By Guy Feltham
2 months ago
My Porsche story: the 'Askgeez' guide to giving up smoking…
If you've ever been on Instagram, you'd have seen Driven Not Hidden Collective member Guy Feltham's Rothmans-liveried 997.2 GT3. However, the man himself explains why it's time for his Porsche obsession to adopt a new ritual…
Which racing livery is most associated with Porsche? You can be forgiven for thinking the answer is ‘Martini’, however research shows Rothmans was actually presented on more Porsche competition cars than any other.
This was part of my reasoning when adorning the famous cigarette livery on my GT3, which you very likely will have seen either in person at any number of weekend Porsche meets, or digitally via Instagram and Gran Turismo. It’s to be expected that GT models attract a fair amount of attention anyway, but I’m not sure I was prepared for how much my car received when I decided to ruin a perfectly good 997.2 GT3 with those lairy decals!
To explain how I got there, allow me to elaborate on where I’ve been, and more importantly, where I’m going…
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My Porsche journey started in 2000 with a 2.5-litre Porsche Boxster 986, followed by a 4.5-litre Cayenne V8 in 2004 when my daughter arrived. Seven Porsche-less years ensued thereafter, ending in 2015 with a black 997.1 C4S manual Coupe. It was everything I hoped my first 911 would be.
I got straight into 'the scene’ and was active on the forums as ‘Askgeez’, also subscribing to Total 911 magazine. I enjoyed upgrading the 997 and was diligent on the recommended maintenance, and helped others by sharing my ownership experience.
My enthusiasm brought new friendships and I was meeting lots of like-minded owners. Weekends quickly filled up with events, often taking one or all of my three small kids along. I soon enjoyed my first track day and European road trip… could it get any better?
In June 2017, I happened to be at my local OPC to buy some plastic grommets that had gone AWOL. I remember joking with the parts bloke that it must have been his smallest ever invoice… then I spied a gorgeous black (again!) 997 GTS on axle stands out the back.
The car was in preparation, not yet for sale, nevertheless I felt compelled to go in to see the sales team – you can guess how that ended. It wasn’t a cheap visit after all! This was the perfect car for more Eurohoons, more meets, and more miles.
Fast forward to March 2019, we’d recently lost my younger brother, I was now divorced and, frankly, fed up. Surfing the classifieds as we all do, I spotted a brand-new listing, it read, “Investment quality, 18k miles, one owner 997.2 GT3”. Armed with a single man’s initiative and an extreme case of YOLO, I phoned the dealer at 9am the next day, and placed a deposit sight unseen.
Now things are getting interesting!
Within a fortnight of owning it, Lee Sibley contacted me to ask If I would bring it to Longcross proving ground in Surrey, where he was assembling all the GT3 models, for a “20 years of the GT3” main feature in Total 911 magazine. I jumped at the chance to be immortalised with words by Kyle Fortune and photos by the super-talented Alisdair Cusick. This was to be the first of two occasions my car would feature in print.
The last few years meanwhile have seen an absolute explosion on Instagram: it’s full of colourful Porsches, and my plain white one wasn’t cutting it!
The idea of the Rothmans livery was put in my head by a good friend and Porsche nut, who just happens to have a 997 GT2, which sports a Martini livery. Parking a Carrara white car next to his, it just looked so naked, but I wasn’t going to copy him. Just £750, however, gave the car a very unique look.
In a matter of weeks this was proven when a bloke sent me an unsolicited Instagram message saying he’d rendered my car on PlayStation’s Gran Turismo game! So, thanks to @dutchcarproductions, we can now ALL drive my car all over the world.
The ‘Gram is also a great way to arrange meets, drives and message across the community, as unlike Facebook, you don’t have to be ‘friends'.
It was mainly through Instagram that we were able to launch our ‘Porsches By The Lake’ event. My good friends James (@911_Spy) and Andy (@friedeggt3) have a decent follower count and with support of other friends, we went viral! We are expecting 750 cars for this year’s event on 22nd June.
Living on the Essex/London borders, arguably one of the least blessed places for decent driving roads, it is the people that make the ownership experience more special. Everyone needs a destination, and for me it’s knowing that some familiar faces will be there when I arrive, even if inevitably it means some dreaded M25 driving.
A highlight of 2023 was a 9WERKS road trip to Porscheplatz with such people from the community. I will cherish the memories made on that trip: the photos outside the museum, and perhaps most of all the appreciative cheers from Porsche factory workers (ironically on a fag break) as I let the Sharkwerks exhaust sing as I drove past them in a 15-year-old classic. This was the second time we made the hallowed pages of Total 911.
In a very sudden turn of events, it won’t be my Rothmans GT3 at PBTL 2024, because last week I read a message on Instagram (naturally!) ‘Collector quality , PTS Voodoo Blue, 991GT3 RS, 7k miles’… I messaged the dealer immediately and paid a deposit for the car, sight unseen… does this sound familiar?!
So after five years and 32k miles, today I dropped the Rothmans (and my restored 1979 SC Targa) to the dealer for part-exchange.
Frankly, the Stuttgart back catalogue still has too much to discover, and as an unapologetic Porsche nerd, I need to try something different. I figured I can always go back if I wish. I won’t lie, I’ll already miss them both, but hey… I’ve got the photos.
You can follow me on Instagram: @askgeez