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“With the 911 there is always the discussion of how far you can go,” says softly spoken Michael Mauer, head of style at Porsche (see opposite). He’s one of the key men in determining why the new 991 looks and functions as it does.

Although he’s been at the design helm since 2004, this is the first Porsche model that Mauer has been responsible for from start to finish, given the long gestations of new projects that are standard in the car industry. He oversaw 90 per cent of the Panamera and the second-generation Cayenne, too, but the 911 Carrera is the icon. The world was watching and he knew it, but his strategy – in the context of a model sometimes accused of evolving too slowly – was a pretty bold one.

Speaking at the 2011 Detroit show back in January, Mauer was remarkably bullish and confident, declaring: “The headline for me when designing the next-generation 911 was first of all, and at first glance, to be able to tell that it is a Porsche 911 and also to be able to tell that it is the new one. There will be no doubt, I am convinced. The 991 boasts different proportions and new elements.”

True to his word, the 991 is, unquestionably, a distinctively different 911. He’s done his homework and after diplomatically saying that his favourite 911s are ‘all of them’, he confesses that some have influenced him more than others, the 993 in particular. “All the predecessors influenced this design, even the 996, which has been so heavily criticised. The 996 became softer, which was a necessary step. I might have some different opinions on the execution but it was a very bold step. But the 993 plays a particularly important role as, from my point of view, the typical Porsche design language, with its convex and concave surfaces started with the 993. Up to the 993 there were not too many changes, and then the 993 got new wings and new wing flares, so that was an important move.”

Proportions

The new proportions are subtle but evident when explained and scrutinised. One of the key differences can be seen in side profile. The car looks longer and is, but only by 56mm. What makes it look extended is the proportionally significant 100mm increase in the wheelbase and shorter overhangs at the front (by 32mm) and at the back (by 12mm). The Carrera’s roof is fractionally lower too by 7mm and in the Carrera S by 6mm. Overall the car is just under 4.5 metres (4,491mm) long with a width of 1,808mm. So why the bigger wheelbase? “You could say in a way that today’s 911 has perfect proportions,” Mauer begins. “Therefore we put a lot of time into this first phase to find out where we would like to change and modify, but there were other departments who had their requirements as well. The design department and the racing guys both wanted a longer wheelbase, the design guys for better proportions and the suspension guys to have better performance. We also both wanted more track width at the front and bigger-sized wheels so it was really a case of joined forces.”

Mauer also talks of a new “precision line” – a subtle crease that runs along the edge of the roofline and that appears to get sharper as it moves to the rear of the car, as he says, “to the point where the power is applied.”

Exterior details 

The changes at the front of the 991 are more subtle but worth studying. Perhaps the first things to hit the eye are the bolder air intakes, sliced through with twin black, rather than body-coloured, blades on each side. Early internet forum reports questioned the angularity of this design detail as being out of step with previous 911s. It’s a reaction Mauer finds puzzling.

“I’m surprised about this perception,” he frowns. “What I admit is that we tried to give the sculpture more tension, so it looks more sporty and athletic and that we introduced lines that give the whole appearance more precision, but still sticking to the typical design language and surface treatment that compared to competitors is pretty soft. But, yes, some of the elements are less soft, in order to give the car rather more character.”

What does he say to those who think there are shades of Audi R8 in those intakes? “In that case, I would have to say put an Audi R8 next to the new 911 and then check it,” Mauer boldly asserts, before adding, “there are a limited amount of design cues in this world, but I would say this is still a 911. If you look at the air intakes from Porsche we always have had these little blades and we always have this three-dimensional depth, always with two or three holes. So I would consider this as very ‘typical Porsche’ in the new layout, and would rather ask why other companies are basically copying us.”

The other key change in the front face of the 991 is in the treatment of the headlamps. Some commentators have suggested that the 991’s lights are more upright than those on the 997 but Mauer disagrees, arguing that this visual perception comes from them being ‘more three-dimensional’. He continues: “If you look at the glass it’s become a more integrated part of the shape of the wing, so it’s really a continuation, rather than if you look at the predecessor where it’s a little bit like you have the wing and then the lights are shaved off.”

But doesn’t this three-dimensionality affect the driver’s ability to see the car’s edges in order to place the car more easily? Mauer thinks not: “In the end I believe it is a fair compromise. One of the nice things about Porsche, and especially the 911, is that you can use the wings as a means of orientation. We didn’t want to become too fast or to hide it, but still from the side we intended to have a fast line and not to go back to it looking very upright.”

Completing the new facial picture, the windscreen has become more convex and more raked in angle to add to the sense of sportiness and a more coupe-like window graphic.

