Mike Wilds
Mike held us in rapt attention as he described how as a young car enthusiast living in Chiswick, he regularly cycled to the local (and very well known) purveyor of sports cars, Chequered Flag, to gaze at their stock of high performance cars. He eventually plucked up the courage to ask for a Saturday job, which he got and this soon led to him attending a Formula Junior race meeting at Brands Hatch with fellow Chequered Flag employee and the designer of Gemini cars, Chez Beatie. This was where he got the motor racing bug, deciding there and then that he wanted to be a racing driver and what followed was a tale of dogged determination, courage, luck (both good and bad) and a natural ability to drive cars very quickly. We heard of his rise from Formula Junior all the way to Formula One, via saloon cars, sports cars, sports prototypes – in fact, just about every type of circuit racing car you can imagine. He told us how in the early stages of his career, working for Firestone as operations manager in the race division opened many doors and paved the way to getting some lucrative sponsorship deals to help him on his way. He described accidents which might have caused other drivers to give up, told us about his brief F1 career in uncompetitive cars (made all the more uncompetitive by the rules banning privateers from using qualifying tyres…) and spoke candidly (and amusingly) about some of the people he has met or clashed with over the years, many of the former of which have remained close friends. In the latter years, as well as his regular drives he has become a ‘safe pair of hands’ if there is a drive going begging and one memorable occasion this led to him test driving his hero Ronnie Peterson’s Lotus 72 for a potential buyer. In all, he has won twelve British Championships, the most recent being in 2016 but long ago, thinking that one day he might need another career, Mike learnt to fly helicopters and nowadays, although still racing, he also gives tuition in performance driving and helicopter flying.
All in all it was a fascinating talk and I for one could have listened for a lot longer as I know he has many more stories to tell. However, I can’t end without repeating his story of why he became so passionate about Porsches. He was at the Targa Florio working for Firestone, staying in the same hotel as Jo Siffert who was there racing a 908/3. At the end of a practice day, Siffert offered Mike a lift back to the hotel in his 911T which of course he accepted and he was immediately smitten by the performance of what was in fact the lowest performance version of the 911 at the time. In another light-bulb moment he decided that one day he would own a Porsche and many years later he fulfilled that dream when he bought a Carrera 3.2 Club Sport, which he loves and will never sell - although I’d be more than happy to do a straight swap for my Carrera 3.2 should he ever feel the need for a few more creature comforts!
All that’s left is for me to thank Mike on behalf of R26 for taking the time to tell us his story.
Marque 21 Open Morning
Tref reports:-
I have forgotten how many years Tim and Lisa have been entertaining us, but what I do know is that there is always something new to see and knowing us well there is always plenty of good food!
New for this year was a dent removal demonstration which initially looked a bit brutal until I realised that the dents were being put in, in order to demonstrate them being taken out! Any challenges put to them in terms of the type of dent were duly accepted and demonstrated, so if you need something straightened, talk to Tim – this isn’t a ‘paintless’ system though, so be prepared for a ‘proper job’!
Whilst Porsches predominate, there is always something else to see in Tim’s workshop – most often a Lotus or two, but this year a beautiful Jaguar took centre stage, in terms of position at least, but to us Porsche people something more interesting lurked in the corner and the preparation of the RSR drawing our attention was outstanding – it looked more like a concours contender than a race entry! ‘What about Tim’s own mythical 911?’ I hear you ask. Well, I’m happy to report that there’s been some progress! While preparing for our event, Tim realised that he has done nothing to it over the last year and aware that some of our members would remember every little detail and not hesitate to quiz him on it, the day before our visit he hastily (yet obviously still to his very high standards), fitted the carpets that he has had waiting to go in. Perhaps we’ll have to get you to give us monthly updates Tim, to keep it on track? But of course this isn’t going to happen and with good reason, for we know there is a queue of members awaiting work at Marque 21 who would be very disappointed if we did that.
Businesses evolve over time, and staff come and go, but whilst it was sad to not catch up with some old friends, it was nice to meet new faces who have been maintaining the high standards to which we have become accustomed from Marque 21. Thanks to Tim, Lisa and the team for hosting yet another great open morning.
Tref’s Intergalactic 944
No events to report on in November, but there was a very significant milestone for our RO so despite his modesty, it’s over to Tref with an update about a car that on two occasions has saved the day for me!
I think most people in Dorset Region know ‘Bomber’, my black 944 S2 which was subject of an article in Porsche Post when it turned 25 years old. Well, a couple of years have since passed and it has clocked another milestone 400,000 miles, so what has happened over the last two years? Probably the most significant was solving the nine-year long problem of occasionally not starting after the passenger door was opened which turned out to be a defunct alarm module. Fitting air conditioning was a major undertaking but being a black on (several shades of…) black car, it was worth doing and made even more so after sourcing a rare Saratoga Glass sunroof option, which lightens up the interior nicely but also ups the temperature! Then there is the 968 engine - ‘So not the original engine then?’ I hear you rightly say. Well, the original engine came out for a short while, unnecessarily as I discovered, so it went back in again but with it now needing a water pump and I suspect valve lapping, I decided to fit the 968 engine I have had waiting for a few years. It releases a few extra horsepower and a lot more low-down torque but yes, it’s still running on LPG.
So what about the dents? Well, they come and go, unfortunately the former more regularly than the latter! There are two new (to bomber) wings on the front, but unfortunately an aquaplaning incident led to a freshly dented rear panel and offside wing. Never mind – it is booked in for some bodywork the end of this month.
So what now? Well, a few thousand miles more and I will have completed a quarter of a million miles behind the wheel, then the next target will be 480 000 – the equivalent of to the moon and back! But I still get a buzz from driving it and I still get a shiver down my spine when I realise what a fantastic car I am driving!