DOWN WARRAGUL WAY
Australian sunshine, three Porsches, two owners and one man dedicated to keeping them on the road (and track). A day to remember for former 356 racer, Richard Holdsworth…
Sun and fun in Warragul, south-east of Melbourne, Australia. I was set to drive a 356 for the first time since the mid1960s, when I raced my beloved Speedster on Aussie circuits, showing others a clean pair of heels. Fast-forward to the present day and this driver and air-cooled Porsches are somewhat older, which may explain why
I found the silver Super 90 pictured on these pages something of a handful. How the car’s owner, Dave Chapman, successfully wielded it around the fantastic Targa Tasmania road rally in 2018 remains a mystery. Nevertheless, he did a power of good in an event he’d never entered before and, just like Sicily’s Targa Florio (the legendary endurance race Targa Tasmania is based upon), simple everyday country roads closed for the event threw up something of a challenge for seasoned and debutant competitors — never mind missing the occasional woolly Merino wandering across the track if you want to see the finish line.
Dave’s Super 90 was built in December 1961 and was promptly shipped to then Australasian Porsche agent, Norman Hamilton of St Kilda, Melbourne, in February 1962. The list price was
DAVE LEFT HIS 911 SC’S SPECIFICATION UNCHANGED UNTIL THE THRILLS OF TARGA TASMANIA CAPTURED HIS IMAGINATION
DM9510, plus DM43.20 for a polaroid windscreen and DM22.40 for crested hubcaps. The car was freighted to Melbourne in the bowels of a cargo ship at the cost of an additional DM900, bringing the final invoice total to DM10,475.60. This was the first of two 356 T6 models to be delivered Down Under, the second taking the form of a base model finished in Bali Blue. Both cars immediately took centre stage on the Norman Hamilton stand at the Melbourne Motor Show and, in doing so, somewhat confused visitors not accustomed to compact, rear-engined, air-cooled sports cars from Stuttgart. Indeed, when I bought my Speedster the year before, I was told there were less than a hundred Porsches in the whole of Australia. Notwithstanding apparent bemusement, the Super 90 found an eager buyer long before the show ended.
Dave became the car’s owner in November 2013 and, having heard tales of the Targa Tasmania over many years, decided “to join in the fun and see how a 356 Super 90 really performs” in time for 2018’s event. Even before crossing the finishing line, he was determined to turn in a repeat performance — his 1977 911 SC was deemed the perfect tool to mark his return in 2019.
“It’s a great event,” he confirmed during our day at Warragul. “The people of Tasmania make participants feel very welcome and the camaraderie between competitors is amazing. Keen to see if I could improve upon my maiden Targa Tasmania drive back in 2018, I was determined to return a year later, this time in my air-cooled 911.”
TAKE UP THE CHALLENGE
The Targa Tasmania is divided into ten different categories, from the aptly named Experience the Journey (a noncompetitive rally across the island for cars built after January 1st 1900) to the TSD Trophy, a high-octane event where the only speed limit the driver must observe is an average of no more than 130km/h (just over 80mph) come event end. As the preliminary notes state, “the nature of this competition provides a
mathematical challenge for both driver and co-driver, keeping the cockpit drama intense right to the finish line.” There’s also the Rookie Rally, Vintage & Classic, Classic GT, Early Modern, GT4 and GT2 classes, as well as the Shannon’s Classic Rally, which Dave enters his Porsches into.
His SC was delivered from the factory to a customer in Hong Kong in late 1977. The car was optioned as right-hand-drive and included air-conditioning, leather sports steering wheel, tinted glass and electric windows. Dave has, of course, researched the history of the car and says there was no mention of any wide body panels on the original build sheet, leading him to think the muscular quarters his 911 wears today were added some time later. Reassuringly, he tells me the work to both front and rear guards has been carried out to perfection. “The panels are steel and appear to be genuine Porsche items. They certainly look the part!”
At some stage in its history, the car came to Australia. Subsequently, Dave found it taking up residence at marque specialist, Weltmeister Porsche, based in Cremone, an inner suburb of Melbourne. It was March 2003 and the asking price was $35,000 AUS (roughly £14,000).
Chunky 993 wheels and spacers were present, suiting the aesthetic of the wider steel arches. After buying the car, Dave left this specification unchanged until the thrills of Targa Tasmania captured his imagination — he reasoned, not unnaturally, his SC would likely adapt even better to the event’s winding roads, steep climbs and even steeper descents than his 356 the year before. “I changed the 993 wheels to stunning Maxilite sixteen-inch staggered Fuchs replicas,” he continues. “They measure nine inches of width at the rear and eight at the front. They were sourced from Classic Wheels Australia and have since been wrapped
in Continental Contipremiumcontact tyres from my local Tyrepower dealer.”
He’s also fitted a ducktail-adorned engine lid and says the accompanying custom grille not only allows improved airflow, but provides better visuals into the engine bay, which he has decorated Viper Green. Obviously, the flash of colour is for looks alone, but to be competitive, the engine itself needed a fair degree of mechanical work. Enter Mike Jacobson at Spyder Automobiles in Warragul, the very same specialist tasked with looking after Dave’s Super 90. Mike picks up the conversation. “I fitted SSI heat exchangers and added a custommade exhaust supplied by Warragul Exhaust Centre. At the same time, PMO 46mm carburettors were jetted to suit the engine, which now benefits from solid timing chain tensioners.” GE60 camshafts were ground by yet another local Porsche specialist (Clive Cams at Ferntree Gully), but Mike had to reach out to overseas parts suppliers for some of the flat-six’s additional rebuild componentry. For example, competition valve springs, titanium retainers and oversized inlet valves came from EBS Racing in Nevada, while Nickies 98mm cylinders were sourced from LN Engineering in Illinois.
