One I can see straight away is difficulty in seeing ahead to overtake a car on a single lane road, requiring either passenger input or hanging back a bit more to see

Rules: has to be a paint to sample, thats it, open to all P cars 

I'll start: 

On RL, a 996.2 GT3 in Carmon Red 

Arena Red 2017 Macan Turbo 

One more Macan, this time in Ultraviolet 

Marc here from Perth. I have recently started a new YouTube Channel.

Marc and Cars - Porsche Air Cooled Enthusiast

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWo3kLE5S6cJsnKVJdxDVSg 

Here are my videos to date. If you like them please share them, subscribe to the channel, give them a thumbs up. You know the drill.

All comments and feedback appreciated.

https://youtu.be/PitxXXZnEEs 

https://youtu.be/33pHqCWaHus

https://youtu.be/U9-HqJhTT1s

https://youtu.be/5GurQ6P6M2A

https://youtu.be/d82mGdXipz4

https://tinyurl.com/y4vnb8wk

Would like a Targa of this era but not sure it would survive the daily grind in Sydney to be honest so this looks like the perfect way to make an older car a reliable daily when you only have access to one classic car. I'd image range / recharge times are the current negatives using this technology.

When we are inevitably forced away from the internal combusion engine I'd much rather be driving a vintage electric v some KIA B/S to be honest.

Wonder when DANSK start making replica door panels with solar cells embedded?

Anyone doing this type of thing in Aus currently - motor wise?

Interesting.

I'll start by saying I took mine on the SMT and had the most fun I have ever had with my car

I also fitted a PORSCHEFORUM.COM.AU sticker thanks to Kerry's generosity

The best that Michelin can offer (in stock) are tyres that were manufactured 14 months ago. Considering 6 year life limit (I have Porsche Extended warranty), that gives me less than 5 years for a $1150 outlay.

For many owners not a problem, but as I do very low km's (2010 997.2 with 38,000 km; and getting less each year), I'm not likely to be replacing these new tyres on tread limits.

Not sure if the problem is due to being in Perth - low turn over and we probably get sent the old stock from Michelin in the first place. If anybody has recently purchased the same tyre(s), I would be interested in hearing what their manufacture dates were.

I've been trying to contact Michelin Australia to see if they can accommodate low km owners with manufacture dates that are closer to fitment date - haven't had much success or interest from them so far.

Also I must compliment TyrePower Claremont - very helpful getting details on manufacture date, etc, - if only the same could be said about Michelin

I moved into the house I'm living in nearly twelve months ago.   One afternoon I saw a neighbours garage open and a grey car cover on a vehicle inside.  The shape was unmistakeable and some black centered fuchs peaked out from underneath.   No idea on color, options, condition, year.   Time went by.   Some months later I saw the owner in the garage and introduced myself.  After polite chat I asked him about the car.  He was happy to pull the cover off and show me.  It was a 1983 911 SC and was in fantastic condition.   I was hoping for a 3.2 car and in red but it was undeniably a great car.  We got to talking - he owned it for a long time, but never drove it.  It had done about 100 miles in the last two years.  He started it up and drove it around the block occasionally but mostly just left it sitting there.  He had refreshed rubbers, new tail (to restore to original spec), paid for a panel-off detail, serviced it religiously but just never drove it.  I guess it is the very definition of garage queen.

It has an interesting options list - full leather including dash, sports seats, LSD, extended steering wheel with crest, and a few others which are hard to find.  It's completely unmodified original down to the radio, tyre valve supports and anodising and only missing the air compressor.  Documentation goes back to 1985 including information from previous owners.

After much conversation over a long period of time a mutual decision was reached and now I am up to 2 911 SCs in the fleet.  If one is good, two must be better, right?

Managed a visit yesterday with my wife's cousin.  Fantastic display of cars - 996 GT2, 991 GT3RS, 911 SC x several, 997 GT3CS, 991 Cup car etc.  Really nice people to talk to, happy for you to just wander about.

I'd be very happy to take the 997 GT3CS home...

He has reported it to the police but if anyone hears anything that could lead to their return or is aware of anyone who can "source service books for a 996", please let me know as he is obvioulsy keen for their return. 

