"I raced one"

Britain’s own ‘Mr Porsche’ was a ’70s fan favourite for his wheel-waggling antics in works-backed 911s. He’s still smitten…

“I was called ‘Mr Porsche’ during the ’70s but I suppose time evaporates all fame! I began racing 911s in 1968, competing in the British Saloon Car Championship with the ex-Vic Elford 911S; the Porsche was still considered a touring car back then. It went on from there, really. AFN bought two RSs for the ’73 season and I got to race one. It was a wonderful arrangement: I had a race car and another in the pits as a spare – the luxury! Not that we ever needed it. I had a great season [in the STP Production Championship] and won 16 races. RGO2L was virtually standard, too. We still had high-profi le tyres, running 185 profi les rather than 215s. We just went to the local tyre shop and bought some Klebers. It was just a lovely car and great fun to drive; half the fun was being able to lift a front wheel. It was fantastic to be able to drive a car to a meeting and then win. “I was given a 3-litre car for ’74 which we ran in ModSports. It was just amazing on slicks and I had some great battles with Win Percy [aboard his Datsun 240Z ‘Big Sam’]. But I think the 2.7RS was the first of the truly sensational Porsche 911s. I know the Kremer brothers and other teams had been getting power out of the 2-litre or 2.4-litre cars, but this was a proper production car. It then led to the RSR and so on. It was the start of something very special.”