TIME MACHINE

Editor Bennett peruses the archives of 911 & Porsche World from days gone by. What’s changed? That will be everything and nothing...

Journey through 911&PW’S past

Cheap thrills is always a popular coverline, implying a potential bargain. In this instance it referred to the yellow and orange duo, also prominent on the cover. It was perhaps a bit of a misnomer, but compared to the cars they were emulating, then perhaps ‘cheap’ qualifies. First up, the yellow peril was actually a 3.2 Carrera built up as a track car in the style of a 964 3.8 RSR. Of course these days such a project would be some sort of heresy, now that only back-dating is socially acceptable in Porsche circles. But back then Carrera 3.2s were almost disposable items and looking forward wasn’t frowned upon!

The ‘Tangerine dream’ machine was even more radical than the equally citrus hued Turbo RSR on the cover of this very issue. A stunning 935 replica no less and, like this month’s cover star, also based on a 930 Turbo. The race replica was built by reader, Christopher Barrass, and he penned the story, too, firmly putting the blame for such a gargantuan project on to us at 911&PW – something to do with him winning a ride in racer John Greasley’s Blue Coral sponsored 935 at Silverstone. Noting that – at the time – 935 prices ranged from £120,000 to £150,000, he was short by at least £119,000, Chris decided to build his own. And a stunning build it was, too, with much help from good friend of 911&PW, Neil Bainbridge, who assisted in sourcing body panels, while the donor car, with a GPB modded Turbo engine, came from a chance meeting with a 911&PW reader at one of the mag’s then regular meetings at the Blue Ball pub at Walton-on-the-hill.

It’s a great story, but perhaps the overriding impression to be gleaned is how exhausting it was to drive. No, not from a physical point of view, but from the sheer amount of interest it generated on the road and the constant attention from the then ‘Mondeo man’ always looking for a race. One question? Where is it now?

In the classifieds there were no 935s for sale, but you could have picked up a nice flat nose 930 Turbo for a not unreasonable £14,000.