‘ I BOUGHT ONE’

RICHARD PORTER

‘ I blame the birth of our daughter. Babies spend most of their time sleeping, so you have a lot of time on your hands, which is a very dangerous thing. So back in the summer I started looking at 911s. I’ve always wanted one, and I just thought: “I know we’ve just had a baby, but if not now, then when?”

‘ I found this car at RSJ in Slough. It’s a 997.2 C2S PDK in Porsche nerd terms. I did look at a manual as well, because that’s what people like us are supposed to do, but this felt like the right car – right colour, Sport Chrono pack, upgraded stereo. It also has a retro- fitted sports wheel with proper paddles: so much more satisfying than buttons. Mine’s got the mild sports seats, not the full hardcore ones. I still thought they might be a bit hard but the longer you sit in them the comfier they get.

‘ It’s got so much depth. It works really well as an everyday car: around town, PDK is brilliant. Then you get out of town, stick it in Sport Plus, and it’s just wonderful. It’s also the last 911 with hydraulic steering and the more you drive it, the more you realise how much information it’s giving you. The engine’s lovely – it’s quite torquey but when you go past about 3500 revs it really comes on song and is wailing away like a racing car. I love it.

‘ It had 48,000 miles when I got it, and three months later it’s just ticked over 50k. I thought I’d use it occasionally but actually I’m using it almost all the time, including the commute from North London to the Grand

Tour studio near Chipping Norton. ‘ Hammond was quite cross when I got it because he used to have a 997 and now wants one again. May’s got one, but a manual. Obviously Clarkson has to keep up his comedy stance on Porsches, so accused me of buying “a Beetle”, but if he tried one of these I reckon he’d struggle to pretend he hated it.’