Here’s to celebrating 240 years of independence and freedom enjoyed in the United States.
Wishing you all a Happy and safe 4th of July, and a big thank you to all serving in the military, for your continued service to our country.
Well it finally happened. After 27 years of unwavering service, the VDO quartz clock in my 1986 Porsche Carrera finally quit working. For the past month, it has been an on again, off again condition, which was a clue to its pending failure. So on Friday morning, I made the decision to remove the clock and take it into the team at North Hollywood Speedometer for repair.
This would be my second visit to North Hollywood Speedometer for gauge repair. One year ago, the odometer portion of my speedometer failed, and after reading about similar failures experienced by owners and their recommendations for repairs as posted on the Pelican Parts technical forum (www.forums.pelicanparts.com), one shop was consistently noted – North Hollywood Speedometer. I also recalled seeing North Hollywood Speedometer listed as the source of the Porsche gauge restorations in a variety of Porsche related magazines, highlighting articles about street and race car restoration projects. Based upon these references, I took my speedometer in for repair and within a week, had a fully repaired and detailed speedometer, returned and once again functioning perfectly in my car. They had even cleaned and polished the clear lens, removing the fine scratches on the outside of the face, and the haze that had accumulated on the inside from the past 26 years.
Now back to my broken clock… As I pulled into the parking lot of North Hollywood Speedometer, I fully expected (given the volume of work that they normally have from the Porsche community), to be told that I would be looking at a one week minimum for the repair of my clock. When I walked up to the counter, I was greeted by one of their technicians (Jeff) who asked how he could help. I told him about my inoperative clock, and then handed it to him for inspection. While examining the clock, Jeff asked me where I had driven from. I told him that I lived about an hours drive away, near the Los Angeles / Orange County border. Jeff’s next question totally caught me off guard; Would I like to wait for the repair? He said the company tries very hard to accommodate walk in customers from the area, and since I only had the one gauge, thus his offer for same day repair. Fortunately, I had the time to spare, so I replied yes, I would wait.
Jeff took the clock to his workstation, and immediately set about the task of disassembly. Once the inner workings were repaired and tested, his attention then shifted over to the cleaning of the clear lens. After polishing and several cleanings, he brought the lens over to me for approval. The lens once again looked brand new, so with my approval, he proceeded to the final re-assembly.
Once all of the parts were re-assembled ( outer gauge bezel, clear lens, inner bezel, clock face, clock mechanism and external housing), Jeff once again showed me the finished product for final approval.
The clock appeared brand new, just as it had on the day that my dad bought the car, and drove it home from the dealer. Jeff then bagged the clock, and after paying for the repair, I realized that the entire repair process had been completed in under 40 minutes.
Once I was back home, and with the addition of a new gauge seal sourced from the folks at Sierra Madre Collection (www.SMCparts.com), I was ready to reinstall the clock back into my car.
After reinstalling the light bulb into the back of the housing, and reconnecting two electrical leads, it was time to press the clock with its new seal back into place on the dash as seen below…
It’s no wonder that North Hollywood Speedometer has become the preferred shop for Porsche gauge restoration, especially within the Southern California Porsche community. So a big thank you to Kevin and his staff at North Hollywood Speedometer (nhspeedometer.com), for the quality of work performed, as well as the outstanding customer service being delivered to their clients. I would also like to add an additional thank you to Jeff for his meticulous repair and detail work on my clock.
Now all that remains is to figure out a good time for scheduling the cosmetic restoration of my remaining three dash gauges…
( Photos by the author)
I’m sorry to disappoint those of you who thought this post might be written about Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen. Instead, this weeks title was inspired by the frigid temperatures encountered by those of us present at Cars&Coffee/Irvine, the morning of January 12, 2013. Since I began attending this event back in 2008, the morning of the 12th was by far the coldest one I’ve ever experienced. But even with the record-breaking cold temperatures being experienced throughout Southern California, the Cars&Coffee faithful still showed up in droves, albeit decked out in heavy jackets, scarves, hats, gloves and uggs.
Unfortunately the one piece of gear that I had forgotten to pack the night before were my gloves, and by 7 AM, my right hand (camera holder) was suffering from exposure. My friend Gene, who came fully prepared wearing cold weather gear, magically produced from the back of his car, an extra pair of gloves (fly fishing to be specific), that he kindly loaned me for the duration of the morning. The benefit of this type of glove is that with the finger tips removed, you can still handle your camera and make fine adjustments while retaining a sense of touch. Within a couple of minutes, my right hand and shutter finger had regained color and warmed up, allowing me to continue on my photographic quest.
One of the first cars that I observed drive into the lot by the glow of its headlights, and then settle on Porsche row, was this rare 2011 Porsche type 997 Speedster, in Pure Blue.
To further commemorate the origins of their original Speedster, Porsche chose to limit the production of the 2011 model to a total of only 356 examples worldwide, and restricted the available color palette to only two colors; Pure blue as shown here and Carrara white.
