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    mardi 13 janvier 2015

    A brand-new 427 Cobra to celebrate the car’s 50th birthday


    A special-edition 427 Cobra from Shelby American? Don’t hang about when sales open on 13 January, as you can bet these cars will prove very popular…
    A very limited series of (just 50) 427 anniversary Cobras is being planned to celebrate the 50 anniversary of this stupendous version of the all-conquering Cobra. The cars will carry genuine Shelby American serial numbers – CSX4550 to CSX4599 – along with an anniversary badge stating the car’s unique number (1 of 50, 2 of 50, and so on).

    Paint optional

    You can select from a glassfibre body in Guardsman blue with Wimbledon white stripes, or an aluminium body in either the blue/white livery or pure polished aluminium (with or without brushed stripes). Prices, in American dollars, start at $120,000 for the glassfibre version; $180,000 for the aluminium.

    A brand-new classic

    Only around 260 road-going examples of the genuine 427 Cobra were built before the end of 1966, so modern-day examples direct from Shelby American – founded by Carroll Shelby in 1962 – are highly desirable today.
    Photos: Shelby American
    You can find several Shelbys for sale in the Classic Driver Market.

    Only Porsche has more Porsches – Manfred Hering's passion for early 911s


    Manfred Hering, owner of German specialist Early 911s, is something of a lord of the classic Porsche 911 – despite his tender age (he’s only in his forties). Classic Driver talked to the 911 expert in his newly opened Porsche dream factory in Wuppertal.

    A rival to Magnus Walker

    It’s not just Magnus Walker from California – in the world of classic Porsche 911s, there’s also Manfred Hering from Wuppertal. Walk into his company, ‘Early 911s’, and you feel you’re in the Louvre – if the art gallery were dedicated to the boxer-engined sports car, that is. Hundreds of variants of the Zuffenhausen classic can be found here, in all the models’ forms and trims. The only place you’d be likely to find more Porsches gathered together in one place would be at Porsche itself. Here you can marvel at rare models in their factory-delivered state, or perhaps you’d prefer to dream of having the perfect bespoke Porsche 911 created from one of the countless unrestored bodyshells. Even when it comes to the faithful restoration of the classics, Manfred Hering has more than a few insider tips at his disposal. So we put a few questions to Hering, while wandering among his unrivalled collection of 911s.

    From ad man to Porsche guru

    What is your oldest automotive memory?
    I was a year old, sitting with my grandfather on his Porsche tractor. He is still my hero because he always went his own way – a brave and determined man.
    Before you founded ‘Early 911s’, you worked in the advertising industry. Did you already have a passion for cars? And for Porsches?
    I was inspired by the design of vehicles, but technology was of secondary importance to me. I liked what I think is known in America as ‘trailer queens’? Nowadays the technology is just as important to me.

    Understatement, sportiness and sustainable investment

    Why Porsche?
    First, because I was born in Germany. And also because Porsche is the only brand that – for me – embodies understatement, sportiness and sustainable investment.
    What is the philosophy behind your business, ‘Early 911s’?
    To restore Porsches and return them one hundred per cent to their original technical condition, as they would have been on first delivery. We have three approaches. First, where the vehicle has its original paint and patina but is in technically mint condition, we simply clean the interior and, where appropriate, replace any damaged parts. However, this is rarely possible. The second approach is more comprehensive, replacing most of the car’s components. The third way is to create the ‘patina’ ourselves. 

    50 men for all seasons

    And what services do you offer?
    We have 50 employees – including five engine builders and six bodywork specialists – and do everything ourselves bar paint stripping and painting. However, in 2015 or 2016 we’ll be doing this too, from a new building that’s currently in the planning stage. There is also space for 100 vehicles, where customers can store their Porsches.
    You do not work ‘à la carte’, but always return an entire car to its original state – is that right?
    Yes, in the state it would have been on delivery from the factory. We also have 250 projects in stock, so that a customer can choose his desired model in his preferred colour.

    Hundreds of Porsches in stock

    How many projects are available at the moment?
    We have 10 1965 Porsche 911 2.0, 30 of the 1966-1969 2.0 S, 40 of the 2.2 S, 60 of the 2.4 S, 15 1973-1976 Carrera RS 2.7, 40 of the 3.0 Turbo and seven former police cars, along with several Porsche race cars and other special models.
    The value of old Porsches has been rising steeply for several years. Do your customers tend to be people who buy cars to drive them, or to keep them as investments?
    Our customers come from all areas. We have enthusiasts with a complete collection or who want to optimise their current collection, but also wealthy people who want to spread the risk in their investment portfolios. We see some young entrepreneurs who prefer to buy an old instead of a new Porsche, or heirs who are looking for a good investment. We even get company owners who purchase a rare Porsche as collateral in their company.

    Reasons for the Porsche boom

    What do you think is the reason for the Porsche boom of recent years?
    A classic Porsche is an extremely sustainable investment. It has a great image, is fun to drive and is very reliable. You don’t suffer the depreciation of a modern Porsche and it’s relatively easy to resell the car and regain your capital. Currently, there is so much cash in circulation in the world market that there are no longer enough good cars to meet demand. And there tends not to be the same capital gains taxes to pay, when the asset is a car. In many countries there is also favourable taxation when using a classic car as a company car.  