Looking around the car in detail another design change that becomes apparent is the moving of the mirrors from the triangle behind the A-pillar to lower down onto the door panel. Mauer explains the reasons for the change: “When I joined the company and we started to work on the Panamera and Cayenne [MkII] I always thought sports cars should have the mirror on the shoulder rather than in this triangle. Second, it has advantages for visibility so I thought it should be the same on the 911 – which is the symbol of a sports car for our company.” As to exactly why they had been in that triangle previously, Mauer is not sure, although he claims the ability of the mirrors to be firmly affixed and stay clearly visible at speeds above 185mph without shaking could have had something to do with the old approach. Either way, he’s happy about the new look, as from the front “it emphasises the width of the car and makes it look a little bit lower,” he enthuses. Regarding the size of the mirrors, though, Mauer admits they’re similar to the 997’s, a detail that is less desirable: “We’re trapped into all kinds of legislation, for a designer they are way too big,” he concedes.

There is also controversy regarding the back of the car, with its much slimmer LED lights and cut lines in new places. Mauer cites influence from the 993 and the original 911 for this look, and likes this part of the new car best: “My favourite part of the car is the back. The main change happened there. The dynamic guys needed a wider, variably extending rear spoiler that reduces, therefore, there’s this cut-line that allows this to be really wide. I admit that this cut-line going through the rear wing is not a designer’s favourite, but form follows function.”

An edge has been integrated between the rear lights, Mauer points out: “integrating the spoiler into the whole sculpture.”

This exterior is underpinned with a body featuring aluminium-steel composite construction. Porsche says this has helped reduce weight by up to 45kg over the old model. The new Carrera has a driverless (DIN) weight of 1,380kg (and 1,400kg for the PDK), while the Carrera S adds 15kg to hit 1,395kg (plus another 20kg with PDK to reach 1,415kg).

Finally, from a design execution standpoint, what’s so interesting about the 991 is that it’s the first all-new Porsche that Mauer seems to have been able to fully stamp his mark on, both in design and stylistic terms. He tacitly seems to concede that pushing through ideas when he first joined Porsche was much harder due to internal scepticism of his knowledge of the brand. As he sees it, the jury was out on his ability to understand and design proper Porsches as he candidly recounts: “I felt there were people who were listening but also very critical; ‘Is that guy already really a Porsche-minded person?’ they seemed to be saying. And also, ‘Can we trust him? Do we know more about the brand than him?’ On the Panamera I felt my influence was not as strong as it was on the Cayenne MkII and the new 911.”

He’ll certainly have a chance to wield this new influence if – and it seems likely – his 991 becomes a critical success but don’t expect to see this designer go off the rails with style over the content as a result of the potential new leeway, as he concludes: “If you have cars that can go well over 185mph you definitely have different requirements to many other brands. It’s a completely different world above 170mph so you have to respect and accept the phrase ‘form follows function’ for such cars. Whenever you get to the point where you are asked if you need more on the design side or the engineers want a bigger air intake or whatever, I admit sometimes it’s tough to push further for the more stylish solution.”

On the 991, a good balance seems to have been struck. Aesthetically, it looks new and bold enough to be distinguishable from previous 911s but still unmistakably a 911. Whether it still drives like one is a verdict for another day.

Who is Michael Mauer?

Mauer grew up in the southern part of Germany in the Black Forest, near the Swiss border. He got his first break in car design through his father: “I was always interested in cars even when I was little and also enjoyed art and drawing at school. My father found out there was a profession that combined art, drawing and cars. He organised an internship at Mercedes-Benz and just said ‘try it’. For me that was paradise; I was 19 or 20 at the time. My dad was a doctor in a Sanatorium, in a private hospital with big business people who came to recover. One of them was the PR director for Mercedes-Benz and he was just talking to him and searching for a solution for his son because he was a little bit desperate that I didn’t want to study medicine.”

He also studied transportation design at Pforzheim College and then started properly at Mercedes. His breakthrough car was the first-generation SLK and the 2003 SL (MkV) before heading to Smart. There he created the acclaimed Roadster Coupe and then joined Saab where his highlight was the spectacular 2001 9X concept. Mauer moved to Porsche as head of style in 2004. In those seven years Mauer has been responsible for designing ‘most of’ the controversial Panamera sports saloon (some of the work was already decided before he arrived), the tough job of smartening up the Cayenne SUV for its 2010 second-generation launch, plus the 2010 918 Spyder concept and 2011 RSR racing hardtop version of the latter.

A keen skier in his spare time – he competed at county level in his youth – he also likes surfing and cycling and collecting expensive watches, particularly by IWC. One of his latest is an IWC Ingenieur Big Chronograph Stainless Steel.

