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Dec 20, 2015 10:40:53 GMT
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Simply because I could buy it over the counter near me (which was handy with the tight deadline I had) I used Molotow Premium for the green and Montana MTN 94 for the black. £4.00 a can and it goes on beautifully, looks great and would definiteyl use it again. I know you're not after a military green, but in this instance it was the most appropriate colour. I concur that a pastel colour would look amazing on that (with a corresponding change in wheels and ride height ) and my chouice would be the MTN 94 'Pistachio Green' code: RV16 or 'Frisco Green' RV124 if the Pistachio is too bright?
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Dec 19, 2015 23:49:18 GMT
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Trying to get the 911 out of the workshop saw the clutch start to slip badly as soon as it was on the slant of the wooden planks across the threshold of the door. It was slipping badly, but this was no major thing, the clutch is cable operated and probably just needed adjustment after having the engine refitted. We back it into the workshop and Scott lifted the back end up then got to work adjusting the travel on the clutch. Meanwhile, I started working on other things. One thing I was always made aware of before agreeing to buy this car was the lack of creature comforts. I'm not talking about it being devoid of dual zone climate control. Or cruise control. Or electric massage seats. Or Dolby pro-logic surround sound Bose stereo system. Or millions of parking sensors. No siree, the message that Scott insisted on driving home was that there were NO creature comforts. Like a lack of electric windows because there aren't even any windows in the doors. There isn't even an inner door panel, just the outer skin and minimal frame! There's nothing on the dashboard other then a welded plate with a few essential switches. No heater. No passenger seat. No door locks. No sound deadening. No speedo. No handbrake (not just the lever...every single component of the handbrake system is absent). No lights. In fact, there isn't even any wiring for the lights! When Scott (and his race partner, Andrew) got the car it was a bare rolling shell. They fitted a 'hot rod' loom - a generic loom with an accompanying fuse box and relay board. Seeing as they were starting from scratch with the wiring and seeing as they were building this as a race car, things that would be necessary on a road car were left out of this one. Like indicators, sidelights, headlights etc... Why go to the bother of fitting them and wiring them all up if they weren't going to be needed? As part of the sale, Scott had agreed to include some headlights in order to help get the car nearer being road legal. Rather than sticking them inside the car for shipping, where they could get stolen en route, I decided to fit them. It also made the car look a bit of 'finished', if that's ever a word that could be applied to this car? The left side went in pretty easily. Some hitting with a hammer to remove a few dents, from 'rubbing' whilst racing, and the headlight popped nicely into place. The right hand side put up a much bigger struggle. After some serious metal bashing to try and get the shape of the bucket somewhere near oval and the light started to fit. The headlight bucket (the yellow part) had also come away from the wing at the top, so this tool some careful persuasion to pop back into place. Then there was the small matter of the headlight bucket being completely free to flap around how it pleased. I was just about to start hitting with a hammer again when Scott declared the clutch was adjused and we could see how it felt after a quick road test. I pulled the right hand light unit straight out so that the car could be driven, I could look at this issue another time. No sooner was the car out of the workshop and the clutch started slipping again. It was driven straight back to the workshop with a furstrated looking Scott behind the wheel. I just had to get a few shots of it sat there, seductively, waiting for more attention. I couldn't resist but take a few more photos. I knew I was already, but just being around this car made me realise I'd fallen head over heals in love with it. I'd fallen in love before I'd even left the UK, but seeing this car in the flesh, getting to really appreciate the texture on the bodyshell and just the overall look of this car....that was just perfection to me.
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Dec 19, 2015 23:02:34 GMT
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Why does it have one orange fog lamp? Is the car lowered? Would you say that the signs of use, wear and patina add to the car's beauty, more so than if it was in pristine condition? I believe the car was fitted with a single extra fog light at some point (no evidence of a second one) but it's not known exactly why? I personally like this look a lot. The black bar is also a factory item, but I've never seen one on another Porsche. I will need to ask Scott if the car is lowered, I'd imagine so judging by the photos, but I can't be 100%. ...and here is your answer. I think Scott might have told me at the time, but he emailed me the other night to answer your question: "The 76 has the Euro ride height. Ben, the original owner has a thing for 'jacking up' the front end on his cars to prevent bottoming out. Even his current Carrera GTS is jacked up in the front. This was the first thing I did to this car, have Kenneth set the ride height and apply some of Hima's Magic suspension formula."Kenneth is the owner of Lithium Autosport in Calgary - great guy. I got to meet him when Scott & I swung by on my first day. Kenneth (and Lithium) is good friends with Scott and does a lot of work on all of the Porsches. Also, Scott kindly sent me the info/spec on the 1977 2.7 race car: "The engine:
Stock 7R case 9.5:1 JE pistons shimmed to 9.8:1 DC40 Modified S cams Intake ports opened up to 36mm PMO intake manifolds Weber Carbs RS curved distributor MSD ignition Early exhaust Bursch Muffler
915 trans is stock but I have another with a 7:31 R&P
Complete 930 brake system Pagid RS29 pads all around
23mm front torsion bars 30mm hollow rear torsion bars Weltmeister sway bars front and rear Homemade strut brace The late Hima Maher's suspension setup (redone by Kenneth at Lithium).
