Parkhaus1 Miami: Porsche Magic for 911s and P-Car Classics

Complete Porsche Restorations, Sales, Tuning and Dealer Alternative

Everytime a car contact of ours visits Miami and South Florida, they typically make inquiries about which supercar and classic car hotspots they need to visit. One Porsche 911 owner stopped by and later admitted within five miles of our location, he saw more supercar and hypercar content versus several years back home… all in one afternoon! Aside from the multiple 918 Porsche Spyders and RS cars we viewed that day, he wanted to experience real classic, rare and outrageously modified P-Cars, and there is only one place for that, Parkhaus1 in Miami. We visited Parkhaus1 during one of their open houses but really on any given day, the  Porsche hardcore will find untold wonders of rear-engine 911s, plus a few MR and FR platforms too.

Parkhaus1 (or as they call it, The Porsche Sanctuary) is famous throughout the country and continent spanning down to South America for serious clientele. If you have the means, Parkhaus1 one will either build your dream or sell it and the caliber of inventory in the showroom is always impressive. The shop houses Porsche products of all decades, turbo and NA, narrow and widebody with upgraded cars in nearly every stage of tune. The open house coincided with client cars on display and the crowds were in a frenzy as this is almost Das Renn Treffen lite but on a monthly basis.

…If you have the means, Parkhaus1 one will either build your dream or sell it and the caliber of inventory in the showroom is always impressive…

Das Renn Treffen is the annual Porsche show held in Miami that bills itself as the largest on the east coast. Second only to Luftgekϋhlt (air cooled in German), Das Rϋenn Treffen attracts everything from low-buck 996 Turbos to near priceless Porsche 962C, 935 and 959 race cars. Parkhaus1 clients always have a huge presence there, creating much of the special content at the show.

Parkhaus1 is in deep south Miami, so when coming from northern counties like Broward or West Palm Beach, it can be a grind on the treacherous I95. But passing by the area Porsche dealerships can be worth the drive (or flatbed). A fairly new shop, Parkhaus1 was launched in 2014 by a group of Porsche enthusiasts looking to create a trusted name by doing incredible work on Porsche cars of significance. They retail rare and limited classic and late model cars but also focus on being a dealer alternative for pricey maintenance and repairs. South Florida dealer rates are over $200/hr so the Parkhaus1 $149/hr alternative is appealing to P-car owners out of warranty.

Another perk at Parkhaus1 is their Pre-Purchase Inspection service (PPI) that comes in around $349 for most P-Cars. Whether you want to see if an IMS bearing has been addressed or the body on a 356 isn’t just a hammered out rusted shell coated in layers of Bondo, buying a car remote (or local) can be a nightmare. Parkhaus1 takes all the future headaches out the equation with Gold Meister service techs at the ready for air-cooled, watercooled, naturally aspirated and turbo engines regardless if they are located in the rear, front or all chassis points in between!

The staff gave us the shop tour and a bit of backstory for each Porsche car on display. While there we saw a rare bird, Rauh-Welt Begriff (RWB) widebody 993 Cabriolet that came all the way from Georgia. Akira Nakai-san also had a few Rauh-Welt Begriff parts shipped there for an upcoming RWB 930 conversion on-site. There were manual Porsches galore for the purists like the 911R. Naturally, we couldn’t stop gawking at the uber-rare 993 911 Turbo S in the showroom with those prices soaring in the past few years.

…A fairly new shop, Parkhaus1 was launched in 2014 by a group of Porsche enthusiasts looking to create a trusted name by doing incredible work on Porsche cars of significance…

Spreading out from the indoor climate-controlled showroom, low-mile, pristine Porsches for sale stretch out to the front lot. How low mile is low mile? Well, Parkhaus1 currently has a 1989 Porsche 911 Speedster for sale that has only 3,500 miles on the clock. There are also tuned cars from TechART and a quarter million dollar Ruf, the 400-horsepower 6-speed BTR3 Turbo Cab there too! Regardless of year, make, model, trim or limited production units Parkhaus1 has for sale, one aspect of their Porsche cars is that they have been maintained, serviced and are documented with a reliable source. No surprises here and Parkhaus1 always accepts trade-ins for the right cars with no skipped maintenance intervals or sketchy history either.

When in Miami, Parkhaus1 should be on the list of must-see car attractions. Even non-Porsche aficionados will find automotive wonders to really stop and soak in at Parkhaus1 and their doors are open to customers and fans.

What Supercars have the Best Price to Performance this Year?

With under $200K to Spend, These are the Best Supercars to Buy in 2022

Wow, it’s already 2022 and the past two years have been a decidedly weird blur of strange events like labor shortages, back-orders and sparse microchip production in the automotive sector. But as certain OEM manufacturers have been hit hard missing targets, supercar manufacturers have posted record gains and certain models fly off the shelves. We then asked, what supercars on sale in 2022 are attainable but amount to the cheapest, high performance supercars to buy.

For the sake of the article, it is widely accepted that a supercar today is 500hp+ with a mid-engine and rear-drive transaxle. A proper supercar makes use of more exotic materials, composites and advanced technology to set it apart from the brute force of lesser platforms like say a Mustang, Camaro or even a GT-R. A supercar can be had for under $200,000 (if there are units available) and this list is the most-affordable, yet capable performance vehicles available. 

2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 C8 – $89,500 (est.)

Yes, we know the Z06 is a 2023 model year and that deliveries and dealer mark-ups could be a circus but this is a supercar-slayer will be on sale Summer of 2022. The Corvette C8 itself was an incredible platform overhaul that has been rumored since the 60s but finally the mid-engine American supercar is actually here.

The upcoming 2023 Corvette Z06 promises to eclipse not only the soft-bellied C7 Z06 it replaced but anything close to its price-point. Derived from the C8.R racecar tech that put the hurt on the field at Le Mans, Sebring 12h and Daytona 24h is coming for fancy Italian, British and German mid-engine offerings. With an incredible sounding flat-plane crank V8, there is no turbo and no supercharger to put out its 670 glorious naturally aspirated horsepower. 

…The upcoming 2023 Corvette Z06 promises to eclipse not only the soft-bellied C7 Z06 it replaced but anything close to its price-point…

The 2023 Corvette Z06 was tested by Chevy to run 0-60mph in an incredible 2.6-seconds. We can hear you Tesla fanbois, but the 2023 Corvette Z06 will catch a Plaid just past the ¼-mile marker and destroy it on the way to a higher top speed.

2023 Audi R8 Performance RWD – $148,700

When the German brand jumped into the supercar arena, critics thought they were mentally unstable. But Audi already had Lamborghini in it’s portfolio, so the risk wasn’t high and they could design a comfortable everyday supercar that was inexpensive. The R8 V10 has gotten good, so good that it could be cross-shopped with a Lambo Huracan for much less for several years now.

For under $150K, you can get the Audi R8 Performance with spicy rear-wheel drive. It’s lighter and more unhinged than the R8 quattro. With a proven 5.2L V10 using no forced induction, you get 562-horsepower and a capable 3.6-seconds 0-60mph and a 205 mph top speed! Zehr gut! 

2022 Acura NSX Type-S – $169,500

The Acura NSX used to make our cut for best supercar value for performance-to-price when it was cheaper. With harsh critiques about the NSX, Acura took the gloves off for the Type-S, the final trim edition for the supercar that should have been available from launch but limited to only 350 units… worldwide!

The 2022 Acura NSX Type-S is everything the enthusiasts wanted. The hand-built vehicle only handled by master technicians, the same talent behind the NSX GT3 car it was inspired by. Up from 560hp in the NSX, the NSX Type-S now boasts 600-horsepower from its combined SH-AWD hybrid drivetrain. The vehicle has aggressively restyled looks, GT3-derived aero and a twin turbo mill equating to performance value will crush many high-dollar supercars. 

…The hand-built vehicle only handled by master technicians, the same talent behind the NSX GT3 car it was inspired by…

 

With a claimed top speed of 191 mph and sub-3s 0-60mph time, overall performance data is murky. But does it matter? All 350 units are spoken for with a reported 700 buyers in the queue, although the website does state: “All orders are pending. Contact your local dealer to get on the waitlist.” 

2̶0̶2̶3̶ ̶L̶a̶m̶b̶o̶r̶g̶h̶i̶n̶i̶ ̶H̶u̶r̶a̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶E̶v̶o̶  2023 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS – $143,050

Say what you want in the comments, but we changed our minds mid-post on opting for the lower cost 2023 Porsche Cayman 718 GT4 RS versus the aging Lambo for affordable supercars. Porsche is dominating in motorsports and Nϋrburgring records with the 911 GT3, GT3 RS, GT2 RS but now for $150K you can buy a mid-engine chassis GT3-powered, lightweight track weapon that promises to embarrass many supercars like the base Huracan Evo that costs $66K more!

First, let’s settle the ‘whether this is a supercar’ argument now. Yes, it has a MR layout and a flat-6 motor that is technically 502hp (detuned to 493hp) with a number of exotic materials to keep it trim at 3,227-pounds. The GT4-RS might not have McLaren or Lambo styling but Porsche builds capable mid-engine cars and this Cayman outruns their Carrera GT and nearly the 918 Spyder after running a shocking 7:04.5 lap on the Nürburgring! The GT4 RS clicks off a 3.2s 0-60mph time and will hit 196 mph… all for under $150K? Shut up and take our money.

What is the Best Yet Cheapest Supercar to Buy?

McLaren and Lamborghini used to be on this list but now their “entry-level” Artura and Hurcan EVO have crept past the $200,000 barrier. For that reason, they still offer solid supercar value but seem unattainable for the upper middle-class. In the end, if you can go domestic, the 2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 is the clear winner here. We predict buyers will be paying double sticker for it and still be happy with how it abuses rival supercars.

Why the Porsche 930 Turbo is Called The Widowmaker 911

The Almost Uncontrollable 911 Turbo is Magic for a Real Driver

Back in the late 90s, I was a total punk when it came to dismissing European car brands. Why? Well with a few minor tweaks, my turbo AWD Mitsu could outrun any BMW, Audi and even Porsche of the day in a straight line or in the twisties. Granted those were stock Euro cars being pumped out in Bavaria, Ingolstadt and Stuttgart but then I got the opportunity to drive a true legend, the Porsche 930 Turbo and the whole perspective changed. This coworker’s 930 Turbo had a handful of Ruf modifications and was so fast, the rear tires never really felt connected to the pavement. But was it the just the tires or was there more to the question: why do they call the Porsche 930 Turbo the Widowmaker?

Let’s be blunt, the name ‘Widowmaker’ implies you are going to die driving this car, and leave your wife a wealthy widow. Back in the 1970s when this car was conceived, we still had the Grand Prix running the Nürburgring Nordschleife Green Hell, no air bags, no ABS and Porsche engineers were smoking potent Euro cigarettes at their desks. Porsche was dominating top level motorsports like Le Mans with turbo tech in the Porsche 956 and Porsche 962C won most of the races in the 1970s and 1980s. But it was the highly successful Porsche 935 turbo, that required, Porsche build FIA homologated models for the street and the Porsche 930 Turbo produced 400 units as required in 1975. 

…the name ‘Widowmaker’ implies you are going to die driving this car, and leave your wife a wealthy widow…

But this was a car that now eclipses the 911 chassis horsepower they had in the Carrera itself. The more pedestrian version of the 911 had 150hp and 173hp for the 911S but the 930 cranked out a whopping 250hp in the 3.0L from 1975-1977 and 296 hp with 304 lb-ft of torque from the later 3.3-liter in 1978 onwards. Coming from 3.0-3.3L, that kind of horsepower might not sound like much in our modern horsepower wars but it was substantial and clearly the rest of the 930 wasn’t ready. Although Porsche upgraded the 911 chassis to address items like weight distribution, downforce, traction and yes the dreaded turbo lag, there were significant problems driving the Porsche 930 Turbo,

“The technology isn’t in the car for it to cope with the amount of horsepower, really.” 1980 Porsche 930 Turbo owner Deryck Shakespeare told Petrolicious, “If you’re not ready for [turbo lag], it will catch you by surprise and it’s lights out.”