This was taken from issue 80, for all Total 911 back issues visit www.imagineshop.co.uk/

Containing its entire range of products, artfully laid out across 250 square metres of floor space, there’s even a 50-square-metre area meant specifically for the store’s VIP customers. Substance and style!

Following a strong showing at Oulton Park last month, Motorbase Performance is preparing its pair of Porsche 911 GT3Rs for an assault on Germany’s Nürburgring in round two of the 2012 Avon Tyres British GT Championship on 18th-20th May.

Almost twelve months ago, the team tasted Nürburgring victory in the Porsche Carrera World Cup with Tim Harvey; something it is keen to emulate during its 2012 visit.

If the opening round in Cheshire is anything to go by, the Kent-based squad can look forward to a solid performance in Germany. The #11 pairing of Michael Caine and Daniele Perfetti currently lie fourth in the championship standings following impressive fourth and sixth place performances, while after securing a deal to compete just days before the start of the season, Steve Parish and Nick Tandy overcame a qualifying crash that relegated them to the back of the field to steer the #10 Porsche to sixth and 11th.

Although Tandy’s British GT appearance was initially a one-off deal, the Porsche expert will be reunited with Parish again for thechampionship’s first Nürburgring event. The Ahrweiler circuit holds fond memories for the 27-year-old, who clinched victory during the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland’s visit there in 2011 en route to securing the overall title.

The British GT Championship will be contesting two hour-long races as part of the support package for one of the world’s most prestigious endurance races – the 24 Hours Nürburgring – marking the series’ first outing on the 3.2-mile Grand Prix circuit.

Motorbase Performance Team Principal David Bartrum commented: “We brought home some very credible results in terrible conditions at Oulton Park and we hope to continue this form at the Nürburgring. Michael and Daniele did an excellent job in the opening round and it’s great that Nick will be back in the car with Steve for another outing.

“Nürburgring is a new track for British GT and it’s a place where we’ve had success as a team in the past, so it’ll be interesting to see how the Porsches compare to the other marques in the field. It will be an exciting weekend for the 200,000 spectators that are expected to attend and hopefully we will continue on our journey to being a British GT team to be reckoned with!”

One of the oldest debates in Porschedom is whether your Porsche should be maintained by an Official Porsche Centre or an independent specialist. It’s logical to stay with the supplying dealer to the end of the warranty period, but owners of 996s and perhaps even early 997s may wonder with some justification whether their local independent wasn’t a viable (and cheaper) alternative.

Of course, once upon a time there were no OPCs or independents, just Porsche agents. It was AFN which became the official Porsche importer for the UK in 1953. In those days if you were in the market for a Carrera you went to AFN’s garage in Isleworth, or to one of their appointed outlets around the country. Fifty or 60 years ago, buying a car was still special and as would-be Porsche owners tended to be motoring enthusiasts, they naturally took a close interest in the transaction. So it was normal to be on first name terms with the directors and welcome in the workshop. It was this sense of community which Porsche itself fostered through the clubs, and it lasted through the Eighties.

By the late-20th Century, far more cars everywhere were being sold and the leisured motoring class of the early post-war years had long disappeared. In 1986, Porsche bought out AFN, creating Porsche Cars GB. Gradually Zuffenhausen homogenised its dealerships, but Porsche was becoming more like major car makers anyway. The advent of the 986/996 platform transformed the company into a profitable modern mass manufacturer and with that came the inevitable tighter control of access and communication. While the Porsche dealerships now became OPCs reflecting the newly honed corporate image, a second tier outside this monopoly grew up. Not all these ‘independents’ were new: Josh Sadler established Autofarm in 1972 to import Porsche spares direct from Germany. The Almeras brothers in Montpellier began racing 911s and selling parts even earlier. One of the first ‘second wave’ independents 20 years later was Ray Northway, a Porsche-trained technician, and his venture was followed by others to the point where today the independents outnumber the OPCs. And within this sector specialisms vary: if all are generalists, some such as Tuthill (early 911s) or JZMactech (GT3) are competition experts; others still are one-man bands whose basic service capabilities appeal to owners on strict budgets.

In general, this arrangement serves the market effectively. Porsche maintains its corporate image and its dealerships offer the prestige experience which buyers of £100,000 cars expect, while owners of 15 or 20-year-old cars have their ‘indies.’ There can come a crossover point, however, when it is no longer obvious which group would provide the better service. If a loan car or having your Porsche collected by the garage are important factors, then the OPC is the natural supplier. The OPCs will rightly claim too that they are systematically retrained on every new model and technical development. When it comes to the older cars, they can compete to maintain them if they choose to.