Cobra Kevlar seats Autopower rollback GeForce Harnesses Traqmate There is a stereo in there filling a hole in the dash but no speakers...
There is other stuff I am forgetting...
The car is street legal but a little bit too harsh for daily driving. I travelled all the way to Columbus, OH to pick up this car that I bought sight unseen. This was the thread that got me my first 911...
forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-cars-sale/167171-fs-1977-911s-2-7-widebody-kit.html"It's quite a machine!
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Dec 19, 2015 19:58:08 GMT
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So what we have here is a Porsche 911 from 1973. You could say it's had a hard life, and you'd be right. You could also say it's been ruined, and you'd be completely wrong. You'd be so far wrong that you'd need a long haul flight to get back to the world of understanding. I'll explain a bit more about that later. I think you'll like it. It's certainly got an interesting story, but I've written quite a few words already today, my ratio of words/pictures is a bit out of kilter (although there was a lot to explain) so for now I'll leave you with some photos of the car, EXACTLY as I first saw it. This is the view I was greeted with when I first clapped eyes on it. It hadn't been run for three years and, in fact, when I was first in communication with Scott, the engine was removed for some service work and new oil seals. It was only thrown back in the hole a couple of days before I flew out, so I got to see it run for the first time. You can't tell the amount of foggy fumey mist in the air in these shots from where it took so much to get it back to life, but I can tell you it was enough to make your eyes want to take a holiday. Strong enough to feel like your lungs were drowning in unleaded! I didn't care, not only was the car running, but it was just so amazing to look at. That body, the flaking paint, the chunks of filler, the rust...everything just look incredible. I don't do selfies, but if I had at that moment, it would have portrayed a grin without comparison. Pure delight. IT'S ALIVE!!!! A quick check and top up of the oil level now that the life support fluid had been given chance to work its way around all the arteries of that wonderful flat six. After being allowed to run for a bit longer, it was coaxed outside to get some fresh air.... The car got this far when it ran into a little bit of a problem. Back inside it went. More to come later tonight....
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Dec 19, 2015 17:37:05 GMT
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After some chatting back & forth, Scott turns around and offers to sell me the car! Now, let's look at some facts here: 1) I have just bought and paid for a 912 in Canada 2) I have no money having just bought said car in Canada 3) I had just paid for flights to buy car mentioned in points 1&2 4) It's a 911 so I wouldn't be able to afford it even if I did have some money 5) That money thing again 6) I need to be rational about this 7) SOD being rational......it's a silly cool Porsche! I send Scott a message asking him how much. I know I'll never be able to afford it but my irrational side just has to know. It's that splinter in my brain that deprives me of all logic and reason. He responds pretty quickly, with a price. I nearly fall of my chair. If I hadn't bought the 912 from James, I could probably afford this car. If I hadn't bought the 912 from James I could find a way to afford this car. If I could find a way to afford this car I could buy this car. If I could buy this car I could..... You see how my mind works? The lack of money doesn't stop me from trying to work out a way to buy this car. I look at what work I have coming up, I look at anything I own that I could sell, I look at lots of possibilities as to how I could raise the money to buy this 911. The reality hits home that I simply cannot afford it. No matter how hard I try, this one will be the one that gets away. I could probably scrape together half the cost if I sold a car, some other things, saved super hard. But half is still half. Not a whole. WAIT A MOMENT - what if I get a friend to go halves with me? What if one of my friends is offered the opportunity to own half a cool Porsche? Half of the COOLEST Porsche? I ask Scott to send me another photo of the car and I ring Bryn. The conversation goes something like this, "Hi Bryn, do you want to go halves on a car?" "I'm not sure that's a good idea, I'm supposed to me saving for the house but I appreciate you asking. Send me a photo anyway, just because." I send him this photo which Scott had just sent me: A few seconds later the phone rings, "That's the coolest thing ever! Count me in." Bryn, you'll notice, doesn't ask me how much it is, or anything else for that matter. It's that 'rational' thing again. He's supposed to be putting money aside for his house build but he sees the car, understands that I'd only be asking him to go halves for one good reason....and realises that this kind of opportunity is not going to present itself on a regular basis, if ever at all, again. So now we have, based on only a pair of small photos, two grown, supposedly responsible and mature men, going halves on a burnt out ratty Porsche which is located the other side of the world. You can probably guess that if there were to be any kind of rational thoughts about this deal, they were very short lived and almost certainly superseded with the juvenile excitement at the prospect of owning a 911! A deal was agreed and I continued to plan my trip to collect the 912, but now there was the added part of the adventure to fly to Calgary to buy this 'thing'. Bryn was not able to come, so I continued to plan the trip for myself. I wouldn't be returning home with just a 912 now, but also a rather rusty glorified Beetle with a 6 banger in the rear. To say Bryn and I were excited at the thought of this would be an understatement. So, as well as flying 1,500+ miles from Toronto, getting to spend an amazing week with Scott, Yvonne, Clay, Gracie and Roxy, I also get to photograph his lovely Porsches. And I also get to finally see, work on and, ultimately, buy..... .......this: I think that's perfectly rational.
