(introduction music)
(sound of car engine)
- My name's Danny Hopkins and I'm editor
of Practical Classics Magazine.
And we're here at Bicester Heritage to look
at the Porsche 911.
There is a website in the United States of America
which is full of poetry dedicated
to the exhaust note of the early 911.
(sound of car engine)
So you can imagine, there are a thousand things
you could say about these cars.
I could spend four hours on this one alone.
The pre-1974 Porsche 911 can be subdivided
into basically four cars: the E, the T,
the S and the RS.
E and T cars, because of their different cam profile,
are much more attractable low down,
and that means they might be a better proposition
for a daily driver.
But a lot of people think that the S
is the thinking person's Porsche,
and that's what we're going to test today.
Now, they all share the same body shell,
so all the rust traps and the rust points
in the car, they're all the same for each one,
and I'm gonna show you around some of the
most prominent rust traps in the Porsche 911.
First thing to do is to check
that all the panels fit properly.
So check the door gaps.
Have a look along it.
See that the panel gaps are all consistent.
That's a good sign.
Then open the door.
Now, there's a seam just going all the way
down the B-post right here.
If that seam looks nice and neat,
if the gap is even, if it's all smooth,
then it's either been really, really well restored
or it's an original car with no corrosion,
which is what you want.
So this little lip here is a really good tell-tale sign.
Moving further back, underneath here
you've got the jacking points.
And there's a section in here, a box section.
If that begins to rust out, then you'll
begin to see it on the outside last.
So if there's any evidence of rust here,
it'll be a lot worse on the inside.
Negotiate.
The main Porsche killer comes at the back.
This rear window, especially on dry state imports
from the States, the rubbers dry out
and the water gets in underneath them,
gets into the back tray, starts to rot that out,
starts to rot the firewall between the engine,
bearing the car out.
And then it goes down behind the back seats
and into the floor panel, it can rot it out.
If there's evidence that that's happened,
if there's evidence of damp on the inside there,
investigate, investigate, investigate
because there could be a big problem lurking underneath.
Walking down the front of the car,
check the seams as you go because the seams,
they also corrode.
Everywhere on a Porsche corrodes,
so keep checking around wheel notches as well.
Finally, come down to the front of the car
and have a look underneath the headlights.
Traditional rust spot.
If you see rust there, there's bound to be more
on the rest of the car.
Again, negotiate.
This is the Porsche flat-6 air-cooled engine, a legend.
It's a hard-wearing unit.
You can expect high mileages as long
as it's looked after correctly.
Engine number down on the side here
and there's the engine type just in here, too.
A lot of people talk about all the numbers
matching up being really important.
To be honest, most of these engines
have been rebuilt anyway, so I'm not particularly
bothered as long as it works well
and as long as it's got some mileage left in it.
The one area of the engine that kinda seems to
bamboozle a lot of people, and quite rightly
cause it's not easy to set up,
is the Porsche mechanical fuel injection,
which is just here.
If that's set up badly and you overfuel the engine,
you'll find that fuel floods down the cylinders
into the crankcase, you might have
an engine rebuild on your hands.
So make sure that that gets set up correctly
by a specialist because if it isn't,
well, you'll know about it in performance terms
and it might damage your engine as well.
(music)
Okay, so here we are in the driving seat,
and that's where you wanna be in a Porsche 911.
All the instruments are clearly set out.
Everything's really simple and clean
and ergonomically designed.
It's just been set there for the driver's benefit
and that's it.
The different versions of the early Porsches
have different trim levels.
This is the S, it's a great place to be.
The seats are really comfortable.
They keep you in position properly.
And it's all inviting you to go for a drive,
which is what you should do.
(sound of car engine)
That's fantastic.
Now, the cam in the S, the 2.4 S,
comes into its own about 6,000 RPM.
Now, I'm not gonna drive up there from cold,
although we have already taken this out
on the track already today, so the engine is
quite warm already, so we will be able
to take you up to a proper driving speed
reasonably quickly.
Now, you know the scare stories about
the Porsche 911 being very tail happy?
Well, they are true in the way
if you really push it to the edge.
As long as the car's well set up
and you're not a complete idiot,
you're usually okay.
Now listen to this.
(sound of car engine)
(laughs)
Now that is what I'm talking about.
(sound of car engine)
And we're taking these corners pretty damn quickly
and we're not worrying about spinning this vehicle.
It's even a bit damp out there.
I'm not gonna take it any faster than this
because I'll probably run out of talent.
We're feeling the Gs right now.
Again, onto the straight again and let's listen
to that exhaust note.
Bring it on cam.
4,000 RPM, 5,000 is coming up.
(sound of car engine)
Nearly made it to six, but the surge just comes after 5,000.
Again, if you own a T or an E,
you'll find that the cam brings its full power
in a much lower rev range, so it's actually
much more usable as a daily driver.
But for hooning around, I think
a 2.4 S is as good as anything.
(sound of car engine)
There, that's it.
(sound of car engine)
I'm bringing on the brakes.
The brakes are fantastic.
Everything works as it should.
In a well-sorted Porsche you can drive fast
and you can drive safe.
(music)