911 Carrera RallyCross Project

8 minute(s) of a 245 minute read

DOOR CARDS.

You may remember our car used to be dark pink with a beige interior? Well beige is not a rally color in our book and as this car appears to be transitioning into some sort of rally replica/tribute we thought the door cards needed some attention. We already removed the pockets to get the doors to close with the new cage but when we did the door cards just looked so wrong.




So we did a little research and selected RENNLINE's RS inspired, black leather door cards as they are simple looking and retain all the funtionality of the originals in terms of switch gear etc. One bonus is that they replace the unusual and hard to find door latch handles with a rather nifty red pull strap. 911 Door Panels-Rennline, Inc.




They come complete with everything you need to complete the swap making it a very easy job.




They are a very universal kit that come with all the cutouts already made. All you do is cut out the leather from the holes you need and leave the others in place.




Removing all the dodads from the door is pretty easy




as is removing the door card itself




We discovered that our door caps were covered in brown leather from the factory but it peeled away easily to reveal patterned black plastic below. After removing a bit of old glue they looked like new.






and before we knew it; race car!

5-11-2016

Spring is finally here and it appears our little 911 has decided what it's new role in life will be: as a show car!. I know, I know, they should be driven and it's a race car but to be honest sales are keeping us busy and it is over 30 years old now. Perhaps retirement is appropriate. Having said that we do have two defenses to mount: one, it keeps getting invited to shows and two, we have entered the next Detroit Region RallyCross so it's not all show and no go.

So what prompted this you may ask? Well we did rather enjoy showing the car off at last year's Northern Worthersee show in Frankenmuth, you may recall it won best Porsche or something. And the UR quattro of our friend Tim Maskus also won Best Of Show so these cars are very popular and get a lot of exposure.




The car is also very popular at local car and coffee gatherings as you can imagine.






Which may have contributed it being invited to this year's Eyes On Design show. which is a HUGE honor.




So then we thought it would be good exposure to once again attend the Motorstadt show in June but this time as a vendor, again with the car of course. This one is a similar crowd as Wurthersee and they have always appreciated the older German stuff.




But then we also got invited to The Concours d'Elegance of America along with a bunch of other rally oriented cars. It can't get any better.




However, despite all this attention we are not detailing the car. It's still a race car after all.

5-24-2016

Was fortunate to make the list for the Detroit region of the SCCA RallyCross this past weekend. These events are always over-subscribed and for good reason; they are a great fun and exceptionally well run.

Unfortunately not driving competitively for six months really diminishes ones skills so, for the first time ever in a RallyCross the poor car did not take home a trophy. I apologized to it profusely.

Still, despite my lack of ability the car is still a crowd pleaser and produces excellent action shots and video:

https://www.facebook.com/brian.thorpe.5/videos/1177258578960966/












The spoiler also doubles as a trophy table!




Pictures by Brian Thorpe and Scott Banes.

6-7-2016

As the opening salvo in our "All Show and All Go" program for 2016 we entered the car in it's first proper show of 2016, the Motorstadt show put on by the Michigan Volkswagen Enthusiasts and held on the beautiful grounds of the Austrian Society. We also entered our other 911 and our RALIVAN in the show and took along the entire dog and pony show too! It was a long day resulting in 2nd place for the RallyCross 911.
















The next event on the calendar is Eyes On Design. That's a BIGGIE. We might have to get in some practicing.

6-21-2016

We were honored to be invited to the Eyes On Design show this year and surprised to win a Designer's Choice Award. We guess all that lack of preparation paid off.

Early bird gets the designated spot they would have had even if it were late.




This was an unexpected surprise. No mention of Michelle Mouton though.




Our "class"!




and some competition. Uh oh.




Breakfast with a view.




More surprises






We got to keep this. Now we'll never forget what kind of car is under all that vinyl.




More pleasant surprises. Designers Choice Award






Next big event is the Concours Of America. All Show and All Go!! (no Q-tips either)