GOLDEN BROWN

When I first met Mick Pacey, head of classic Porsche sales and restoration specialist, Export 56, I wondered what his personal car was. Considering he’s a man steeped in sourcing some of the world’s rarest air-cooled classics for private personal collections, I figured he was either riding around in a decidedly non-porsche sports car — perhaps citing driving Stuttgartcrested machinery as something of a busman’s holiday — or would wow me with one of the most sought-after vehicles to roll out of Zuffenhausen. Or, maybe, the wood shed at Gmünd.

You can imagine my delight when Mick presented the 911 you see gracing the cover of this magazine, more or less as soon as I revealed I was planning to shout about the Carrera 3.0’s forty-fifth anniversary. The subject of low volume production for a limited period before the arrival of the big-selling SC, it’s a 911 few people outside Porsche circles know exists, meaning it’s not a car in high demand, but blending much of what came before (not least the Carrera RS 2.7) and setting a template for the SC and its successor, the Carrera 3.2, the three-litre Carrera is, in many respects, the smart choice when it comes to buying an air-cooled 911.

I didn’t waste time arranging to point a camera at Mick’s metallic brown beauty, which, as you’d expect from a man renowned for turning out award-winning restorations, is a superb example of the lesser spotted model. Mick’s personal Porsche is also notable for being one of a small number of Carrera 3.0s in right-hand drive.

Were I looking to add another Porsche to my fleet, I’d certainly be considering a Carrera 3.0. It might not be the most powerful of air-cooled 911s, but, in many respects, it’s one of the highlights in the model’s bulging back catalogue.