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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. 

The other Q car

12 August, 2026

Say the word ‘bond’ to anyone in the street and around 80 per cent straight away think of pop culture’s least-secret secret agent. The other 20 per cent may think of the wad of cash required to secure a flat or hire equipment that one gets back providing the fixtures and fittings stay much as they were.
However, mention ‘bond’ in specialist classic car circles and people will spin a very different yarn. If you dig deep enough, you will find an eccentric British carmaker that, throughout its 23 years in business, spawned some quirky and charming little cars.
The company was founded by Paul Sharp in 1922 under the name of Sharp’s Commercials Limited. However, the company did not start producing cars until 1948. The first car to carry the Bond name was the Bond Minicar. A three-wheeled, soft-top, two-cylinder eco car, the Minicar was a big hit at the time as the desire for an economical urban runabout that didn’t attract four-wheel car tax was strong in post-war Britain. All in all, 34,285 Minicars were produced over 26 years in a variety of variants.

Lunch with Bill Leckie: An Imp’s tale

6 August, 2026

Seeking limelight is part of Bill Leckie’s DNA, but when I asked him if anyone had written about his career and the cars he created, he didn’t think so. Even so, I was delighted when he agreed to sit down with me over a pie and coffee to reminisce. I started by asking how it is that someone who is so fanatical about F1 only ever raced saloon cars? Well, we’ll get to that, but where did things start? “I went to Cornwall Park Primary School and then to Remuera Intermediate where I became good mates with Geoff Perry, son of the legendary motorcycle racing legend Len.” Geoff Perry was 23 and on the edge of stardom when he was killed in a mystery air disaster over the Pacific in 1973. “We used to race around his backyard on a cutdown motorbike. It was friendly competition that I suppose helped hone our racing instincts. There was never much between us and so, by 11 or 12, I had a definite leaning towards speed.”