in 2003, which boasted a raft of changes, not to mention more power. And, with desirability guaranteed, it’s time to find out what you need to know before taking the plunge. It’s worth starting with that…

Brexit’. You were probably hoping that Total 911 would provide you with some respite from news of the UK’s decision – via public referendum – to leave the European Union. However, as a car designed and made inside the EU, the result had left us wondering if the Porsche 911 (on both new and used markets) would feel the effects of the UK’s decision. “There’s an element of uncertainty but it feels, on the ground, like it’s business as usual,” explains Karl Meyer, Business Manager of Porsche Bournemouth. It’s a viewpoint shared by RPM Technik’s Commercial Director, Darren Anderson: “Our general feeling is that it shouldn’t have a dramatic impact on the pricing,” he says, explaining that in the short to medium term, values shouldn’t fall as “the cars, on…

Essential info LOCATION:Wicklow Mountains COORDINATES: 53.105715, -6.338956 TOTAL LENGTH OF DRIVE: 25.1 miles POINTS OF INTEREST: Powerscourt waterfall, the tallest waterfall in Ireland; former Glencree Barracks; Glendalough lake FOOD AND ACCOMMODATION: Avon Ri Lakeshore Resort, www.avonri.com; County Store and Café Timbertrove, +353 (0)149 31034; Rathsallagh House Hotel and Golf Club, www.rathsallagh.com; Mountain View Lodge B&B, www.wicklowlodge.com When it comes to great driving roads, you’ll be spoilt for choice in Ireland. We’ve previously explored routes along the majestic Wild Atlantic Way on the west coast, but the east is not short of beautifully twisting Tarmac either. In fact, our latest find is a direct offshoot from the M50, a busy motorway surrounding Dublin. The R115, known as Old Military Road, winds south from Dublin’s doorstep, sprawling right through the heart of…

Porsche Exclusive’s latest limited edition Porsche 911 project was unveiled on the Friday before this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Porsche 911 Endurance Racing Edition has been built to celebrate Stuttgart’s various successes in long distance sports car racing, successes in which the 911 has played an integral role. Based on the second-generation Porsche 991 Carrera S, the Endurance Racing Edition 911 has been loaded as standard with Porsche’s most sporting options, including Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC), helping to preload the anti-roll bars front and rear. The system works together with Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) and the Sports chassis – the latter lowering the car by 20mm from standard – to provide a driving characteristic suitable for the motorsport moniker. The Sport Chrono package, complete with…

Auction results last month provided further evidence that the Porsche 911 market is continuing to slow down, as only one Porsche 911 at Classic Car Auctions’ latest sale managed to exceed its upper estimate. While the likes of RM Sotheby’s and Gooding concentrate on blue chip collectors’ cars, CCA – a sister sales concern to Silverstone Auctions – focuses primarily on more affordable offerings, and its June sale showed that the 911 market is at its most affordable for a number of years. Of the six Porsche 911s on offer at the CCA sale, only the 997.1 Turbo exceeded its upper estimate, selling for £33,880 ($50,000). Bucking the recent trend for inflated Turbo prices though, a 1978 Porsche 930 3.3 with a price estimate of £40,000-£45,000 failed to make its…

1 Numero41 T-shirt £35.95 Named after the famous canyon road in the Hollywood Hills in California, there are few fashion brands with a greater passion for Porsche’s racing heritage than Mulholland Racer. And its range of ‘Classics’ T-shirts is a case in point. From the ‘Pink Pig’ 917 to the Kremer Brothers design, each shirt pays homage to a Weissach icon and features the original artwork. This particular design, named Numero41, celebrates the no. 41 Kremer 935’s famous victory at the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans. www.mulhollandracer.com 2 Bell 500-TX Classic helmet From €400 Full-face helmets may now be ubiquitous in the paddock but, before 1968, open-face was the only option available, with Bell’s iconic 500-TX the most popular choice. As part of their Classic range, Bell has remanufactured…

It’s hard to believe the Porsche 959 is three decades old. Endowed with truly effortless performance and elegantly styled, it’s the original Porsche supercar (if you think modest of the 930 Turbo), a pioneering machine that has captured the imaginations of car enthusiasts across the globe ever since – and, as we shall find out, mapped significant chapters of the 911’s own evolutionary journey. Although there is conjecture to the contrary, the 959 is a close relation of the 911 at the very least. With a flat-six engine positioned past the rear axle, its layout is, crucially, the same, and even a quick look around the car will uncover various styling cues from Neunelfers of the time and thereafter. Consider it a Porsche 911 on steroids, then; a relative heavyweight…

