Le Mans Classic is a historic-car race event at the famous Le Mans track. It’s where classic cars get to race again, not just sit in museums.
Topic
RentSport Reunion
RentSport Reunion sounds like a car enthusiast event where people bring cars and meet up. Collectors mention it because it’s a place to show the cars and talk about them with other fans.
Shifting gears means changing which gear the car is in so the engine can work best for what you’re doing—like speeding up or slowing down. Johan says he enjoys that part of driving.
The Jaguar E-Type is a famous old British sports car with a very stylish look. Johan mentions it because it was one of the cars his family had when he was growing up, and it helped shape his love of cars.
“MK2” here is the Jaguar Mark 2, a classic 1960s Jaguar. Johan brings it up because it was part of the same family-car lineup that made cars feel special to him.
The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car made by Chevrolet. It’s built for fast driving and is known as an iconic performance car. It may be brought up when someone is deciding between different kinds of sports cars.
A Porsche 911 Turbo is a high-performance 911 that uses a turbocharger to make more power. In the story, it’s a big deal because it was the first turbo 911 in Belgium.
Rust is when metal corrodes and starts to break down. On an old car, rust can be expensive to fix, and it can lower the car’s value—exactly what the speaker is getting at with the RS.
Daytona is a famous long-distance race where cars have to keep going for 24 hours. The host is saying that Porsche’s race 911s made a big statement at Daytona right when the car debuted. Winning an event like that is a huge deal because it shows the car can last and perform.
Term
Martini cars
“Martini cars” refers to Porsche race cars carrying Martini branding during that era, typically as a title sponsor/livery. In racing history, sponsor names like this are often used to identify specific teams or car entries from a given season. The host uses it to anchor the 1973 success story to the visual identity of those 911 race cars.
This phrase means the engine is located at the back of the car, near the rear wheels. That layout changes how the car feels when you turn, because the weight is mostly behind you. The host is pointing out that it’s a rare design choice that Porsche stuck with.
The Nissan Quest is a minivan made by Nissan. It’s designed to carry people comfortably, usually for family trips. It may be mentioned because someone is trying to collect or find a specific model.
The Porsche 992 GT3 RS is a high-performance 911 meant to be driven like a race car. In this discussion, the key point is that it’s so track-oriented that it barely feels like a normal street car.
DRS is a race-car feature that helps the car go faster by reducing air resistance for a short time. The surprising part here is that he’s talking about it being used on a street-legal Porsche.
The Porsche GT3 Touring is a version of the GT3 meant to be a bit more comfortable for normal driving. In the episode, it’s mentioned as less extreme than the GT3 RS.
The Ferrari Daytona SP3 is a high-performance sports car made by Ferrari. It’s designed to look and feel like a tribute to older Ferrari Daytona cars. It’s the kind of car people mention when they’re talking about favorite cars from their past.
Historical provenance is basically the car’s documented background—its ownership and history. Collectors care because it helps prove the car is genuine and hasn’t been heavily changed.
“Blue-chip” here means the most desirable, high-value classic cars—like the ones people treat as solid investments. The guest is saying some are great, but others are bad examples that don’t deserve the hype.
Tour de France is mentioned as an example of a famous, high-profile event. The host’s point is that big events draw lots of money and attention, which can make the right cars harder to find.
Term
eligible
Here “eligible” means the car is allowed to race under the event’s rules. The host is saying it’s getting harder to find cars that qualify and are still for sale.
“Matching numbers” is when the car’s key parts—especially the engine—are the original ones that were meant to be with that specific car. The host says race teams didn’t always care about that back then, but collectors do.
Homologation means a race series requires a certain number of road cars to be built. Porsche makes those limited cars so the same model can be entered in competition.
In this episode, “lightweight” means the Porsche was built to be lighter than a normal one. The host says it uses thinner steel to save weight, which is part of why these versions are rare and desirable. Lighter cars often feel more special and more “purpose-built.”
A chassis number is like a car’s unique ID. The host is saying the factory only has complete records for a few specific IDs, and his car’s ID doesn’t have the same level of confirmation. That makes it harder to know exactly what was approved for racing on his car.
A “restored car” has been repaired and brought back to a better condition, often with work to return it closer to how it used to be. The host is saying that because it’s already been restored, he’s more comfortable driving it. If it gets damaged, it’s possible to restore it again.
An “original car” is one that still has its factory condition. The host is saying he’s nervous to drive an original example because if it gets bumped, it can’t really be put back to “as it was.” With a restored car, he believes they can repair it and restore it again.
