TURNING THE PAGE

The end of an era, a destination reached after a long and occasionally arduous journey. Our man Seume makes the monumental decision to sell his beloved El Chucho hot-rod and explore the joys of owning a modern Porsche

So, it’s happened. Regular readers may recall that last month I left a rather large hint that changes were afoot, changes that would see me crossing the divide between ‘classic’ and ‘modern’. Now given my position as editor of Classic Porsche magazine, that may seem an odd decision, but bear with me while I explain.

Unlike some Porsche enthusiasts, I only have the space (and funds) to have one ‘fun’ car on my fleet. My daily driver Audi A6 does the mileage munching duties, meaning that my ‘other’ car need not necessarily be entirely practical in terms of seating or luggage capacity, but what I had gradually come to realise was that I wasn’t enjoying driving El Chucho as much as I used to – or expected to.

Why should that be? After all, it was my dream car: an early 911/912 with a specification that included a Bob Watson-built 2.2-litre 205bhp motor, a Mike Bainbridge gearbox, big billet brakes and 911R-inspired styling. It was everything I ever wanted in an early Porsche and, when I set out to build the car, I never expected to sell it – ever. In fact, I was given strict instructions by close friends not to sell it, and I agreed. After all, once you step off the early Porsche ladder, it’s hard to get back on these days.

No, if I wanted to change anything, I told myself, treat the car to a full repaint, or different wheels – anything but sell and start all over again. But somehow I couldn’t bring myself to make radical changes to El Chucho – he was perfect as he was (well, in my mind at least) and making radical changes would spoil the formula. I settled back to enjoy the drive but then about 18 months ago, I thought I might have to sell something to help towards a mortgage – and ‘something’ would have meant El Chucho.

I started to look at alternatives, with the idea of releasing some funds for the house purchase, while leaving enough in the pot to buy a fun car. But what fun car? With a budget of around £15K, £20K at the most, I had fun looking around at cars for sale on Pistonheads and ebay. I have to be honest, there wasn’t anything Porsche-wise that grabbed my attention in that price range, even though there are plenty of cars available, from 968s and 996s, to 986 Boxsters and Caymans (what is the plural of Cayman? Is it Caymans or Caymen, or just simply Cayman?).

No, I began looking outside the family at Caterhams and Lancia Fulvias. Yes, really. But then things changed and house matters were sorted without having to dip into the fun fund, so I continued to drive El Chucho throughout 2017. However, two events that year had a profound effect on my thinking. The first was the trip out to Techno Classica Essen with Delwyn Mallett in a 718 Cayman. The car was little short of sensational and I (we) enjoyed every mile of the journey. Del is a hardcore classic enthusiast but even he found it hard to get his head round the fact that the Cayman was now the cheapest Porsche you can buy. I began to wonder what it would be like to own a ‘modern’…

Then early in December I decided to drive up to the Porsche Club GB Christmas open day at the club’s HQ in Moreton-in-marsh. I planned to drive up in the Porsche and duly set my alarm for about 5.00am. When I woke up, I looked out of the window at the dull grey dawn, turned over and went back to sleep. It was at that point I knew it was time for a change…

I had to scratch one itch, though, that being the Caterham. I knew deep inside that it wasn’t the practical long-distance driver I wanted but I love them and they represent incredible value for money. They also hold their value well.

I spent a couple of days with a good friend who owns a an R400 Caterham, as well as a 993 RS and a Carrera RS. I took Sarah my partner out in the Caterham and while its performance was little short of ballistic, Sarah’s comment at the end of the drive was ‘OK, done that. Next?’ I couldn’t really argue… Fun, yes, practical, no.

So the search was on and the memory of that German trip in the Cayman stuck in my mind. When the Cayman first came out, I called it the ‘thinking man’s 911’ – after all, it was smaller and lighter than any current 911 and to me had closer spiritual links to the early cars because of its lack of bulk. The 718 was outside my budget and I’m not so

struck on the styling of the 986 model – to me the perfect Cayman is the 981. Its crisp lines look great, and being the last of the sixcylinder models, I think they’ll hold their value well. Not that I was interested in a car for its investment potential, but who knows what the future might hold.

There was another reason the 981 appealed and that was the fact that it was unlikely to suffer the same engine problems that occasionally beset the first generation Caymans, Boxsters and, of course, 996s. I also preferred to buy a car that didn’t have too many miles under its belt.

First, though, I’d have to sell El Chucho, a prospect which filled me with horror. I hate selling cars at the best of times, but something of this value really scared me. ‘What if…’ kept going through my mind. No, I needed to broker the car and what better place considering my geographical location (Cornwall) than Saltash-based WilliamsCrawford? I called by to discuss the idea with Adrian Crawford, noting that they had in stock a couple of 981 Caymans, too, which might prove convenient. One was a manual in Sapphire Blue, the other a PDK in GT Silver.

We worked out a deal and, just to make sure I was doing the right thing, I took the PDK Cayman for a drive. I fell in love. I know that some readers will turn their noses up at PDK (after all ‘real’ drivers always choose cars with manual transmission…) but I’ve been a firm fan of the modern semiautomatic since first driving a Golf with DSG (Vw/audi’s version of the PDK concept) a few years ago. It’s so much better than the old Porsche Tiptronic in every respect. For me it was a no brainer.

I started to look around the usual on-line sales sites (Pistonheads, ebay and good old Autotrader) and soon discovered that there was no shortage of 981s for sale, with varying specifications and mileages. I began to make up my wishlist: colour – Agate Grey, GT Silver, Basalt Black; wheels – 19 or 20in with PASM suspension; PDK transmission; black interior; sports steering wheel with paddle shifters… In fact, the specification of the car I had just driven at Williams-crawford.

One thing that did amaze me was the number of cars with absurdly low mileages. One Cayman I found for sale was fully loaded with just about every option you could imagine but had covered 1500 miles in its four-year life. 1500 miles! That’s crazy.

At first the thought of a super-low miles Cayman seemed appealing – after all, it would be like buying a new car. But I heard an apocryphal story of friend who had been pestered by his wife to buy her a new Mercedes CLK. After one year she had driven it just 600 miles – to and from the gym once a week, so that she could be seen arriving in the ‘right’ sort of car. The poor Merc’s engine probably never reached operating temperature, and I hate to think what the bores were like after such a short period of time.

No, what I wanted was a car that had been used, but not overused, with average or just below average mileage. A car that had been looked after but enjoyed. A car like the one I had just test driven, in fact. With 28,000 miles on the clock after four years, it had been enjoyed but not maltreated as a daily driver. I made up my mind and waited to see if anyone was interested in El Chucho.

The advert went ‘live’ on Christmas Day and just eight days later Adrian called to tell me they had a buyer. So, fast forwarding a couple of weeks, I am now the proud owner of a 2014 Cayman with PDK, PASM, PSE (switchable sports exhaust), 20in Carrera wheels and the Porsche sound package.

Today I took the car out on a ‘bonding’ excursion, 125 miles of roads through Devon and Cornwall, heading across country to Bideford and then heading down the A39 Atlantic Highway to Camelford and home. It was a beautiful day, the car was an absolute joy and all is right with my world. Do I, or will I, miss El Chucho? Of course, but it felt that time was right to bring about a change. So here’s to the next chapter in my history of Porsche ownership. Watch this space. PW