My first experience in the 930 Turbo was trying to run 0-60mph times in my (then new G-Tech performance meter. When launching in first gear even with a bit of a roll-out it would just light up the tires and break loose when the boost started coming on. Yes I had powerful turbo cars but, this was a Ruf Turbo that was around 400hp and it was too much for the suspension, tires and weight bias to handle. The best runs we clicked off were low 5-second range but that was starting in second gear!

Remember, that is straight line acceleration and the 3.3L boxer-6 turbo was a handful. He said he didn’t really drive anywhere near the limit because of the cars reputation he had a couple snap-oversteer tank-slapper moments and that was enough to dial it back and just respect the car that completely lived up to it’s name – the Widowmaker.

The Porsche 930 Turbo isn’t a ver substantial car. It was over simplified almost from the beginning and by the mid to late 1980s seemed antiquated versus modern sport luxury offerings. The formula was simple, light chassis, no driver aides, no power-steering or ABS but big on horsepower… it even had an old school 4-speed transaxle. For a minimalist car, that weighed under 3,000-pounds, there was outstanding power-to-weight ratio to be had, especially by the final 1989 production car that came with 330hp. But the weight bias was completely off in this car from the 1970s 

Rear weight bias gave them immersive, off-the-line traction, and the ability to shift weight rear out of corners and rocket out of the exits. Only problem is that balance can’t be too upset as the rear weight give the car a pendulum effect when lateral cornering forces are introduced. Swing that force too much and a snap-oversteer condition arises and in the 930 Turbo chassis is impossible to control. Certainly the throttle can’t be relied on to help steer as the lag is too delayed. When that boost hits, it wouldn’t only add to the instability of the uncontrolled oversteer. As a result, the 930 Turbo and any modified variants from the factory or German turning houses, has to be feathered, has to be respected… you’re not Hans-Joachim Stuck.

The instability and unpredictability of the Porsche 930 did have consequences. There were crashes and deaths attributed to the inherent driving characteristics of the 930. It is rumored that the US market did not receive the 930 Turbo in 1980 to make revisions to the car but that was attributed to it not meeting emissions standards. Europe of course got more horsepower with 325 but let’s face it, they are all fantastic drivers over there. But more importantly, the questionable fate of the 930 Turbo in unskilled hands prompted Porsche to pioneer performance AWD drive systems. Yes the Porsche 959, often credited with being the grandfather of the modern supercar needed advanced traction of electronically-controlled AWD to put all of its 450 turbo ponies to the ground.

…the questionable fate of the 930 Turbo in unskilled hands prompted Porsche to pioneer performance AWD drive systems…

Porsche and turbo now meant they would be synonymous with all-wheel drive. Well at least until traction control, suspension and tire tech caught up. Yes, we are looking at you GT2-RS.

Widowmaker: a term coined by German pilots terrified of their flawed Luftwaffe F104G Starfighter seemed fitting for the Porsche 930 Turbo. Parallels exists since the F-104G was a high performance fighter with an out-of-the-box design but also fatal design issues and it didn’t perform in less-than-ideal conditions.

Top 10 Air-Cooled Porsches

From 356 to 993, These are the Cars that Built a Teutonic Legend

The air-cooled, horizontally-opposed engine design that Porsche used with great success over decades had humble beginnings as a four-cylinder development of the original Volkswagen powerplant, but grew to become one of the most iconic engines ever found in both sports cars for the street and pure race cars. Here are ten milestones that cover the 50-year history of Porsche air-cooled boxer street cars.  

1948 – Porsche 356

From the rubble of war-ravaged Europe, a small, lightweight, rear-engine sports car based on the basic powertrain design of the pre-war Volkswagen “People’s Car” was created, dubbed the 356. The flat-four engine grew in displacement (from 1.1 to 1.5 liters), valve count (the 4-valve Carrera became optional at the end of 1955) and horsepower (29kW/39HP initially, 118kW/160HP in the most highly developed version) over the 356’s 76,000+ unit,19 year production run.

1964 – Porsche 911

With the 356 still selling but at the end of its development potential, the automaker introduced a new design, retaining the rear-engine layout but adding an additional two cylinders, which bumped the displacement to 2 liters and power to 96kW/130 horsepower. You may not have heard of this obscure model, as production only continued through 1989, but it represented the cornerstone of Porsche’s business model, with a legacy that continues to this day.

1965 – Porsche 912

Concern over the increased cost of the new 911 model compared to the outgoing 356 led to the introduction of an ‘entry-level’ version of the platform powered by a holdover flat-four sourced from the latest versions of the 356. Lighter, less expensive at $4,700 list price, and offering 66kW/89HP, the 912 substantially outsold the 911 at first, but by 1969 production facility realignment and stricter looming emissions requirements in the critical US market led to the decision to end 912 production in favor of the 911 and 914. In 1976, the 912 name was revived for an “E” model to replace the 914 as the bottom step of Porsche’s three-rung performance ladder until a proper successor came on-line. Just shy of 2,100 total 912E models were manufactured during that single model year, and were only sold in the US market. 

1969 – Porsche 914

Born out of a contractual obligation to provide developmental support for Volkswagen and the need to phase out the 912 in favor of a new model, the 914 was originally conceived as being sold as a VW when powered by a flat-four and a Porsche with 6-cylinder power. Concern about the US market and potential brand confusion led to Porsche marketing both models, bringing the long-standing ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ between the two companies to a sour conclusion. The car itself was a success, outselling the 911 and pioneering a rear-mid-engine powertrain layout that placed the engine ahead of the rear axle instead of behind it as it had been in the 356, 911, and 912. Though more than 118,000 were sold worldwide during the eight year production run, a bare 3,300 914/6 models would be produced. Largely overshadowed today by the runaway success of the many 911 models that appeared subsequently, the 914 was in many ways the blueprint for the modern Boxster/Cayman platform. 

1973 – Porsche 911 Carrera RS

The Rennsport (‘racing sport’) version of the classic 911 is widely considered to be one of the most desirable models from a collector’s standpoint, thanks to their improved performance and relatively low production numbers. Porsche, looking for a competitive edge in racing organizations that demanded a minimum number of cars be built and sold to the general public, created the RS as a ‘homologation special’ with a bigger and more powerful 2.7 liter six delivering 154kW/207HP. Other changes from the standard production model were an upgraded suspension, wider rear wheels and tires, more capable brakes, and aero mods that included the now-iconic “duckbill” rear decklid spoiler. In addition to these features of the “Touring”-spec RS, buyers could also tick the Sport Lightweight box on their order form which substituted thinner body panels and glass, saving an additional 220 or so pounds over the already-light 2,400 pound curb weight of the RS Touring.

1974 – Porsche 930

Though officially referred to as the 930 in the US, this variation was universally known worldwide as simply the “911 Turbo”. Introduced with a 3.0 liter engine rated at 190kW/260HP, the 930 had grown by 10 percent in displacement and another 40 horsepower by 1978; while 300 ponies doesn’t sound like much by modern sports car standards (or even compared to some crossovers), in a lightweight chassis with extreme rear weight bias and legendary turbo lag, it was more than a handful to drive. Even comically-wide rear fender flares to cover enormous rear tires and a giant whale tail spoiler could only partially correct the car’s off-throttle understeer/snap oversteer handling characteristics, and perhaps no vehicle in history other than the Beechcraft Bonanza has actively tried to kill as many doctors, investment bankers, and trust fund kids as the original 911 Turbo. Nevertheless, it remains an object of pharmaceutical-grade desire for anyone who was aware of cars in that era.

…perhaps no vehicle in history other than the Beechcraft Bonanza has actively tried to kill as many doctors, investment bankers, and trust fund kids as the original 911 Turbo…

The 930 had a hiatus in the US market due to emissions issues from 1981 until it was reintroduced for 1986, and by then the car was long in the tooth in terms of engineering, but it was still hugely profitable for the company. Porsche squeezed every bit of sweet, sweet juice out of the Turbo nonetheless, introducing the ‘slant nose’ version towards the end of production in 1989.

1989 – Porsche 964

Marketed as the “Carrera 2” and “Carrera 4”, the internally-designated 964 platform carried over just 15% of its design from the ‘classic’ 911, and was the first version to offer all-wheel-drive; as a matter of fact, the original 1989 model was only available in Carrera 4 configuration with the Carrera 2 coming on-line a year later. Power came from an equally new 3.6 liter air-cooled flat six designated the M64 rated at 184kW/247HP, and the suspension design made the radical shift from torsion bars to coil springs, with the ubiquitous MacPherson strut configuration up front and an independent semi-trailing arm rear. Coupe, Targa, and Cabriolet body styles were offered, and power steering and ABS were introduced as standard features. Buyer demand in the US led to an RS America version for 1993 and 1994, based off of the Carrera 2, featuring a whale tail spoiler, de-contented interior, and lower 2,954 pound curb weight, among other changes. Overall, the naturally-aspirated 964 spanned just half a decade of production but racked up 63,762 cars built among all the configurations.

1990 – Porsche 964 Turbo

With the introduction of the new chassis and naturally aspirated motor but a successor to the previous Turbo’s powerplant still under development, the 930’s engine was used as a stopgap. Changes increased rated power to 235kW/376HP but blunted a bit of the turbo lag, which along with the revised chassis and suspension made the car much easier to drive at the limit than the previous Turbo, but still not particularly forgiving of large changes in throttle position mid-apex. 1992 saw the debut of the Turbo S, which had the same peak power but detail revisions to the tune, a lightweight interior similar to the RS America, a manual steering rack, and lowered suspension. Only 86 were produced, making for one of the rarest road-going 911 models ever offered. By 1993, a new boosted M64 was finally available for the Turbo 3.6 model with 265kW/355HP on tap, but the 964 was nearing the end of its abbreviated lifespan and only one model year and less than 1,500 total cars were produced to that spec. 

1994 – Porsche 993

For the 1995 model year, Porsche once again mutated the 911 DNA to produce another generation with minimal (claimed less than 20%) carryover from the 964. Major frame and suspension design changes improved handling and further tamed the inherent snap-oversteer characteristics common to rear engine designs, and once again both 2 and 4 driven wheel models were offered. While the M64 engine design was carried over, this generation gained a sixth gear in the manual transmission and a bump to 200kW/268HP at introduction. Coupe and Cabriolet body designs were manufactured, along with a complex “greenhouse” roof marketed as a Targa but with a power-retractable glass panel in place of the previous removable section. Production ended in 1998 thanks to the air-cooled design no longer being able to reasonably meet emissions and noise standards, but not without one final model to properly put a coda on the end of the air-cooled 911 symphony…

1995 – Porsche 993 Turbo

Everything came together in the last air-cooled Turbo 911, with a 3.6 liter twin-turbo M64 cranking out 300kW/402HP, the first all-wheel-drive layout for a 911 Turbo, wider rear bodywork, and of course a whale tail spoiler. All the nasty surprises of the original 930 had been eliminated, creating a car that was more forgiving when pushed, not a carnival ride in bad weather, and shockingly quick under all circumstances. The ante was upped in 1997 with the Turbo S’ uprated engine delivering 424 horsepower, and another homologation special, the GT2, was produced and sold in small numbers, making it highly sought-after by collectors. All things considered, the 993 Turbo was a fitting conclusion to the first part of Porsche’s 911 evolution. 

Gunther Werks Unveils Their Take on One of the Rarest Porsches: The 993 Speedster Remastered

Aug 19, 2021 – If you like Porsches, you’re likely familiar with the makers of wild re-imaginations of classic Porsche platforms, Gunther Werks. The latest addition to their lineup is a vision of an extremely rare platform that only saw 2 units brought into this world; one for the designer of the original 911, Butzi Porsche, and the other for Jerry Seinfeld. Of course, we’re talking about the legendary Porsche 993 Speedster. Gunther Werks’ new 993 Speedster Remastered takes the original spirit of the Speedster and reimagines it, fleshing out its performance and aimed at providing a unique open top analog driving experience.

In true Gunther Werks fashion, carbon fiber is implemented wherever they can. The interior is mostly carbon fiber, the shorter front windshield is framed with a carbon fiber cowl, and the speedster top tonneau cover is also made of carbon fiber. With additional weight saving measures in place, the Gunther Werks Porsche 993 Speedster Remastered only weighs 2590lbs with a chassis that is even more rigid than the one in the 993 coupe.