In collector terms, “originality” means the car stays as it was from the start, not heavily redone or modified. The host is saying that re-restoring could hurt that original character, so he drives it carefully instead.
Collectors often care that the important parts are the same ones the car originally had. That’s usually what people mean when they talk about “numbers matching.”
Prodrive is a company that works in racing. In this story, the guest got access to Prodrive’s old records, which helped him document rare Porsche race cars.
Rallies are competitive driving events made of timed sections. For collectors, rally results and records help confirm the history of a specific race car.
Abbeville is a place in France. The guest says he organized a reunion there, which helped him meet people connected to the project and learn more about the cars.
The Porsche 911 R is a rare, stripped-down 911 meant to drive more like a race car. The hosts talk about it as a key milestone in Porsche engineering, and how later race-focused 911s trace their roots back to it. It’s basically one of the most important “legend” 911s Porsche ever made.
The Monte Carlo rally is a well-known racing event held around Monaco, famous for difficult road conditions. In this discussion, it’s mentioned to show that Porsche originally raced with cars that were closer to normal street models. Later, Porsche shifted toward making true race cars from the 911 platform.
Ferdinand Piech is an important Porsche figure who, according to the guest, helped drive the shift toward making the 911 into a real race car. The story here is that he was brought in and told to start with a 911 and turn it into something built for racing. That’s why he’s tied to the origin of the 911 R concept and its legacy.
In racing, a "prototype" is a car built mainly for competition, not for regular customers. The segment is saying the Porsche 911 R had to race against these purpose-built cars, which were very hard to beat.
“V12s” are race cars with a V12 engine, meaning a big 12-cylinder motor. The point here is that the Porsche 911 R was quick, but the V12 cars were even quicker.
They’re talking about special lightweight materials used on the car. The point is that the Porsche 911 R had race-oriented parts made from composite materials, even if it doesn’t look dramatically different at first glance.
Homologation means a race car has to be made “street legal” (or close to it) so it can compete. The idea is that the race version isn’t just a one-off—it’s based on something Porsche could sell to the public.
A Monza record run refers to Porsche’s attempt to set performance records at Monza, which influenced the car’s livery details. Here, the speaker connects the 911 R’s white-and-red striping to that record-run history.
The Porsche 911 S is a regular performance 911 model line, not as rare or extreme as the 911 R. Johan mentions it to explain how huge the price gap was when he bought his 911 R. The takeaway is that the 911 R is on a different, more collectible level.
“Driven it sideways” means the car’s back end slides out a bit while you keep control. It’s something you’d do on a track to show how well the car handles. Johan is saying he really drove the 911 R hard, not just kept it as a collectible.
In this context, “brochure” means Porsche’s marketing material for the new car, and Johan is describing that Porsche required him to be able to use the car for that purpose. It’s not a technical term, but it’s a specific industry practice: using an actual owner/vehicle to create official promotional content. That helps explain why his car usage included events tied to Porsche’s launch messaging.
Dr. Daolio is named as the first person who owned Johan’s Porsche 911 R. For rare cars, knowing the ownership history is important because it helps confirm the car’s background. Johan contacted him to learn more about the car’s past.
Ronsoni is mentioned because he drove one of the cars in the 911 R’s history. Johan then talks to Ronsoni’s son to learn more. It’s part of building a trustworthy story about where the car came from.
The Porsche 935 is a famous Porsche race car from the 1970s. It’s known for being built for racing, with a turbo engine and a very distinctive front shape that looks unlike a normal road car.
“Brake horsepower” is a way of measuring how much power an engine makes. It’s usually measured with special equipment, and the number can differ depending on whether you measure at the engine or at the wheels.
A “slam nose” is a very low, sharp-looking front end on a race car. It’s mainly about shaping airflow for better aerodynamics, and it also became a signature look for that era of Porsche racing.
Car
934
The Porsche 934 is described here as the “little brother” of the Porsche 935, meaning it’s closely related in concept and lineage but not as iconic or extreme. The host says they’re happy to own a 934 while still dreaming of the 935, positioning the 935 as the more ultimate race-car expression.
A “single turbo” setup uses one turbocharger to make extra power. The host is saying that this changes how the car delivers power compared with a twin-turbo version.
“Double turbos” means the engine has two turbochargers instead of one. The host is comparing how that setup changes the driving feel versus the single-turbo version.
