Peter Wilson
Adelaide, Australia @peterwilson_oz Model 930 3.3 Year 1980 Acquired 2011
The long weekend in March finally arrived and it signalled the start of our longawaited road trip in the 930 to the Phillip Island historic race meeting. This year was more special than most because the event was cancelled in 2021 due to Covid and because my wife was making the trip for the first time.
Even after much car preparation and testing, there was still some trepidation as we set off. The car has been temperamental over the past 12 months and the 2,000km trip would be taking us well away from main routes and roads. Departure on Thursday morning was leisurely as Day One was quite short at 400km and our only deadline was to arrive in the famous Coonawarra wine region in time to visit a couple of wineries.
The car ran perfectly, and we spent an enjoyable hour at Rymill winery, sampling its entire range of reds and enjoying the tree-lined roads through the vast vineyards. We overnighted in Penola and enjoyed a stroll along the historic Petticoat Lane before a great pub dinner.
The next day required a much earlier start because we had over 600km to travel, including a ferry crossing. We filled the car before setting off: fuel prices were going through the roof due to the Ukraine war and there were concerns that they would jump even higher as supply became limited. Our average price for 98 octane ended up being over $2.50/litre, so it was an expensive trip!
It was a cold and misty morning as we left Penola. We were driving east into the sunrise and initially the 930’s archaic demisting system was struggling until everything had warmed up. Then it became an enchanting drive, with rays of sunlight cutting through the mist and between the gum trees that lined the road. I thought of stopping to take a photo, but concluded that it wouldn’t have been possible to do the lighting justice. I limited our speed to 80kph, because this time of day is notorious for kangaroos as they enjoy a drink of dew at the roadside, and the difficult lighting made it hard to see them at a safe braking distance.
Once the sun was up and the mist had burned away, we enjoyed a pleasant drive through the back blocks of Victoria, interrupted only by a couple of stretches of gravel roadworks and then some heavy holiday traffic as we re-emerged into civilisation near Geelong for the ferry crossing to Sorrento. Due to the low ground clearance of the Porsche, made even lower by the full load of crew, luggage and fuel, I needed to stay alert on the minor roads for ridges of bitumen pushed up by heavy vehicles. I failed to react to one in time and it grazed an air-con line underneath the car, fortunately not doing any real damage.
The ferry trip was a brilliant break from driving, especially on this day with beautiful sunshine as we cruised past the holiday towns of Portsea and Sorrento before the final leg to Phillip Island in time for dinner. On the weekend it was a lovely surprise to see that the race meeting was back to full strength after the pandemic. There were plenty of spectators and display cars, and most importantly, lots of Porsche racing on the track, from 356s and 911s to exotica including 956 and 962 endurance racers.
My wife enjoyed spending Saturday at the track and we hired a bike to explore the island on Sunday. Then it was time to pack everything into the car for the planned three-day sightseeing trip back to Adelaide, with much more confidence after the trouble-free outward leg. It was great to be able to use the 930 as a GT car again.