LETTERS

GOT SOMETHING TO SAY? NEED TO EXPRESS AN OPINION ON THE CLASSIC PORSCHE WORLD? WELL, HERE’S YOUR CHANCE…

CARRERA 2 CHALLENGE

Thanks for the article on the 356 Carrera 2 B in issue 51 ( Friends Reunited, pages 30–36). I have always been fascinated with this 356 icon since reading about it in an Observer’s Book of Automobiles from 1963.

I believe there were never any Carrera 2s ordered for the Australian market due to their price, which makes this one on your pages all the more interesting having spent several years of its life there.

Attached are some photographs taken by my friend Brian Reed of your feature car while it was in Adelaide, possibly sometime in the early 1980s. And yes,that is 105mph on the speedometer, and what looks like 5000rpm on the tacho, as well!

The second (red) car belonged to a John Piper (perhaps the same John Piper who previously owned 292 NOJ?), the photograph also being taken by Brian at a museum in the UK.

The ʻReunion Challenge Part 2ʼ I have for your resourceful reporter Kieron Fennelly is to track down the whereabouts of the second Piper Carrera 2. A subsequent Reunion of the two Piper Carreras 292 NOJ and EMD 932B would round off the story nicely. Dennis Brooks, Sydney, Australia

Keith Seume replies: Wow, thanks for sending the photos, Dennis. It really is a small world, isn’t it? The DVLA (licensing department in the UK) records show that EMD 932B is still on their computer, but that it hasn’t been taxed since 1995 and there is no record of it being MOT’D, either. Normally this might suggest one of two things: the car has been scrapped (unlikely, one would hope) or it’s sitting in a collection unused. As your friend took a photo in a museum, we can only assume it’s still tucked away. Can any readers throw any light on its whereabouts?

FILLING IN THE BLANKS

Having read the excellent article on the Carrera 2 292 NOJ in the latest issue of your magazine ( Classic Porsche #51), I can help regarding information on M J Hawley, the original owner of the car, about whom little was known, it seems.

In fact, Mike Hawley owned a large bakery business in Birmingham (Hawleyʼs Bakery), which was sold to Grand Metropolitan in 1976. Both he and his wife owned Porsche 356s and attended the first Porsche Club GB meeting, held in 1961 at Chateau Impney. I remember the Carrera 2 and was given a ride in it in 1964 at an event held in Bournemouth.

Mike replaced the Carrera 2 with a new 911 in 1966. From memory at that time he used two registration numbers on his cars, 3 LOV and 5 LOV. He was a hillclimb man, never circuits, but I cannot be sure if the Carrera 2 was ever used in competition. Sadly, he passed away many years ago. John Arnold, via E-mail

Keith Seume replies: Thank you so much for getting in touch, John. I can tell you that Mick Pacey of Export 56, who brought the car along to Goodwood, was delighted to be able to fill in the missing part of the car’s history. It is a shame that Mike Hawley is no longer with us as I am sure he would have had plenty of stories to tell of his time with the Carrera 2.

APPEAL FOR INFO…

How lovely to see the feature in issue #51 on the Carrera 2 ( Friends

Reunited). It is lucky to know so much of the car ʼs history.

I have been trying to trace the owners of my own RHD 356 – but I have a 22-year gap in its history.

I know that it was built as a Super 90 in 1962 and supplied through AFN to ʻThe Blackadder Motor Companyʼ of Falkirk, who sold it to a Mr Howatt. It was registered as CMS 100. The car was returned to AFN a few months later for a new engine.

I then have a 22-year gap to when the car was re-registered in 1984 and sold to the lady from whom I acquired the car.

I still live in hope that somewhere is my car ʼs AFN sales receipt, handbook and a nostalgic previous owner… Simon Harding, via E-mail

“YES, THAT IS 105MPH ON THE SPEEDOMETER…”

Keith Seume replies: What a truly wonderful name, ‘The Blackadder Motor Company’! Can’t help wondering if the chief mechanic was called Baldric… Hopefully your letter will spark someone’s memory, but I see from DVLA records that the original registration is now on a red Ford, which is a shame. It’s a pity that so many of these early cars lost their original registration numbers, thereby making the process of tracking their history all the more difficult.