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Dec 19, 2015 15:27:46 GMT
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Winding the clock back to the first page in this thread, I wrote this: It was literally a matter of hours after James informing me of the money clearing for the 912, "It's *your* car now", that I spot an image on the internet and it throws everything up in the air. A complete bombshell out of the blue. I had my heart set on the 912. The flight was booked, the car paid for, the shipping arranged.....everything in place. Then this, a single photo that had me questioning literally everything. It's hard to explain when you have an addiction, and boy do I have an addiction! I wasn't going to back out of the deal with James, no way, he's a good friend and I was committed, but this single photo had me wanting to buy another car. Another Porsche. Two bits of good news (for my bank balance and for my sanity) was that A) the car wasn't for sale and B) it was a 911, so would have been WAY out of my price range even if it was for sale. Which is wasn't. PUT IT OUT OF YOUR MIND BRUCE! I'll not post the photo up. It's too upsetting for me to think about those days of being distracted from my goal of buying this 912 from James. From possibly jeopardising an amazing trip that I'd saved and saved and saved for. Temptation is a dangerous mistress sometimes. To be continued.... So, this whole 'rational' thing, why does it even exist? I suppose it gives us something to rebel against? Not that it took my convincing for me to contact Scott when I saw the photos of his car. I messaged him to let him know it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen! I felt it my duty to inform the man that his car was off the scale of cool things. Want to see the photo? Even if you don't, here it is anyway: Like I say, it literally stopped me in my tracks, a ratty, rusty 911 and I had to find out more.
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Dec 19, 2015 14:46:47 GMT
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rationalbased on or in accordance with reason or logic.Synonyms: logical, reasoned, well reasoned, sensible, reasonable, cogent, coherent, intelligent, wise, judicious, sagacious, astute, shrewd, perceptive, enlightened, clear-eyed, clear-sighted, commonsensical, common-sense, well advised, well grounded, sound, sober, prudent, circumspect, politic; What is it about being a petrolhead that allows rational thought and wise decisions to go completely out the window when it comes to cars? Common sense has no place when anything automotive is allowed the time to be questioned or considered. This is a cold hard fact. For example, I could have simply arranged for my 912 to be transported to the shipping agent in Toronto. It would have been one phonecall, a follow up email, a cost of around £200 and I wouldn't need to leave the house. But instead, I buy tickets to fly to the other side of the world and move it myself. A cost much, much greater than £200 is incurred, the organisation behind the trip was astronomical compared to making one call and sending one email. And I had to not only leave the house, but leave the country for some time. Where is the rational in that? There isn't. In any logical sense, I would have, and should have, gone with option A. Being pragmatic, it was the only real option and in light of the fact that there really, sensibly, isn't an option B, it means that option A isn't actually an option. After all, an option implies there is more than one outcome. So, being a petrol head, I completely bypass option A and create option B. It makes absolutely no sense in regards to time, money, hassle, everything....but it the ONLY outcome I can picture given the scenario of me buying a car the other side of the world. Why be sensible when I have the word 'roadtrip' rolling around in my little mind? Let's leave that train of thought for a moment and focus on that phenomena of remembering exactly where you were/what you were doing when a significant moment occurred. The classics are things like remembering where you were when JKF was assassinated (I wasn't even born then) and what you were doing when Elvis Presley died; I was five so hopefully excused from having to remember this one? Probably playing with some toys or eating slugs and broken glass in the greenhouse (true story!) I remember vividly what I was doing and where I was when Lady Diana died. 1997, I'd just completed my teaching degree and was about to start my first term as a teacher. I awoke that Sunday morning, extra early, to head to Ikea in Birmingham (the one in Bristol didn't exist) with my girlfriend. We were just having some toast and a cuppa before heading off and I switched on the TV to see what the weather was doing 'up North' in the Midlands. There was no TV! Only two of the five channels were actually broadcasting anything (BBC2, Channel 4 and the 'new' Channel 5 all had blue