Gregg May By Gregg May 2 months ago

My Porsche Story: the generation game

DNHCer Gregg May explains how Porsches of all shapes and sizes have been – and continue to be – present among the family fleet

The world was a far simpler place in 1987, at least it was for a 5-year-old me. Dangermouse, The A-Team, and Knightrider was about as complicated as it got. I was obsessed with shows like Knightrider, mainly for the cars, so when a black sports car with pop-up headlights rolled into my primary school carpark, I thought it looked impossibly cool. That car turned out to be a Porsche 944, and one of my classmates was being dropped off in it. It looked so modern and exciting, and the wheels so wide when compared to the rows of Austin Metros and Mk3 Escorts, but mostly, to my mind at least, it looked like K.I.T.T.

I was introduced into this world in the same year as the 944. Whilst this may be significant to my story, I doubt very much whether that sentiment is reciprocated from Porsche’s perspective. My parents had, and still have, a real love of cars, so we didn’t have what would be considered an “ordinary” car on the driveway when I was growing up. From day one I was wedged between the seats of our tatty 1954 Triumph TR2, my Mum’s daily transport at the time, with our Springer Spaniel, Max, taking on navigation duties in the front. Dad had a Series 1 E-Type roadster tucked away (a rusty project bought for £700 in the ‘70s, which I really didn’t know existed until around 1990) and he ran a few company cars, mostly Audi, over the years (though he did excel himself with an Impreza Turbo in the late ‘90’s). I believe they did buy a practical car when my arrival was imminent, a yellow Mk1 Golf, but it didn’t last long. They do still have the TR2, however…

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    Greg's Godfather was a big influence, with notable purchases including a 924 Carrera GT

    My introduction to Porsche came early on too, even before that seminal moment with the black 944. My godfather had a long-bonnet 911 Targa, in Blood Orange, which before long was swapped out for a 911 SC coupe in Light Blue Metallic, whale-tail and all. In June 1990 we took a family trip to the south of France, throughout which I switched seats from the back of Dad’s Audi and, far more excitingly, the back seat of that SC. We finished the trip at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, for my first experience of Group C. It was a Porsche/Jaguar battle that year, with Jaguar emerging victorious, on the day of my 8th birthday. Eventually my godfather changed the SC for a 3.3 930 and acquired a 924 Carrera GT (like the one above!) at the same time.

    All this meant there had been plenty of Porsche content in my life already, yet perhaps most notably, I was now being dropped at school each day, by my Mum in her Guards Red 924. Mum had decided she would like a change of car and had settled on a front-engine Porsche. Whilst looking for a decent car, she found a Light Blue Metallic example in the classifieds, located somewhere in Kent. She liked it, we all viewed it, and they bought it. One evening, Dad and a friend went to collect it. When they came home, even in the dark, it was easy to tell that the 924 they had bought back was definitely not blue. Apparently the seller was offering this car as well, they had looked at it, found it to be better, so brought the red one home instead. Oddly, I can still remember the very distinctive smell of the interior of that car, it must have been the unknown cologne of the previous owner. Sometimes, very occasionally, I catch a whiff of that same aftershave and it really brings back the memories. I still have no idea what scent it is.

      1998 meant college for me, and university followed with Automotive Engineering and Motorsport qualifications the result. In 2005 I followed my chosen career path and started a job with Eagle, the Jaguar E-type specialist. Henry Pearman, the owner of Eagle, is not only famed for his dedication to the Coventry marque, but also a car collector of some note. His ever-evolving collection includes a number of Porsche road cars, but also a very significant assembly of Group C competition cars. Spending every single day surrounded by 956s and 962s (plus the odd TWR Jaguar) was very special indeed.

      My parents emigrated to France in 2006, by which time the 200,000-mile 924 was getting quite tired. It stayed in the UK with me, and I continued to use it for a while, eventually being sold, with a fresh MOT, for £300 around 2008. I’ve always thought it a shame not to have kept hold of that car and I have not seen it since. “AFX 80Y”, where are you now? I suspect I know its fate…

      I’d always hankered after a 944, so in late 2006 I found myself a 1986 944 Turbo finished in Baltic Blue, officially my first Porsche. This particularly irritated Mum, who had been looking for a 944 for some time. It wasn’t long however, before she had me find her a 944 of her own, a 1991 S2. Black over black and left-hand drive, it was driven over to live in France (there’s a very long story associated with that road trip) and remains a firm family favourite. I’m actually looking at that car as I write this: it’s back in England undergoing some much-needed TLC nearly 18 years after it first joined the family fleet.

