World’s first Porsche Classic Centre

29 November, 2015

More than 70 per cent of the vehicles ever produced by Porsche are still running today. Following the lead set by organizations such as Ferrari Classiche, Porsche intends to establish an international dealer and service network to provide optimum support for all classic Porsche sports cars.

While the establishment of an international dealer and service network comprising some 100 centres is expected to reach completion by 2018, on November 26, 2015 the Porsche Classic Centre Gelderland, just outside of Arnhem/Netherlands, opened to offer services for classic cars of all ages from Zuffenhausen. This is the first time that service, workshop, and sales exclusively for Porsche’s classic sports cars have been brought together under one roof. 

Porsche customers, and potential customers, can expect the complete range of Porsche classic services — these will not only include the supply of some 52,000 original spare parts, complete and partial overhauls but also repair and maintenance work and the sale of classic cars. 

At present, Porsche’s classic-focused network comprises 24 Porsche Classic Partners around the world — ten of them are in Germany, the others in Estonia, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, Hungary, South Africa, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates. Locations where new centres are being developed include Australia, Belgium, Canada, and the USA. 

Travelling companion

It’s easy to see why the Morris Minor Traveller was one of the best-loved variants of the Morris Minor. Introduced in 1953, it was equipped with the same independent torsion bar front suspension, drum brakes, and rack and pinion steering as its saloon sibling but, with their foldable rear seat increasing versatility, many Travellers were used as trade vehicles, says Derek Goddard. Derek and Gail Goddard, the owners of this superbly restored example, have run Morris Minors since before they were married in 1974.
“Our honeymoon vehicle was a blue Morris Minor van — it was a rust bucket,” says Derek.

Super Leicht Gullwing

It’s fair to say that nothing much in the classic Mercedes world gets past Mercedes-Benz Club stalwart Garry Boyce so it wasn’t surprising to learn that around 15 years ago he had sniffed out an extremely rare 300SL lightweight Gullwing as well as a 1958 300SL Roadster hiding away in the Waikato. The cars were not for sale but Garry eventually managed to persuade the owner to allow him and his restoration team to take a look at the Roadster. They discovered a very distressed but largely unmolested car. The car was so original that the body had never been off the chassis, meaning most of the parts and fittings were still present and correct, as they had been fitted by the factory.