Background:

Way back in early 15, I was super keen on the new 991 GT3 that every journalist was raving about.  Saw a Guards red delivered locally and really just loved the shape, the lack of air vents of the turbos had the clean wheel arches etc.  Still have the iPhone pic I took on the dealers floor.  Made a casual enquiry and realised that there was a long long list of names before me.  So joined the que for the "next GT3" with a small deposit.  At a similar time, walked into the s/hand dealers in Sydney and walked out with a 91150th.  Beautiful car, but a bit of consolation prize to be honest.  But it did reflect the key desirables.  A NA engine, manual, but also sans wing...  

So the wait started.  Considered s/hand GT3's that started to come up and the dealer offered to swap my deposit onto the RS, but wasn't getting exited about any of them.  Then one night, I happened to be on Rennlist and someone mentioned some sort of GT car that would come out without a wing.  I thought that would be kinda of cool if true and wished Porsche would do it.  To me it was sort of like the 50th but a raw GT version for which had a bit of a sleeper feel to it which I was enjoying with the 50th.    Time went on, and I saw a few more rumours on various forums.  So I went into dealer in 2015 and asked if my deposit could move over to this GT car that didn't have a wing that might be coming.  They didn't believe there was anything like it but would change the deposit description over anyways.  Few months later, rumours on realist gave it a name, said it would be called a GT3 R or R etc...  Thought I really should get back into the dealer and confirm my deposit on this R but other things come up and went in a few weeks later.    

End result was, I was number 4 on a rumoured 911R (this is way before it was announced in early 16) .  To this day, I don't know if I was forth in the door with the deposit specifically for the R, or 1st after 2-3 key clients that were notified early.  In the states, they have a program where if you bought a 918 you would get first dibs on any future GT3 cars before anyone else.  In Australia we don't have any 918 buyers (except on of our friends on here who has one ex UK I believe ?)  so I have subsequently assumed local dealers looked after very good customers.  I don't really know, but can say I haven't had any issues with transparency with my dealer or salesman and nothing like what the guys in the US put up with..  (contract on a car, just about to be delivered, then a premium being put on it called a ADM etc are some of the classic examples  ).. so taking as face value.

Anyways, 15 clicks over, most rumours are becoming more detailed and the 911R is announced early 16.  I get a call that morning to say, yes Im number four for the R if still interested and they will know in a few weeks how many they might get .....  End result I was number 4 after three local deliveries. Then to be even more of a pain, all the things i was really wanting in the car, turned up on the R pretty much,  stripped out a bit, bit rare / special, raw, manual and no wing.   I had it specified in my mind in the white, green stripe and brown/ carbon seats and PCCBs..    

I left my deposit on the R just in case for another six months...  then gave up on that one.   

At about the same time, I saw some chatter on forums that suggested, that well since the R was so popular, it wouldn't make sense to just build 991 manual boxes, and perhaps the manual could come back on the gen 2 GT3.   This time, I was a bit more proactive and swapped the deposit onto the manual GT3 that was coming.  Per usual, dealer said, had heard nothing and didn't expect it to be, but this time made sure I was on the list.  

Next bit...  PTS .. catching unicorns.

I attend quite a few track days each year in Europe and want to do the same here. After searching the web I see that there are reasonably regular events at Winton and Sandown but nothing much for Phillip Island. Why is that?  Lack of a suitable organiser or some other reasons?

This was the first time I had ever smelt mine doing it though.

So... took it up again the next day just to see if I was imagining things....and yep...there it was a gain....BUGGA.

I do tend to panic a bit on these things....

Everything ok as far as the level, not blowing any out the exhaust, and no drops on the garage floor, all clean underneath from what I could see..

So another spirited drive a week ago and yep.....still there again.

I rang PCM yesterday, asked if I could have the engine checked for any leaks (an oil filter seal had been replaced at the last service, so thought maybe that was leaking) 

Bring it in 10, tomorrow (Being today) Wow...great service I thought.

Got in there at 10 this morning and booked it in with Harris.   They would have had it for about an hour.

Came back with a clean bill of health, everything as it should be no need to worry.

Excellent ..Thanks for that.   What do I owe you..??