Norbert Singer is an engineer associated with Porsche’s race cars. The host is saying he was smart about using the rules to design a car that could be faster and more effective aerodynamically.
In racing rules, a “loophole” is a gap or wording in the regulations that teams can use to build something faster. The host is saying Singer found a way to use the rules that other big manufacturers couldn’t.
Car
Porsche 956
The Porsche 956 was a purpose-built race prototype Porsche used in endurance racing. In this discussion, it’s brought up to compare different ways Porsche built race cars—either starting from a prototype or starting from the 911. The guest prefers the 911-to-race-car route.
Car
Porsche 962
The Porsche 962 is another famous Porsche race prototype from the same endurance-racing family as the 956. The guest mentions it as impressive, but he’s making a different point: he thinks it’s more special when Porsche turns a 911 into a race winner. That’s why the 935 gets the spotlight here.
The Porsche 935 is a famous Porsche race car from the 1970s. It’s based on the 911, but it was modified to compete in endurance racing. The guest is saying it’s more impressive to turn a normal 911 into a winner than to start with a car that was designed purely as a race prototype.
Term
y-side axle
This is a suspension/axle detail that changes how the rear wheels are controlled. The guest is saying that the 993’s setup makes the car feel different—more connected or less relaxed—compared with other RS cars. It’s about how the car behaves when you drive it.
Road holding means how well the tires grip the road when you’re turning or driving hard. Higher road holding makes the car feel more stable and predictable in corners.
Oversteer is when the back of the car starts to slide out more than the front. The speaker is saying this Porsche feels more predictable and easier to control because the front stays planted.
Counter steering is the steering input you use to manage oversteer—turning the wheel opposite the direction the car is sliding so you can regain control. The speaker says the 3.6 narrowbody’s front suspension makes the counter-steering you need for going sideways more difficult to execute.
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Johan Derix from Belgium. Hi and bye.
That was a quick interview. It was the quickest you ever had.
Absolutely. Johan Derix, thank you so much for your time today.
I'm very happy too that you guys are here and you and the group from the UK.
I really enjoy your attendance. There are track days and it's always fun to talk
cars and porches and everything that goes around with what we're doing, what we love doing.
It really is. This is such a pleasure for me because I've said previously and you've been
on the podcast before, but I think I've known you possibly 10 maybe even 15 years now.
I think it will be more than 15. You're one of the good guys in the industry.
You've amassed such a wonderful collection of cars and you are so open to having their story
told and sharing the joy of those cars with a big populace of enthusiasts, whether it's
coming over from Belgium to Goodwood every year to run the cars there, Le Mans Classic,
you've been to RentSport Reunion. You're so good at sharing the story of these cars.
Well, there is one thing. I'm one of the lucky guys to be able to have bought all those cars
over the years. Therefore, I think that it's very important that you show them. People in the public
is entitled to see those cars. They're exceptional cars. They should see them in their natural
habitats, on the races, on the track, in the woods, whatever, when it ran the cars.
So basically what we have to do is we have to show it. I feel it like it's not an obligation,
but I feel it as if it was an obligation to show it. We have to educate people because
not all that many people are very well educated on if it's cars in general,
Porsche in particular, Porsche history. And I think it's very important and that we point maybe to
some mistakes made by the factory and then we say, hey, this is wrong. It should be like that.
Because people are entitled, in my opinion, to have the right information, to have the truth.
That's basically it. Definitely. And that's again, that's a hallmark of certainly a foundation of
friendship is a desire to tell the truth and facts and have the histories of these cars
documented properly. I wonder, Johan, how you would describe yourself. Are you an enthusiast,
or are you a Porsche historian, or maybe a bit of both? Well, I would describe myself as being a
car freak. I absolutely love cars. I have loved cars since I was, since my very earliest age.
And it happens to be that I came into the Porsche mark. If that wouldn't have been the case,
I probably would have collected other things. And I always said, if I would have had unlimited
funds and unlimited space, I most probably would have 1000 cars. Obviously, not only
Porsches, but other marks also. Because I do love cars. history of cars. I do love
the engineering of cars, what people did, what was done to raise cars to make them improve,
and stuff like that. And all those things do interest me. But it happened to be that I came
into the Porsche scene. And while I kept very true to the Porsche scene, and that's why I have quite
some Porsche cars that I bought over the years, I think I did a good job. Because I always wanted
to buy the best I could buy. The best money could buy at the moment. And I had a very particular
idea, and the idea was the RS team. I wanted to have RSs. But then, of course, over the years,
the changes, then came turbos, then came the speedsters. So there are different teams. And of
course, race cars. Race cars are a whole different ballgame. And therefore, you need a team like we
do to keep them serviced so that they can run. So yeah, I'm an historian. I think it's very
important to trace the history of the cars. For every car I have, I have traced the history.