screens) and this was simply a written message to say that programs had been cancelled in the light of the death of HRH The Princess of Wales and that further news would be announced once there was anything else known. I was shocked to say the least! The trip all the way up the M5 was almost like something from 28 Days Later with literally NOTHING on most radio stations and a pretty much deserted motorway! Yep, that was certainly a day I'll never forget. Likewise I'll never forget the day I heard from camerashy with a PM that the 912 was mine. I received a Facebook message with the words, "It's *your* car now" - my cheque had been received and was now clear. The car was mine. The trip we had talked about for months could now be arranged. That seemed memorable enough, I was now the proud owner of my own, my first, Porsche. Even if it was the other side of the world, nothing could change the undeniable truth that I now, officially, OWNED A PORSCHE!!! I continued flicking through Facebook that afternoon feeling on top of the world about the confirmation of my latest purchase when suddenly, unexpectedly, everything changed. An image popped up on my newsfeed and I was completely blown away. This singular photo led to a whole chain of events that, from that moment, turned my automotive world on its head. At 20.49 on the 4th March 2015 I was sat at my desk in my study at home, on the computer whilst drinking a cup of tea. It was at this exact time I got in contact with Scott Sherman via a Facebook message. Nothing was going to be the same again.
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But now I must come clean. I must confess. I'm not really here for the cars you've seen so far. Sure, it's an incredible way to spend some time, hanging with some supercars and an amazing family. OK, that's part of the reason I'm here and a pretty good part too, somthing which has given me amazing memories that will stay with me forever. But, no, staying on a farm in the wilds is a massive bonus, but not the raison d'être. Not at all. I haven't been lying to you all this time, I've just been keeping something from you. I had to eagerly wait 10 months for this moment, so I thought it only fair to keep it off air a little while longer. There is a reason I am living out of a car trailer on a farm in Blackie....a very specific reason. To quote Morpheus, "Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?" "Welcome to the desert of the real"
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Why does it have one orange fog lamp? Is the car lowered? Would you say that the signs of use, wear and patina add to the car's beauty, more so than if it was in pristine condition? I believe the car was fitted with a single extra fog light at some point (no evidence of a second one) but it's not known exactly why? I personally like this look a lot. The black bar is also a factory item, but I've never seen one on another Porsche. I will need to ask Scott if the car is lowered, I'd imagine so judging by the photos, but I can't be 100%. What I can say is how well is rides, and handles. This was probably a bigger shock to me than the performance - the ride is so nice you could happily drive it 1,000 miles in comfort yet it still goes round corners so flat and assured. As for the signs of use, they are only marginal on this car and, yes, I would definitely say they add to the cars beauty. It's story. Just when you thought you'd seen enough Porsches, along comes another! Yes, Scott isn't content with having a pair of incredible 930s and a yard full of parts & project cars. No, he has to have a race car too. Lurking deep inside his workshop is a dust covered '77 turbo bodied 911 race car which Clay is eager to show me around: It's far from standard but I cannot remember the spec to be honest. One thing that I haven't mentioned about my time in the Alberta boonies is that I was becoming ever increasingly ill. It started on the morning I left Toronto and got progressively worse throughout the week with Scott and his family. What I thought was 'just' a sore throat seemed to escalate steadily over the days I was on the farm. Why am I telling you this? Because the rougher I got, the harder it was for me to keep a mental note of everything. As my head became more and more of a fuzz of pain I seemed to let slide my usual habit of mentally noting everything down. The notepad in my brain was only working at partial capacity while it tried to tackle the ever increasing onslaught of this virus and as a result, I have parts of the trip that are more of a blank than I'd have liked. Spec aside, it's a cool car! And Scott does use it in anger at race events all over Canada and the US. For the time being, it was here covered in dust. It looks like years of dust, but trust me, things end up looking like this very quickly out here! I'll try and get the full spec from Scott....but I just wanted to show you all the car anyway. It's a cool thing!