All good, your right to go....just drive it an enjoy it....

Harris then added, if you ever need anyone to drive it on the weekend he was available.

Just goes to show.... PCM sometimes get lambasted a bit for higher pricing, but if you get them to look after your car with servicing etc,

they are also capable of giving a bit back at times.   I certainly didn't expect them to do the check for nothing.

(I guess now, with 52K on the clock, I am going to get that "I'm a Porsche flat 6, oil smell"  every now and again from here on in.  

And....

I will wear it like a badge of honour)

I've been on the lookout for a manual 993 Carrera S and have not seen many on the market. Does anyone have any idea how many are out there and approx how much I one in reasonable condition would cost me (I know this is a 'how long is a piece string'm question, but just looking for ballpark figures)?

Many thanks.

Cheers

DM

Anyone on the forums familiar with this Boxster over in Perth?

https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/2007-Porsche-Boxster-987-Manual-MY07/SSE-AD-5818374

Even better if you’re the seller - please get in touch - Carsales messaging is rubbish. 😉.

Seems almost too good to be true re price vs  work done - appreciate any thoughts, advice etc particularly around issues with higher k vehicles. 

Wanting to get into a clean manual 987 for daily driver, can’t quite justify the current asking $$ for Caymans though... 

Cheers

Simon

Lots of you would probably (and rightfully) say yes, and truth be told, go back a year or so, I would have said the same! 

On paper spec, and from where anyone but a current or past owner sits, this is the worst sports car offering you could buy from Porsche in the last 2 decades, kinda like reading from an unnecessarily complicated restaurant menu item, that lists all its exotically named ingredients, it creates feelings of confusion, ambivalence and disdain, and your conclusion is that this menu item is unpalatable... 

OR is it? 🤔

Well, like that S.E. Asian holiday, where you devour street food that you don't know the name of let alone any of the ingredients (usually cos you're scared to ask) as you're standing in a gutter, breathing in 2 stroke fumes, its just a delight to the senses, even though it feels wrong and dirty, but you cant stop! Because it feels GOOD. 

The 2.5 tiptronic Boxster is the comfort & soul food from Porsche that everyone can, and should try... 

I didn't bother trying to write a technically focused review, there is plenty out there! 

In summary: these are cool, I wish I bought one earlier because I have been missing out! 

Important to note; I don't miss rowing gears in this thing, once it gets going its got plenty of pace for country B road drives, and being a first year car, its very rudimentary and I like that feeling! Its planted and easy to drive, I think they look great too, but definitely the colour combo plays a big role IMO. We got lucky and found one in the iconic silver with red leather trim, a Porsche roadster classic combination, although the interior has been labelled by some as dogs dick red, my dogs likes it, so perhaps there is truth in that? 

I am not really sure why I wrote this post? More than likely it is because this car didn't meet my (low) expectations, it has far surpassed them and any preconceived idea I had about it... so it turns out I have been the worst sports car owner of the last 2 decades for ignoring it. 

I know there's been a bit of talk on the threads re the potential new GT4 for 2019.

Got a deposit down but very interested in views on what engine people think is going to power the car.  I've read a few sites and talked to people supposedly in the know that suggest the new engine could well be a de-tuned version of the current 991.2 gt3 4.0l. 

Supposed testing videos on youtube (see below) leave me wondering though - split exhaust layout looks very much like the layout for the current 991.2 911s. Exhaust note also doesn't sound flat 6...

What do you all think? Anything other than a 4.0l flat fix would be a deal breaker for me! 

Personally quite partial to the wagon type vehicle, after my formative years spent long distance in the brown on brown kingswould wagon.

full disclosure I'm also liking noggy blue Audi variants and am looking hopefully at a 99 S4 wagon next week 

Let's see your tasty biturbo/bent 8 fetish.

Currently being in two minds about what I should be doing with it, I thought I should have a shot at removing all the rubber and give the paintwork a rejuvenation.

So I got setup.. 

This is the product that came up in my search Bowdens 'Rubber Off', already being a fan of some of Bowdens products, I rushed out in the morning to pick some up on the routine Sunday morning coffee run. 

This is the test section I did first, you can see what I mean by annoying to address... you have to have the right light and viewing angle, but its very clear here. 