        As you can see, transaxle cars had been the focus of Porsche ownership for quite a few years, I just wasn’t that fussed by having a 911. However, whilst at work, in early 2007 I was asked to get one out of storage and ready it for an MOT. I knew it was special, a RHD, white 2.7 RS with blue script and blue centred Fuchs. At that time, we would MOT all cars at Paragon Porsche, just up the road, so the initial trip was only of around 3-4 miles. I’d not actually driven a 911 up until that point, but this outing in the RS was eye-opening to say the least. Here was a car built in 1973, yet it felt so solid, together, and displayed a level of completeness that I had not experienced in any car of that era up until that point. Light and communicative, yet with a feeling of strength and dependability. Performance was strong, and the power delivery so beautifully smooth and linear. The chassis felt taught, the steering responsive and talkative.

        From that moment on, my ambivalence to owning a 911 vanished. I now needed a flat-six Porsche.

        As is often the case when working “in the trade”, opportunities to purchase cars present themselves surprisingly frequently. Whilst the regularity of these occasions may be deemed useful, the timing rarely is. One morning Colin Sumpter, who worked with me at Eagle, mentioned that Mark had taken in a 911, and as it was not of good enough quality to retail through Paragon it was being offered outside of the usual sales channels. By that evening, it was on my drive.

        At 26-years-old I now owned my first 911. It was a 1985 3.2 Carrera coupe and had been sat around for a few years, clearly in direct sunlight, as it was now presented in a rather fetching shade of “Guards Pink”.  The black interior was in decent order, and it was pretty original, save for a set of horrible aftermarket speaker grilles. The car also boasted a very thick history file, showing that it had been looked after reasonably well. For the next month or so, I just drove the backside off it.

          Whilst being huge fun, the 3.2 Carrera wasn’t entirely without fault. The clutch release fork snapped one evening, leaving me to drive back home clutch-less. Then, one Sunday, around 10 minutes after a spirited drive back from the Malvern Hills to Sussex, one of the rear torsion bars snapped with a gunshot-like noise that somewhat worried the neighbours. All these bits were fixed on my driveway, usually in the rain/dark/snow/wind etc… Many modifications were made. A Heigo rear-half cage, IROC body panels, Engelman mirrors, Dansk twin exit silencer, and a modified Motronic chip to name a few. I continued to drive the backside off of it.

          Many road trips and track days were enjoyed – we even used it to move Rachel, (now my wife) out of her student digs in Brighton shortly after we first met. Jamming clothes, a flat screen TV, and furniture around the seats and roll cage, and cramming the “frunk” full of books and bedding. Why that didn’t set off warning bells in her head I have no idea, but we are still happily married after nearly 14 years…

          I owned that car for around eight years, before selling it as a rolling project. I’m pleased to say that this car lives on as a very nice, wide-body IROC evocation now painted blue.

            After a gap of a year or two, I found myself a 1976 2.7S. It was a big project, the shell was heavily corroded, and sadly had been dubiously repaired in the past. I made a good start on that, but unfortunately, I had to let it go before much progress was made. This one also has a happy ending. Jonny Hart of Classic Retrofit recently sent me a photo of it, with a long bonnet backdate, looking superb in dark green paint, and fitted with 993 engine and running gear. Nice.

            That almost brings us up to date, save for a couple of additions. After having a conversation with my godfather, who still has a “Porsche problem” (currently a Guards red 996 Turbo), Rachel started looking for a 928. She found a 1991 928 S4 in Horizon Blue advertised locally, we went to have a look at it, and she fell in love with it. Needless to say, this one came home with us. The 928 is a lovely GT car with road manners that I found quite surprising, not at all the lumbering heavyweight I thought it might be, there is a lot of sportscar DNA hiding under that shapely bodyshell.

            The 928 has been recently joined by a ’98 996 C2 coupe in Ocean Blue with factory Aerokit. I really felt I needed another 911, this time not a project, and who can resist a taco? Having been a little sceptical at the time of its launch, I now think that the 996 has matured very well. It has grown beautifully into its looks, and I feel it still has many of its air-cooled predecessors driving characteristics. It’s only been with us for a couple of months, but I don’t see it going anywhere any time soon.

            My personal car history has been extensive and complicated, everything from ’50’s Americana, through boutique British corrosion-cultivators like a Jensen Interceptor, to a modern Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. The 996 has joined a current stable including a couple of classic Corvettes (one from ’70, the other ’85), a ’57 Dodge Station Wagon, a V12 XJ-S, an early Impreza WRX STi, and a ’96 Honda NSX. No matter what else has been in the mix, Porsche has remained a constant. Oh, and Land Rover, but we won’t go there right now…

            What’s next? I guess we’ll all just have to wait and see.

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