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Well, I can tell you one thing now, this car is an absolute revelation to drive! I still can't fathom how it must have felt to pilot this in 1976? My brain simply cannot comprehend how something that drives so incredibly nicely was engineered in an era when flares, fondue and Farrah Fawcett were the mainstay of modern life? Most modern sports cars could learn a thing or two from the design and dynamics of this car. And when I say that, I don't just mean this based on sitting in the co-pilot seat. No siree, Scott handed me the keys and said, succinctly, "drive". I did. It was amazing. And right there is one of the biggest understatements I've ever made. That 'magic' I mentioned, this is where it really comes out. The interior is nothing fancy, an exercise in simple, understated function that allows you to get on with the job at hand; the driving experience, which is just sensational. Sitting in that cabin and being in control of something so well put together is a sublime feeling. All of a sudden I really 'get' the whole 911 attraction. I get why they are popular and I get why the 930 is so sought after. OK, so a fair majority of owners will probably have bought them for their status, or investment value or just to show off in, but that's missing the whole point of them. Driving them. One of these in a city, I see now, is a waste. Give it a wide, open road and miles to stretch its legs and you just cannot help but get sucked into an alternative reality where you never want to stop driving. I never wanted to stop driving this car. Ever. It was a bitter sweet experience to be honest. On one hand I'm having the time of my life driving a dream car, an icon. I've got free reign to blast along the roads around Alberta and relish every bend, every gear change, every bit of that torrent you feel when the turbo spools up. On the other hand I know I've got to give the keys back and then it will all be over. If Scott had let me drive it for a whole week, giving it back would have been too soon. A year? More please! You may think I am over egging this a little. Maybe looking back with rose tinted glasses? Putting the car on a pedestal? Well I can tell you I'm not. There really is something magical about this car and it really does make you want more. I didn't want to stop driving it. But when I did, I didn't want to stop looking at it. I could go on and on and on about this car. It immediately replaced my poster car slant nose in the dream car stakes. It's just so right on every level. Not as powerful, but equally not as frantic or highly strung. It's fast, it's very fast, but not in an intimidating way and the reputation it has is probably deserved from the few people who don't respect the car. But it's certainly not a title befitting a car with such a breadth of talent in both its dynamics and its aesthetics. I've always said that I could never justify spending more than £10,000 on any car purchase. BUT....I can bend that rule for this car. So much so, I'd happily pay the $300,000 it's worth if I could. I never thought I'd say this, but I genuinely think it's worth it. What you're looking at here is Bruce's new benchmark in automotive perfection. And it's a title I don't give lightly. I must thank Scott for allowing me the pleasure to spend time with this special car. Not just being around it while staring for ages at its curves. Not just from the passenger seat as we blasted across the Blackie countryside. Nor just from the drivers seat where I got to experience a sensory overload of automotive bliss. Or even nearly falling out the back of the family Tundra pickup while getting high speed shots on the open roads. No, it was each and every part on its own as well as combined as a whole that was an absolute joy and something burned so vividly in my mind that I will never, ever forget it. Suddenly the realisation hits that the sun is setting fast and the light rapidly fading. Yvonne drops me off at the side of the road and heads home in the tracking car (kids in the back seat) so that Scott and I can get some shots of the car before it's too dark. The window of opportunity for getting these shots is closing too quickly for my liking, but then, if we had all day, that would be over too soon as well. We pitch up next to some grain silos and I try and make the most of the last light. Making the most of my time with this car. I'm a lucky, lucky guy. I pinch myself, remind myself just how lucky I am. I take some last shots before the sun completely disappears behind the Rockies and try to relish every last moment. I don't need to try..... Dream car. Amazing people. Incredible country. Perfect day.
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OK, OK, OKAY!!! Firstly, please accept my apologies for the extended absence from this thread, it certainly wasn't intentional and life has been particularly frantic these past couple of weeks which has meant long days, late nights and no time to write anything (it's 1am now and I really should be in bed) Many, many thanks to everyone for the kind words, comments and compliments, especially to those new to Retro Rides - I cannot express how flattering it is to have people sign up to read this thread, genuinely heart warming and I feel guilty for not having kept on top of it all..... If I were to respond to each post I'd be here all night and I guess you'd rather see a cool car than me rabbit on anymore?? So, without further ado, I give you Scott's 930 Turbo, probably the one car that changed my perceptions of Porsche 911s more than anything else. I'll come to that bit later. This car is a little bit special, it's a 1976 which is very early, but more than that it was the first 930 ever sold in Canada. It's a piece of Canadian Porsche history. Now, I'm not a mystical person. You can keep your goblins, fairies, witches and dragons. You can also keep your ghosts, spirits and invisible family members that have come back to tell you Great Grandpa is disapproving of your current life direction from his orthopedic chair beyond the pearly gates. As for Yvette Fielding? GET OUT!! Having said that, there was definitely an aura about this car, a sense of something special. Dare I say