OFF WITH ITS HEAD
“I reconditioned the cylinder heads and carried out mild porting to let the engine breathe easier, which offered up a bit more power and extra torque. I’m confident Dave now has in excess of 280bhp at his disposal,” he says. Attention was soon turned to the suspension, where Koni adjustable dampers and 911 Turbo (930) tie rods were fitted, though the original torsion bars were retained. Mike thinks Dave may switch things up in the not too distant future, but the jury’s out until this stealthy SC completes another Targa Tasmania.
The third Porsche we encountered at Mike’s workshop was the gorgeous Guards Red 924 owned by Ken ‘Spencer’ Mcgregor. He joined Dave on the 2018 Targa Tasmania, but was behind the wheel of a Holden EH, a car built by General Motors in Australia between 1963 and 1965. Like Dave, Spencer got bitten by the Targa bug, but soon realised a boxy four-door Holden saloon wasn’t the best vehicle for a tarmac rally based on a formula enjoyed by Stirling Moss, Vic Elford, Jo Siffert and Tazio Nuvolari in motorsport machines prepared by Porsche, Mercedes-benz and Alfa Romeo, among others. Yep, a comfy five-seater was never going to do credit
to the stars of yesteryear flying round the tortuous Targa Florio, but a modernclassic Porsche sports car might!
Back home in Melbourne’s south-east, Spencer came across a man by the name of Paul Batty, a chap who owned — and cherished — the 924 seen here. The front-engined, water-cooled ‘transaxle’ had originally been sold by Porsche dealer, Albion Car Centre, situated in the uniquely Australian named town of Breakfast Creek, near Brisbane. Three owners in, the radiant red sports machine found itself on Paul’s driveway. Although it was in his ownership for almost two decades and had covered an average of only 1,000km per year during this time, the car’s inline-four was rebuilt by Porsche engine specialist, Joraro Motors of Braeside, not long before Spencer took ownership. He knew of Mike’s work on Dave’s cars, meaning it didn’t take long for the 924 to find its way into the Spyder Automobiles workshop with an instruction for Mike to make the car more competitive in anticipation of the 2019 Targa Tasmania.
PUT TO THE TEST
“The basic work was a major service, starting with the cambelt, but I also had to ensure valve clearances were set to enable the engine to handle the high revs I guessed Spencer would subject the unit to when hammering across Tasmania,” he recalls. As was the case with Dave’s 911 SC, attention was also showered upon the car’s chassis, with dampers, springs, all bushes, brake discs and drums renewed. The brief to all concerned was to keep the 924 as original as possible, but with a few tweaks in readiness for the impending road rally. Competition pads were added accordingly, as were Dunlop DZ03G road-legal competition tyres. Spencer also felt a new steering wheel was called for, acquiring a motorsport-inspired flatbottomed three-spoke from Australian brand, Autotecnica. The biggest challenge came when he bought a new exhaust system… designed for left-hand drive 924s. Thankfully, the ace welding skills of his son, Ryan, ensured the part could be put to good use. Phew!
Although Targa Tasmania is billed as non-competitive (there’s no podium for this or bottle of champagne for that), there’s no shortage of ‘competition’ on the various stages of the rally — to catch the car (or cars) flagged off in front of yours is great reward, as Dave and Spencer know only too well after
Mike worked his magic on their tweaked Porsches. His personal history with the brand extends a long way back — his father-in-law was John Gregory, known as Mr 356 during the early days of Porsche in Australia. Mike worked his way through the ranks of the Aussie car industry, serving as an apprentice mechanic at one of Melbourne’s leading Ford dealers, which was heavily involved in motorsport. His interest was spiked, resulting in him competing in club racing with a three-litre Capri touring car and an Mk2 Escort RS2000. Apprenticeship finished, he joined Brian Wood Ford and was soon exercising his heavy right foot in a Mk1 Cortina around tracks in southern Australia. A crash saw the development of another Escort and, in 1982, he won the Victorian Sports Sedan Association’s under two-litre championship, a feat he repeated the following year. From 1983 to 1989, the Escort was powered by a succession of Mazda rotary engines.
His association with Porsche started in earnest at the start of 1990, when he was invited to join his local Porsche Club as part of a team competing with a 911 in a daylong endurance race at Benalla, a small city on the Broken River gateway to the High Country north-eastern region of Victoria. Paired with local speed merchant, Michael Tankard, the pair put in twelve and a half hours of seat time, crossing the line in first place at race end. It was at this event Mike met his future wife, Lisa Gregory, daughter of Mr 356, and was invited to join John’s organisation, Spyder Automobiles, specialising in Porsche service and repairs. The firm also prepared the 2.8litre 911 Michael Tankard used to win the 1992 Australian Porsche Cup, which he did by a record margin.
John Gregory passed away in March 2003 and Lisa passed away in October 2011, leaving Mike to take up the mantle of looking after Porsche owners and their cars at Spyder Automobiles ever since. Dave and Spencer are just two Warragul warriors who are indebted to his work. Now, where’s the entry form for the next Targa Tasmania?!