Underneath the rear deck lives a 4.0L flat six engine that produces 435 hp and 335 lb/ft torque screaming with a 7,800rpm redline. The power from the flat six is translated through a Getrag G50 six-speed manual gearbox featured in the original 993, but with custom ratios. The Gunther Werks 993 Speedster stays composed on the track with an all-new adaptive suspension from JRZ, featuring 3 different settings; composed, sport, and sport plus.

Stronger, faster, and lighter are 3 words that without a doubt describe this new Gunther Werks project. Revealed with a striking Cannes green paint and Dawn Orange leather interior, this 993 is a testament to performance and styling. Only 25 of the 993 Speedster Remastered will be produced.

Limited Edition Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport 25 is Bred for the Track

Aug 9, 2021 – As if the GT2 RS wasn’t a track slayer already, Porsche has reimagined it in this special edition run to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Manthey-Racing GmbH. With a production run of just 30 cars, this new 911 GT2 RS Clubsport 25 was designed and executed by Porsche and Manthey for the ultimate racing fans and collectors, giving the future owners a weapon for track days and circuit racing. 

Looking back to 2018, Porsche unveiled the modern-day 935, a 700 horsepower racer featuring a body reminiscent of the legendary Porsche 935/78, with a production capped at 77 units. Today, Porsche decided to base the GT2 RS Clubsport on the same 3.8-liter flat-six twin-turbo engine, combined with a seven-speed Porsche dual-clutch gearbox. The GT2 RS Clubsport is similar to the 935 in other ways than just the engine, including the fact that both cars are based on the 991 model generation, along with sharing similar essential suspension features, 18″ center locking wheels, and more. 

Matthias Scholz, Director of GT Racing Cars, spoke about the Porsche and Manthey collaboration, saying “With the unique special edition 911 GT2 RS Clubsport 25, this successful partnership has moved to the next level. He goes on to say “The 911 GT2 RS Clubsport 25 benefits from the motor racing experience that Manthey and Porsche Motorsport have gained around the world. It is the perfect circuit racing car for ambitious private drivers, and its and impressive example of engineering skill.” 

Because of its low production numbers, the Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport 25 is going to be incredibly rare, with many top-tier Porsche collectors and sports car racers undoubtedly fighting for a slot. 

The Dune Bashing Gemballa Marsien

July 16, 2021 – A new wildly designed Gemballa Porsche has hit the streets, but not quite the Gemballa we’ve come to know and love. Marc Philipp Gemballa, 27 year old son of the legendary German auto tuner Uwe Gemballa, has created his own take on the Gemballa legacy. This brand new supercar company, Marc Philipp Gemballa GmbH, along with designer and Porsche aficionado Alan Derosier, took a Porsche 911 S and crafted a marvelous machine that’s here to push the boundaries of both on and off-road performance. 

Safari 911’s are nothing new, and even Singer just recently released their take on a rally-ready 911, but Marc Philipp Gemballa’s take is drastically different than what has come before. Gemballa calls this Porsche, known as the Marsien, a truly bespoke vehicle, and that it is. Besides its futuristic design and character, the majority of the car itself is made up of pure carbon fiber, designed for performance, lightweight, and cooling. Every piece was manufactured by a leading German carbon fiber specialist, known for supplying renown OEM sports car manufactures as well as several Formula 1 teams. And although it may be light and nimble, it still needs to draw power from somewhere, and that is exactly where RUF comes into play. 

For those unfamiliar or may need a refresher, RUF is a German car manufacturer that engineers original vehicles using unmarked Porsche chassis. As we talked about bespoke before, its only right for the Gemballa Marsien to have a unique powertrain of the highest quality. The engineers at RUF were able to tweak and tune the six-cylinder boxer to squeak out an extra 100+ horsepower over an original Porsche 911 Turbo S, producing a whopping 740 hp, or an even wilder 830 hp for their second stage model. However, the Gemballa Marsien isn’t all about aerodynamics and engine perfomance — off-roadability is where this beefy Porsche draws its energy. 

Together with the leading suspension and chassis technology pioneer KW automotive, Marc Philipp Gemballa was able to incorporate a newly developed double wishbone suspension system equipped with KW solid piston damper technology. Not only does this system allow the Gemballa Marsien an intelligent active damper control, but also features and adjustable ride height system for on and off road use. At the rear, a multi-link suspension with an anti-roll bar was put in place for even better control in the dirt. 

With a limited run of just 40 units, it may be difficult to get your hands on one of these creations, but if you have $583,000 to toss on a hyper off-roader, then we wish you luck!

Steve McQueen’s “Le Mans” Porsche 917 K Heading to Auction

June 25, 2021 – If you’re looking to get your hands on a piece of automotive history, then you’re most definitely going to want to check out this 1970 Porsche 917 K up for auction at RM Sotheby’s. This 917 K doesn’t only have a Le Mans entry in 1970 with the Mike Hailwood/David Hobbs JW Automotive Gulf Racing team, but also starred in Steve McQueen’s Le Mans. 

This Porsche 917 K has quite the history, and aside from starring in movies and racing in the actual 24 Hours of Le Mans, it has had a complete restoration. Going back in time to Le Mans, the car was raced in 1970 and reached 3rd place before it aquaplaned in the rain and sustained minimal chassis damage. The car was retired while the drivers jumped in a spare, and that’s where the rest of the Porsche 917 K’s story continues. The car entered the limelight for the 1971 feature in which they used actual footage from its 1970 Le Mans race. The car was then rebuilt by Porsche for team Shell Heckersbruch, where it competed and performed strongly for the next 3 years.

By 2012, the Porsche 917 K was bought by a noted collector where it received its full restoration. This meant the exterior was once again plastered in its beautiful Gulf-liveried Le Mans coupe specification. The restoration was executed by Paul Lanzante, a top European racing car restorer. Without regard to cost and with access to many period correct parts, the Porsche 917 K was once again basking in the glory of its deep roots in the golden era of motorsport. 

The Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo: An Off-Roadable EV Wagon

March 05, 2021 – Porsche has officially announced the expansion of their all-electric sports car range, and the newest edition is an off-road, shooting brake dream — the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo. Many of the Cross Turismos strengths are taken from its sedan counterpart, with focus on performance and an exciting driving experience. Added to the mix is increased ground clearance for off-roadability, along with the much needed extra cargo space.

While the Taycan Cross Turismo will continue with the same front end, which has to be one of the best looking of all EVs, it will feature a longer, flatter roofline compared to its sedan counterpart. Also changed will be the fender extensions, unique rocker panels, front and rear fascia, and a 20 mm higher ride height. 

The Cross Turismo is in no way a rock-crawling off-roader, but it does however come with a Gravel mode, which increases the ride height an additional 10 mm, while also setting the suspension firmness, traction and stability control, and torque management system. All of these functions combined help the Taycan Cross Tursimo to maximize its grip over loose surfaces, including rocks, mud, sand, and gravel. This alone gives the Taycan more versatility over most EVs out there, but the performance doesn’t stop there. Off the gravel and back onto the road, the Taycan Turbo S Cross Tursimo can sprint to 60 mph in 2.7 seconds.

Moving to the interior, the Taycan Cross Turismo has several options available, including Porsche InnoDrive, Head Up Display, 14-way seats with massage functionality, and Bose and Burmester audio systems. 

Four different Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo models will be available at the launch, including the Taycan 4 Cross Turismo, Taycan 4S Cross Turismo, Taycan Turbo Cross Tursimo, and Taycan Turbo S Cross Tursimo. All variants of the Cross Turismo will feature an all-wheel drive system powered by dual-motors, a two-speed rear transmission, Porsche Adaptive Suspension Management in conjunction with air suspension, and much more. No EPA-estimated figures for range have been disclosed yet, but out is expected that they will be slightly lower than that of its sedan counterpart.

Pricing for the Porsche Taycan 4 Cross Turismo starts at $92,250, and goes all the way up to $188,950 for the Turbo S model. Porsche also sweetens the deal with three years of free charging through Electrify America. The new Porsche variant will go on sale later this summer. 

Gunther Werks Porsche 993 Speedster Proves Yet Again That Carbon Fiber Is King

Feb. 22 – Gunther Werks is back in action, and their newest open-top, air-cooled creation is here to steal your heart — the Porsche 993 Speedster. For those unfamiliar with the magic behind Gunther Werks name, they are master crafters within the world of the Porsche aftermarket, perfecting their builds with none other than carbon fiber. The 993 is familiar ground for Gunther Werks, but this new Speedster is here to prove yet again that carbon fiber is king. 

This new creation is summed up by Gunther Werks as an “open-air model that not only heightens the experience with the rush of wind through your hair, but also pushes the boundaries of performance to build a stronger, lighter, faster car.” The reengineered Porsche 993 Speedster has already gone on to put down the fastest air-cooled lap around Laguna Seca at just 1:30.99, but what exactly have they done to the car to make it lighter and faster?

The biggest problem Gunther Werks had to overcome with the Porsche 993 Speedster is the removal of the roof. The roof of any car is key in keeping torsional rigidity, so with it gone the engineers had to employ advanced reinforcement. Most of this reinforcement has been cleverly concealed by the new carbon fiber Speedster top and tonneau cover. Beyond chassis strength, the 993 Speedster has also gained improved aerodynamics. An updated front fascia integrates a carbon front splitter that drastically improves aerodynamics. The rear of the Porsche 993 Speedster features a revised duck tail with a ram air scoop, along with 3d printed exhaust tips. Other modifications to the exterior include aluminum side view mirrors, lightweight door handles, and an updated front led reflector system. If you haven’t already noticed, Gunther Werks takes every detail into account when it comes to weight savings.

The interior of the Porsche 993 Speedster includes a new carbon fiber dash, a redesigned pedal assembly and a revised carbon fiber floor panel system. The front windscreen also sits lower, with an option to delete it completely, so Gunther Werks accommodated this by developing a hollow carbon fiber seat shell featuring lightweight cushions. The seats themselves also sit lower that the original 993, reducing drag and lowering the center of gravity. 

Technical specifications haven’t been revealed yet, but the Porsche 993 Speedster is promised to have an increase over the original 435 hp and 335 lb-ft of torque. Gunther Werks continued partnership with Eisenloht Racing and JRZ Suspension also means that the Speedster with feature an all-new advanced dynamic suspension system.

25 of these beautifully reengineered Gunther Werks Porsche 993 Speedsters will be developed, with a price of $675,000 before other options are applied. 

2022 Porsche 911 GT3 Model Revealed With 502 HP

Feb. 17 – Another year of knowledge gained at the race track has led Porsche to their newest iteration of the 911 high-performance model, the all-new 2022 Porsche 911 GT3. This incredibly high-revving, naturally aspirated engine is shared with the 911 GT3 Cup, with a double wishbone front suspension adapted from the 911 RSR. Through extensive use of lightweight materials, refined aerodynamics, and the newly equipped front suspension, the 2022 Porsche 911 GT3 aims to once again raise the bar. 

At the heart of the all-new Porsche 911 GT3 is a naturally aspirated 4.0-liter, six-cylinder boxer that revs to a screaming 9,000 rpm. Combined with 6 individual throttle bodies, the engine is able to provide extremely sharp throttle response, putting its 502 hp and 346 lb-ft of torque to the ground immediately. The engine, which is almost identical to the 911 GT3 Cup, Porsche’s track-only race car, proves just how quick Porsche is to pass down their racing knowledge to their street cars. Attached to the engine is a seven-speed Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK) transmission, while a six-speed manual transmission is also available. Together, the engine and PDK transmission can launch the 911 GT3 to 60 in 3.2 seconds, and hit a top speed of 197 mph. 

The 2022 Porsche 911 GT3 isn’t only about engine performance — lightweight materials keep the car light and agile, ready to tear up the track. The new GT3 is based on the 911 Carrera body, making the front track width increase by 1.9 inches. However, the use of several lightweight materials makes the GT3 weight the same exact weight as its predecessor. The hood, rear wing, and fixed rear spoiler are all made up of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). Even the glass used for the windows is lightweight and noise insulated.

Moving to the chassis and brakes, the double wishbone front axle of the new 911 GT3 was taken from the 911 RSR and 911 GT3 Cup and adapted for road use. This is a milestone for the 911, and the new front axle allows for more direct and precise steering, allowing for improved stability while cornering. As for braking, the standard braking system incorporates cast iron discs that are 28-mm larger than the previous model, and 17 percent lighter. The brakes are also able to deal with very high heat thanks to special cooling channels and new developed ventilation.

