Sailin' 'Cross the Devils Sea

Last week I made a post discussing some changes coming up.  I wanted to give a little more insight into the madness -lets call it project Group 2.  Back in the day there were two classes in rallying, under FIA rules.  The first is called Group 1.  This, as discussed in my previous post about 912s in Motorsports History is pretty much a bone stock class (down to the interior), with the exception of lighting and tires.  That is pretty much where Fritz currently sits.  My plan is to take it to the next level, loosely based on Group 2 rules. Many have done the RS, R, TR, RSR clones, and I have wanted to buck the trend with my rally car approach for a while now.  Many of these are ideas I have had for about 10 years now, and have grown and developed over that time. 

New period buckets have arrived this week, and i picked up a replica roll bar for a 911 R/TR/ST/RS/RSR a few years ago at the Stoddard Swap Meet from Dave Conklin.  An overhaul of the entire suspension will be carried out this spring.  A brake overhaul is planned in the nearish future, as well as a redo of the interior.   Included in this venture will be all kind of cool period correct rally items.. equipment, period tools, accessories and items picked up along the way as satanic details to finish out the car. 

There are a lot of great ideas.. some will be implemented, and others will not.  Inspiration is coming from period 911 and 912 rally cars as well as other cars on the early 911S forum, specifically those of Chris Nielsen, Mike DiLeo, and Bob Tilton. Many will be new takes on old ideas, some will be new ideas, and some will be old details not seen since back in the day. 

Some things will be factory based ideas, but most will be taken form the point of view that Fritz would have been driven by a privateer rallying a 912 in smaller, less famous rallies than say Monte Carlo (after all.. it's a 912... the budget rally Porsche!).  Needless to say, if it was period correct, it could be fair game. 

It will be interesting to see how everything turns out, which ideas I keep and which ones I disregard.  Needless to say, everyone will find out the specifics and devilish details of the build in the coming months. 

image courtesy of Dave Conklin http://renn-spot.blogspot.com/

Factory Delivery

On June 16, 1967, George Vaccaro picked up his 67 Slate Grey 912 coupe.  He still owns it today and winning concourse and driving it all over northern California. 

He recently posted 8mm video of that day.  Enjoy a little slice of early 9 series history.

Stay Tuned..

Some changes coming to Fritz soon...  a lot of great ideas in the works.  I am really excited about them and want to share them, but i really have to keep it a secret for now.   Only time will tell what madness I have in store..

Back Where It All Begins

Well, work is still kicking my butt.. after this week I will hopefully have one more review to do, and then I can breath a bit. 

I have been working crazy hours, and had to put parting out the 67 on hiatus because i had no energy after work to work on it.  I am still shipping out stuff i have already sold on weekends, just haven't posted anything new for sale in a while. It's been just about impossible to do anything with it during the week due to sheer exhaustion.  Hopefully once i wrap these reviews up I can have a life again after work, and sell the last of it.  In the mean time, I have been plotting some crazy ideas for Fritz.  The new suspension is a no brainer and obvious.  I have a few other tricks up my sleeve, which everyone will either find really interesting, or hate.  I am very excited though and cannot wait to dive into these projects and to do write ups about them. 

In the mean time, with little to really discuss or get into, I present, for your enjoyment:  Made By Hand.. a walk through the Porsche factory as they create a 356 from start to finish!

the one eye love

Maybe it should be  the two eye love instead?

who are you calling four eyes?

ok... do i hear six?

8mm

Here is some cool 8mm footage i found of the Gulf London Rallye in 1967 and 1968.  There is no sound, but its a cool peer into the past to see what Rallying was like back in the 60s.

Enjoy!

Thats it for the other one: 912s in motorsports history

Most porschephiles know the legend and prowess of Vic Elford, Bjorn Waldegard and many others behind the wheel of a 911 rally car.  It is where the series got its first major wins and made a name for itself in racing.  Fewer know about Slobislaw Zasada and his victories rallying a 912, and that he won the European Rallye Championship for Group 1 touring cars in his 912.  There really isn't a whole lot of info out there past that on the history of 912s in motorsports.  But don't ever let anyone fool you that the 912 doesn't have a motorsports pedigree. It may be overshadowed by its 6 cylinder brother, but its there, and it runs through the veins of our cars.