I think it's very important to tell the history, the way it is, how many cars were produced,
why Porsche, in particular, did produce a certain type of car. So yes, history is important. But
I think in first instance, I'm passionate about cars. Yeah, so yeah. That's so well explained,
I would say. With cars in general, because you're a 2-liter art car, I love the license plate on
the back of that car. It says, who dies with the most toys wins. I think that is superb. But what
is it about cars that you love? Well, I think, essentially, it is the feeling of freedom.
I remember I couldn't become old enough to drive a car as fast as I could, because I wanted to be
free. I wanted to take a car and go wherever I wanted to. And my car was my freedom. It still
is my freedom. Nevertheless, what politicians and what they like to make us believe,
but your car is your freedom, you can do whatever you want. And if you look at the history of the
last 100 years, the car gave people freedom to travel. It gave people the possibility to travel
to see other parts of the world of the same continent, of other continents and stuff like
that. So basically, if you look in history, there are two things very important, the plane and the
car. The plane made it possible for us to go to the US, for example. But then again, in the US,
you could take a car and travel around. So it gives people freedom. And that basically is the
feeling now, apart from the fact that it is a huge part of feeling freedom. I absolutely love
driving cars. The the technology of driving with a car absolutely gives me huge joy, shifting gears,
going into a turn, braking, trying to do it as good as possible and to better yourself in
your technique. So I think it's a little bit both. It's a technique of driving, the pleasure of
driving. But first and foremost, I would say freedom. Yeah. That really resonates with me,
I have to say. Again, that's so beautifully put. It's freedom. The ability to be able to go wherever
you like, whenever you like, is just superb, superb. So why Porsche then, Johan?
Well, I think Porsche is more or less a family team. It all started when I was about six or
seven years old, no, eight years. My grandfather used to have a Jaguar E type, beautiful car,
absolutely fabulous looking car. And my grandmother used to have an MK2. They were both the same
color exterior interior. So I can tell you when both cars were in the garage, that was the dream
team. But then of course, the Jaguar E times were not all that well known for, for the possibility
to drive on a daily basis. And my grandfather, he used to drive quite a lot. So it certainly
broke down all the time. And a certain moment we were discussing with him at the table and he
asked me, I would like to get rid of my Jaguar E type. What would you buy? And he gave me a choice,
a Corvette or a Porsche. And I responded to him and I said, well, you're not considering buying a
plastic car. And that's why I believe that that was material in his choice of buying a Porsche. I
don't, well, with the inside, the story is nice, but I don't think that's the reason why he bought
a Porsche. But anyway, I always thought that he bought a Porsche because of that. And then he bought
a two liter S-Targa, then a two S, 24 S. And then my dream car, a 27 RS. And after that,
he bought himself the first turbo, 75, which was the first turbo in Belgium.
And then an SE. And all those cars, I thought that they were going to come my way,
which was kind of naive of me, but they all went away. They all were sold. And I still remember
that for the RS, I always said my grandfather never sell the RS. And at a certain moment,
I came into his office and he said, I sold the RS. And I said, what a stupid, and I'm not going to
say more than that. But anyway, and then he corrected me and said, you're not supposed to
say that to your grandfather. And I said, well, maybe you're right. I shouldn't have said it.
But anyway, I told that the RS was a very special car. And then we're talking about
78, 79, something like that in a period where they were worth nothing. I think that he sold
this car for maybe 10,000 euros. But then again, it was a used car. He had done 250,000 kilometers
with it. It had rust. So it was a car that was used, he drove it. But an RS wasn't worth anything.
I mean, the same RS today would probably be 250,000, 300,000 euros before restoration.
So that gave me the flavor for the Porsche. And then the second thing is when I was 18,
that was the very first Porsche I ever drove. So that gave me a great respect, tremendous pleasure.
I had probably a tremendous amount of luck that I never crashed the car because I drove
like a loony. I knew that the car did 245 top speeds. And every day I did 245. I mean,
picked up the car in the morning when it was hot, that drove 245 in the evening, same thing.
