Heveningham Concours
An Alfa 8C pairing with fascinating histories charm visitors
This year’s Three Castles Rally was truncated to a single day, down from its usual four, but still made for frantic, enjoyable road-rallying.
Porsche 911 SC Martini
‘My car was first registered in November 1977, but the SC is only listed from 1978 in Porsche’s catalogue,’ said Paul Tomlinson of the unusual 911 he was using to contest the rally. ‘Also, despite being supplied as a Martini special edition, it only had stripes on the side, and no boot spoiler – these had to be added later. According to the Porsche Owners’ Club’s 911SC Register, there are no earlier-registered UK SCS.
‘The engine had a full rebuild at 127,000 miles after a couple of the cylinder head bolts had gone – a common problem – so I took the opportunity to refresh the lot,’ said Tomlinson.
‘Dampers have been upgraded, polyurethane bushes fitted along with braided brake hoses, better wheel bearings, brake discs and pads.’ Certain aspects of originality, however, fell foul of the rally’s regulations. ‘The car was originally supplied with the optional Fuchs 16 inch wheels,’ said Tomlinson. ‘Unfortunately, these are not allowed on the Three Castles because the tyre profile they require does not meet the MSA rules.’