When I acquired my 993 a decade ago, the advice I received pointed me towards my local independent and I’ve had no cause to change. However, when the opportunity arose to try the service of an OPC I decided to avail, especially as the OPC concerned has been a useful source of information to me. When a year or two ago it offered a ‘competitive’ price service for my 993, I booked in at short notice.

The auguries were good: there was no question of inflicting standard Porsche issue Mobil 1 on the 993, but a semi synthetic Castrol Edge. A new Boxster was also available for me to borrow. OPC showrooms are always a pleasant enough place to while away time, but I did find almost six hours for a 12,000 service rather long. In particular I missed the informality of my indie’s setup which allows me to enter the workshop and look over the underside of my 993; of course a main dealership can’t have punters wandering all over the place, but I found the brief, closely chaperoned workshop visit rather inhibiting. I was also slightly irritated that the young technician had replaced the K&N panel air filter without consulting me. He also underfilled the sump by a litre.

To be fair to this OPC, I was unlucky: it fitted me in during a busy period when two, more experienced fitters were away. In the end, what really matters when servicing your Porsche is the rapport you develop with the repairer. For me, feedback from the guy doing the service is what counts. My usual fellow happens to be an independent, but I imagine that if I’d started off at an OPC and found it satisfactory then I might well still be patronising it. The higher labour charge of the OPC is likely to be fairly marginal over several years of Porsche ownership after all. It’s a question of the degree of involvement you want. To make the most of the indies, you need a grasp of what servicing a Porsche entails; the costs are usually quantifiable and you also need to have confidence in the technician who carries out your work. For his part, he needs to know what you expect.

Maintaining a Porsche costs less than many other performance cars and the servicing experience should be as satisfying as the rest of the car if you go about it intelligently.

This was taken from issue 79, for all Total 911 back issues visit www.imagineshop.co.uk/

Have you ever sold something that you later wished you hadn’t? The experts tell us that most decisions made are correct and rational at the time of making, but try telling that to someone just after he has waved goodbye to his classic pride and joy, and as it disappears up the road that terrible sinking feeling begins to wash over him when he realises that he has just done the most stupid thing in the world.

When Terry Davison was elected as chairman of Porsche Club Great Britain (PCGB) in 1993, he thought that he better get himself a Porsche that could stand up to the rigours of driving all over the United Kingdom and Europe attending Porsche events. “I decided the 356 I had at the time wasn’t going to be man enough for the job, and I ought to have a decent car to get around in,” he explains.

Looking around for a suitable Porsche that, not only fell within his budget but would also satisfy the requirements of covering the many miles that went with the chairman’s position, was not going to be easy. However, a trip to London revealed a car that would prove suitable for the job, and although Terry found his rather dusty steed upstairs and at the back of a storeroom and not on the showroom floor, the die was cast. Despite the car wearing a £30,000 price tag, the club chairman was not deterred, and a deal was duly struck.

The car in question was a Guards Red, five year-old, low-mileage 911 Carrera SuperSport Cabriolet, known also as the Carrera SSE or Turbo-Look. Introduced in 1984 (E-Programme) in coupe form only, the Turbo-Look included the Turbo’s wide body, spoilers, suspension, four-piston fixed calipers, 16-inch forged alloy rims and low profile tyres. It was, in the words of Terry Davison, a ‘Turbo without the Turbo engine’.

Although the Turbo-Look Cabriolet, introduced in 1985 along with the Targa, shared the same engine output and performance figures as the standard Cabriolet, it was offered at the substantially higher price of DM100,150 (approx £38,500); about 25 per cent more expensive than the narrow-bodied version. Improvements to the 1985 model included side-impact beams in the doors, and the Cabriolet and Targa models were given additional body reinforcement to cope with the higher forces generated by the turbo suspension.

And so, suitably armed with the right car, Terry set off for his first Club President’s meeting in Germany in the newly acquired SuperSport Cabriolet, together with his teenage son. Collecting the car from the dealer in Chiswick, London, the happy pair set off in torrential rain for the hovercraft dock in Dover for the channel crossing; and all went well until it stopped raining. Unable to switch off the intermittent wipers, Terry tried to encourage his son to call the dealer to ask how to turn the wipers off, but perhaps understandably, he refused, as Terry humorously recalls: “My son wouldn’t phone AFN, as he thought it would be terribly embarrassing to have to ask how to turn off the wipers. Eventually, though, we found this little button on the dash which controlled the intermittent wipers. It was just a case of not knowing the car.”