Over the last several weeks, because I am a history geek, and in effort to get some inspiration for upcoming changes to my 912, I have been digging a little to find more info and even pictures of some of these 912 rally cars.  Until recently I had only known of the one picture of Zasada's 912.  With the internet and the help of Rick Becker (founder of the 912 Registry), Hugh Hodges of Australia, and Thomas Lundeval of Sweden (both 911 rally experts), I have started to find what I hope can be the first of many 912 rally cars.  This write up is not a definitive history, and nor is it complete. It also should not be taken as the final word. But what i do present is at least more information than the average 912er may find.

The most famous of all, as previously mentioned is Slobislaw Zasada.  There were many others though, and most of them were from Sweden.

Some of the known entries were:

28th Swedish Rally 9th-13th February 1967:

#116, Albin Griberg/Bo Altermark license plate: B1150
#117 John Kvarnström/Bertil Kanebo license plate: T59123
#60 Leif Nilsson, Porsche 912, License plate: B1080 (8th place finish!!!)
http://www.rallysweden.com/wp-content/uploads/Rally-Sweden-Rally-Guide-2-2011-Appendix-6-History-Statistics.pdf
http://www.teamdan.com/archive/www2/miscral/67miscra.html

27th Polish Rally 1967
#47 Slobislaw Zasada/Ewe Zasada License plate; 6177KR (1st Place finish!!!)
http://www.teamdan.com/archive/www2/miscral/67miscra.html

1967 Gulf London Rally
#67 Bo Johansson/Per Olof Gällsing (1st place finish!!!)
Kjell Gudim/Monty Karlan

http://www.teamdan.com/archive/www2/miscral/67miscra.html
http://sites.google.com/site/bilsporthistorie/1967

Vltava (Moldau) RALLY: 67
Sobieslaw Zazada/Jerzy Dobranski (2nd Place!!!)
http://sites.google.com/site/bilsporthistorie/1967

also in 1967

Kjell Gudim

drivers who rallied 912s in 1968:

Albin Griberg/Jan Olov Carlsson
Lars Carlsson
Jan Fisk/Sten Åke Andersson
Sven Erik Svensson -
Leif Peterson
Åke Nilsson
http://sites.google.com/site/bilsporthistorie/1968

 The 912 competed in Group 1 (touring cars) rallies, where as the 911 competed in group 2.  Some other famous 912s, actually raced as 911s, like Tony Adamowicz (aka Tony A to Z) famously won the 1968 TransAm Series in his 911.. which was actually born a 912!

To my knowledge, and from speaking with other sources, none of the 912s were factory Werks Cars.  Not even the famous Zasada Car.  It can be stated though that the factory was well aware of his, and other privateer 912 Rally cars, and that some most likely had factory support.  Zasada was no stranger to Porsche after all, and was a factory driver, and piloted werks 911 cars in several rallies in 1968, including London to Sydney, Monte Carlo (S-C 9167), Tour De France, Argentina to name a few.

So, lets start with the most famous one of all. 

Zasada: 

the car was a 912 with the license plate 6177 KR.  Some say it was loaned by the factory, but i have not found any proof of that to date.  It was a privateer entry, not a factory werks car as mentioned above (none of the 912s were), but we do show evidence of factory support.

we can see this is evident in the announcement from Porsche congratulating Elford and stone on their season, as well as for Zasada for capturing the European group1 rallye championship for touring cars in 1967.

Translation from above:
"1967 Year-End Report.

Second part, Motorsport

Sobieslav Zasada, Polish Ralley Champion, 912.

Porsche wins the European Championship for Gran-Tourismo- and "Close-to-Road-Spec" cars.

Since the last Ralley Monte Carlo with the Porsche-Team, top driving-team Vic Elford/David Stone overarchieved all expectations and won with their Porsche 911S not only the Rally European Championship. They won the Lyon Charbonnieres Solitude, the Tulpenrally and the Rally Geneva in their class, too.

In the "Close-to Series" cars class, the Pole Sobieslaw Zasada the European Master Title in a Porsche 912.

Elford/Stone = 57 points, Zasada = 64 points"

We show Zasada had the following history of rallying this 912

1967 European Rally Championship for Drivers Group 1 Porsche 911 S / Porsche 912/ Porsche 911 S/ Porsche 912
1967 Polish Rally Championship for Drivers Lancia Fulvia 1.3 Coupé HF / Porsche 912/ Lancia Fulvia 1.3 Coupé HF/ Porsche 912
source: [url]http://www.rallybase.nl/index.php?type=profile&driverid=2521[/url]

We also show that his wife Ewe Zasada was usually his co driver. 

 Here is a picture I found a few years ago of the Zasada car in the Polish Rallye.

Below are a few others...  including the trophy ceremony.