it, magical? Not in the same way as that scrawny, annoying little northern guy who names himself after an old fashioned alternator and milks out basic tricks into half hour 'epics'. No, not in that way, but more in a way that you just stand there beguiled by its lines, the form, the way the bodywork has been on a fast track steroid course yet looks so damn hot because of it! It has a presence, an energy, an undefinable draw. If Obi Wan was right about tractor beams, I can say for sure that they existed back in 1976. Talking of 1976, here is a little treat for you. When someone talks about 'history' regarding a vehicle, they usually define it by a service book and fistful of receipts. Not this car. Well, yes, it does have that too, but when I say history, I mean a photo of the car itself being unloaded from a big plane having been flown over to North America from Germany. Not shipped, flown - in 1976. That's decadence. Seriously, HOW COOL IS THAT?? Is there anything about that photo that isn't cool? Now that's what I call history. Then there's the shots the first owner commissioned to commemorate his amazing purchase. You would too wouldn't you, if you'd just bought one of the coolest cars on the planet? He looks mighty proud of his car, and rightly so! So the next time someone talks to you about history, a pamphlet with some dealer stamps will not seem quite so special. Or cool. But coming back to that 'magical' presence, it's there alright. I know for sure that I've not been able to capture it with my camera, that's way beyond my means and way beyond my cameras capability. Why is that? Because it's being there, seeing it and spending time with it in the flesh where the magic happens. The car, the noise, the styling, the way it sits, the way it moves. But also the environment. I'm convinced that the landscape had a large part to play in the way this car got completely under my skin. Put this car in a city and it'll turn heads all day long, but out here, in the wilds of Alberta, it really does stop you in your tracks. You've seen my take on Scott's 930 slant nose and how it was a pin-up model in an automotive frock for me, but this 930 is on a totally different plane. The lines on it are just so right. I'm not a fan of body addendums, fat spoilers and other paraphernalia that distort, contort, disguise and/or bloat an otherwise lovely bodyshape, yet here the modifications really do work. In part because they are the legacy of performance enhancements, but more so because they just work. It's as simple as that. Then there is the way it drives. I guess you've all heard the reputation of this car and the subsequent nickname it has acquired? The Widowmaker.
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Dec 16, 2015 13:03:42 GMT
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People are focusing too much on the apocalypse. It's something for now, to be used today, capable of city driving. *n So how does this fit in? It was my daily drive for six years. And I drove it looking just like that. Everywhere. (I live in the city) It was a lot nipper and handled a lot better than its bulk/proportions lead you to believe, I am sure there are plenty of people can attest to that? So when you say 'something for now', I was doing it back from 2003 although the screens and front cage didn't make an appearance until 2010.
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33.3% surely!! Yesterday = True (25%) Filming = True (25%) Triceratops = True (25%) Real life - False (25%) Only been in the door a short while today, way too tired to do a proper update, certainly one that will do the Porsche justice, so in the meantime, have some sneak preview shots from todays photoshoot by way of an apology. 17hrs solid and I'm done! Off to bed. Sorry again for lack of updates.... Here is the first off the production line of the very limited edition 2.0 Cosworth powered Morgan - the Aero Racing Plus Four (ARP4) A very special car!
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I'm going to be out for the rest of today, but hopefully I'll be able to do a proper update later tonight that does this car the justice it deserves? I don't mean to nag, but this is well overdue! I'm not too far away to hunt you down and force the full story out of you.. but the anticipation is part of the excitement and unless we're gonna sit round a campfire whilst you enlighten me with more tales of unimaginable scenarios I need the illustrations too. I'm checking in constantly, aware that for all I know you could be down the road starting on the build - I really hope you are! Please do nag all you like. I have a girlfriend who doesn't, so it's nice to experience how the rest of the population feels from time to time. As for updates, I'm afraid it's one of those situations of life getting in the way right now. Yesterday was particularly busy and was spent filming a real life Triceratops. (25% of that last statement may not be true) and today was a 5.30 alarm because I'm about to drive to Cosworth to collect a brand new car with one of their engines, then spend the rest of the day driving it and photographing it at a race track. It can be a tough life! I can assure you that updates will be forthcoming very soon, and at a more regular and consistent rate now that the 3 weeks with a film crew and a dinosaur has finished.
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My bad, I don't know what I was thinking when I said Storm Grey? WHat I meant was Stealth Grey - apologies about that. It's my favourite colour at the moment and looks SOOO much better the flesh than any photos.
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Oh and my current option 2 is something I keep walking past at work and just love (except for the red carbon....) Thinking solid grey with some primary colour detailing or something might work really nicely - thoughts? My vote (nomination) very firmly ticks this box and is also a Ford colour which in my opinion is currently one of the best colours out there. Cool, retro and also contemporary too. Ford Storm Grey. Sorry I can post any pics, I'm on my phone out in the boonies...but will furnish you with images once I'm back to civilisation later if no one beats me to it.