The journey to Stuttgart continued without incident until, travelling along the road to Upen in Germany the Porsche hit a deer. As the deer landed in the road in front of the car and to the right, Terry instinctively swung left but, unfortunately, this was in the same direction as the poor creature’s mad dash for safety, and the left-hand headlamp hit the startled animal squarely up the backside. Had Davison instead turned towards the animal, its leap would have carried it out of the path of the swerving Porsche. Thankfully, the damage was minor with the left-hand headlamp being smashed and a slight kink in the wing.

Slightly shaken, the pair continued to the gasthaus for the night and the following morning arrived in Stuttgart at Werk 1 where Davison’s altercation with a deer immediately attracted the attention of the Porsche technicians. “They were very amused,” recalls Terry. “They advised me with much laughter that they wouldn’t repair the car and I should just take it back to the dealer and say it’s no good.” It is worth pointing out that at this stage that the car had not been paid for, so Terry was understandably anxious about the incident but Porsche had the headlight replaced in almost no time.

Following a visit around the plant in Stuttgart, father and son hit the road south for the president’s conference in southern Germany, giving him plenty of opportunity to stretch the car’s legs. Being a 1988 model, this SuperSport had spent its early life pootling around London and to date had only covered 40,000 rather pampered miles, which was good news for its new owner who planned to use the car extensively.

Although almost 75,000 Turbo-Look models across the three body styles (Coupe, Targa and Cabriolet) were made between 1984 and 1989, just 75 crossed the Channel to the UK in right-hand-drive form. “It’s actually one of only 26 right-hand-drive SuperSport Cabriolets, so it is a rare beast,” Terry confirms.

He admits that he loves open-topped cars and was keen to find a Cabriolet. Far from looking ungainly, Terry insists the soft-top is actually an aerodynamic marvel: “The aerodynamics of the hood are absolutely wonderful because if you run into rain, you never get a spot of water on the back window, so rearward vision is perfect. The aerodynamics keep it clear, it’s wonderful.”

The only problem with the hood was that the plastic rear window would crease when the hood dropped (electric operation was standard) and, over time, it would distort and even crack – the same problem occurred with early Boxsters. The solution, explains Terry, is to unzip the window and lay it flat before pressing the button to lower the roof.”

The SuperSport Cabriolet did several trips to Stuttgart, and Terry also crisscrossed the UK countless times, running up thousands of miles. Furthermore, annual holidays were taken in the SuperSport in the north of England and Scotland, as the roads there are made for sports car driving. The Cabriolet was enjoyed by both Terry and his wife, no matter the weather, as Terry remembers from one trip in Scotland: “We’ve been all round Scotland with the hood down and once at a club event up there we experienced heavy showers coming down the A9, and I said to Sally, ‘Shall I stop and put the hood up?’ ‘Don’t you dare, put your foot down,’ she replied. You see, as long you’re travelling at speed, the rain doesn’t come into the cockpit.”

The Scottish weekends became legendary and became known as ‘WOTY’ which stands for ‘Weekend of the Year’. On another trip up north, Terry found himself on a narrow Highland road and ahead in the distance were two coaches, and he resigned himself to a long slow journey. To his surprise, though, as he approached the first coach, he found it waiting in a lay-by for him to pass, and the same thing happened with the second coach. “They’d seen me coming and they both waved me through; absolutely wonderful,” Davison chuckles.

The SuperSport Cabriolet was quite advanced for its time, as with the hood down (and the tonneau cover removed!), one push of the button on the key fob would raise the roof, wind up the electric windows and lock the doors – pretty good stuff in 1988.

As to why this model is known as the ‘SuperSport’ in the UK, the name is derived from the car’s full original designation; 911 Carrera SSE Cabriolet, where SSE stood for Special Sport Equipment. Called the Turbo-Look in Germany and the USA, Porsche’s two largest markets, the name quickly became the SuperSport in the UK and this name was then adopted by Porsche Cars Great Britain. However, in an attempt to make the car more of a Turbo-Looker, the first owner had the ‘Carrera’ badge on the engine cover replaced with a ‘Turbo’ badge; one of the first things that Terry did after buying the car was to reinstate the correct moniker.

The only non-original item on the car today is the black steering wheel, as the Porsche would have left the factory with a red steering wheel, colour-coded to match the bodywork. “It’s got a black steering wheel at the moment which, although it’s the correct ‘H-pattern’ it should be red,” Terry explains. “I still have the original red one but it’s worn around the top, where the sun has got it. Also, it looks too gaudy for me!”