The interior of the 2022 Porsche 911 GT3 continues the connection to Porsche’s racing experience. A GT3 Multifunction Sport steering wheels is standard equipment, with an included drive mode switch for the first time. Four-way Sports Seats Plus are also standard, while 18-way Sport Seats Plus and even a carbon fiber bucket seat option are available. 

The new Porsche 911 GT3 is set to be released in the U.S. as a part of the 2022 model year, with dealers getting them as soon as Fall 2021.

The New Porsche 911 Turbo Sheds the S

July 16, 2020 – The 992 Generation welcomes a new car to its lineup, the 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo, and it’s here to bridge the gap between base model and Supercar. Let’s be honest, 640 hp in the 911 Turbo S is quite overkill for a daily driver, but some Porsche Aficionados want a bit more juice than the standard 911.

This is where the new 911 Turbo enters the picture. Although not the S model, this Porsche still packs a punch, with the same 3.8-liter flat-six as its counterpart, just detuned to a reasonable 572 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque. It’s almost comical to say that that’s a reasonable figure, but it’s just enough of a reduction to make the 911 Turbo a daily drive-able car. Did we mention the 0-60 mph time is only a tenth of a second slower than the S? That’s right, the Turbo will get you there in 2.7 seconds, with a top speed of 198 mph.

Other than the slight engine performance reduction, the 911 Turbo and Turbo S share much of the same traits. The newer variant receives power through an eight-speed, dual clutch transmission, and of course, is equipped with Porsche’s Traction Management (PTM) all-wheel-drive system which has the ability to transfer even more power to the front wheels than before.

Luckily for you, the Porsche 911 Turbo also comes at a significant discount. The Turbo S will run you over $200,000, but the new Turbo will cost just over $170,000. If you’re willing to pay the extra $430 per horsepower difference and prefer the 911 Turbo S, then more power to you. But, if you’re looking for a cream of the crop Porsche that is just as fun on the streets as it is on the track, then the new 911 Turbo may just be for you.

Old School Cool: All About Air Cooled Engines

It’s an unfortunate reality that internal combustion engines are inefficient, turning more than half of the energy from every drop of fuel burned into waste heat instead of forward motion or sweet, sweet tire smoke. Much of that lost energy goes into the exhaust, but in order to keep things like cylinder heads, pistons, and engine blocks in a temperature range where they can operate reliably, every engine has to have some way to move waste heat away from the metal and into the air.

Air-cooled engines have been around for basically forever; they’re simple, light, and less complicated than liquid cooled designs, and yet aside from some very specific niche applications, it’s hard to find any large-displacement air-cooled engines in production today. In the US market, most people would be hard-pressed to identify any air-cooled car engines other than the one used by VW for decades across their entire model line, from Beetle to Bus, Porsche’s flat-six 911 powerplants, and perhaps the Corvair. In the motorcycle world, air cooling held on for a lot longer, but even BMW and Suzuki eventually gave up on fins in favor of water jackets for their street bikes.

Battle-Tested

As with so many important aspects of piston engine technology we take for granted today, the competition between air and water cooling saw its most intense period of development during the Second World War. The original 1903 Wright Flyer, the first practical aircraft, used a four-cylinder water-cooled engine (although it had no radiator, relying on boiling off its limited supply of water during the short duration it had to run) and during the Great War, both air-cooled rotary engines (no, not Wankels – that’s a story for another time) and liquid cooled inline engines rapidly developed.

By the late 1930s, aircraft engines, which needed to be both light and powerful, had evolved into two basic forms: Watercooled inline or V designs, and air-cooled radials. The legendary Merlin that powered the P-51 Mustang, and the Allison V-1710 that was installed in pairs in the P-38 Lightning were both liquid cooled, while fighters like the Wildcat, Hellcat, Corsair, and Thunderbolt all had big, round air-cooled radial engines. Neither approach to engine cooling held a clear advantage (as a matter of fact, it was actually possible for the extremely clever radiator or cooling fin ductwork to generate net thrust from waste heat, though the effect was almost too small to measure) and things mostly came down to packaging within the airframe and streamlining. There, the liquid cooled engines had the advantage of a smaller cross-section, versus simplicity and the lack of a vulnerable radiator for the air cooled radials. By war’s end, both types of engines were capable of more or less the same peak power output and had similar power-to-weight ratios.

Cars Aren’t Airplanes Though…

Perhaps the world’s best-known air-cooled engine (and certainly the most widely-produced), the iconic Volkswagen flat four, was conceived during that same tumultuous time as an inexpensive and compact powerplant for Ferdinand Porsche’s “people’s car.” While the design for the Volkswagen Type 1 was set by 1938, it wouldn’t be until a decade later that civilian versions were manufactured in any numbers in post-war Germany. Czechoslovakia’s Tatra had also made a number of air-cooled cars before the war, and continued all the way through the late 1990s (and even still makes air-cooled heavy trucks today) and FIAT and Citroën embraced these kinds of engines in their small, economical post-war vehicles as well.

The only major US domestic manufacturer to put an air-cooled engine into mass production in the modern era was Chevolet, for the 1960-1969 Corvair. These flat-six engines were actually very successful, though the car they were designed for suffered from the first wave of consumer safety activism that would later target Pinto, Audis, and GM trucks for design flaws that made them somewhat more dangerous (though not greatly so) than their contemporaries. Chevy’s air-cooled flat six got thrown out with the bath water, and all subsequent GM engines would rely on liquid cooling.

Of course, it would be impossible to discuss air-cooled auto engines without mentioning the wildly successful Porsche flat-6, which powered the 911 family all the way through the 1998 model year before finally being replaced by a water-cooled design with a similar layout. The ongoing success of that engine family showed that it was certainly possible to create a completely modern, extremely powerful and reliable engine that didn’t need coolant. So why the switch?

Modern Problems Require Modern Solutions

The dominance of water-cooling in present day automotive engine applications comes down to a few main factors. First, there’s the issue of performance. Though Porsche’s air-cooled flat six (as well as innumerable air-cooled motorcycle engine designs) proved that it’s possible to build engines that are very powerful and reliable without coolant jackets, and more importantly water circulating through the cylinder head, as specific output climbs it becomes harder and harder to control hot spots in the combustion chamber using air cooling alone.

The exhaust valve and port area is one particular trouble spot – without coolant flowing through adjacent passages, it’s hard to move the heat build-up from this area in particular out to the atmosphere, no matter how much cooling fin you throw at the problem. There simply isn’t enough room to accommodate the necessary surface area on the head for adequate heat rejection, and issues arise for cooling the cylinders that aren’t first in line for airflow.

Pistons are another potential issue, as they must first transfer the majority of their excess heat through the ring package and into the cylinder wall before the engine block can take it away, whether it’s water- or air-cooled. Even in water-cooled high performance engines it’s not uncommon to use oil squirters directed at the underside of the pistons to help cool them, and the problem is compounded in air-cooled engines that often use very large amounts of oil circulating in the engine and pumped through an external radiator to assist in temperature control.

Better control over cylinder head and piston crown temperatures allows more leeway before preignition (and the engine damage that goes with it) sets in, making water-cooled designs generally less sensitive to fuel quality and more tolerant of high compression ratios or boost. This factor alone weighs heavily in favor of abandoning air cooling for max-performance production engines.

Another increasingly important consideration is tailpipe emissions. The industry has done an incredible job reducing pollution over the last four decades, with emissions control strategies that have a surprisingly small performance downside. The last untapped source of potential improvement, though, was engine startup. Because engines run so clean once they’re up to operating temperature, the majority of tailpipe emissions left to deal with happen during the cold start process. This is why current best practices close-couple a catalytic converter to the cylinder head in the exhaust manifold collector, to reduce the time it takes for the catalyst to ‘light off’ and start doing its thing.

The same is true with ECU mapping during cold starts. Additional fuel must be added – back in the day, we had this thing called a choke that manually blocked airflow through the carburetor and enriched the mixture to the cylinders, but now it’s all handled via computer, with more fuel called for from the injectors until the engine reaches normal operating temperature. An air-cooled engine, even with modern fuel injection, is still slower to get to that point because the cooling system is always ‘on,’ but a water-cooled engine with a thermostat can keep the radiator out of the loop until everything is up to temperature.

Although it’s certainly possible to build an air-cooled engine with baffles to control the airflow past the cylinders (and indeed, this is a ubiquitous feature on light aircraft engines like the Continental and Lycoming flat-four and -six engines that power practically every Cessna, Piper, Beechcraft, and Lancair in the world today), the quick warm-up and precise in-operation control of temperature gives liquid-cooled engines an enormous advantage when it comes to clean tailpipe emissions, and it’s the main reason why Porsche (and to a lesser extent, Volkswagen) eventually adopted it after a long history of successful air-cooled engines.

Finally, there’s the issue of noise. This may not seem like a big deal at first, but many countries have adopted noise standards that don’t just include the exhaust – intake and other engine noise all count toward the maximum decibel level a vehicle can legally produce. Liquid-cooled engines are inherently quieter than air-cooled ones, partially because of the dampening effect of the water jacket around the cylinders, and because there are no cooling fins directly attached to the reciprocating parts of the engine that can act as resonators, amplifying certain frequencies.

Even the notoriously atavistic Harley-Davidson motorcycle lineup, one of the last strongholds of air-cooled engine technology for road vehicles, is reluctantly moving toward liquid cooling. Their most recent design, the “Milwaukee-Eight,” circulates oil through passages in the cylinder heads, though the cylinder barrels remain air-cooled. It’s only a matter of time until they join their Japanese V-twin competitors and fully embrace water-cooled designs that retain vestigial cylinder fins for cosmetic purposes, if for no other reason than noise limits. After all, every decibel saved in mechanical noise from the engine itself is another decibel available for that all-important exhaust note, and while it’s hard to keep your customers from swapping to louder pipes once they get their bike home, it’s not practical short of complete replacement to go back to an air-cooled engine design.

Like many different technologies that were competitive for quite a while, but eventually fell out of favor for the majority of users, air cooling has seen its time in automotive applications come to an end. Nevertheless, for other situations where light weight and simplicity are still the main priorities (like piston aircraft engines), they’ll remain in production and use for the foreseeable future, as they remain a viable solution to those particular needs. And of course, as long as there’s a single gallon of gas left on earth, somebody somewhere will be using it to fire up the 1600 flat four in their lovingly-maintained VW Super Beetle that still runs like a top.

Benton Performance: From the Ashes

In early November 2019, a perfect storm of a vehicle fire on an adjacent lot, a tank of stored diesel that collapsed and fed the flames, and California’s unpredictably predictable winds ravaged one of the world’s premiere vintage Porsche restoration and repair shops. Four months later, John Benton is ready to open his doors once more. Here’s what it took to go from disaster to a new beginning.

“The ambient temperature in the voids was 2,200 degrees. It reduced a Bridgeport mill to scrap. It made cast iron give up. It was pretty intense heat.”John Benton

By now, you may have heard the story of how an out-of-control late night fire fanned by 40+ mile per hour winds consumed a major portion of Benton Performance in Anaheim, California. For more than 35 years, John Benton and his crew have been repairing, restoring, stockpiling original parts for, and otherwise loving air-cooled Porsches. While the disaster didn’t claim all of Benton’s property, it hit his inventory particularly hard.

“There was nothing that was salvageable,” Benton explains. “The ambient temperature in the voids was 2,200 degrees. It reduced a Bridgeport mill to scrap. It made cast iron give up. It was pretty intense heat. When you have a steel building with magnesium as the main energy source going off, and 40 mile per hour winds going through it, it’s a convection oven. Every steel beam in the frame of the building was sagging. All the tension cables were sagging.”

Before even a rough estimate of the damage could be made, the remains of the buildings had to be inspected and made safe for people to enter. Then the hard work began.

Per Benton, “Once we emptied the building, then we began cleaning, and it was a mess. We looked like coal miners. Then we had to disassemble the building, filling these 20-yard roll-offs with steel and debris. I was running a cutting torch, and I haven’t done that work since I was a young man, but I’ve done it, so it was just a matter of relying on muscle memory and telling the guys, ‘cut here, cut there, let’s get this into pieces’ and little by little we did it.”