Below is an image of Zasada and Nowickiduring their 5th place run in the Danube rallye

Lastly it is important to note that Zasada also second in Czechoslovakian Rally in 1967.


Next we look at Leif Nilsson.


Here he is at the KAK Rallye Sweeden in 1967, where he finished 8th.

Here he is in another rallye, though not sure which one (you can tell its the same car by the license plate).

Although not as widely known today, probably the most famous 912 rallye driver back in the day was Albin Griberg.  He consistently raced 912s in 67 as well as 68, and was quite successful.


Albin Griberg/Lennart Svensk  in 1967 (not sure which rallye)

Albin Griberg/Lennart Svensk  in the 1968 KAK  Sweden Rallye

Albin Griberg/Lennart Svensk  1968  not sure which rallye.. since no decals, livery or sponsorship, could be practice stages.

Next is Åke Nilsson.  I am not sure where this rallye was.

These next two are also 912 rallye cars in 1967, but it is not clear which rallye or who the drivers were.

This next one, is really an honorable mention.

Tony Adamowicz (aka A2Z)

In 1968 Tony was racing in TransAM.  His 911 was totaled in a race at Daytona, and they needed to act quick to get a new car, however all of there money was in the wadded up 911.  The result was the junkyard dog.  With lucky they heard about a 912 from an impound lot in New York, and picked it up and then set about modifying it for racing, including removing the 912 engine and installing a 911 engine.  There was not much in the way of Road Racing parts for Porsches in Transam at the time, so they rolled their own, especially suspension. 

While it did not race as a 912, it should be noted how its life once started. You can read all about this car on Tony's website.  http://www.a2zracer.com/page12.html

Below are some pics.  pics are taken from site listed above..

The most interesting thing to me was the equipment.  After seeing so many images of 911 group 2 rally cars, I imagined the 912s would have the same set up.  But then i noticed something.  No roll bars.. little in the way of any safety equipment really, and not even racing suits.  I also noticed other interesting details.  Look at one of the images of Albin Griberg/Lennart Svensk in the 1968 KAK  Sweden Rallye -the rear seats are present and in the upright position!  Look at the same set of pictures in the one that shows the car from behind.  It has a full dash minus the radio.  It appears that everything was left bone stock.

Then I looked up the FIA regulations for group 1 touring cars.  http://www.fia.com/sport/regulations/histappjregs.html  Feel free to read through them but the basic definition is bone freaking stock.  It must contain the same number of seats from the factory.  There are rules on seat measurements.  It literally says 'No changes may be made as it is supplied by the manufacture'.  It does allow some room with lighting, saying the number of lights you can use is 'free'.  Very interesting to see and a little depressing for me in my hopes to make a period correct 912 rallye hotrod.  I guess my excuse will be that Fritz will be a group 2 car.  :)

Thank you!

I have received a lot of compliments in the last few weeks on my blog.  I cannot thank each and everyone of you enough for the kind words and motivation.  Many of you have blogs that I admire and enjoy reading myself, and have been a great inspiration to me to start 'Bound to Cover Just a Little More Ground'.  I just hope that I can captivate, entertain, and inspire my audience as much as many of you have done so for me.  More than anything, I am just happy to share things that mean a lot to me.

The last few weeks and for the next few coming weeks, postings will be fewer than the first month or so.  Right now is an extremely busy time with work, and I am busy putting together quarterly and yearly client reviews. It is one of those things I have to do uninterrupted, so I find myself working early or later than my normal work day on them.  It can be a lot of work, and a lot of intensive data analysis and quite a bit of powerpoint and excel wizardry, but I love what I do, and I love hitting a home run when it comes time for my Account Managers and VPs to present.  

In the mean time, with not a whole lot to write about these days, I would like share with you a little blast from the past that I rally... i mean really enjoyed.

the 1968 1000 Lakes Rally highlights!

Mountian Legend: 1965 Targa Florio

A trip through the way back machine, when racing was racing, and the legendary Targa was still being ran. Posted are several videos for your viewing (and listening) pleasure.  Some great vintage footage with some excellent exhaust notes emanating through the Sicilian mountain side.   Enjoy!

From the Cradle

I started out early on as a German car fanatic.  My dad worked for VW of America in their parts distribution warehouse (who also helped ship stuff for Stoddard).  He said that he could have bought 4.5x15 Fuchs (NOS) for about 100 bucks each at work.  Just imagine what those would be worth today.  We never had any P-car parts laying around, but he always had VW projects (restorations, flips, baja bugs, kit cars) and up until a few years ago, still had boxes and boxes and boxes of NOS VW parts; German dual port heads still coated in cosmoline, NOS single port solex carbs, exhaust systems etc..  