At the end of Terry’s tenure as chairman of PCGB, and with the SuperSport having done its owner proud, it was time to move on as Terry now wanted to go racing. He put the SuperSport up for sale in 1997 with a Porsche specialist and before too long the car was gone, and nothing more was heard of it for the next ten years. Terry went racing and all looked well on the western front until that chapter of his life also drew to a close, and it was only when he was looking for a 911 to go hillclimbing with that he received a call from the specialist who had sold his SuperSport so many years earlier. Davison recalls the conversation: “Would you like to buy a Guards Red SuperSport Cabriolet?” his friend asked. “Is it my old car?” Terry replied, and the specialist responded with: “Well you’ll have a job to find another one in that colour!”

And so the journey of the SuperSport had gone full circle, as Terry was reunited with his old car. During the time outside his tenure the Porsche had put on just 5,000 miles, as it had been used for just short distance pleasure trips, and was still in excellent condition.

On the day that he went to collect the car, Terry was just about to reverse out of the seller’s drive when a hand came in through the window, “‘If you ever want to part with it again, ring me first,’ the seller said, which I thought was nice.”

The SuperSport is now a permanent fixture in the Davison garage and Terry’s son, who had joined his father all those years back on that eventful trip to Stuttgart, now uses the Porsche to fetch his own children from school. “We want to keep it as part of the family now,” smiles Terry.

Also in the family…

1960 356B Coupe Super 90

The 356 was ordered new by Hutch Hutchinson, a racing driver, and delivered to him in South Africa. The car was brought to the UK in 1978 and Terry Davison acquired it two years ago.

1978 911SC

Developed by a previous owner for hillclimbing, the SC has PMO carburettors and lightweight glassfibre panels. Terry purchased the car a year ago and has competed in one hillclimb to date.

This was taken from issue 79, for all Total 911 back issues visit www.imagineshop.co.uk/

Standing at the back door of Mike and Yvonne Gagen’s San Diego home, I can see straight into Mexico. Night after night, hundreds of Mexicans attempt to sneak past America’s impressive border defences, to the land of opportunity. Whatever Standard & Poor’s might say, the USA is still miles better than most alternatives.

Built along a natural harbour, San Diego is a seafarer’s paradise. Entering the city on the legendary San Diego Freeway, we pass signs for navy bases, and the submarine station at Point Loma. Warships of the US Pacific Fleet at anchor in the bay are waterborne Star Wars technology: nowadays, low radar signature is everything.

San Diego is all about stealth. This is the home of Stiletto; an advanced hull design that ‘passively dampens the visible and acoustic signature’. Trapped air bubbles suppress stern wake energy, also reducing noise from movement and machinery. The Navy’s soon-to-be-scrapped Sea Shadow stealth project also lives in San Diego; moored in a once-classified submarine salvage barge at Mole Pier.

Stealth plays heavy on my mind as I follow Mike’s monster black Porsche down through Granite Hills, towards our city limits shoot location. Gagen’s gone for a seriously lowkey approach to this evening’s photo event; he’s driving there with the engine off.

Behind the wheel of our Nissan rental car, I’m struggling to keep up. Gagen’s a veteran track addict and Porsche Club of America instructor, with the stickers to prove it.

Despite my screaming of the auto gears in this Marlon-Blando Eurobox, the switched off RSR is getting away.

Maybe it’s sticky tyres and a stealth paint job stymieing my senses, but Mike’s machine seems to make better use of gravity. Hammering down Mount Helix at a decent rate of knots, the big black 911 seems more magnetically attracted to the bottom than my slabby silver hatchback. Yes, black is more magnetic; that’s what it is.

As the road levels out, telltale dash lights flicker through the RSR’s rear window. “He’s going to start it,” I shout to Lipman. Stabbing at the window switches, all attempts to lift the glass and seal our cabin are in vain. The starter whirrs, there’s a blip of throttle and peace is but a memory.

Thanks to a cousin stationed with the USAF in Suffolk during the Eighties, I’ve been up close and personal with A10 Warthogs, F16s and B52s on takeoff. This car delivers all the same sensations. Although we’ve all got smiles on our faces, I can’t imagine what the neighbours make of it.

Mike isn’t about to test their patience, though. Recently retired, Gagen has no intention of moving, so takes neighbourhood arrivals and departures pretty seriously. “I’m a peace-loving guy, so I like to treat my neighbours right. Most of the time, we move the car around on a trailer – it makes for better community relations!”

Thinking of others is Gagen all over. My first night ever in the USA was at an R Gruppe Treffen a few years back. The flight in had been hell; eight hours late, after a four-hour Friday slog from Chicago on a plane-coloured sardine tin. Walking into the mess hall at R Gruppe Central, our eyes met across the crowded room. Mike reached to one side, lifted a beer out of his nearby crate and offered it to this obviously distressed traveller. We’ve been firm friends ever since.

