2016 PORSCHE CLASSIC RESTORATION COMPETITION

PORSCHE 924S LE MANS

WHEN PORSCHE CENTRE SWINDON was offered a 924S Le Mans at a very reasonable price, to decline it would have seemed churlish. At a glance the car looked in fair condition and Porsche Centre Swindon needed a restoration project car for the 2016 Classic Porsche Restoration Competition. Yet with hindsight, saying yes to this particular Le Mans edition 924 might not have been the right decision…

‘Had we gone out to source a car ourselves I suspect we might have turned this one down,’ laughs Mark Scholes, Porsche Centre Swindon’s service manager. ‘Once we started a proper inspection of it, we discovered that it was very, very rusty.’

Phil Rapson, bodyshop general manager for Dick Lovett Spraymaster, Porsche Centre Swindon’s in-house bodyshop, reports: ‘It was in pretty bad shape when we got it. It needed inner and outer sills, new wings, floorpan repairs, and we had to rebuild the doors with fabricated sections because we couldn’t source replacements.

‘Fortunately one of the team, our senior apprentice, is obsessed with restoration work and was in paradise with this car. He’d clock off at the end of his shift and then carry on working on the 924.’

While Porsche Centre Swindon obviously wanted to achieve the best possible restoration of the Le Mans special edition, the team had to keep an eye on the commercial viability of the project. So it was a relief that the 924’s upholstery was in good condition. ‘The interior trim, however, required some improvisation,’ reveals Rapson, ‘and the dash, for instance, had to be refurbished as replacements are very scarce.’

Another piece of good fortune was the generally sound condition of the engine. ‘There were a few oil leaks,’ admits Scholes, ‘but they were easily fixed. The gearbox was noisy, though, and needed to be stripped and fitted with new synchros.’

Despite their early reservations about the 924S Le Mans, the Swindon team were extremely pleased with the outcome of the restoration. Porsche Centre Swindon is one of only four Porsche Classic Partner Centres in the UK, and the restored car has taken pride of place in its showroom for several weeks. It was also shipped out to the Nürburgring for the Porsche Parade Laps ahead of the 2016 Oldtimer Grand Prix, and tailed the ex-Le Mans 924 GTP, driven by Derek Bell, around the iconic German circuit.