911 saga

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My 911 saga began actually began with a dream of owning an earlier Porsche model – the 356, but much research and inspection of cars led me to the conclusion that:-

a) Buying a decent 356 at that time was beyond my means and

b) Using a 356 as a daily driver wasn’t really terribly practical.

The 356 engined 912 became toy next Porsche target and I looked at a few cars until Porsche expert Andy Prill pointed out that the cost of fully restoring a 912 are pretty well the same as for a 911 but with two cylinders less than a 911 the resulting value of the car would be significantly lower and thereby represent a less compelling long-term investment.

Continue reading 911 saga

Brooklands

As the weather was much better than forecast I went down to Brooklands early yesterday morning. It’s a bit of an anorak’s paradise but there is some interesting stuff there and the remaining sections of the banking are quite poignant.

the old workshops

The old workshops and sheds contained some nice old cars & bikes and there were also some interesting original and replica planes in the big hanger. John Cobb’s 23 litre Napier Railton is one of my favourite cars – it set a Brooklands outer circuit lap record of 143 mph. There was also a fantastic Alfa streamliner that was originally designed by Vittorio Jano to challenge the all-conquering Silver Arrows but he was sacked by Alfa before it was completed. It disappeared and then resurfaced again in 1978. It’s been restored back in Italy and looks fantastic with a mid-engine, central driving position and passenger seats either side. Shame it never received the V12 engine it was intended to have.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59728935@N07/6626490007/
http://www.classicandperformancecar.com/features/octane_features/233224/alfa_romeo_aerodinamica_spider.html

The Wellington bomber fished out of Loch Ness was also a bit special.