So I really used the car. And after a week, I gave the car back to my grandfather without a scratch.
So I guess I was a little kind of lucky. But anyway, it was a tremendous car. And then
remember in 73, so now I'm talking about 77, 78, but in 73 when the car came out, the first thing
that happened was the 24 hours of Daytona, what the RS are, basically the race version of my
grandfather's car won a Daytona at the banking. And so in my opinion, as a youngster at that,
it was my grandfather's car that was winning a Daytona. And then two weeks later, they won
and during the course of the 73 season, they won quite a lot of other races with the Martini
cars. Obviously, the Martini cars were not two point days, but really, but anyway, it was RSRs.
So that was a magical moment. The car my grandfather was driving was basically winning on
Daytona, on Sebring, all those big races. And I guess that was the defundament. That was a
fundamental of my love for Porsches. And even today, I mean, I'm absolutely
fond about the RS at the point sevens. So probably my favorite car in whole lineage.
Well, I mean, knowing where your kind of collection has gone since,
that really underlines how powerful a moment that was for you when you realized that, yeah,
your granddad's car is able to win a highly prestigious 24 hour race like that. And isn't
that the magic of the 911 really that so are the few other cars have and perhaps still have to a
degree today? I think that's that's the magic of the 911. I think 911 has two or maybe three
types of magic. First, it's an anachronism who in his righteous mind will put the engine behind
the rear axle. But anyway, they did and they made a good car of it. Secondly, it's been a car that
has been around for 60 years. It's not the same car anymore, but the same form, the same idea.
So it's legendary. No other constructor has ever built a car for this long period with that kind
of success. And third, and that is my opinion, even the most important, the 911 was successful
in everything in long, long distance racing, in rallying, in how? Well, something like that.
So in rallying, in rally race, so everything they touched, they won with the 911. And then,
of course, afterwards we would prototype stuff like that. So basically, you cannot imagine another
type of car that has won so many races in so many different disciplines. And I think that that
contributes to the cold stages of the 911. Because everybody, wherever you go,
knows what the 911 is. And I think that's one of the magical points of the Porsche.
Maybe not to the same point as the Ferraris. The Ferraris, in some people's opinion, are more
mythical. I do not completely agree, although they have won more Formula One races than Porsche.
That's for sure. But I don't think that they are on a higher level of medical status. So Porsche
still has a long way to catch up with the Ferraris. And I think they will. won in long
run. Because they made so many special models that run in so many different types of races,
that I'm sure that they will be valued at a certain moment at their red level.
Yeah. That really makes a lot of sense, Johan, in terms of where your collection has gone,
as I said, and that kind of quest to acquire every RS. It's the thoroughbred 911 in that crossover
between road and race, which is clearly very important to you to have that car again that
has that kind of distinction in competition. Yeah. Well, I think it's the closest that you
can have to a race car on the road. Yeah. And like, for example, driving the new GT3,
the 992 GT3 RS, it's a race car. It's I mean, you don't even have a luggage space.
You don't even have space to put your luggage in there. It's a car with DRS. How in Heavis
Dim can you imagine a street car with DRS? It's the only one that I know of, and most probably
will only be the only one ever produced with DRS. So basically, Porsche gets all those things that
came from racing into street cars. So telling today that you're not driving a race car would be
almost blasphemy because it is a race car. You're driving a race car on the road. The GT3 RS is,
of course, closer to the race car than would be the GT3 or the GT3 Touring or the GTS or whatever,
but they're all descendants of that lineage. Yeah. Yeah. And again, like the cars under your
ownership and in the JFD collection, they span a huge amount of years of Porsche engineering,
you know, right up to the modern day. But your heart lies with the earlier stuff, right? With
nostalgia. We always go for the cars of our youth. My cars are the cars of the 70s. So basically,
I'm talking about the RS and not talking Porsche, I'm going to be talking about Daytona, Ferrari
Daytona, Lamborghini Miura. Those were the cars that spoke to me when I was a kid. Whereas,
you see today that the more valuable 9-11s now are 9-6-4s, 9-9-3s. Basically, because the guys
who buy them today wore the kids at that time when those cars came out and they have the money
right now. So we always tend to go back to our youth and to our roots and to the things we know.
And therefore, I'm very hooked to the longhoods because that was my youth. That was what I saw.
