Tuthill Porsche news letter

[tomo]

A message from Richard Tuthill Welcome to our first newsletter of 2017. Everyone returned to work well rested following the Christmas break and our team has made a great start on a packed workshop schedule. We enjoyed many exciting and challenging projects in 2016, some of which must remain under wraps a while longer. However, we can finally share news of the Race4Health East African adventure drive, which took place during November and December last year. Four Tuthill-built Porsche 911s drove from Alexandria in Egypt to Cape Town in South Africa on a long distance adventure drive, to explore the wider African continent and research future charitable projects, which could help improve living conditions for thousands of people. Tuthill Porsche organised all aspects of the trip, including vehicle preparation, planning, logistics and en-route support. Read more below. After the Race4Health cars and support vehicles left for Egypt at the end of October, preparations for the Below Zero Ice Driving season dominated workshop activity. As mentioned in previous newsletters, we have added a 914/6 to the Below Zero fleet and preparing that car for the frozen lakes was a really interesting project. Classic 911s still dominate our line-up and they have all had a refresh. The cars have now arrived in Sweden and we look forward to sharing photos of them in action. 2016 was another great year for Tuthill Porsches in historic motorsport. Driving a 1973 Porsche 911 built here at Wardington, Joost van Cauwenberge took a memorable victory on the ERA Rally of the Incas through Peru, Chile and Argentina. After 27 days of rallying during November and December, Joost and his wife, Christine, finished just three minutes ahead of their closest competitor. Well done to them on a terrific drive! Tuthill Porsches also enjoyed a memorable year on track, with strong performances across the UK and Europe. Racing their Tuthill-built 1965 911 2-litre in the GT and Sports Car Cup, Colin Paton and Ross McEwen ended the season second in class: an amazing achievement, especially considering their schedule only permitted 80% race attendance. We have tested a number of new race builds for the 2017 season and also recently met with representatives of the Peter Auto group to discuss options for this year. 2017 is a Safari Rally year and we are well into the preparations for this year's East African adventure. We have confirmed entries from several clients already. Please get in touch with us if you are planning to enter this event, either by buying or hiring a Porsche from us and would like our on-event support. On the subject of African rallying, congratulations to dad following his first outing in the rally VW Beetle on the Rift Valley Rally in Kenya. Francis has been working on the rally Beetle project in earnest since the end of Safari 2015, but of course we have a long history with VWs and I started my rallying career in a similar Beetle. Against far more powerful vehicles on what was an very tough three-day rally, the Beetle with just 60 horsepower powered through to a class win, finishing thirteenth overall. What a fantastic result on its very first event. There is so much more news to talk about, but I really want to finish with a heartfelt thanks to all of my colleagues here at Wardington and our wonderful families and friends for their unstinting support through 2016. We look forward to catching up with at least some of you in the months ahead!

Below Zero Ice Driving: the 2017 season begins

Below Zero Ice Driving from Tuthill Porsche is held on the frozen lakes around Åre in Sweden during the first three months of every year. We’ve been running our ice driving seasons for over a decade so we know all the rigours that our cars must endure in this hostile environment. Preparing them for three months on the ice is not a small job! All of the cars were stripped back to basics, with a fresh coat of paint and even colour changes for some cars, new seats and seat belts where required and a complete overhaul of all mechanical parts, including engines and transmissions. Our genuine Porsche 914/6 debuts on this year's Below Zero Ice Driving and should be great fun on the ice. We move all of our cars and support vehicles using two huge enclosed car transporters, which collect them during the first week of January and return them in March. We have just shipped the cars for our 2017 season, and they have started running this week! See our social media feeds for the first pics of our new cars in action. Are you interested in sampling the Below Zero Ice Driving experience? Our bookings diary has been filling up fast, but we still have some days available. Email Tim Scarff to enquire.