“I don’t ever anticipate accumulating $2 million of new old stock stuff again, because I’m never going to find that stuff.”

“Finally, we had a concrete pad, and then it started raining! I was undeterred, though,” he continues. “The next challenge was getting the residue out of the concrete because we knew we were going to have an open pad, since it wasn’t going to be hidden beneath flooring. It had taken some damage, and it was pretty scored in spots, so I rented a core cutter and a jackhammer and cut out the one big section that was damaged, then side drilled, laid rebar, and poured new concrete. Once that was done, we got the three 20 foot containers delivered, and started building a perimeter wall with a gate. So now we have this beautiful facade that opens up into a courtyard with our three big containers.”

Those containers are where Benton Performance’s inventory will reside now, though it will only be a shadow of what was on-hand before. “I don’t ever anticipate accumulating $2 million of new old stock stuff again, because I’m never going to find that stuff,” Benton admits. “I have procured a lot of choice parts over the years, and when we used them I would always go looking for more. I know where to find them, and I will get what I need to get, but I don’t anticipate stockpiling them ever again.”

Fortunately, Benton didn’t have to start from zero, and the relationships he’s built over the past four decades gave him a running start.

“I had some stuff at my house, and I had some stuff in a separate storage unit, but not much. I had my clean room here, so there were a lot of choice parts for builds that were taking place. But people in the community have been very, very nice and donated some startup parts. Jack [Diramarian] from Scientific [Motorcars] in Pasadena, had one of his guys come over in a pickup that was full of vintage 4-banger parts.

It’s not big stuff – it was parts that need some work, but we’re good at that. We got some head cores, and some case cores, rods, carburetors, manifolds – just stuff that will make an impact. If we can build one or two motors out of that, that gets us to the next place, and we go on from there,” he explains.

“We built this shop off of our people, and we have to keep the team intact.”John Benton

The term “human resources” is almost a punchline in the corporate world, but for small businesses like Benton Performance, the people who make things run are literally the most important asset.

“I have six guys who depend on this business for their livelihood, and they are the driving factor behind my decisions,” says Benton, with the pride evident in his voice. “We built this shop off of our people, and we have to keep the team intact. After a couple of days when it finally sunk in that we weren’t functional and it was just a debris field, everyone was kind of under a black cloud. So we all went out back, and I said look, every single one of you guys has come to me over the last five, ten, twelve years and said, I want this, I want that, how come we don’t have this? I want a list. I don’t care how long it is – I want to know. We will find a way. We might be dead in the water now, but we are going to do it right.”

But the favorite thing I did was hang a disco ball above bay 1 with four spotlights on it, because when I flip that switch on, it makes me smile.”John Benton

The result was a reborn business, designed with the input of all the key players to make it more efficient than the old layout, better for customers, and a more pleasant place to work.

Per Benton, “This has brought us together as a family on a whole ‘nother level – it’s something we will never forget. It looked like a bomb went off, and now, although the shop is smaller than it was, it’s going to be more efficient. Everyone worked very hard on ‘smoothing the corners’ and improving the flow.”

“We put in LED lighting. We fixed the AC in the back unit so there’s better air circulation back there. We took all the stuff we used for cleaning parts and moved it outside. We moved all the machine shop stuff inside, and made a compact and efficient area for machining and welding.

We moved carburetor and distributor repair to right outside the clean room where we build engines. We looked at the flow, and made sure it was what we wanted. We had limited space, so we built integrated custom shelving into the containers for parts storage to maximize that space. But the favorite thing I did was hang a disco ball above bay 1 with four spotlights on it, because when I flip that switch on, it makes me smile.”

“You have to find solutions, and not focus on what you don’t have. Learning that cost me so much time, money, and whiskey, you don’t even know. It was one of those things where I was thinking about all we had to do and I wasn’t sleeping well, and I was on Amazon buying exterior lighting, and as I am browsing, ‘disco ball’ comes up in the suggestions, and I thought, ‘yeah, I think I will have that.’” Benton explains. “Now I have a 12 inch disco ball – who doesn’t want one of those? So when we ‘officially’ reopen on the 28th, we are going to have a party.

The 24 Hours Du Le Mans

Toyota Wins The Ultimate Sports Car Endurance Race

We Americans and Brits have a huge affinity with Le Mans, a small town three hours south west of Paris, France, down the Loire Valley that is the home of the annual 24 Heures (Hours) Du Le Mans sports car endurance race. I’ve been going on and off for more than 30 years, sometimes on the spectator side of the fence but more often on the other side with teams such as Richard Lloyd Racing, Panoz, Jaguar and McLaren. Any big international race is a buzz but there’s something quite special about Le Mans.

The race was started in 1923 by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (of the West) and remains the world’s oldest active endurance race that is part private circuit and part public street course, that aside from a few safety-related alterations, has remained much the same since its inauguration. Indeed, you can drive down the Mulsanne straight on a normal, non-race day. Mulsanne is also known in French as Hunaudières, where it was quite incredible to have breakfast while cars were shrieking by at well over 200 mph. Unfortunately, modern safety requirements have sadly put an end to that experience. Nevertheless, Le Mans remains way up there on the list of amazing auto races.

Because of their sports car history, the Brits were early participants and the Americans weren’t far behind with a Stutz and a Du Pont in 1929. However, it was in 1950 when Cadillac first raced ‘Le Monstre’ there with Briggs Cunningham running a two-car team. Despite 10^th and 11^th place finishes, the Cads were well received. The press congratulating the Americans for their “skill, sportsmanship and dauntless good humor.”

Unfortunately, in 1955 a terrible accident resulted in the deaths of 84 people, including one driver, and injuring almost 200. As a result, Mercedes retired from the race. There followed an international ban on racing, and in the US, the AAA disbanded their Contest Board and more or less banned racing—for a few years at least.

“I think I must have counted every single shift that I did for the last two or three hours of the race.“Jim Busby

After a suitable period of mourning, racing resumed and in the mid-sixties Ford famously went after Ferrari and famously smoked them with their first overall win in 1966. Ford won three more times and the memorable 1-2-3 win came in 1968.

The other big Le Mans story was Steve McQueen’s seminal movie Le Mans filmed during the 1970 race and released the following year. The movie cost $7.6 million and took in a paultry $5.5. It’s not a great movie as movies go but it is for a car nut and gives a realistic insight into endurance racing. Try to imagine driving flat out in the dark and the rain hour after hour.

Of course, no matter what side of the fence you have been on, everybody has different memories of the race. For example, I recently interviewed Jim Busby who raced there many times and won five times. Jim has very different memories, for example, driving the night shift in pouring rain as the sun came up. He’s barreling down the Mulsanne straight at more than 200 mph. He couldn’t see for fog, well, he thought it was fog. “As, I got into it I could smell bacon and eggs.” Said Jim. “What I thought was fog was actually smoke from all the camp fires and stoves lit by the spectators cooking breakfast. The smell made me hungry and drove me nuts as we still had about eight hours to go.”

Jim also talked about a failing gearbox saying, “Coming down the Mulsanne, I’m thinking to myself, I’ve got two downshifts here, shall I make ’em both? Or shall I skip a gear and save the synchromesh. I think I must have counted every single shift that I did for the last two or three hours of the race.” I guess that’s why Le Mans is the ultimate endurance race.

This year’s event was exciting as ever with factory teams pitted against privateers, Chevy versus Ford versus Ferrari and adramatic, unexpected finale. For hours it looked like the Toyota Gazoo LMP1 team of Brit Mike Conway, Kamui Kobyashi of Japan and Argentina’s Jose Maria Lopez driving the #7 car were going to take the trophy after leading for most of the race in their TS050 hybrid. Unfortunately, they suffered a puncture an hour before the end and pitted for a tire change. As sod’s law would have it, the wrong tire was installed and they had to pit again to change it, which caused them to drop back to second behind their teammates. As a consequence of this mishap, the Toyota #8 team of two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso, Japanese driver Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastian Buemi of Switzerland took the win. It was 37-year-old Alonso’s second win and rumor has it that that mishap was organized so that Alonso’s team won. Third place went to Mikhail Aleshin, Stoffel Vandoorne and Vitaly Petrov driving the BR Engineering BR1-AER.

Over in the LMGTE Am class (Grand Touring Endurance Amateur), Ford took its second GT win with the #85 Keating Motorsports team of Jeroen Bleekemolen, Texas car dealer Ben Keating and Brazilian Felipe Fraga. Although they were given a penalty for peeling out in the pits, they stormed on to beat the #56 Porsche 911 RSR of Team Project 1 and the #84 Ferrari 488 GTE of JMW Motorsport that came in third. Unfortunately, the two Corvettes, #63 and #64 running in GTE Pro, despite putting on a strong effort for its 20^th continuous entry, fell behind due to a crash for #64 and a late-race spin and crash for #63 that resulted in some suspension damage.

“Racing needs an uplifting feel good story… “John Hotchkis Jr.

Unfortunately, the Ford entry was disqualified post-race for breaking a minimum refueling time limit and for having a 96.1-liter tank rather than the regulation 96-liter tank. Those infractions gave the win to the #56 Porsche. Now, you might be of the opinion that a mere 0.1 of a liter of extra fuel is nothing to quibble about but multiply that by multiple refuelings and you have a distinct advantage over the competition. It just goes to show that you need to be at the very top of your game if you want to win Le Mans.

John Hotchkis Jr., of Hotchkis Sport Suspension, who supplied most of the photographs used here, raced under the Wynn’s banner with his father at Le Mans in 1989.   His father and Bob Kirby brought Wynn’s to Le Mans in 1977.  Hotchkis Jr said, “I designed the Wynn’s livery that caught current Wynn’s driver/team owner Ben Keating’s attention when I was at Art Center College in 1986 and it ​was first used on the IMSA Hotchkis Racing Porsche 962 in 1987. We ran with Wynn’s sponsorship at Le Mans five times until 1989. This is the first time Wynn’s has been back to Le Mans in 30 years and the ultimate result was a real downer.Racing needs an uplifting feel good story, especially with the controversial overall result, and that finish was good story.”

As usual, more than 250,000 spectators turned out for the 87^th running of Le Mans and, as usual, it didn’t disappoint. Indeed, as is viewed as the “Burning Man’ of motorsports. For more info on Le Mans visit www.europeanlemansseries.com

Luftgekühlt 6

There’s something about being a gearhead that seems to inspire a tribal instinct—a desire to seek out and commune with people sharing a similar interest. You see it in the eternal Ford versus Chevy rivalry, in the tuner car community where brand loyalty is as strong as family ties, and in the endless debates about what kind of racing is “the best,” from Formula One down to grudge night at the local outlaw eighth-mile dragstrip.

But when it comes to distilled essence of enthusiasm, it’s hard to find the equal of the air-cooled Porsche community. There are other marques that are more prestigious, perhaps—certainly Ferrari can lay claim to a racing history that rivals Porsche, and Lamborghini cars of the same era had a rarity and exoticness that put them in a different category altogether—but the cars from Stuttgart have always had a unique blend of racing success, outstanding performance, exceptional engineering, and most importantly, accessibility to those with big aspirations but relatively modest means.

What all that fancy language boils down to is that Porsche enthusiasts are a different breed, and it’s no surprise that their foremost annual gathering is something entirely unlike any “car show” you’ve probably ever attended.

“Luftgekühlt” literally translates to “air-cooled,” but American ears will hear that final syllable as “cult,” and honestly, that’s not all that inappropriate. To attend Luftgekühlt is to enter a secret society devoted to the veneration of the cars that made Porsche legendary.

Put together by racer-entrepreneurs Patrick Long and Howie Idelson, Luftgekühlt has taken many forms in its five past iterations, with three meets in eclectic SoCal locations (including one in a Los Angeles lumber yard), one in Munich, and one in London.

For Luftgekühlt 6, the Universal Studios backlot was turned into a 1:1 scale diorama to display more than 350 Porsches in a variety of settings, from the wild west to the streets of New York and even the Hill Valley courthouse square from Back to the Future.

Even the signage on the storefronts was changed to match the Porsche theme, helping to provide an immersive environment to properly appreciate the cars on display.

