THIS WEEK
In the latest rebuild on of Car SOS, Fuzz Townshend gets to grips with a Porsche 911 that’s suffered from motorsport abuse and poor repairs
The last time that we, the Car SOS team, took on a Porsche 911 it was a mid-1980s convertible; Yuppie-spec, one might unkindly say. For this second take on the theme we went all in and picked up a late, narrow-bodied Targa – a genuine ‘S’, the one many Porsche aficionados go nuts for. Or so I was led to believe.
You see I wasn’t the hugest fan of the marque (to place where I am on the scale, I think that the Boxster is a brilliant car, complete with engine and gearbox correctly oriented) before we took this car on. And while changing one’s tune is perfectly acceptable in the world of classic cars a lot of friction was caused by the unique set of circumstances presented by its condition during the re-build.
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Bought nearly 40 years ago by former London taxi driver, Ben, it was the best he could afford at the time, which is how everyone ought to buy their chosen classic. Unfortunately, 911s being hugely popular then, as now, the best he could get near was a LHD example that was first registered in the UK in 1979-80 and had seen plenty of motor sport action. Once back at the SOS workshop headquarters and with the car on a vehicle lift we began to comprehend just what a hard life it had led. Clearly it had crash-landed on most of its flanks on numerous occasions, only to be crudely repaired and pressed back into action again.
The car’s distortion was confirmed when we placed it on a rapidly sourced jig, leaving us only one course of action – re-build from the scuttle forw