    Personal favourites

    What is your favourite Porsche?
    I have several favourite Porsches, which are part of our museum: there’s the first Porsche 968 Turbo S, a former press car. Then there’s a very early 911; the ex-Ferry Porsche 3.0 Turbo; a 911 Carrera Rally, which ran at the Acropolis Rally and San Remo. And police Porsches in different variants.
    If you could buy your dream Porsche with an unlimited budget, what would it be?
    A Porsche 356 America Roadster and Steve McQueen's Porsche 911 2.2 S from the movie ‘Le Mans’.
    And what, for you, is the most technically outstanding Porsche of all time?
    The Porsche 993 GT1.

    Other brands have beautiful daughters too

    And finally, just between the two of us (and our readers): are there any models from other marques that you dream about?
    Yes: the Aston Martin DB5 Shooting Brake and the Lamborghini Miura SV.
    Photos: Rémi Dargegen for Classic Driver © 2015.
    In the Classic Driver Market you can find the current stocklist of Early 911s as well as hundreds of other Porsche classics from around the world.

    WHITE COLLAR X1ST URBAN TRACKER


    White Collar Ninja 1 THUMBEver get the feeling that somebody is inside your head, extracting ideas and beating you to producing the finished article? Happens to us all the time at Bike Shed, so much so that one of the crew is developing a foil helmet to stop the creativity theft. Ram from White Collar Bike is a fine engineer and appears to have machined his way into my head and borrowed my ideas for a tracker. But seeing as he is a thousand times the engineer I’ll ever be, its probably best that we share his bike and not mine. That and my method of using glacial shifts and tectonic plate movement to form metal isn’t proving so efficient.
    White Collar Ninja 2If you haven’t seen Ram’s work before have a look at the last two builds, this isn’t a full-on business for him but a sideline making bikes for his friends. Everyone has an indecisive mate, you know the one, and Ram’s wanted a bike bike but wasn’t very forthcoming on options so they ended up using a Kawasaki 250 Ninja that was sitting around in the garage. Decision made, the revvy little twin was stripped bare and had a camera pointed at its naked chassis. With some 3D renders done Ram’s mate popped by the workshop to talk turkey. He loved the designs but perhaps not the suggestion of grinding off the word budget. 
    White Collar Ninja 3
    The engine, swingarm and main frame were retained; the rest put out for the recycling man. A fruitful eBay search landed a set of Honda supermoto wheels, but the front was only single disc compatible. Rather than relace a new hub Ram converted the existing one to a twin-disc set up, he likes a challenge. Re-anodised GSXR 750 forks with bespoke triple clamps prop the front up and house the personalised Tokico brake calipers, X1st is the name of the owner’s company; nice touch.
    White Collar Ninja 4
    Pirelli’s MT60RS tyre is a very popular tyre for road legal supermoto machinery, and they look the business, somewhere between a race wet and a knobbly; so Ram eBay’d a pair and fitted them.
    White Collar Ninja 5The brief dictated a raw finish so the tank, seat and bodywork are precision made from aluminium sheet. Paint wasn’t going to hide lumps and bumps so care had to be taken with the soft material as brushing afterwards doesn’t always remove hamfisted panelbeating.
    White Collar Ninja 6Mini LED tail lights and indicators are sooo 2013, so here we have something far harder to make. 10mm thick acrylic was laser cut and coloured LEDs mounted behind, taking care of signalling. Like any road users arent going to notice this bike coming.
    White Collar Ninja 6aWhite Collar Ninja 7
    The headlights are HIDs from the owners Jeep, in CNC’d housings mounted to an aluminium numberboard. And no, it’s not just a sheet of ally but machined from 8mm plate to make sure the number 1 stands out, in 3D. The AS in the tail represents the owner’s initials. The amount of aluminium swarf kicking about Ram’s workshop must be phenomenal.
    White Collar Ninja 8The rear suspension is Öhlins, of course, and the brake caliper upgraded to a Brembo version. There’s no point scrimping just because it’s out back out and slightly over shadowed by engineering bedazzlement on display.
    White Collar Ninja 9Cable clutch, pah, so archaic; the X1st Urban Tracker wouldn’t be seen dead with such old tech, so a hydraulic upgrade was fitted. Even the grips had to be modified. They are from Brooks, the cycle accessory stalwarts, so the throttle side had to be converted.
    White Collar Ninja 10
    Not satisfied with ALL of that Ram decided mirrors would be a no-no, so fitted a rear view camera under the tail and mounted an LCD monitor into the top of the fuel tank, which obviously doubles as a GPS system. Ram’s friend is suitably blown away by the result, not that he doubted his buddy’s engineering prowess and creative mega-mind.
    To see some of Ram’s other projects head over to the White Collar Bike Facebook page. But remember to stick a piece of lead on your forehead, or his Idea Leecher 3000 will suck out your ideas and turn into something better than you’ll probably ever be capable of.
    via The Bike Shed

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