Placed on the glove box of each Speedster is the build plaque, which displays the series number of each car from the total number produced. This particular model is #154 of 356.
Porsche even chose the Los Angeles Auto Show back in 2010, as the venue for their first of their two North American debuts of the 997 Speedster( the second location being Detroit).
Parked immediately to the left of the 997 Speedster, was one of the newest members of the Porsche family; a 2013 type 991 Carrera, in Dark Blue metallic.
Another unique Porsche and frequent visitor to Cars&Coffee, parked just down the row from the Type 991, was this Signal Orange, 1971 914-6 GT, Factory rally car.
The owner even had a small bound book placed on the roof, documenting the history behind this unique vehicle (below).
On this particular morning, the car showed up wearing a set of standard Porsche street wheels and tires, which appeared quite skinny, when compared to its standard Porsche 5 spoke, 15″ Fuchs alloy race wheels.
Serving as a visual bookend to Porsche row, was another blue 2013 Type 991 (in Aqua Blue metallic), however this particular model was equipped with Porsche’s 2013 re-interpretation of their classic 1973 duck tail spoiler…
My next stop was over to the featured lot to see what hidden treasure awaited. Much to my surprise, parked amidst a group of Alfa Romeo’s was this beautiful black Ferrari 512BB, with its rear deck opened, revealing its 5 liter, flat 12 cylinder motor.
The paint finish on the 512 had to be one of the nicest black paint jobs I’ve seen on a Ferrari (below)…
with all 12 cylinders of Ferrari magic revealed out back… including the 4 sets of triple choke Weber carburetors (which would indicate that this car is a pre 1981 model), since Ferrari switched over to fuel injection in 1981, and rebadged the car as the 512 BBi.
After heading back over to the main parking area, I encountered Lotus row, however with considerably fewer cars in attendance on this morning…
Then moving down the row, and parked to the outside of the curbing , I came across one of my favorite Porsche models; a 2011 GT3, in black.
Walking around the car and checking it out, was like looking at a black, purpose-built high-speed mirror, capturing and reflecting all of its surroundings…
My next stop would be to the back row of the parking lot, in part to check out why a crowd had gathered. What I found was a collection of McLaren MP4-12C’s and a few select Audi R8 V-10’s thrown in for good measure.
An example of the new McLaren MP4-12C spider in Graphite Grey, as seen below.
And below, the single MP4-12-C painted in the classic McLaren Orange, a color anyone familiar with the classic McLaren Can Am race cars of the 1970s will recognize…
After the departure of the McLaren group, I wandered back through the lot to search for any cars that I had missed or that were late arrivals. As I approached Porsche row, I noticed that my friend Dave had opened up the rear deck lid on his slate gray, 1984 Porsche 930 turbo, revealing his new motor and its highly polished intercooler. I even had a willing subject in the background to serve as a backdrop for a quick experiment in composition…
One of the last cars I came across before packing up for the morning, was this Grand Prix white 1993 Porsche Type 964 RS America, wearing Martini racing stripes and door graphics. This car is another frequent visitor, however this was its first time with its new graphics.
Porsche’s intention was to build this car for the 1993 model year only, however due to increasing demand, production was extended out into early 1994. I recently learned that one of the telltale clues for differentiating between a 1993 and early 1994 model can be found by simply looking inside the car. For the late 1993 / early1994 models, Porsche chose to add the traditional rear folding jump sets, in place of the previously utilized, fixed storage bins found on all 1993 RS America models. Unfortunately, the rear seat area in this car was covered by a Martini racing beach towel, so no way to make a visual check on the rear seat configuration.
And with that the owner returned, opened the passenger door, and his dog climbed up into the back and settled on the towel. Then with a turn of the key, the engine came to life and the RS America and its occupants were gone. Now I will have to wait until the car returns, to determine whether it’s a 1993 or early 1994 model…
(All photos by the author)
Saturday morning, April 7th saw the coming together of the Porsche faithful at Cars&Coffee/Irvine, as a tribute to the recent passing of Ferdinand Alexander (Butzi) Porsche. An email was circulated on Friday April 6, and forwarded to many within the Porsche community about a plan to pay tribute to and honor the memory of F.A.”Butzi” Porsche. The intent was to gather up as many Porsche 911’s as possible, to represent the model range from 1965 up to the latest 2012 iteration. Also hoped for was participation by any of the local Porsche 904 owners. The destination Saturday morning would be the “featured” parking lot area at Cars&Coffee. To further this cause, I forwarded the email to my friends Gene and Dave, both owners of Porsche 930 turbos, in hope of their participation come Saturday morning.
