Re: my non-Porsche picture of the day
Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2025 5:16 pm
Yes James - I've never owned a Ford !
There are many makes/models I've aspired to own but regretfully didn't buy when the prices were 'sensible' - but on the plus side there are a number of cars that I'd always wanted that I did own ...
There's an interesting Porsche link to that D-Type (replica) I posted the picture of above:
In a major change of career 35+ years ago I decided to see if I could make a living working with 'old' cars (the term 'classic' was rarely used back then).
I sold up, moved to Wales & rented a brand new industrial unit.
As my first project I decided to build a Jaguar D-Type replica in the hope that it would generate interest locally & potentially lead to further work - which worked luckily.
When the car was finished I advertised it for sale (I think it was in Motorsport &/or Supercar Classics) &, to my surprise, within a very short space of time I had a phone call from an interested individual in Belgium
To cut a long story short, I picked him up a few days later from Manchester airport where he'd arrived by private jet (!) & took him back to my unit.
After a very short run out in the car - with me driving - he asked me to turn round & go back so I thought he wasn't interested - couldn't have been further from the truth ... he produced a briefcase containing the asking price in cash, donned a waterproof suit & crash helmet that he'd brought with him & promptly drove it back to Belgium !!
Earlier, during the journey from the airport he'd told me that he'd done quite a bit of racing - including Le Mans - & now ran corporate track days for wealthy customers using a variety of sports & racing cars & was interested in my car to add to his 'stable' (most of which I took with a pinch of salt !).
Anyway, his name was Bernard de Dryver & his most successful appearance at Le Mans was 2nd in a Porsche 962 in 1987 !!!
Apologies for the long-winded story ...
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