On the cleaned surface you just spray it on, and let it activate for 10-30 seconds. 

You then wipe it off, and go back over it with some wax, and this is how it comes out! Amazing stuff!!  

So after sneaking out for lunch, I came back and decided to go over the entire car, clay bar it and then treat it to a 3 stage wax treatment, here's how that turned out... 

The roof is like a mirror! 

I also tried the Bowdens Wash & wax as they claim its for lazy enthusiasts (me), I was using mothers before, I like the results of this product and even gave the Boxster a quick wash with it, looks good, nice glow to it. 

Also, upon looking over the car, its in much better condition than I thought, the paint just needed rejuvenation, there is a couple of paint repairs I'd like to address, mainly where the rocks tend to sandblast the sill panels and quarters... do any fellow 997 owners know if there is meant to be a protective film on that spot? Kinda like the G body cars had? 

For now, the car is back under its dust cover and I'll look forward to deciding what in the hell I am doing with it in the interim!

Hope this might help someone in the same conundrum or motivate you to do the same.. it was oddly satisfying for me! 

So i had a GT4 as a daily driver which I absolutely loved, but when the 991.2 GT3 was announced with a manual, I decided that I must have one.  So I duly put my deposit down and had one specced, until I saw the rennlist discussions about a possible Touring edition - and I was like, this is my perfect car!  Particularly if it has back seats, so we can all (at the time we had one child) go for a drive in it on occasion.  Awesome.  Of course I was pretty disappointed when it was announced and it had no back seat option, but it still looked pretty close to my dream car, so I stuck with it. Not long after this we got pregnant with our second child.

I really struggled with what colour to order the car in, as all the off the rack colours just looked a bit plain.  So I pushed for a PTS colour.  With the silver trim and wheels I thought Brewster Green would look perfect, so initially had that on the build sheet.  After a while though, I started looking at lots and lots of pictures of Oak Green.  A photo of an Oak Green (964 I believe?) in the Porsche Museum sealed the deal - I switched to Oak Green.  Then there was the wait.  Will I or wont I be granted PTS.  After some months of badgering, I got confirmation that the colour had been accepted.  Amazing!

On the GT4 I skipped on some of the fancy options as it just kept adding to the cost.  As the GT3 was the dream car - I specced it exactly as I wanted.  Options that I wanted, I included in the car - regardless of price.  I didnt go overboard and add lots of bling - I just wanted to have no regrets as I wanted to keep the car for a long time.

After all the options were selected and the paint was locked in, I had the long, long wait.  Many months passed with no news.  Then suddenly in June/July? I got the phone call.  The car has been built!  It was super exciting, but there was a bit of a "but".  Our second child was born and life was just a bit different now.  With one child we could alternate "adult" time.  With two children, adult time has shrunken into small pockets of time seized when you can get them.  Another thing I noticed also, driving my GT4 was starting to give me a bit of a sore back. 

So, some 5-6 weeks ago now, I got the call that my car had arrived.  Feeling a little less sure that this was in fact my dream car, but not yet willing to concede after that multi-year journey (I need to check the deposit slip, but I believe I first put money down some time in 2016 for this car) from deposit to the car arriving, I went in and picked up the car.  And it looked amazing!  Better than I could have hoped for imagining what all the options together would look like.  It was just perfect.

The problem was, driving it caused my back to be sore - kind of what I was anticipating after my more recent driving in the GT4.  And my life is just different now.  I dont really have much time to just go for drives for fun.  Particularly as I cant bring anyone with me.  Whenever we go anywhere - we take the family car.

I'm bitterly disappointed, I still want a nice drivers car - with both NA and a manual - but it also needs to fit my partner and our 2 young kids, and it needs to have less stiff suspension so it doesnt hurt my back.  So after plenty of reading and a quite rewarding test drive, I come to the conclusion that a manual 991.1 GTS is the car I need.  The problem is, there aren't many manuals around.

So - I'm thinking, maybe there is a manual 991.1 GTS owner who really wanted to get a Touring, but wasn't able to secure one.  And because they couldn't secure one, they have kept their car.  Maybe they would want to swap their car for my car!?!?!