Cars weren’t parked quite so much as they were curated, placed in settings appropriate to their history and significance in the air-cooled boxer universe. Even the signage on the storefronts was changed to match the Porsche theme, helping to provide an immersive environment to properly appreciate the cars on display.

If you’re wondering how those cars ended up as part of this year’s event, the selection process for the opportunity to display your car at Luftgekühlt is exclusive, without being elitist—as the number of applicants greatly exceeds the space available, it comes down to how interesting your Porsche is.

Of course, cars with racing provenance, rare variations, and pristine examples of both street and competition models are well-represented, but what you come to realize is that every car you see has a story, and even the most humble air-cooled Porsche with the right soul can find a place in the spotlight.

Those fortunate enough to score a golden ticket to attend Luftgekühlt 6 as a spectator would be treated to an up-close look at Porsches as disparate as 917 racers in open-cockpit 917/10 Can-Am and 917K Le Mans variations, 911-pattern cars set up for every form of club and professional racing from GT to rally, and even an assortment of 914s, which were long considered the “ugly duckling” of the air-cooled Porsche family but have earned a new appreciation among collectors in recent years for their inherent good qualities as both competition cars and daily drivers.

There was also no shortage of truly exotic Porsches—as you would expect, the ultimate expression of the 911 design family, the 959 supercar, was represented at Luftgekühlt 6, but the most offbeat Porsche might have been the P312 “orchard tractor.”

Powered by a 24-horsepower 1.8 liter engine (air-cooled, of course), the P312’s most distinguishing feature is its streamlined bodywork, reminiscent of the “airflow” cars and trains of the 1920s and ’30s.

It wouldn’t be surprising if they ended up on the deck of an aircraft carrier, on the roof of a skyscraper in Dubai, or even aboard a purpose-built space station in low-earth orbit.

Porsche actually built a number of different tractors in the mid-20th century, primarily diesel-powered, but the gas-engined 312 was a specialized model with a few hundred constructed for the Brazilian coffee plantation market. The idea behind the swoopy sheetmetal wasn’t to reduce wind resistance; instead, it was designed to slip between trees without damaging delicate branches or fruit.

Luftgekühlt has taken a lot of different forms in a relatively short history, and this year’s gathering was certainly no exception to the eclectic settings seen in the first five. It’s hard to imagine how Long and Idelson will top the make-believe world of the Universal Studios backlot for Luftgekühlt 7 though.

It wouldn’t be surprising if they ended up on the deck of an aircraft carrier, on the roof of a skyscraper in Dubai, or even aboard a purpose-built space station in low-earth orbit. Wherever it ends up, though, you know that it will be an event air-cooled Porsche fans simply cannot miss.

Purist Build

To Cut or Not to Cut—That Is the Question.

There are as many different opinions about building, rebuilding, customizing, or hot rodding cars as there are butts for the seats of those cars. Twenty or even ten years ago, collectors and restorers would cry out foul when somebody cut up a restored, original car to make some kind of hot rod out of it—didn’t matter if it was a ’32 Ford, a Mustang, a Mopar or a Porsche. But as we are beginning to see significant changes to the hobby, as we know it, people care less and think, well, I might as well cut it up. Others think, well, if I cut one up it will make all the others that are left more scarce and therefore more valuable. Others might think, there are not many survivors; I’d better restore it.

I guess I’m on the fence a little as I love modified cars of all kinds but I can also see and appreciate folks who prefer it as the factory delivered it—the purist outlook. Just take the Porsche market. Before Rod Emory’s Emory Motorsports started building “Outlaw” Porsche 356s more than 20 years ago in 1996, nobody dreamed of cutting up and customizing a Porsche, especially not a 356. Pretty soon, other companies such as Rob Dickinson’s Singer Vehicle Design were doing same to the revered 911. Prices of these re-imagined Porsche have escalated to over $1 million. Who’d a thunk it?

Of course, Porsche is not the only marque to succumb to the cutting torch. I was watching an auction show on TV recently and watched as two customized Ford Bronco’s crossed the block at well over $100K each. What suddenly made the Ford Bronco so valuable if it wasn’t for what companies such as Icon and ASC Bronco have done to elevate their desirability?

Look at the flip side of the coin though. It wasn’t that long ago that owners and restorers of early Fords such as Model Ts, Model As and ’32-’34 Fords totally frowned on anybody cutting up and hot rodding those cars. There were some who wouldn’t even sell a car to a known rodder. Now, most of the people who liked stock early Fords have passed or, are too old to care. Consequently, there’s a glut of those cars on the market and prices have fallen drastically. So, one could ask, did their protectionism matter in the long run? No, because in reality there are many, many more cars than there are people who want to cut them up.

Consider all the classic cars that lay rotting in fields, yards, and garages. Their owners saying, “I’m going to restore it someday.” Well, someday came and went and now the car has rotted into the ground. Which is worse? To let the car rot or to let it go to somebody who can restore or modify it and enjoy it because all the hoarder has done is destroy it.

I take equal umbrage with those restorers who are anal about so-called factory overspray and the like. Talk to anybody who worked a factory line in the fifties and sixties and they will tell you there was no specific factory overspray pattern. It came out the way it came out and to give or take judging points for something as subjective as overspray is, in my opinion, asinine.

“What I like to do is use factory reinforcement pieces such as those from a convertible model; torque boxes and frame connectors, etc., as a way to strengthen a chassis.”Steve Strope, Pure Vision Design

When looking at the pureness of a build one also has to take into consideration the state of the donor vehicle. I know of several guys that have started with little more than a rusty frame and firewall and they have spent thousands of dollars fitting new panels when they could have replaced the whole body more easily and for less money. “But,” they say, “It’s not original.” Well, you’ve replaced almost the entire car so what makes that more original than a new body?”

Another thing to take into consideration when deciding what to do is progress. Compare whatever it is you drive every day with a car of the fifties or sixties. It’s night and day, black and white, good and bad. A modern car with all its convenience and connectivity is amazing to drive. Yet a stock, classic-era car that is 50 or 60 years old can be an absolute pig to drive with drum brakes, no power steering, no real air conditioning, no retractable seat belts, no cup holders, no USB port and no connectivity. Some people love it but my guess is, most people don’t.

I have a friend in England, Dan Clare, with a funky Model T Ford hot rod that to see driving on the street is magical because it’s so out of place. It’s like seeing a punk rocker at a bus stop in Los Angeles. It’s an anachronism that is kind of amusing. But talk to Dan about driving his rod and he says, “Sixty miles is about the max I can drive. It just flat wears you out.” You would never say that about a modern car that you can jump in and drive 1,000 miles with little or no thought.

Because those classic cars are what they are and drive as they do is why people modernize them with stronger frames, better suspension, better brakes, more power. I spoke to Steve Strope of Pure Vision Design, a well-known builder of highly modified cars. Steve has cut up some of the best from Mustangs to Road Runners—nothing is too sacred, however, in his opinion he likes to retain the stock frame where possible because, “The stock frame fits and as long as it’s up to the task of the power we’re adding, I don’t see any good reason to change it. You know the body will fit without modification and will not need hacking.

“What I like to do is use factory reinforcement pieces such as those from a convertible model; torque boxes and frame connectors, etc., as a way to strengthen a chassis. These are simple mods a guy can probably do at home and not degrade the integrity of the car. That’s what we did on the recently unveiled PGA ’73 Challenger.

“The addition then of aftermarket suspension components from somebody such as Hotchkis will improve the suspension for probably less than the cost of restoring the stock suspension. With a new kit, the work is already done and you will get a new, stronger, improved suspension and your old car will handle and stop like a modern car with no significant loss of integrity.”

I have to agree with Steve, I like a stock frame, as long as it’s sturdy that has been updated to accept modern suspension and brakes. However, when the frame is rotten or weak then a new frame is totally acceptable.

It doesn’t get more pure than a Shelby G.T.350 so what can be wrong with taking a boring stocker and re-engineering it into a pure-bred, road-going racecar?

One question often asked when builders are sinking money into a project is, is it worth it? I know several guys that have invested mucho dinero into a show car project only to not win. That’s a gut-wrenching, disappointing feeling that nobody likes and to make matters worse the car can now possibly be somewhat devalued. It didn’t win; you overbuilt the neighborhood, as realtors say, and invested too much in a project that is not worth the investment.

Call me cheap but I just don’t get the idea of investing hundreds of thousands of dollars into a project that ends up being worth 10 cents on the dollar—makes no “cents” to me. That said, to some people cost doesn’t matter and bless them, they are building cool cars that inspire and excite us and help keep a hobby, industry, and lifestyle afloat which is, after all is said and done, what it’s about.

Consequently, you have to pick your car. Take for example that of OVC Mustangs who take old ’65 Mustangs and turn them into Shelby G.T.350 Mustangs. It doesn’t get purer than a Shelby G.T.350 so what can be wrong with taking a boring stocker and re-engineering it into a pure-bred, road-going racecar? And, the value of that new G.T.350 would far exceed that of the stock Mustang.

In ten or twenty years, the hobby, industry, sport, call it what you will, will have moved on. Change is inevitable. What’s hot today will probably not be hot tomorrow. So, in my opinion, it doesn’t matter if we cut up cars or not—no matter how special they might be. There are lots to go around. Unless, of course, that car is really rare, a one-off or a very special model that by modifying it you destroy both its integrity and its valve.

Bruce Canepa’s Top 10

Scotts Valley is a small city of 11,000 people six miles north of Santa Cruz, California, and to the south of what is now known as Silicon Valley. Of course, that term was barely in general use when Bruce Canepa opened his first business in 1982.

Bruce’s family owned a Ford dealership in the beach/college town of Santa Cruz where he learned all things mechanical and cut his driving teeth on a Model A Ford circa 1963. He began racing as soon as he was able driving quarter midgets and Go-Karts before progressing to super modifieds and sprint cars.

Bruce tried it all and excelled at most and was awarded consecutive “Rookie of the Year” and “Most Improved Driver” in three different race categories: Sportsman, Modified, and Sprint Cars.

In 1978, Bruce moved into racing sports cars in both the IMSA and Trans-Am series and in 1979 formed his own team to campaign a Porsche 934 at the grueling Daytona 24 hour sports car race. Teamed with Rick Mears and Monte Shelton, they finished an incredible third overall.

The Porsche factory was so impressed by the privateering effort, they provided him a brand new 935 for the rest of that season thus cementing Bruce’s continuing passion and loyalty to the brand.

He tried it all and excelled at most…

In 1980 and ’81, Bruce returned to Daytona with Gianpiero Moretti in the famous MOMO team Porsche 935. They also raced at Mid Ohio and Riverside. Bruce tried his hand at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with his own design twin-turbo-powered open wheeler—he qualified first and finished an amazing second overall.

The following year, Bruce was back at Daytona teamed with Bobby Rahal and Jim Trueman in the very first March GTP “Ground Effects” Prototype. He also opened Bruce Canepa Motorcars handling Audi, BMW, Lamborghini, Maserati and of course, Porsche automobiles.

Bruce has always been good at seeing a niche in the market and in ’82 he opened Canepa Design. The following year he began redesigning Kenworth big rigs that led, in 1985, to his purchase of Concept Transporters. That year he also drove the Eletrodyne Lola T600 at the Riverside 6 Hours.

With Group B rallying dominating the European racing scene in the mid-eighties, Porsche introduced the phenomenal 959 in 1986. It was quickly and rightly regarded as the ultimate sports car, however, the car was not legal to import into the U.S.

Enamored of the 959, Bruce and perhaps even Microsoft’s Bill Gates worked at enabling the car to be legally imported. Meanwhile, the American scene was all about SUVs and Chevy/GMC trucks and Canepa subsequently built more than 1,500 custom vehicles to Bruce’s design.

After ten years of working on the legalization of the 959, Bruce was finally able to deliver the first Canepa 959 in 2000 and the first California-compliant version in 2003. Despite all this work, Bruce continued to race and returned to Colorado’s Pikes Peak setting the course record for tandem-axle big rigs in 2000, 2001, and in 2002 he crossed the line in 13:57.800—a record that still stands on the 156-turn, 12.42-mile mountain course.

Racing oil runs in his veins and his current ride of choice is a McLaren P1 GTR.

