Porsche’s Heritage Fleet Was the Real Star of Millbrook
A few years ago Muddy Madam and I travelled down to Bedfordshire for our annual pilgrimage to the Millbrook Testing Facility and the SMMT Media day.
At first glance of the manufactures list there were plenty of cars for us to drive, but nothing really that exciting, that was until I noticed Porsche had brought along three vehicles from their heritage fleet.
The amusing thing about media days is that pretty much all the journos, including me, are often more interested in the older cars than they are the new fangled ones, and today was no exception
So, after the safety briefing I grabbed my badge and rushed over to the Porsche stand and joined the queue for a time slot.
The three vehicles from their heritage fleet included an 80’s 911, a 928s and a Porsche Cayenne S. I know I’ll lose a few of you here, but I’ve never been a fan of the 911, but the 928? Well, it’s a thing of beauty.
With a time slot to drive the 928 booked for later that afternoon I was offered an immediate drive in what transpired to be a rather special 2005 Porsche Cayenne S.
This particular Cayenne S has been used as a technical training vehicle by Porsche GB before being acquired by the Porsche Classic team in the UK - the division which focuses on model generations that have been out of production for 10 or more years.
As a showcase of some of its products it was given the light 'overland' treatment that includes genuine Porsche rock rails, wheels, and roof tent, as well as aftermarket additions such as tyres and spotlights. It has also been fitted with PCCM Plus (Porsche Classic Communication Management Plus), which seamlessly integrates modern infotainment features such as Apple CarPlay.
As it is with Porsche on media days, you’re always chaperoned, which is fine, normally. After grabbing the key I shouted for Muddy Madam to jump in only to realised that there were no backseats - they had been folded down to make room for some recovery equipment and a spare wheel that was bolted to the side - Range Rover Classic style. It would be just me and the Porsche guy then.
With a turn of the key the big 4.5ltr V8 burbled into life - the sound of a big V8 always makes to giggle like a school kid!
We then made our way towards the Alpine Hill Route, a course that’s divided into three sections, or loops, which contain progressively steeper gradients as well as many tight corners.
Despite all the heavy additions, the V8 did a wonderful job of hurling us around the route, but I didn’t feel the need to push it, for me it was all about the experience. Even for an 18 year old car that’s probably seen a lot of action, the steering was sharp and neither did we wallow around the corners that much, despite the roof top tent.
It was a 15 minute drive so there isn’t much else to say about it really, it was an entertaining drive and I’m about to email the press team to see if I can borrow it for a week - now that would be fun!
After driving a selection of new, and dare I say it more boring cars, it was my time to get behind the wheel of the 928S - a dream car of mine.
They say never meet your heroes and I was prepared to be a little disappointed, after all, this particularly fine example was registered back in 1994 and things have moved on a little since then.
As with the Cayenne S, firing up the 5.0ltr V8 brought a huge grin to my face, one that even the light green interior couldn’t curb.
Despite its age and very low-slung driving position it was a very comfortable place to be, though the steering was much heavier than I ever expected it to be, and the acceleration a tad slower - I suspect a manual ‘box would have livened things up a bit. But that didn’t matter as I was enjoying cruising around the circuit and occasionally burying the throttle and throwing it around the tight corners.
For an aged grand tourer it handled the Alpine Hill Route really quite well, and would I still have one in my dream garage? Hell yeah!
