I have always had a passion for cars. I fondly recall the Guards Red 911 being one of the poster cars of the ’80s and I dreamed of owning one someday. Over the years, I’ve had classic Alfas, Golf GTIs and air-cooled camper vans, but I always wanted to scratch the Porsche itch.
So, in 2011, I swapped my Mk1 Golf GTI for a 986 Boxster in Arctic Silver. I loved that car, used it all year round and went on many a trip around Cornwall with my son Harry. Since then, I have owned a 964 convertible, 3.2 Carrera Targa and a 3.6-litre 997 but, deep down, I always yearned for a 3.2 Coupe in Guards Red.
In 2020, I was casually browsing the internet during lockdown (as you do…) and spotted a Guards Red Carrera Sport. It was in Scotland, so I dismissed it at first because of the distance and, of course, you should never buy a Porsche blind. However, curiosity got the better of me and
I decided to give the owner a call. After calling, the story unfolded of how the car came from the southwest – where I was born and where I live today. The current owner had bought it from the respected Williams Crawford dealership in Plymouth, who’d previously bought it from a chap who owned it for 25 years. I decided I would do a bit more digging. I tracked down Steve, who had owned it for those 25 years and was more than happy to receive my out-of-the-blue phone call. We talked for ages about the 911 and how he used to take it to Le Mans annually. I was really hooked now, and my next step was to contact Williams Crawford who had sold it to him. I spoke to Anthony, who was more than happy to talk and very helpfully gave me the report they had done on it. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a good, solid, well-maintained car.
Combined with the fact that they had carried out some extensive work for the new owner and he had driven it all the way back to Scotland, the deal was done. The new owner decided it wasn’t for him (he subsequently bought a 996 GT3) and, after only six months, it winged its way down from Scotland on a transporter to me. Welcome back to the southwest!
I received the 911 and it was every bit as I expected. I had already owned a 3.2 Targa, so I knew what to expect driving-wise. The car drove beautifully and was so tight for its 127,000 miles. It had obviously been well looked after, backed up with a huge history file and fully stamped service books.
I like my cars pretty much stock, so off came the aftermarket air filter and big bore exhaust. I also removed the horrid ‘flashy light’ stereo, fitted a new period-look Blaupunkt Bremen and re-furbished the perished rear speakers. Great pleasure was had tidying up all the 30 years of wiring behind the dash! It then came around to MOT time and the car got a pass with no advisories.
This year, it was road trip time and July saw a 600-mile round trip to the Classic at Silverstone. This was a great event even though the weather was awful (thanks PCGB for the dry hospitality tent!) and taking part in the anniversary parade was a great experience. The car didn’t miss a beat and I’m still in awe of how well it drives in modern traffic. It can still surprise a few people.
Now, I love to research my cars and I like to find out about all the previous owners if I can. There were two that I knew about but another two that I didn’t, so my investigations began.
Written in the inside of the manual was the first owner’s name – Ashley – and an address. Of course, the address was no longer valid but, after a bit of digging around the internet, I found Ashley’s business and, from there, his new address. No telephone numbers were available and he wasn’t on Facebook, so I wrote him a good old-fashioned letter and popped a photo in too. I heard nothing for months. Christmas passed and, to be honest, I had given up.
Then I received a lovely email from him. He was thrilled to know the car was in good hands and went on to tell me how he had purchased it from AFN in London in 1988 with his little girls in tow. He told me how he had looked after it and how he also took his brand-new car on a number of trackdays. He enclosed several pictures that he had dug out of the loft and went on to say he would love to keep in touch.
I was thrilled and the photos immediately went into the portfolio. I also managed to track down owner number two, who was on Facebook and had moved to Spain. I had a nice chat with him and, a few months later, he had also dug out some more photos from around 1991. I was in contact with all the previous owners and my detective work was done.
Then came a surprise email some months later from Alana, one of Ashley’s daughters. She told me that her father’s birthday was coming up in September and she wanted to surprise him, so she had hatched a plan to bring Ashley down to Cornwall for a long weekend and, while they were here, set up a reunion between Ashley and the car. Of course, I thought this was a great idea. Several emails and texts later, we had set up the day and the meeting place.
He couldn’t believe his eyes; he was bowled over by its condition and said it was just the way he remembered it. We talked for more than an hour about his times with car and the fact he used it as a company vehicle when visiting clients – very ’80s! Apparently, he didn’t stop talking about it on the way home. Isn’t that just so Porsche?
The car is my dream Porsche and I have no plans to let it go. Can I keep it as long as owner number three at 25 years? Possibly. I would, however, like to add a nice early Boxster to the fold for my partner Jo and I to enjoy. I believe it is one of the most underrated Porsches and the model certainly got me hooked.
I would like to thank Steve, the longstanding owner, and Anthony at Williams Crawford for their help in my purchase. I would also like to thank the very patient Jo, who never knows what I am going to do next in the auto world!