Model 993 CARRERA Year 1995 Acquired SEPTEMBER 2018
My winter projects are going well. The suspension has been stripped off Gustavo. It’s amazing how many aluminium alloy castings are under the back end of a 993. I’m impressed with how they squeezed it all in considering the 993 was probably designed without the help of CAD (computer aided design).
It’s a real testament to how well my car has been looked after in the past by Marque 21 in Bridport, south-west England. I lost count of how many nuts and bolts I undid – it’s got to be nearing 100. I only had two that were anywhere near stubborn in coming loose.
With access so good under there right now, I’ve decided to get some dry-ice cleaning of the underside. It seems to be all the rage right now, doesn’t it? I’m excited and also a little scared: excited to see 26 years of dirt removed, but scared that it’ll be too clean under there and I won’t want to take the 993 out and get it dirty again. It’s a fine balance between looking after the car, and going too far and becoming a garage queen. I hereby promise not to be the one that never drives their car because it might rain!
I look forward to reporting back with some photographs of the results next month. I love this particular photo of the 993 in the garage. It looks like a hover car from a 1950s science fiction movie without any wheels or suspension hanging down.
My list of replacement parts seems to get a little longer each day. There’s plenty of shopping to be done to do everything ‘just so’. I need to get all the parts off to the various suppliers for refinishing. I think it’s cheaper and the results are far better than trying to refinish them yourself.
So that’s the update on Gustavo – what else has been going on in these winter months? Lots of new Podcast content on 9WERKS Radio, including an awesome interview with Rob Dickinson and Maz Fawaz from Singer Vehicle Design. We interviewed them the day before the release of the Turbo Study. I worked through the night on the edit, with the episode going live as the embargo lifted on its release the next day.
Truly awesome design work as always from the guys at Singer. Initially, it looks like a lovely 930 Turbo, but the more you study the pictures, the more design details you notice. Then you realise that literally everything has been touched. After poring over the photos for a good while I had a look at photos of some original 930s. It then dawned on me that the Singer was so good that the original now looked look a bit fussy in places and not that well resolved. Deeply impressive. I’ll probably never be able to afford one, but I sure enjoy seeing what’s possible and very much enjoy hearing the passion that the Singer team has. Thank you to Rob and Maz for the insight.
The garage is calling again. I best get back down there and get a groove on if Gustavo is to be back on the road for this summer…