Joe Croser
Northamptonshire, UK @jcx911
You know you are a Porsche guy when you ‘sneak into’ a members-only supercar meet and you gravitate towards Stuttgart’s finest while surrounded by a sea of Lambos, Ferraris and Astons. I was surrounded by the kind of cars many kids only get close to on Instagram, or in my day the Athena poster shop…
This month I attended my first ever Supercar Driver Club ‘Secret Meet’ at the super Top555 cars in Oakham, where my mate Rich bought his 997 GTS. It was one hell of an event! I am going to guess that there were 80 to 100 supercars in attendance with a combined value of £820 million. And ‘still’ it was a 991.2 GT3 RS in Lizard green which proved to be my favourite show car. I just think they are stunning.
Oakham is a quick 30-minute drive from home, and a few cars agreed to meet on route in Wansford. This afforded time for a flat white and a little pre-meet tyre kicking. Joining our 997.2 Turbo were a 991.1 GT3 RS, an Audi R8 V10, an Aston Martin V12 Vantage S, an AMG GT and two Mclarens. After the usual pleasantries and name swapping – an increasingly difficult test as the years roll by – we set off in convoy for Top555 Cars. Upon arrival, Ashley, the Aston driver, got out of his car and said: “Wow, that’s the best Porsche I’ve ever heard! Your car sounds phenomenal under acceleration!” I beamed. “It does have an exhaust… a Sharkwerks,” I replied. Ash nodded: “That explains it. I’ve never heard a 911 Turbo sound so good”.
Aside from the verbal attention we also got ‘papped’ on the way in and out – although I was a little red-faced for our exit as we were parked towards the back and needed five or six cars to move so that we could thread our way through the show cars to hot-foot it back to Peterborough for the 13:20 showing of the LEGO Movie – my bribe to my daughter for being my co-pilot that morning. Thankfully all who moved were very good humoured, and a couple who learned of our plight even cheered us off at the exit!
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this ‘private’ meet; I have attended other exotic car events and I’ve left with mixed emotions. Thankfully the Supercar
Driver Club members couldn’t have been friendlier. There was a calmness to the event which made everyone very approachable and easy to talk to, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. It is, however, a ‘club’ with membership fees, and its calendar of events is only available to paid-up members. So, if you want to learn more, visit supercar-driver. com. And if you join, mention that you read about it here and I may just be invited back.