Of course it wouldn't be a straight swap.  My car has less than 300kms on it (for the reasons stated above).  Its also a PTS Oak Green Touring - a pretty special and unique car.  So I would be looking to pay market for your car and sell mine to you for market.

So if you (or someone you know) has a really clean, well optioned, low kms, manual (this is a must - I do not want a PDK car), 991.1 GTS and you want to "swap" it for my Touring then please let me know.  We can maybe work something out!

Being honest, every time I walk past the car, I really dont want to let it go, so if someone has some realistic suggestions on how I could soften the suspension to help with my back I would welcome that input also.  My concern is that I dont want to "ruin" the car, by tinkering and upsetting the balance that Porsche spent a lot of time honing with a fleet of engineers and test drivers.  But if someone has experience with changing the spring rates or some other options that they feel would not "ruin" the car I am all ears.  It doesn't need to be limousine soft - the test drive I had in the 991.1 GTS was fine, so as soft as that would be no problem.  If driving it didn't hurt my back, I'm sure I could find pockets of time when I could go for a drive.  ?

Any input welcome!

I thought I'd share a little light reading on the last day of the year. NYE might seem like a strange time to write about this but it seems apt for reasons that will become apparent. I first came to the forum back in 2016 via this main thread

I received a lot of encouragement and advice from most people on here at the time. To quickly recap I had bought a '74 911 Targa over the internet sight unseen and when I got it was a little disappointed with its condition versus the price I had paid but still liked it as a model. First I tried to sell it to get my money back and look for a "better one" but that didn't work so then I thought I'll drop the price (I was willing to accept up to $20K less at one point) as I didn't have the time, patience or know on how to get this example up to "scratch" (everyone has a different definition here). Car still didn't sell but in the meantime I drove it a little  and could now see why these cars are so adored. My driving experience is with Classic Alfa's and Ferrari's but this little car with the supposed unpopular engine and not too rigid body version was fun and I really liked it. So I thought "lets tidy the car up".

I noticed the multiple oil leaks and gave the car to my mechanic to tidy up. This lead to a serious refurbishment of the engine, gearbox, clutch and so on. As I stated when I joined I am not too mechanically minded which is strange for a car collector but it was a decent amount of work. The car ran well but was tired. The performance and feel got even better after this but now but the interior was tired (It seemed more appropriate before) so I had it re- trimmed (forgot the door cards though, more on this after). It came back and it looked heaps better inside but now the body looked like it could need a touch up (someone pointed out the dirty/messy/rusty front edge as an example). So off the car went to a mates panel and paint shop at Artarmon (he is into Healey's) for what I thought would be a tidy up but ended up being a major overhaul. Rust was cut out in a lot of places, a whole door replaced, I think a front fender? (or was it the the headlight surrounds?), the stainless steel hoop refurbished (it had a mobile phone aerial in the middle!! new rubbers..... and on it went. I would send top up payments every couple of months or so and drop in now and again (he was working on the car mainly on weekends). I think it was there about 16 months. At one stage I had sort of forgotten about it until recently he said it was ready for pick up. I got it back a few weeks back, my mechanic picked it up and dropped it off at my garage but I didn't drive it until yesterday and wow! Call me a novice but it's awesome! Smooth gears, enough pull from the engine and a generally cool vibe put a real smile on my face while I took the wife for a coffee at Surry Hills. Hence why the post is today. I really like these cars

So now that I have managed to do this "mini resto" (arse about mind you as I should have started with the body work if I had these intentions) that was really supposed to be a "tidy up" I want to finish the car off a little better. It still has a modern stereo and speakers in the rear (needs to go, did they have blanking plates for these stereos?), front door and rear cards I forgot to redo (can I get replacements?), dash needs tidy up, clock doesn't work, tyres are ancient (yeah I shouldn't really be driving on them) which brings me to wheels. These appear original but I prefer a different look (black inserts) so I might have these refurbished, store them and buy another set for general use. Could use advice on where to source different wheels.

