Mild and sunny November weather was the final enticement I needed to go Out East with the Yellow Peril.
Nick and Ed Pike (organisers of the Porsche Club London Region) hunted down this great venue some months back and the 3rd Sunday in the month meet seems to have become very popular with club members. It’s far less frenetic than the former Smithfield venue i.e. no stroppy traffic wardens!
The graffiti decorated walls and industrial buildings provide a great backdrop for the many Porsche’s that turned up and the riverside cafe and restaurant provided sustenance and a place to chat for friends new and old.
An eclectic mix of cars turned up with no less than three 356’s, a couple of early 911’s (my ’71 car and another very nice LHD ’71 car) and some more modern Porsche machinery.
The 356’s
Seeing 356’s out and about during the winter months is unusual so having three of them turn up was a delight.
Chatting to the owner of this highly original and well used RHD 356C he explained that he’d bought it from the brother of Henry Cooper the great boxing legend. What a lovely car!
Parked around the corner was this Rat-Rod T5 bodied 356. This car takes “patina” to new levels. I know a lot of people like the grungy outlaw look but from my personal perspective I’d much rather see a car with such beautiful lines as it came out of the factory. Each to their own however!
Last but not least – I was really please to see Steve and Claire Winter of Jaz Porsche roll-up in Dolly – their immaculate white 356C. It was great to catch-up with them over a coffee and bacon sarny.
Steve is a prime preserver of precious Porsche’s – most especially 356’s and early 911’s. He successfully races a ’65 SWB 911 and he has a very interesting ’54 bent screen 356 currently having its bodywork resurrected by Bruce Cooper’s team at Sportwagen.
Early 911’s
On my previous visit to Beachey Road – quite a few early 911’s showed up but that wasn’t the case today (not whilst I was there at least).
Weirdly the two that did appear today were from exactly the same model year (1971) in the form of my Yellow Peril 2.2L 911E and a beautiful red 2.2L 911T.
The ex-US LHD T was sporting front overriders which got me around to thinking whether I should fit these to my car as a further nerdy move towards originality. I managed to buy a pair of really good quality overriders from my mate Kirk but still can’t make up my mind whether the car looks better with them or without then!!!
Other Porsches
There were lots of other more modern Porsche’s on show . Some I recognised but lots I didn’t. My 911 tastes don’t extend much beyond the ’70s and don’t even think about get me started on the merits of water cooled cars!!!
Graffiti
The ever changing graffiti backdrop looked particularly spectacular in the low winter sun. Sadly this will gradually disappear as the area goes through its inevitable and unstoppable gentrification!