The compact R Gruppe is often labelled exclusive. Fact is, guys like Gagen are the norm. Internet forums resound with their shared build threads, and Mike’s Pelican Parts Porsche forum thread is where we first met back in 2005, except I didn’t know it was him. How could I, as I’d only ever read about ‘Ted’, and his white and green aerokitted 993 GT2 Evo? Two years later, the penny dropped. Mike picks up the story.

“I bought this car in 2002, as a 1969 T in white from Alain Jamar, long-time editor of the Porsche Owners’ Club Velocity magazine. It came with barely 1,000 miles on it since full restoration, with new floor pans, fresh paint, a 3.2 engine with close-ratio gearbox and Turbo brakes. Some people said it was too nice to track, but that didn’t stop me. I quickly found myself hooked on the Porsche Club of America’s Autocross programme.

“Soon, the white ’69 was pretty much unrecognisable. Bigger wheels with slicks, big tail, Brumos stripes; it was quite the makeover. We upgraded the suspension and brakes, and I got my racing licence in GT3 class.

“I was getting faster and, therefore, the car was suffering. I couldn’t get any more rubber under the RS rear arches, so I decided to supersize. Keeping the tall tail, the early body was flared front and rear in metal, with ground-effect front bumper and sideskirts.

“After a year of running the steel-steroid beast on slicks, I decided the body was too heavy. Other alterations, made with assistance from Jae Lee at Mirage International were a success, like the JRZ decambered coilovers with ERP 935 rose-jointed suspension, raised suspension points front and rear, cockpit-adjustable antiroll bars, high-speed CV joints, air jacks, a new rear cage with coilover mounts and a 3.6 engine installation. But the whole thing weighed too much, so I went to my buddy John Simone and we hatched a little plan.

“John is the go-to fibreglass guy down here in SoCal. I fancied the look of the 993 GT2 Evo, and John made it happen. The quality of John’s bodykit was above excellent; all Dzus fasteners and perfect gaps, beautiful lines: amazing. Only the glass rubbers gave it away. We painted it green and white, and went and had some fun.

“After the 993 look had been thrashed around Buttonwillow and other favourite tracks for a few years, it started to look a bit tatty. The time came to make a decision; restore what I had, or go a different way?

“Dave Bouzaglou at TRE Motorsports had started his Targa California road rally, and I quite fancied making my track 911 more street friendly. As I’d been through early car, 2.8 RSR and 993 looks, and Targa California was pre-’75, we dragged out pictures of 3.0 RSRs. I didn’t take much persuading.

“Rather than make a custom bodykit, we went with off-the-shelf AIR RSR parts with 15-inch rear flares, and an MA Shaw tail. The kit needed fettling to fit right, but I was pleased with the end result. As the look approached completion, the last remaining question was; what colour would it be? Surprisingly, my vision hadn’t stretched that far.

“I kicked some colour ideas around online, looked at race pictures and mocked up stripes. Eventually, we had to get some paint on, just to protect it. We went with black primer, a gold Carrera stripe, and left it like that for the thought process to mature.”

“This car is sick!” exclaims Jamie, as we careen down yet another hill towards our destination, engine off again. Thanks to a shared passion for aircraft, James and Mike have hit it off and the shoot’s a ton of fun.

Mike spent his working life around planes and pilots. Trained by the Navy, Gagen cut his air traffic control chops aboard a non-nuke aircraft carrier. “I remember one day, an SR-71 Blackbird popped up on my radar screen, in a huge turn over our operational area. We knew they were coming as they had told us in advance, but all I saw were six blips on my radar screen. Then it was gone.”

With a recorded speed of 2,193mph, the SR-71 spy plane remains a legend. Although Gagen has since worked with almost every military and civilian jet imaginable, nothing comes close on the awesome scale.

Visual parallels between the SR-71 Blackbird and the skunkworks RSR scream at even casual observers, as do their respective pilots’ penchant for speed. We’re coasting around these San Diego suburbs, but Gagen shows no mercy whatsoever on track.

These days, the 993 engine transplant is a popular approach, but most people opt to bolt in an engine from a crashed car, without the expense of rebuilding. Not Mike. The 1995 993 3.6-litre unit was balanced and blueprinted by drag buddy Vic Ofner, a veteran of Stuttgart’s factory 962 engine training courses.

Starting with pinned and winded crankcases, Vic added lightweight Carrillo rods and Supercup cams, with 964-like cam gears and RSR solid rockers. The piston sides were Teflon coated, while piston tops and valve faces were treated with a heat barrier. Modified valvetrain, adjustable fuel pressure regulator, high end spark wires and coil amplifiers, trick headers, a lightweight flywheel and a custom chip give the car 320bhp on 100-octane gasoline; 5bhp more than the 3.0 RSR engines were said to enjoy.