I am thinking of going to a specialist to have it finished off to save time (looking back I should have done this to begin with but we live and learn). Any NSW recommendations? (I am thinking of the obvious one mentioned often without any negative comments). For the record the car won't be for sale (gee some people can be painful when advertising cars. One person sent me an abusive text when I originally advertised the car saying it was worth $30K as an example and he knew the original owner - why bother?). Yes I have photo records of the body work and a full list of receipts for all work carried out so far. It and the 964 Cabrio will form the basis of my collection.

What else can I add? I am looking to increase the collection now that I have caught the bug (I actually got my wife a 991 last year as a daily driver). I guess I am after what a lot of people appear to want: 964 manual, 993 manual, possibly the right 80's turbo (should have bough the brown one at Shannon's last year seemed like a good buy) or just a good example of an '82-88 coupe or an early car - so yes a wide wish list and not all at once either.Happy new year to everyone on here (I have lurked about and enjoy reading up on opinions, experiences and updates). I have attached a few photos to round out the conversation.

At the start of 2018 I thought I would keep a check on how many Porsche miles & kms I did for the year. Not quite as well presented as Simon's journey but here it is. To say I was surprised is an understatement.

911 3.2 - 1599kms.

996 - 5408 ks.

718 Cayman - 520 ks. (This was a weekend loaner).

356 - 2695 miles (4337ks).

914/6 - 612 miles (985 ks).

Total of 12849 kms

Add to that the ks in the dailies - Jeep (13306) and the Fiat (12520) gives a total of 38675kms. That doesn't include the other classics we have as I didn't record them. Don't ask me how much I spent of fuel.🙄

And I haven't even thought about the ks done around tracks in race cars.

Bring on 2019

How many kms have you done? And I don't mean driving to work.

January 

Philip Island - I hit the ground running with a track day at Philip Island with the Maserati Club. Wilburforce joined me for our first experience at this amazing place. You may remember a four hundred and something degree day. Well that was the day we were there. Thankfully the ocean breeze provided some relief from the heat but hammering around the M491 with full length clothing was very sweaty work. Anyone who’s been to Philip Island knows how awesome it is. As you pull out of pit lane onto the track and the ocean appears in front of you, it’s breath taking. The rest of the track doesn’t disappoint with it’s high speed bends, undulation, and technical corners to keep you smiling from ear to ear. Favourite bit would have to be hammering out of the final corner in 4^th. At the end of the day I headed over to Sorrento, jumped on the Queenscliff ferry and headed to Geelong because Hangar Bangar was the next day.

IMG_9284 by RR Films, on Flickr

Hangar Bangar – The event of the year! John’s Porsche Hangar event was an unknown. It was supposed to start at 11am so I went for Breakfast at 9am. Thought I’d head back to the hangar at 10:30am to film all the cars arriving but I was too late. The place was already overflowing onto the neighbouring car park. It was massive!!! Those who attended were treated to a feast for the eyes. Porsches of all ages and models were there to drool over and a fantastic vibe was felt by all who enjoyed the sense of community that our cars have provided us. The great news is it’s happening again and will hopefully become Australia’s Luftgekhult in the future.

February

A couple weeks later I headed up to the Bathurst 12h with a bunch of Porsche Forum members. The 8 hour slog up the Hume was made much easier with company and we did manage to give the cars a good squirt once we left the freeway. It was all too much for The Okrasa Kid in his high top Hiace and he eventually accepted he couldn’t keep up. If you’ve never been to the 12hr, I highly recommend it. It’s like the 1,000 but it’s safe for ladies to attend. If you like to get on the juice, you’ll be in good company but there’s none of the bogan shenanigans you get at the 1,000. The event is well run with most categories worth watching. The Radicals were a good opportunity to restock the esky and go and take a leak. The sounds of the GT3 cars at full noise will bring a tear to your eye. The sight of 55 pairs of headlights hammering down Conrod is also pretty special.

IMG_8254p by RR Films, on Flickr

IMG_8292 by RR Films, on Flickr

IMG_8301 by RR Films, on Flickr

April

I was invited to an exclusive event hosted by Porsche Forum Australia. The Haunted Hills hill climb was a test to see how an event could be hosted there in the future. It was also the stage for a beautifully produced video by Andy Gaunt. The place was more of a bowl than a hill but the track was amazing the way it squiggled it’s way down into the valley and back up like a roller coaster. It was all over in a bit over a minute and it was back to the car park to talk about it with the other participants. Another great day of camaraderie as we enjoyed our cars to their fullest.