A win for Tuthills on Rally of the Incas

Congratulations to our great friend Joost van Cauwenberge, who has claimed a memorable victory in his Tuthill Porsche 911 on the Rally of the Incas: a 27-day race through Peru, Chile and Argentina, organised by the Endurance Rally Organisation. Forty-five crews took part in the rally, which included sections through previously unrallied parts of eastern South America, including the Valdez Peninsula and the High Andes. When the chequered flag was waved, Joost and co-driver Christine de Landtsheer were three minutes ahead of their closest competitor: a very tight finish! Also running in South America were the Tuthill-built Porsches of Mark Winkelman and also Gavin Henderson, who has clocked up many thousands of endurance rallying miles in his Tuthill-built 911 since it was completed. All three enjoyed a terrific event, with Mark's 912 taking a top five finish. We look forward to more endurance rallying successes in 2017. Many thanks as always to Gerard Brown for the great photos of Joost in action!

Race4Health East African Adventure

Race4Health's David von Schinkel writes of his recent adventure through East Africa: "Finally home after driving from Alexandria to Cape Town in thirty days. It has been an indescribable adventure to drive through Africa. The purpose of the trip was to explore Africa, get our own opinions and look for new ideas for Race4Health in the future. This was a private adventure where we combined driving with culture. Even though the trip was not connected to Race4Health projects, we made time to visit the ongoing distribution of prescription eyewear on our trip. "This Race4Health initiative is a life-changing experience for the recipients. If you can't see, you can't read and if you can't read, you can't go to school. Thanks to everyone who donated their old eye-wear. Anyone wishing to donate can send to: Team Tidö, Tidö Slott 725 92 Sweden. Thank you for your continued support - you are fantastic people! "How wonderful to combine an adventure with making people happy, and Michael Richardson and I took some incredible photos throughout our trip. The pictures will be sold at an exhibition in spring. All the money will finance the restoration of a school for 700 kids outside of Mombasa in Kenya, with the total cost estimated at $30,000. Amazing Africa!" We are delighted to be associated with this inspirational organisation. See more photos of this trip on David von Schinkel's Instagram feed.

Tuthill Porsche at the Historic Motorsport Show

We're delighted to have been invited to take part in one of the panel discussions at next month's Historic Motorsport Show. Twinned with the London Classic Car Show, which runs from Feb 23-26 at the ExCel venue in London's Docklands, one entry ticket covers access to both events, including a seat during our panel session on Thursday February 23rd. The inaugural Historic Motorsport Show has a distinct Porsche flavour right from the start, as the show will be officially opened by Jacky Ickx: a multiple race winner in Porsche machinery. Tuthill Porsche will also be exhibiting a number of cars on its very own stand at the event, and our cars will also be shown by a number of other exhibitors. More than 33,000 visitors attended last year's London Classic Car Show, so we expect a busy few days down in London. Follow our social media channels for further updates! Learn more about the show on the Historic Motorsport International website.

3.2 Carrera Club Sport Restoration

This rare RHD Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera Club Sport is currently undergoing restoration at Tuthill Porsche. Just 53 RHD Club Sports were built for the UK and many of those cars have been lost or exported over the years. This makes a RHD Club Sport quite a rare car. Aside from the low production 3.0 RS road car, there was no official RS model created in the impact-bumper 911 line, so the lightweight Club Sport with its factory blueprinted engine bridges the gap from the '73 Carrera RS to the 964RS. Genuine low-mileage Club Sports are now valued circa £200,000, making it quite a risk to entrust restoration outside the circle of recognised Porsche specialists. We carry out full Porsche restorations completely in-house and are always delighted to quote on new projects. Contact Paul on 01295 750 514 to discuss your requirements.

1973 Porsche 911S restoration in progress

Our latest classic Porsche 911 build has just left the paint shop, ready for assembly in early 2017. Owned by a German long-time friend and customer, we were very excited when black was revealed as the colour of choice for this 1973 Porsche 911S restoration. Porsche has always offered its products in a wide range of colours. Black was not a particularly popular colour choice on new 911s back in the day, so it is quite a rare sight on pre-'73 911s. When paired with restored brightwork and perfectly finished Fuchs wheels, it makes for a very elegant vehicle! The lacquered paint finish on this all-steel restoration is impeccable and we are really looking forward to completing the rebuild.

2016 Porsche Memories

[LeeM]

  One busy workshop that one!