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I'm going to be out for the rest of today, but hopefully I'll be able to do a proper update later tonight that does this car the justice it deserves? In the meantime, here is a sneak preview of what is to come:
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Wow, thanks for the kind words guys, I really do appreciate it. And alolympic - definitely, it would be great to meet up again at a show or event. Hopefully a bit less cold than that time at Area 52 in Dec 2010? (was it really that long ago?) Still buzzing from seeing Clark Kents house, we get back to the farm, Scott parks the Mack around the back somewhere then disappears into one of the sea cans. I think nothing of it and head into my trailer to sort a few bits out when I hear the sound of a car driving along the gravel track towards to the house. From my door I can see the slant nose, the Tundra, the Corolla and Lexus Land Cruiser thing all parked up, so I wonder what it could be that's approaching? I step out to be greeted by this....a car I knew Scott owned but I certainly didn't expect to be seeing it during my visit. Compared to the slant nose, this one looks a lot less extravagant, a lot less flamboyant. The engine is also putting out a lot less horsepower, in fact, the car is totally standard. But it's pretty special. Very special.
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Welcome to sham and flightman and thank you for your kind words. Retro Rides is an awesome place with some incredible rides, make sure you have a good nose around (I can highly recommend the Readers Rides section) Thanks to everyone else again for your kind comments too, I hope I've not been waffling on too much? Oh, and if I have, you're going to hate this next bit. It involves more waffle about my past. [yawn!] Life is made up of many things and some of those things consist of memories or events that stick with you, possibly even triggering other memories further down the line? The Scott's slant nose 930 is proof of that theory to me. When it comes to films/movies, I have some key points throughout my life which are still so vivid I can picture them as if I am still there. There are many, spread over my entire life, and they don't always equate to the film being particularly good. For example, the thought of being dragged by my [then] girlfriend to see Titanic beacuse it was, to quote, "the best movie ever" will haunt me forever. I could think of many words to substitute the word 'best' but none would be positive. Luckily, many relate to films that are now firm favourites, like smuggling a bunch of my [cough]18 year old[/cough] students into the cinema to see Fightclub in 1999 (incredible film) and almost bursting with excitement while queuing to see The Empire Strikes Back with my Dad when we were on holiday in Barnstaple in 1980. You get the gist? There are others, like the time we got a video player in 1982 and literally everyone we knew came around to watch a film because my Auntie, somehow, got a copy of E.T on VHS before it was even released in the cinema. I still to this day don't know how she did that but I can picture every part, every detail, of the people crammed into our living room as much as the film itself. Gremlins, 1984, the FIRST time I go to the cinema on my own. A real rights of passage to queue without my parents and really feel almost grown up. Then, feeling devastated, having to beg a couple to 'adopt' me as their surrogate son after getting turned away for not being 15 (yes, Gremlins was a 15 when it was released in the UK! I was 12). So, where is all this leading? Well, I guess as much as anything it's about the memories formed and the finest details that stay with you throughout your life. Cemented in my mind like they were planted there only this morning. Like the time I remember seeing some pictures in a magazine for the forthcoming mega film, Superman: The Movie. Boy was I excited at the thought of seeing my favourite superhero on the big screen. The pictures in the magazine didn't give much away other than showing the baby Clark Kent in his asteroid/crater when he landed on planet earth. And him lifting the truck up with his bare hands when it collapses on his newly adopted parents. And the, now, family home that he grew up in during his formative years. This was enough to really build up the hype machine in my head, and I wasn't disappointed one little bit when I finally got taken to see the film. Still to this day, like the scenes on Tatooine at the beginning of Star Wars, my favourite part of Superman is the early scenes before he heads for the big city. Possibly, quite probably because of the shots in the magazine that had got me so excited? Don't get me wrong, I loved the rest of the film, but it's these scenes that I still love the most. I bet you're still wondering where the hell this is going? Yeah, I don't blame you....but bear with me. One morning Scott asks if I'd fancy having a drive in his truck? A huge Mack tipper thing. Of course I'd like to. I'd LOVE to have a go! So we head out in it with him driving. I start to get a bit worried that this leviathan isn't going to be easy to drive....it's got 18 gears and each one only works with rev matching the engine to the changes. I can do this fine in a car, but a huge gas guzzling (petrol) truck? The more I watch Scott pilot this machine, the more concerned I get. When it's my turn, I'm nervous, but manage to get the thing moving. Gear changes, however, would certainly need some practice along with some mastery of the way the eighteen cogs all swap places (it's nothing like the 20 speed gate Vin Diesel has, for example) but I'm still managing to keep