Image1p by RR Films, on Flickr

IMG_8466p by RR Films, on Flickr

May

The rapid rise of the Classic Porsche Australia Facebook Group… May saw an explosion of members to the page, including myself, and to celebrate, they had their first social drive from Woodend to Lancefield. The now infamous drive took us all well off the planned route and most of the drive was spent on remote dirt roads. We learnt that Sal should stick to the cooking and do less navigating! It was worth it for the laugh though and once back on the bitumen, we weren’t let down by the roads that wound their way over rolling hills covered in boulders and quite spectacular scenery. The drive was finished off with a great lunch and chat at Glen Erin winery

IMG_8564 by RR Films, on Flickr

June

Porsche turns 70!

Porsches on the Pier. Some random guy decided to drive his clapped out 356 from Brisbane, down the East coast to Melbourne and Adelaide and film the whole thing. With the help of social media we found ourselves heading to Geelong on what seemed to be the wettest day of the year to celebrate the arrival of Lars Mueller and his beautiful struggling 356 as well as celebrate 70 years of Porsche. The rain was never going to dampen our spirits and with the generosity of John Orchard, we were back at the hangar for another huge Porsche meet.

July

2 guys decide they’re going to Adelaide for the weekend and 12 others decided to join them. What started as a low key weekend away turned into an unforgettable weekend which will surely become an annual event. 14 cars headed from Melbourne to Adelaide. There we were greeted with open arms. Some of the locals joined us for dinner and drinks on the first night. The next day we were shown the amazing Adelaide hills, treated to a guided tour of “The Bend” race track including two laps on the track and a beautiful lunch. We were then welcomed to Jarret Pinksterboer’s home where his wife and Sal cooked us an amazing meal and we all had a good reminisce of the day we had just had. The SA crew really were amazing and made sure our trip over wouldn't be the last. Plans have already begun for next year including adding a day to do a winery tour.

1IMG_8708 by RR Films, on Flickr

20IMG_8801 by RR Films, on Flickr

October

If there is one place you have to take your Porsche before you die, it’s Tasmania. Even better, do it with 10 or so mates. Our trip deserves it’s own write up but I’ll try to be brief. We took the night ferry over and arrived Monday morning and spent the next 6 days touring the island, taking in as many Targa Tasmania stages as possible. We also had a track day at Baskerville Raceway, just outside Hobart. Having the track to ourselves for the day really was quite special. Each day we did 3-400kms, taking in some of the most amazing roads, weaving their way through spectacular landscape. Traffic is very light and any cars we came across were incredibly courteous, always pulling over to let our group pass. You can’t really imagine how good it is over there until you experience it for yourself and sharing the experience with a bunch of great people made it extra special. Highlights would have to be Reece Dam and Strahan Targa stages. By the end of each stage I was completely exhausted but you couldn’t get the grin off my face.

IMG_9023p by RR Films, on Flickr

IMG_8944p by RR Films, on Flickr

December

The year was bookended perfectly with a track day at Sandown. Classic Porsche Australia Facebook page arranged with Driver Dynamics an allocation of 15 cars to fill one group for their December track day. For those that have never done a track day before, Driver Dynamics offer a great day for  beginners, providing an instructional briefing at the start of the day, a track walk, then the option of having an instructor ride shotgun to give advice on how to drive the track. The weather was perfect and all of us had a ripping day driving our cars the way they are supposed to be driven. In between each session was a good opportunity to recover and have a yarn with each other.

IMG_1157 by RR Films, on Flickr

IMG_1158 by RR Films, on Flickr

What an amazing year! In between all of that, there was PCV Cars and Coffee, PFA Porsches by the Bay, Dak Dak, and Philip Island and Sandown Historics. With Hangar Bangar 2 just around the corner and the Bathurst 12h shortly after, 2019 will be well on the way to being another great year.

To all of you still reading, I hope you’re enjoying the holiday season and the family gives you some time to spend with your true loved one/s. Happy new year to all, may it be full of many Porsche adventures.

Simon (rr__films)