Bruce Canepa moved into his current 70,000 sq. ft. Scotts Valley facility in 2006 and for any petrolhead, it’s Nirvana and showcases some of the raddest cars in Petroldom. There is so much to see that we asked Bruce to choose his Top 10 from all the cars on display and they are presented here: everything from the famed So-Cal Speed Shop Coupe that ran both at Bonneville and the drags in the very early fifties to the Porsche 917/10 of 1972 and the 1985 Rothmans Porsche 962C. It’s an amazing to-die-for, must-see collection.

Canepa is not just a showroom though, or even a museum, its also houses one of the world’s most respected restoration shops that not only meticulously restores historic racecars but also offers setup and race support, meanwhile, Bruce still does all the final testing. Well, he would wouldn’t he?  Racing oil runs in Bruce’s veins and his current ride of choice is a McLaren P1 GTR.

Porsche Vice: Das Renn Treffen 2019

Since 2015, Das Renn Treffen (DRT) has brought the best Porsches that Miami has to offer while also benefitting local charities in the South Florida area. This year, it has grown into a three-day celebration of the brand from Stuttgart.

DRT probably snuck up on many people in the last few years. While many have been concentrating on Luftgekühlt and the Rennsport Reunion on the West Coast, South Florida has been creating a large Porsche gathering of their own. It may even rival them to some degree, but the East Coast is certainly showing it’s capable of creating a show worthy of the Stuttgart crest.

What is DRT?

It started in 2015 as a sister event to Volksblast, itself a nearly 20-year old Volkswagen show that celebrates classic V-Dubs. You could find the latest and greatest Porsches to vintage race cars and everything in between, so long as it was a Porsche.

It remained a single day show until February 2018 when it grew into a two-day event. This year, it became a three-day festivity that included a track day at Palm Beach International Raceway filled with race cars and some of the quickest street cars in the South Florida area.

…the East Coast is certainly showing it’s capable of creating a show worthy of the Stuttgart crest.

That’s not including the live music, food, and the many, many vendors that showed up to make this into a huge event. Other than the track day, all of this took place at Sunset Place, right in the middle of South Miami.

Those who attended were greeted by historic and restored Porsches, ultra-rare RUFs, race cars, and some interesting custom creations. You weren’t limited to just rear-engine and air-cooled Porsches as 944s, 918 Spyders, 914s, and even Carrera GTs made appearances. From street cars to rare cars, it just needed that crest.

It’s Not Just About Cars

Probably the most important thing to know about Das Renn Treffen is that it’s not just a Porsche show. These guys raise money for charities and non-profits located in the South Florida area. One of the biggest they support is the City of South Miami Parks and Recreation Department STEM Program.

Its goal is to help foster the next generation of adults who specialize in science, technology, engineering, and math—essentially creating kids interested in what it takes to make stuff like the Porsches they saw at this event and more.

The Track Day

For the first day of DRT, event goers were treated to a track day at Palm Beach International Raceway, once known as Moroso Motorsports Park (yes, that Moroso if you’re familiar with the classic performance parts brand) until 2008.

It’s a 10-turn, 2.2-mile course that’s FIA Grade II certified and means anything besides Formula 1 cars can race on the facility. So, this isn’t an outdated or backyard track these drivers were running.

The cars ranged from a few GT3s (both racers from the GT3 Experience and the street variety) to Caymans to classic air-cooled era Porsches, even including a 993 Turbo, a classic Supercup racer, and a 981C Cayman GT4. For RWB fans, many of those wide-body modified Porsches showed up and even went on track.

If there’s one thing that’s awesome about an RWB owner, is that there are quite a few that are willing to track their Nakai-built creations. There is no better way to experience a Porsche except out on the track where it was designed to perform and was the perfect way to open DRT for 2019.

The Collection Cars and Coffee

If you were willing to be at The Collection—a Porsche dealer in Coral Gables, Florida—in the mid-morning, you were greeted by Cars and Coffee meet. It was sort of a pre-DRT with show-goers showing up along with examples from The Collection as well.

These ranged from 356s that were lovingly restored to street legal and tracked 991 GT3s to the latest 991.2 GT3 RSs. It was such a turnout, one had to wonder if this wasn’t going to overshadow the whole show. Turns out, this would just be a warmup.

DRT 2019

This was the event everyone was here for, Das Renn Treffen or loosely translated to “The Race Meet.” If you wanted to see at least one of each Porsche ever made without going to Germany, this was the event you needed to hit.

Classic air-cooled to modern hybrids and more were on display. There were some amazing Porsche classics ranging from unrestored 356s to strikingly beautiful four-cylinder 912s. However, it wasn’t just those built by the factory, either.

Singer Vehicle Design, RWB, and RUF all had examples on display by owners from around the South Florida area and even in parts from around the US and beyond. Yes, this even has become that big of a deal.

Most who drive a Singer say they feel like the real evolution of the 911.

On the subject of modified cars, however, there was one viewed with special interest. “Carolina,” Akira Nakai’s very first US-built Porsches and the one he personally owned. It’s now driven by a new owner and modified from when Nakai first built it, but it’s still as stunning as when it was finished the first time.

Not to be outdone, though, Singer Vehicle Design brought out their latest collection of restored and modified Porsche 911s to DRT all the way from Irvine, California. They are some of the most amazing reworks of the 911 chassis that many feel Singers are more 911 than even the current 992.

Most who drive a Singer say they feel like the real evolution of the 911. It’s hard to argue against that as they are upfitted with better suspensions, lighter-weight panels than the originals, and retain their air-cooled flat-six engines.

There is Always Room for more Porsche Events

While you probably think of Luftgekühlt or Rennsport as the ultimate Porsche showcase, DRT should be something you start to consider. With the growth of the event and the class of cars that came out, it’s hard to continue to ignore it.

If you’ve never heard of it, you need to attend the next one in 2020 and that’s especially so if you’re a fan of the Stuttgart brand. It’s only going to continue to grow and get better, and you can’t pick a better place to celebrate Porsches as you can with Miami.

Fast Cars Unlimited

I don’t know about you but I like to detour off the main street and take the back alleys—you never know what you’re going to find, particularly if you are looking for interesting vehicles. Recently, I was cruisin’ Pacific Coast Highway on the west side of Los Angeles when I took a turn near the beach and found myself in a small street filled with exotics: Ferrari, Jaguar, Bentley. There were so many parked by the side of the road I didn’t know which way to look.

Established almost 40 years ago by Steve Tillack, Fast Cars Ltd. emerged from a stereo business but has grown to provide discerning international collectors with a complete package of services including research, location, purchase, services and complete restoration of exceptional collector cars and historic sports cars. They can even handle race support if the customer requires it.

With around 20 employees under the experienced eye of manager Craig Calder, Fast Cars has complete machine, dyno, fabrication, and upholstery shops. They have produced noted trophy, Concours, and historic race vehicles that have graced the lawns as far and wide as the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the Ville d’Este in Italy; Their cars have even competed in the infamous Mille Miglia Italian road race. For any event, Fast Cars can offer its clients seamless support and logistic planning here in the U.S. and overseas.

Walking through the various shops on my guided tour with Marco Piehl who has been with the company for more than 20 years, I was amazed at both the amount and the variety of work being performed. We began the tour in a small shop where they were working on a Ferrari 250 GTO Spider. Next door we found a Jaguar E-type low-drag coupe with a hand-formed aluminum body. Eventually, Marco pulled us away into another large area where there were vehicles for sale.

There were so many parked by the side of the road I didn’t know which way to look.

These included a road-going 962 Porsche from Vern Schuppan, A V-12-powered Jaguar XJR-15, a pair of Ferrari 250 GT convertibles and a coupe, the only Bertone-bodied Jaguar Pirana Coupe styled by Marcello Gandini, an equally rare Porsche Carrera GTS as well as a 1966 Porsche 906 than ran in the Targa Florio, and an extremely rare DSRM-backed Ford RS200 Group B rally car.

Across the street in the service area, there was everything from a pair of Ferrari Dinos and Daytonas to a pair of 250 TRs as well as a Ferrari 500 NDTR. Alfas, Lamborghinis, and even a Jaguar 220. It’s all in a days work for the Fast Cars mechanics that keep these exotics running. Indeed, one young man who graduated from UTI turns out to be the Weber-carb tuning wizard.

About the only part of the restoration process not handled in-house is that of paintwork and some of that is farmed out to Mick’s Paint, Pomona, California. Mick’s was primarily known for award-winning hot rod and custom paint, but since collaborating with Fast Cars their combined efforts have garnered several awards at the prestigious Pebble Beach Historic Concours d’Elegance.

…one young man who graduated from UTI turns out to be the Weber-carb tuning wizard.

Their first award came in 2016 with a 1958 Pegaso Z-103 that came third in its class. In 2017, a rare Boano-bodied 1955 Alfa Romeo 1900c SS Coupe Speciale came first in class. In 2019, the only-surviving Atcherley-bodied 1928 Alfa Romeo came second in Class J4 Italian Classic. This year the companies are working together on another rare 1938 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500.

Typically, Fast Cars is not open to the public, however, occasionally, they host an open house and you can find out more by visiting their site at www.fastcarsltd.com

Jimmy Who? The Jimmy Shine Story

Jimmy Shine? That can’t possibly be his real name? Actually, no. His real name is Jimmy Falschlehner but nobody can pronounce let alone spell it. An early stint sweeping floors garnered the name Shine and, like Shinola, it stuck.

Shine and I started working together 20 years ago at Pete Chapouris’s SO-CAL Speed Shop. Despite being the ‘young buck’, Jimmy held his own working alongside some very talented craftsmen on some very famous and influential hot rods and customs.

Around 1999, I decided it would be good for the company if we returned to our land speed racing roots and consequently purchased a bona fide 175 MPH street-driven lakes racer built by ‘Kiwi Steve’ Davies. There followed seven intense years of racing at El Mirage Dry Lake and Bonneville Salt Flats where on August 15, 2006, Shine eventually set a D/BSTR (Blown Street Roadster) land speed record at 206.454 MPH. Not bad for an old, home-built Ford roadster.

An early stint sweeping floors garnered the name Shine and, like Shinola, it stuck.

Shine, meanwhile, had been noticed by some TV producers and entered the madcap world of ‘reality TV’. Well, as they say, it’s not reality it’s actuality. The first show was “The Great Hot Rod Build Off” in 2004 that saw Shine pitted against Barry White for the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR) Award at the Grand National Roadster Show. Unexpectedly, neither won and the producer flipped out but that’s show business. Personally, apart from not winning, I thought it was a great ending.

During the 18-plus years that Shine worked at SO-CAL, he and Chapouris had become fast friends. Indeed, it was Chapouris who pushed for the shows knowing instinctively that the power of TV could make all the difference. Chapouris the mentor, therefore, directed the endplay that would see the establishment of Jimmy Shine’s Speedshop. With Pete’s symbolic passing of the torch, the new business carries with it a piece of the iconic SO-CAL Speed Shop dating back to its creation in 1946 by founder and friend Alex Xydias.

Shine’s new shop officially opened April Fool’s Day, 2015, and instantly the space was buzzing with projects, including, of course, a TV show with old compadre Billy F Gibbons of ZZ Top (BFG). The show “Rockin’ Roadsters” aired on Discovery Channel. Shine is also a spokesman for Baileigh Industrial Products, Bendpak/Ranger lifts and Miller Welding promoting the companies, making how-to videos and doing personal appearances. PAs are also something he does around the globe with BFG having traveled as far afield as Australia and Russia.

Despite all the hoopla and media hype, Jimmy’s core business is building and maintaining cool rides for an eclectic mix of customers. One minute you can find him wrenching on an original Cobra for Ernie and Elaine Nagamatsu, the next he can be helping his right-hand man Paulo massage the custom touches on a ’64 Buick Riviera or, punching lovers on his home-made louver press.

It’s a tough life but you can never lift.

Or, he can be found working on a famous Porsche Speedster that was raced by Jim Kilpatrick and the next minute on a radical chopped and channeled ’34 truck for Michael Sinacola. It’s all in a days work for Shine and when he isn’t working or spending time with his lovely wife Nikki and their family, he’s surfing at Trestles in Orange County. It’s a tough life but you can never lift.