some form of momentum and maintain some modicum of speed, even if I am crunching the odd change or two [all]. Just look at that expression. That's my ultimate combination 30% concentration, 20% fear and 50% pure enjoyment. "Turn right up here" Scott instructs. Turning is pretty easy, the roads are wide and the steering pretty easy compared to changing gears. Trundling down another gravel track, I'm instructed to stop, "Just about here". "Look over there" Scott says, pointing to my right, "Recognise that?" In an instant I am transported back to 1978, to that moment I read the magazine about the forthcoming Superman film. To the early scenes in the film. I'm staring at the pages of the magazine, at the screen in the cimema, I am looking right into a vivid childhood memory but it's right there in front of me, in real life. It doesn't need explaining to me, it's EXACTLY how I remember it. Probably because it hasn't changed at all in nearly 40 years. OK, it's slightly more weathered, but there is absolutely no mistaking the buildings in front of me for anything other than the visage I've had in my head since I was seven. No mistaking, I am inside a movie scene I've carried with me most of my life. See what I mean?? OK, so it might not be *that* special to you, but it certainly was to me. Especially as it's just sat there at the side of a no name road, empty. No fuss, no signs, no hint at what it was in the late 70s. Just part of the landscape and about five minutes from Scott's farm. You can keep your mansions, you can keep your penthouses, your seafront villas in LA, if I had to choose a dream house to live in, this would be it. No question. It's just perfect. I've worked in the film industry, I've had my hands on some of the coolest movie props, I've even got some cool movie items of my own. But standing there next to the actual house, something I didn't realise even existed (I thought it was a set), that really was a special moment for me. Almost magical. It's amazing the feelings childhood memories can evoke when you're faced with them later in life. So, I got to drive a massive Mack truck and I got to see where Superman lived. The adventure that just keeps on giving. The trip of a lifetime.
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With the second pass complete, Yvonne suddenly realises she has to be back home because the school bus will be dropping Clay off pretty soon. No panic, she's now aware she owns the worlds fastest Corolla. She'll have covered the ten minute journey in approx one minute and twenty three seconds. Before we knew it, the burgundy estate has disappeared from sight. I would have put money on Yvonne having a huge grin all the way home. I mention to Scott that I'd like to do a few panning shots and with that, he's off and racing down.... ....and up... ...and down the road Then all of a sudden the car slows down dramatically and he limps it into the gravel turn in that I'm stood in. It seems the fuel relay has gone again. Another new one is fitted: But nothing happens. He swaps realys over a few more times, but nothing. Nowt. Nada. The car simply refuses to fire into life. Some checking and tinkering later, Scott decides he's not going to be able to get the car running at the side of the road, so he calls up a recovery truck to take the car, and us, back to the farm. Out here, in the sticks, I was expecting a three to four hour wait, but I'm informed that the tow truck will be here in under an hour. "Come again??" It would seem that, despite the remote nature of Alberta once you're clear of Calgary, a tow truck can be with you far quicker than the big yellow taxis of the UK, even though they are usually only a handful of miles away. Amazing! Scott apologises that the shoot has come to an abrupt end. I tell him I can still take some photos but he's not convinced, "What, here? In this gravel turning? That's going to look a bit curse word isn't it?" What he's missing is that this car just looks so good, even in a gravel entrance to a dust track, even when it's broken down. This is a slant nose 930 in bright red. How can it look bad? I mean, just look at this interior....filthy mats, worn seats and dust/dirt everywhere from it being a used daily driver, yet it still looks this good. This car is such a flirt. such a tease! Such a tease. Marissa Tomei cancels our date halfway through the evening, just after a nice meal but before we head out for some drinks. The night is over way before I want it to be. Yet I can't be angry with her, I can't be upset, I mean.....JUST LOOK AT HER!! Even sat there, broken, licking its wounds back at the farm a few hours later I can't help but keep staring at it. Anyone who knows me can vouch for my disdain for red cars. But not this one, not one little bit. The sun is setting, the light is fading, yet the colour is brighter than ever. Alive. I'm in love with this car. That, I can tell you, was a truly magical day. Scott is an amazing guy and totally deserves this car. I am genuinely stuck for words how best to describe the whole experience, I just can't. Every single part of the day added up to make it something I'll never forget. As a whole, it was completely off the scale, but each little element has its own place in that memory. Probably most special was hanging from the rear of the Toyota with Gracie asleep in her chair next to me, Yvonne driving with the spirit of an F1 driver on the last lap and the living embodiment of my childhood Athena poster cutting through the Canadian landscape at speed, literally an arms length from my lens. It doesn't get any better than that. Or perhaps it just might? Who knows what tomorrow will bring?
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