I have driven a Le Mans racer on a public road. Now, there’s a sentence I thought I’d never write. Having said that, if there is a manufacturer that has built race cars that can, with some effort, be road registered, it’s Porsche. Let’s start at the beginning of this incredible story. This 1973 Porsche 2.8 RSR (chassis number 911 360 0636) has a rather illustrious racing history. Tipping the scales in full race trim at just 917kg, it was built in February 1973 and delivered to Max Moritz Racing a month later. During the following few years the car had a busy racing schedule: in May ’73 it qualified tenth for the Targa Florio, but unfortunately it did not finish the event following a crash. In June it was…

If you happened to be in the market for a new 996 GT3 but thought it not quite, well, focused enough, then an answer was on its way. Hot on the heels of the Gen2, and launched at the 2003 Paris Motor Show, was the Rennsport version. Fully deserving of the fabled RS badge, the new model might not have boasted any more power or torque, nor was outright performance a great deal different (just 0.1 second was shaved from the 0-60mph time), but it was the way it went about its business that really impressed. Weight was shed thanks to the adoption of a plastic rear screen while some of the panels were fashioned from carbon-fibre, and there were tweaks to the suspension to further sharpen responses. Externally, there…

We get access to some of the rarest, most valuable and most exciting Porsche 911s ever built and we know that you love reading about them in the pages of Total 911 every month. However, as driving enthusiasts, like us, we know that words on a page can’t always convey exactly what makes a 911 so special from behind the wheel. That’s why we have recently launched our own YouTube channel where you can watch and listen to some of the greatest Neunelfers (old and new) in action. Our channel is already stocked with over 30 videos, ranging from our head-to-head test of the 964 Carrera RS and Carrera 4 Lightweight (as seen in issue 131 of the magazine) to our drive of the stunning new 991 R in the…

Porsche’s greatest upset produces 18th Le Mans triumph Toyota’s pain is Porsche’s gain as 919 Hybrid takes last gasp victory no. 18 The statistics will say that this wasn’t one of the closest finishes in 24 Hours of Le Mans history. However, Porsche’s 18th overall triumph at the world’s most prestigious endurance race was unexpected heading into the final minutes. Victory for the no. 2 919 Hybrid of Neel Jani, Marc Lieb and Romain Dumas was only secured starting the final lap of the race, the no. 5 Toyota TS050 (the erstwhile leader) grinding to a halt at the finish line having lost power halfway around the penultimate lap. It was perhaps the cruellest finish in Le Mans history, the no. 5 Toyota having asserted its authority on the race…

The 918 isn’t even remotely a derivative of the fabled 911, in difference to Porsche’s supercar of the 1980s in the 959. However, a 911 enthusiast will dismiss the relevance of the 918 at their peril: it’s no secret that Porsche intends to unleash the hypercar’s pioneering E-Performance technology onto future generations of its sports cars, which the 911 is central to. In fact, elements of the 918’s legacy have already filtered through onto the 911’s spec list. The carbon-backed lightweight bucket seats, optional on the 991 GT3 RS and standard on the 991 R, were originally constructed for the 918, and there’s more than a smattering of synergy between the three-spoked steering wheel now found across the range in Gen2 991s and that found in Zuffenhausen’s flagship hybrid hypercar.…

It’s 6am on a Friday morning. Despite being late May, the weather forecast for the day ahead doesn’t look promising but, with the predicted rain absent for now, there’s just enough warmth in the Bournemouth air to warrant calling the 991.2 Targa’s electric roof actuators into action. At the touch of a button, the iconic fabric panel is removed in a shade over 30 seconds. The motion may be unchanged since the reintroduction of the classic roll hoop on the Gen1 version but it’s still a mechanical marvel to watch. As my travelling companion and photographer for the day, Mr Daniel Pullen slips into the passenger seat, I engage the Sports exhaust and fire up the heated seats (the two most important options if you’ve set your heart – and…

The 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans is best remembered by motorsport aficionados for Ford’s landmark inaugural triumph (the first of four consecutive victories) with its GT40 sports car. While Detroit was grabbing the headlines at the Circuit de la Sarthe on 19 June 1966 though, it was a humble Zuffenhausen-built car that was running in 14th overall come Sunday afternoon that piqued our interest. The Signal red sports car was none other than the first Porsche 911 to compete at Le Mans. Entered under a French licence but bearing a Stuttgart registration (‘S-WX 450’), chassis no. 303-076 was one of three early 911S prototypes. Known internally as ‘R3’, the car was built in December 1965 before the factory entered it in the 1966 Monte Carlo Rally, where Hans-Joachim Walter…

993 GT2 IN THE SNOW! Garage queen? This might not be for you. Total 911 embarks on a mountaintop road trip in a precious classic 930 TURBO TAKES TO THE TRACK Does this modified 3.3-litre have what it takes to embarass younger rivals? 991 GT3 BUYER’S GUIDE There’s plenty on the market, so here’s how to source the best 991 GT3 996 GT3 RS GOES RALLYING! Full story of the limited-edition 996 GT3 RS built for off-road competition…