Working where he did, he did have access to a pretty big discount on new Porsches (I cant recall if it was dealer cost, or an employee discount).  With that in mind, he immediately signed up as soon as the 944 was announced and had one of the 1st ones in Columbus.  This planted the seed for my obsession.  I remember sitting in the passenger seats, not able to touch the floor.  I remember thinking it would talk to me like the car from 'Night Rider'.  He sold it after 9 mos for a profit (it was the new model and there were waiting lists).  Of course that crushed me and stayed with me.  When I turned 16 I bugged him to let me get a 944 as a car (they were cheap -about 3K for a driver).  He refused and said he would only let me get an aircooled car after i had my drivers license for a year, and i would have to help pay for it of course.  So for two years i worked and saved and we eventually got Fritz.

Growing up though, we always had other German cars too; mainly BMWs and Mercedes.  My first car ended up being the diesel monster, an 81 240D.  It was THE German tank, a true Panzer.  It died hitting a telephone pole at about 35 - 45 MPH (kids from school in the back seat were fighting and distracting me, I wasn't looking and boom.  I was young and stupid, but the car saved us, and is why my dad got me the behemoth as a first car in the first place.  Here is the only pic I have of it.. too bad it was too late. 

Eventually I would come full circle and fall in love with the 3 series.  My mom had one when i was a kid.  When i turned 20 I would get an 81 e21 320I and then eventually an e30 325E and an e30 325I.  To this day I still love e30 BMWs.

One of the reasons I love my E46 so much is that it reminds me of my old e30.  One day I need to get an e30 M3, and a 944 to add to my stable.   Anyways, what is the point of this ramble?  I am not really sure, but it is amazing what sticks to us at such an early age, leaving a deep impression that turns into a passion which will stick with us for the rest of our lives. 

Some things will never change

Dan, a fellow 912er recently posted on the 912bbs, a snippet from Panorama Magazine from August 1968, a concerned reader wrote in with his concerns about 912 owners:

New Club for 912 owners?
From Karel L Koke, Santa Clara, Calif. 95051, Golden Gate Region--

Several comments have appeared in PANORAMA recently regarding headlight blinking between Porsche drivers. The reason why so many of them don't blink their lights is quite simply that they own 912's and many 912 owners should never have purchased a Porsche in the first place, but did so because "they liked the looks of the new model," hightailed it to the local VW dealer, who was anxiously waiting for them as his inventory of 912's was high and his commission about the same for the 911.
Anybody wanting to purchase "the one with teh big engine,' was easily convinced that it was simply ridiculous for anybody to spend $2000 more for 2 more cylinders that would only contribute to plug fouling and all sorts of other nasty problems associated with a newly designed engine.
Gentlemen, I submit that the true Porsche addict can only be satisfied with either a 356 or a 911, and I should hereby like to move that 912 owners be excommunicated from the esteemed organization, known as PCA, and form their own Non-Porsche Non-Blinking Headlight Club of America.
Any seconds to this motion?

Some things will never change.  There is still some animosity out there for 912ers with their smaller engines.  Thankfully times have changed quite a bit though and attitudes have improved, especially in the last 5 or 6 years.  I think quality cars and the rising values have improved this view.  For example, the better the cars and the higher the values, the less we see cheap shortcuts, body kits, and vw engines -all of which hurt the image of the model over the years.  But that stigma is going away and more people are becoming interested in 912s.  

Though, maybe this explains a lot.. Browns, Indians, Notre Dame football... 912s?  I am sure a shrink would have a field day with that one.


a big thank you to Dan for sharing....

I am a weak man..

So i was on one of my favorite forums tonight when someone posted an ad for a Blaupunkt Frankfurt radio in excellent condition for $175..   i had been looking for a good one for a good price for a while.  I wasted no time in snapping it up.  What made the deal even better is that the seller was in Columbus.. add posted, radio paid for and delivered in an hours time.

The downside is I already decided to go with a radio delete plate on my car.  So do i keep it in a box hidden away until i go for a full resto or a rainy day, or do i sell it?  or do i hold onto it and sell it later (like 10 years from now).  hmmm....  either way a hell of a score.  I think I might just have to hold onto this one.

Road trips..

I have taken 4 cross country trips in my 912 to date.  I have also driven it to events all over the midwest and east coast.  I have driven Fritz to both oceans, over the rockies, and through the deserts.

Each one had its own epic story, but none as great as the 1st trip in 03.  I think I need to post pictures and tell the story of that trip one of these days.  Here are a few...