“I really enjoy tracking these modern engines,” says Mike. “You’re more confident in pushing to the edge when you know the fuel injection will be there. Injection is so much better than an engine running carburettors that suddenly drops a cylinder exiting a turn, reducing the weight transfer at a critical point. When I look at air/fuel ratios on the dyno sheets for this engine, I don’t know how you could ever tune a carbed engine to return the same. I had carbs on VW drag engines and I’ll never go back there.”

No one’s driving that hard today, though, and with a fixed custom race seat and a ten-inch height differential between big boy Gagen and my short-arsed self, I’m not driving at all. Given the noise of this track-only exhaust, I’m not too upset; I hear the jails down here are highly underwhelming…

Back at the newly named Casa Gagenheim, Mike brings out a rear trailing arm, bent by the energy of huge rear slicks. “A ’69 T chassis was never designed for the mechanical grip generated by 13-inch rubber on 18-inch rims. Learning to manage those forces has sometimes been a case of driving until it breaks, then fixing it better.”

Alongside Jae Lee at Mirage international, and Cary Eisenlohr at ERP, Mike names Hayden Burvill at WEVO as a big help in taming the momentum attempting to tear the wheels from his satin black speed sled.

Along with working as a sounding board for Mike’s chassis and suspension ideas, fellow autocross addict Hayden built the close-ratio 915 transmission, and supplied the modified shifter and shift linkage parts.

Gagen’s Blackbird might look rough and ready in places, but that embodies his ‘drive it, race it, drive it more’ ethos. Packed with high-end components like the cool shirt air con that plugs into a race suit, second-gen rollcage, custom rear interior panels enclosing a bespoke space frame rear end, six-point fire extinguisher, remote reservoir dampers and a set of handmade Harvey Weidman Fuchs street wheels costing over $10,000 with tyres, this car has not been a cheap exercise. Gagen insists he has no regrets, though.

“We had a good thing going with the 993, but it wasn’t perfect. For this iteration, we played with stuff we knew was wrong and made it better. Adjustable JRZs on 750/600 springs give a decent street ride, and the 15 x 11-inch front and 15 x 14-inch rear bias ply slicks feel great. The car is set up how I like it on track, and the paint continues to grow on me.

“If I was going to play some more, I’d put some proper top coat on it, add some 16-inch wheels and GY bias ply slicks, maybe replace the close-ratio fifth gear with a stock gear for freeway driving, but that’s about it; I’m pretty sure we’re done.”

Personally I doubt that, but I’m looking forward to what Mike does next. Take it from me; those San Diego rollercoasters really are a lot of fun.

This was taken from issue 79, for all Total 911 back issues visit www.imagineshop.co.uk/

The two-stud ITB setup features six single 48mm throttle bodies with injector position, cast inlet manifolds, fuel rails and some serious 90mm velocity stacks up top. Call 01746 768810 or check out its site to order yours now.

£2,137.20

www.jenvey.co.uk

With that in mind, HRE is proud to offer a sneak peek of its Vintage Series – three designs from the brand’s 34-year history, completely re-engineered with modern three-piece forged wheel technology for today’s sports cars, rather than simply creating replicas of the original cast wheels. Machined for maximum strength, while remaining true to HRE’s philosophy, which is to minimise unsprung mass and rotational inertia for optimal performance, and from aerospace-grade forged alloy, each wheel is also hand-finished to every customer’s exact specifications. The 454 (classic Italian style five-window), 501 (mesh lace) and 505 (chunky five spoke) are available in 18 to 20-inch diameters and widths ranging from seven to 14 inches, with nearly unlimited finish options, from classic gold, bronze and polished centres and rims to hand-brushing and custom tinted colours.

For more information, head to the website or call HRE’s dealer in Stuttgart, Germany, at 0049 711 490 39939 or email europe@hrewheels.com.

From $1,700 (for 18” in standard finish)

www.hrewheels.com

The new 991 has outstanding performance and handling straight out of the box, but for Gemballa, improving upon perfection is a natural step. Its GT package consists of a subtle bodykit that includes front and rear bumpers and side skirts, made entirely from carbon fibre (€19,380). Another visual highlight is the 21-inch ultra-light forged alloy wheels (€9,895), which weigh less than the standard 20s fitted to the Carrera S. You can also choose to spruce up your 991’s interior with two-tone leather trim and a red instrument binnacle (€8,710). A unique six-pipe exhaust system is also available (€TBA), as are lowering springs (€870).

www.gemballa.com