Shine’s new speed shop is located 867 N Commerce St, Orange, CA. It’s well worth a visit, however, check their website for hours and any special events before you turn up: www.shinespeedshop.com

Putting the ‘Porsche’ in Porsche Design

We Go 60 Stories Up In Miami’s Condo

They say the price of condos rises proportionally with each floor up but inside the Porsche Design Tower in Miami, it gets absolutely bananas by the time you hit the penthouse. While it might be widely reported on by auto journos of the world regurgitating press releases and the same old photos, we got exclusive access to one of the most expensive penthouses around — complete with an elevator to bring your toys up to your suite!

The project of the Porsche Design Tower was an ambitious one from the very beginning. Build a circular tower, the tallest in Miami on a tiny strip of sand in between the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. Fill the condo with the finest amenities, exotic interiors, and celebrity owners… and design an elevator system that can haul your cars to your suite!

Undertaken by Miami heavyweights Dezer Development, the project teamed up with Porsche Design to get the right aesthetic and clientele inside the building. If you have ever been to a Porsche Design boutique, it’s less about cars and more about style, gadgets, and apparel that tie into automobiles. Sales staff will encourage owners of many car brands to find gear that suits their lifestyle independent to what you drive. Yours truly has a few pairs of Porsche Design Carrera sunglasses and even though I have never owned a Porsche, I like Carrera shades and that is just one of many collabs the brand has — condos notwithstanding.

For a special party, my car club booked the Porsche Design Tower penthouse suite. This is a $32 million penthouse that is not only 20,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space but it also has parking for 11 cars. Eleven. Most driveways can’t handle 11 but here in bustling Miami, there is room for seven cars in the man cave, two in the rear garage and two in the showcase garage… 56 stories up.

The Porsche Design Tower is 60 stories in total, that is 56 plus four that are all yours should you want to drop the $32-milli. While you might find other bargains out there, the car elevator or Dezervator has no parallel in the world. The core of the building houses three advanced rotating platforms that pick up cars from the ground level and haul them up with a driver or not.

The process is fascinating to experience and I truly felt like peering into a window of the future. Essentially you roll your exotic car into the loading level into one of three illuminated pods. The concierge will direct guests through the process but it’s about as simple as a car wash, well one that goes up 600-feet vertically.

After entering the pod, a caddy rolls out and snatches the tires with thin rollers to elevate the car just an inch off the ground. From there the long stainless steel dolly retracts the car back into the elevator and up you go. When arriving at your floor, the car is slid out on a long track into your suite or in the case of this penthouse, you can move your car around an open garage space. The whole operation is orchestrated by technicians and computer programs on the main floor to ensure all goes smooth.

As for the unit itself, this lofty penthouse leaves everything to the imagination. It has cavernous open spaces and the living space will be built to the specifications of any buyer. The maze around four floors of living area with massive patios, pool, hot tub and balconies facing every direction are almost too much to comprehend. This is obviously the most expensive of the 135 units in the building that has attracted the most billionaire owners of any condo. There is nothing like it and the wealthy car guys snap them up just to be closer to what is important and far enough away from what isn’t.

With your luxury or exotic car locked away but visible to you from nearly every angle, who needs a security system?!

King Carbon Fiber: Gunther Werks Reimagines the 993

Well, are you kicking yourself yet? You know, over the fact that a Porsche 993 Turbo, the last of the aircooled greats was affordable at one point in time? Well, that dead cat bounce came back strong and 1995-1998 Porsches have reached over $2-million in GT2 trim. The price for these cars today has dragged up even the lowly C2 from obscurity and given them lofty values and more desirability. The aftermarket noticed and the aftermarket also helped create the frenzy into a climate today where Singer was born and new player Gunther Werks Porsche, who should need no introduction but hey, we get paid by the word.

Let’s rewind again a bit before we get to the Gunther Werks phenomenon. Porsche has always made desirable cars and the swing-and-miss of the 1999-2004 Porsche 996 help the aircooled prices along. That left collectors to hoard previous generations fearing the worst for the future of the 911. But the aftermarket aided in not only ramping up the classics but bringing completely reinvented restomods to an almost completely new set of buyers.

What Rauh-Welt Begriff (RWB) widebodies may have started and Singer restomods perpetuated, the latest player in the high-dollar Porsche scene has possibly perfected. We are talking about Gunther Werks, the company that might not have built the restomod Porsche market but in many ways perfected it… in carbon fiber. 

Since the parent company of company is carbon fiber and wheel titans Vorsteiner, they wanted to reinvent the 993 with a clean approach. Identifying that the base model Carrera C2 tended to understeer inherently out of the factory, the mission to alter the geometry was underway. Believing the front track was too narrow, this Porsche was reimagined with a completely square set-up. To achieve this, it wasn’t a simple increase in bodywork with wider wheels, but the whole front geometry is pushed out 60mm resulting in a 65-inch front and rear square set up. The running gear is still staggered with 315/30/18 Rear Pirelli P Zero Rosso Tires in the rear and agile 245/35R18 up front.

The agility of the Porsche is also due in part to the lightweight body adorning the C2 chassis. Gunther Werks Porsche owner Peter Nam explains that this is a pre-preg carbon fiber formed in an autoclave that results in a curb weight of only 2670-pounds making it lighter and stiffer than the original. The soft curves of the 993 body gently extend out 3-inches on each corner to cover the sizable increase in tires and new suspension mounting points creating a slick design that is as wide as the current 991 GT3! Outside, a revised duckbill spoiler amplified the look of this 400R and on earlier versions where the original doors and mirrors were kept, this latest 400R replaces them all in exposed carbon fiber.

Under the rear lid is an all-new approach making power. The 4.0L naturally aspirated flat-6 pumps out 400 horsepower with 331 lb-ft but that figure climbs to 431hp at 7,800rpm on the right gasoline with a MoTeC tune. To keep all those ponies headed in the right direction, the 400R also features electric power steering and air conditioning requiring only 1-horsepower eliminating parasitic drag.

The gearbox is proper 6-speed manual transaxle that with the gearing changed to optimize the car’s track performance. The revised box features closer ratios for the first five gears and an overdrive for 6th gear to keep it civil.

Debuting at “The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering” in 2017, the original red 400R made a splash there and a couple months later at SEMA 2017. But Gunther Werks decided to up the ante with this complete exposed carbon fiber exoskeleton showcasing what the company could produce. Nam described this exposed carbon fiber as “the most challenging build of my career.” It was the expansive amount of space that these carbon fiber experts had to perfect, creating an automotive art in stunning carbon fiber weave that couldn’t be hidden by paint.

Interested? Well, there are only going to be 25 in existence, so move quick but not too quick because it will cost $600,000 to park one in your driveway… and you have to supply the C2 donor car! The public, however, has spoken and all the reviews agree, this is one special Porsche. As a first effort from Gunther Werks, we applaud how quickly they established a following that took the Singers and Rufs of the world much longer to achieve.

Driven to America

Question: How do you best pay tribute to a man who was responsible for not only designing some of the most highly sought after European cars in the world but who was also responsible for bringing them to America? 

Answer: By bringing every make and model vehicle born from his influence to one central location for enthusiasts of all ages to see. 

CIRCLE OF LEGENDS

It was a cool morning and one thing was clear: Fall was officially here. 

I had just arrived at the NYIT de Seversky Mansion to take part in covering my first-ever Driven To America – “A celebration of the air-cooled Porsche and tribute to Max Hoffman.” As I walked toward the mansion, I immediately noticed a 918 Spyder Weissach with Martini livery and thought, “Surely there are more cars here than this.”

Adjacent to the mansion was an outdoor foyer where “The Circle of Legends” were displayed in, you guessed it, a circle with a small group of like-minded enthusiasts young and old observing them. The circle included some of the most sought-after and influential European vehicles in the U.S. to date of which Mr. Hoffman had a hand in either importing, designing, or both back in the 1950’s. Now I won’t get into each car’s history or it’s relevance to automotive history but…for Christ sake, there was a 300SL, Gullwing, D-Type, and a 507 Convertible all within feet of one another…in the same place!

In Hebrew, the word “Dayenu” translates loosely in English as “It would’ve been enough if” followed by what theoretically would have. But this small yet breathtaking sight wasn’t enough…it was just the beginning.

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX

David Jacobson and James Barry are two of many Porsche enthusiasts from around the globe. Together they run Collector Car Showcase in Oyster Bay, New York – a museum that showcases some of the rarest classic and modern cars from around the world.

For most people, it would’ve been enough to have the privilege of owning some of the rare pieces of Max Hoffman’s legacy in their collection. But the two felt a sense of obligation to do more. “Mr. Hoffman is one of the many people in the automotive industry who go unrecognized for all they’ve done,” Mr. Barry explained in a phone interview. To them, Mr. Hoffman hasn’t received nearly as much credit or praise as he deserves for the incalculable contributions he’s made to our industry, and they wanted to change that…so they created Driven To America. 

BACKYARD SURPRISES

When it comes to family gatherings, there are those that take place between immediate family members who live in relatively close proximity to one another and occur on a more frequent basis. Then there are full-blown reunions that come around once in a blue moon and consist of nearly every living leaf from the family tree. The latter is the closest analogy I can make to explain Driven To America: One big, automotive, European family reunion.

Having mustered the strength to pick my jaw up off the floor of “The Circle of Legends,” I made my way to the backyard where substantially more enthusiasts were walking around. I was “greeted” by an entire field filled with nearly every generation and model of Porsche imaginable. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t expecting the other spectators to stop what they were doing and yell, “Surprise!!”

Now, by no means would I consider myself well-versed on Porsches, but regardless of that fact, I knew I was walking among legends. It was the quantity and quality of cars that clued me in along with the wide range of body lines and aerodynamic features found on them. From the sweeping red rear “fins” of the 356 Carrera Zagato and the unmistakable “facial features” of the various versions of 930 Slantnoses to the omnipresent generations of classic Carreras and rare childhood hallmarks like the “Bad Boys” Turbo 3.6, there was no shortage of awesomeness no matter where I turned.

I could go on and on about the cars and the overall experience, but instead, I’ll suggest that if you’re able to, make your way to next year’s rendition of Driven To America. If you’re any sort of Porsche or automotive enthusiast, then it will definitely be worth it.

Luftgekühlt 5

Air Cooled Porsche Heaven in a Lumber Yard

Luftgekühlt, literally translated means “Air Cooled” and reflects the simple idea that Ferdinand Porsche created when he designed his first car under his name. Today, we celebrate his and Porsche’s air-cooled legacies thanks to Patrick Long and Howie Idelson with Luftgekühlt 5.

The pair of Porsche aficionados came together five years ago with the idea to celebrate all of Porsche’s air-cooled past. From the Pre-A 356 to the last line of 993s in 1998, Long and Idelson wanted to make sure the history of non-water-cooled P-cars were celebrated and cherished. Thus, Luftgekühlt was born. Each event is unique as they didn’t want to set a formula for every one of them.

For example, Luftgekühlt 1 was held in the parking lot of Deus Ex Machina, a café located on Lincoln and Venice. It was just enough room for 100 air-cooled Porsches. Luftgekühlt 2 was showcased at the Bandito Brothers Show Space in Culver City, CA. 3 took place at Modernica in Vernon, CA, which is a little south of downtown LA. 4 was at the Crafted Market in the Port of Los Angeles. Suffice to say, 5 had to be somewhere just as unique as those locations. However, who would have thought that a lumber yard would have fit the bill so nicely?

You couldn’t have a better backdrop, though. The simplicity of nature itself in the stocks of Ganahl Lumber’s open-air yard, feature cars on display and sitting on top of redwood lumber, the architecture and backdrops of the South Bay area – it all fit together to celebrate the simplicity and complexity of the air-cooled Porsche. Combined with a dash of dramatic, early morning light and you have yourself a beautiful event.

However, it also continues to showcase the unique nature of Luftgekühlt. Displaying at a lumber yard, at the Port of Los Angeles, Modernica, Bandito Brothers, and a Thai restaurant. Each one of those events has been unique and without repetition save for one thing: the celebration of air-cooled Porsches. This is one that, if you miss it, you have missed a unique show with an exceptional venue. So, look for Luftgekühlt 6 in 2019 because it’s sure to be another amazing event, even if you aren’t into Porsches.