For a change, the early morning skies Saturday morning were clear and dry. As I pulled into the parking lot still cloaked in darkness, I was waved into the “featured” lot, to join the already present assortment of rainbow-hued Porsche 911’s. As I rounded the parking median, I encountered my friend Gene backing his black 930 turbo into a corner parking spot, and after he was settled in, I grabbed the space immediately to his right. As the lot continued to fill with even more 911’s, my friend Dave arrived in his 1984 Slate Gray 930 Turbo, debuting a brand new, upgraded turbo motor. By the time the sun had risen, the lot was filled with an even greater variety of Porsches, and what an amazing, colorful collection it was…
Dave’s slate gray 1984 930 turbo, and the first photos of his brand new turbo motor with mirror polished intercooler…
And parked shoulder to shoulder with the Porsche 911’s was this ultra rare, Grand Prix white, 1981 Porsche 924 Carrera GTS Club Sport. According to Porsche, a total of fifty-nine GTS Carreras were built (50 to meet the Group 4 homologation requirements back in the day, plus an additional nine for good measure). And of the fifty-nine total cars built, only 15 were further modified to Club Sport specifications…
In fact, this is the only GTS identification displayed on the entire car, and almost invisible due to its monochromatic design…
From week to week, one never knows who might be seen strolling through the parking lot at Cars&Coffee. On this morning, local resident and American racing legend Dan Gurney (in the white jacket and blue sweater) and his wife were present (see photo above), taking in the sights and examining the mornings diverse gathering of Porsches…
And obviously, the tribute email reached the owner of this beautiful Porsche 904 Carrera GTS as witnessed below. A fitting tribute, since the Porsche 904 was the second milestone car penned by F.A. Porsche, shortly after his completion of the design for the 911…
Several other rare and unique Porsche models were also represented Saturday morning, and ironically were each parked in close proximity to one another.
The first was the pristine white, 1962 Porsche 356 Carrera 2, powered by the model specific, Carrera 4 cam motor as seen below…
The second model was a silver,1961 Porsche Carrera Abarth GTL (shown below), also sporting a 4 cam motor, and backed by a freestanding display that chronicled the cars racing history. This particular Abarth GTL is another example of a very rare Porsche, being part of the initial, limited production run of 21 GTL’s from back in 1960. This particular car (serial #1015), was the fifteenth of only 21 produced during that time frame.
And last but not least was the second Porsche 904 in attendance ( the blue model shown below), and the only 904 model to possess a very special connection to Ferdinand Alexander Porsche…
This particular car, a 1964 904 Carrera GTS, serial # 904-002 (of which I have written about previously), is not only historically significant because of its status as one of the surviving pre-production prototype models created, but also because of the unique design features unique to this car only. And no less important is the fact that this is the single 904 Carrera GTS to have been owned and routinely driven by the designer himself (Ferdinand Alexander “Butzi” Porsche).
Thus the personalized California license plate that adorns the rear of the car; a clue to the cars historic significance, and reference to the identity of 904-002’s original owner.
As the morning came to a close, and the sound of Porsche boxer / flat six motors coming to life echoed throughout the parking lot, it was time to reflect on the event that had brought us all together that morning. And what better tribute and reminder to all present, than the photo of a young Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, photographed sitting on the fender of his design come to life, the Porsche 911. One only had to look at the Porsche participants that Saturday morning, or recall the Porsche 911 parking corrals at Porsches Rennsport Reunion IV, filled to capacity with 911’s from every model year and color as far as the eye could see, to understand the impact of this designers creative genius. And hopefully, the DNA from his original 911 design will continue to thrive, for future generations of aspiring Porsche 911 owners to experience and enjoy…
(All photos by the author)
It was with great sadness that I read the news today announcing the passing of Ferdinand Alexander Porsche. His passing is not only a terrible loss for the Porsche family, but a sad day for the global Automotive and Design community.
His automotive design and styling influences will be forever linked to the company founded by his grandfather and father, and by two of his penned automotive masterpieces; the iconic Porsche 911, and shortly after, the fiberglass bodied 904 Carrera GTS as seen below.
A beautifully restored example of a 1966 Porsche 911…
…And the historically significant 1964 Porsche 904 GTS (shown below), ironically with special ties to F.A. Porsche. This particular car is serial number 904-002, a pre production model possessing many one-off, custom features, and a car actually owned by its designer, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche. Thus the “Butzi S” reference on its license plate…
Then in 1972, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche shifted his design focus, and created the product design firm that came to be known as Porsche Design. His innovative designs for the satin black, chronograph watch with a face inspired by the gauges found within the 911, and the satin black framed, aviator style sunglasses with interchangeable lenses, both went on to become instant classics, and established Porsche Design as a force to be reckoned with. As a testament to his sense of design and creative vision, the original Porsche Design chronograph has become a highly sought after collectible watch, and their aviator styled sunglasses are still being produced to this day.
So thank you Professor Porsche, for elevating the art of Automotive and Product Design, and for giving life to the Porsche 911 and 904. Godspeed…
digitaldtour 