Loud Lederhosen Saves Lives

There is an old hot rod saying, 'Loud Pipes Saves Lives'.   About 9 years ago while my first cross country trip to the 912 Rendezvous, I met John Benton of Benton Performance.

John is always ahead of the curve, pushing the limits and is all about maxing maximum horsepower for 912s.  His 912 at the time was a single plug hot rod, with a loud mean exhaust note.  A few years later i found that this was caused by a custom exhaust system he made, using half of a Flow master exhaust for a v8 application. 

Jeff Trask, another prominent 912er had John make him another exhaust.  After a few rides with Jeff at one of the other Rendezvous, I knew i had to have one.   When Jeff sold his exhaust, I jumped at the chance to get it.

This was shortly after my engine was rebuilt by the late great 356 and 912 engine expert Duane Spencer of Shasta Design Engineering.  Duane had John make a custom cam grind (now known as the Benton cam), for more torque, high end power while still being very streetable.  This coupled with a light weight pully, aluminum oil cooler, full flow oil filter, Beaker manufactured solexes  and a few other goodies made for a pretty darn good prime mover.

Anyways, I had purchased the exhaust, knowing it would work as Jeff and I had almost identical engine set ups.  I put it on and it sounded like magic.  Deep.  Throaty.  Mean.  With this exhaust I felt i could stand tall, puff my chest out and say: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for I am the baddest mother fucker in the God damn valley.

 

When I drove it though I noticed some issues.. like now low end power at all.  It stumbled and starved and lugged.  I could not get the damned thing up to speed.   I called John and he said the pipe was too fat for my carburation set up, and that my best bet was to have it rejetted and dinotuned so that i didnt burn a valve.  Needless to say I removed it and put the Bursch back on.  That was probably 4 or 5 years ago.   I have not found anyone locally that i can trust to dinotune my car (hell i cant find anyone locally i can even trust to tune my car the old fashioned way).

One of these days I need to get that muffler back on there.  I miss that sound..

all that glitters is gold..

So I sent the brakes from the parts car out a month ago and they came back today.   They turned out pretty good.  I did find out in the process that pins and springs that hold the brake calipers are now NLA.  (How the heck can something like that be NLA?!)

Anyways, they were completely disassembled, the calipers and fasteners replated with the correct yellow zinc plating (just like the originals had when new), pistons polished and piston tops cleaned and repainted, new seals and dust covers, properly reassembled by brake specialists. Restored is probably the better word. These were done so that they are better than the day they left the factory (and done correctly so that they have the same finish and look as the day they left the factory!) No excuses, no compromises.  Excellent for driving and excellent for concourse.

I have decided to go another direction though, and am going to look at a more hot rod brake set up for Fritz.  So these guys are going to be up for sale on the 912bbs.   If anyone is interested shoot me any email at hoffman912@gmail.com

Hey Hey, My My

People may think I am crazy to do such a thing, but back in November I purchased a second Porsche.  I never gave this one a name because I knew I wouldn't keep him, and I couldn't do anything to get attached to him.  It was just a fun project.  Missy thought I was bat shit crazy, but after explaining my madness she was finally on board.

After searching I found a car through one of the usual sources.  It was a 67 coupe, and the pictures showed some interesting items.

It was an original, unmolested car, except for the engine (they had put a 1.7L type 4 engine from a VW bus in it to replace the Porsche type 616 motor at some point).  The car had some nice luxury options: an original wood steering wheel, early seats with early head rests, and the deal that made it very sweet -a full set of five 4.5x15" fuchs wheels (including a spare!!).  It was missing the original radio, but it did have a 5 speed gear box, original hood crest in excellent shape, and many other original items

The owner said it had rust issues, and needed a front pan.  We drove down to Kentucky to check it out and this was what we found.

I went to jack the car up to remove one of the wheels to inspect the car (and more importantly to verify the fuchs were really the uber rare and highly $ought after 4.5s, when i hear cracking.  The rockers were completely made of fiber glass.  The floor pans too were fiberglass.  The rear seat buckets underneath were showing fiber glass fibers sticking out like an old abused stuffed animal had lost its stitching..
















It was pretty bad off.  After haggling a bit and pointing out all the rust bits, we came to an agreed price, and it was soon loaded to a trailer for points north.

Looking at the amount of rust, missing Porsche engine, and the value in parts i had just scored, I knew that this one would have to be sacrificed so that other Porsches could live, and so that Missy and I could get hitched all proper like.  


To be continued...