That was what I wanted to have. Now, do they drive as well as a new car? No. A new car is much,
much better. But do they give you more pleasure? Yes, definitely. Definitely. On a scale from
10, I would say 10. It's worth pointing out for the listeners that even as you're saying that,
there's a big smile appearing on your face. So you really do mean that. But again, you're a real
stickler for historical provenance. So when you have been over the years on the hunt for some of
these cars, how difficult is it to find a good one? Because there are great examples out there,
but there are also bad examples as well of high blue-chip cars. Well, the thing is, I was very
lucky because I started collecting cars in a period that they were not so difficult to find.
First instance, secondly, they were not all as expensive as they are today. So when I saw cars
when I was younger, it was much easier. The world is like a village. It was the beginning of
internet. So it was very easy to find cars. It was very easy to connect with people. And
it was easier to find good cars at that period than it would be today. I'm not saying that today
you cannot find good cars. Of course, you can still find good cars. But everybody knows what
the price is. Whereas, let's say 25, 30 years ago, you could find a good car. I would not say
for a bargain price, but for a good price, which today is almost impossible. And when I started
collecting, I found an RSR in the US, 2.8, I found a 3-liter RSR in the US, and stuff like that,
all very good cars, which today are much, much harder to find because most of the RSs of that
RSR of that period are in collections. So there aren't all that many available, whereas in that
period of time you had the choice. You could find a good one. You could say I would like, let's say
as a better speech, I would like to have a yellow one or red one or black one. Whereas today, if
you find one, it's a good one, you have to take it. You have to pay the price. There's a difference.
So basically, all those cars have gone into collections. And I think also that the scene
has changed. We have Le Mans Classic, we have Tour de France, we have all those big races.
And lots of people with money like to participate in those races. And it becomes harder and harder
to find cars that are eligible in those races, and they are still available on the market.
And that's why I think there is a big demand for those cars. And it's very, very difficult to
find them. I used to be very lucky at the time, because like I said, it was the beginning of
internet, connected to people all over the world. It was easy to call. If you knew what you were
looking for, it was pretty easy. Today, I think it would be, you still can find it, but it's more
difficult. Well, I mean, I keep them up with the RSRs as genuine bonafide race cars of their time.
The teams running them weren't thinking, in 50 years time, this car's going to be highly valuable.
Let's keep that engine to this car. It was 2.8 RSRs became 3s, 934s became 935s.
So decades later, surely it's extremely difficult to get a good and accurate handle on a car's
history. And again, I know for you as someone who's so keen on that, that must be such a challenge.
It has always been a challenge to find out the history of a car. Like for example,
my 2.8 RSR I found in South America. And that car had all the evolutions up to 95 K3. So it
was a 2.8, a 3 liter RSR. It was a 934, a 935, K1, K2, K3. So basically that chassis was a chassis
that was raised all the way up to the end of the 80s in different forms. And that's what happened.
I mean, most racing teams at the time didn't have the money to buy a new car every year. So they
had the original shell of an RSR to restore it into the RSR. And then I had a huge amount of luck
when at a certain moment I found the original engine laying around in Florida. So I joined the
original engine with the car, which is of course unique because in race cars, matching numbers is
not that important. But if you find the engine of your car, of course, that makes it better.
But that was a story where I went at length in finding out what happened, who had the car,
who drove the car, where the car go from that guy to guy. And so
finding out the history of the car was almost as good fun as driving the car. And that's what I've
always done with all my cars. I dug into the history because I wanted to find out what happened to
the car, who had it, who drove it, and so on and so on. Yeah. Well, in that spirit, so I mean,
we're sitting next to, by the way, listeners, a lovely 2.7 RS touring, beautiful thing. But you've
also have a 2.7 RS, well, lightweight, but it's an RSH, isn't it, an RS-hologation, one of 17?
17, yeah. So going off, what we've just spoken about, you know, how did you find that car? And
you know, was there a moment where perhaps you realized what it was and then how do you verify that?
Well, actually, like all good things in life, I never knew it was an RS-h in the first instance.
But I've known that car since the day it was delivered in the dealership in Antwerp.
Wow. Because I happened to be in the dealership with my grandfather, who had the yellow RS at
the time of touring. And we were in the dealership. And the first owner, Paul, he took delivery of the
car. So I've known the car since day one. And then Paul, he was a gentleman racer. So in the
weekend, he went out racing with the car. And three times he became Belgian champion with the car.
And he unfortunately died in, I think it was 81. And then his widow kept the car. His widow remarried
a guy I knew very well. And on a regular basis, I called him and I said, are you selling the RS
in the beginning out of curiosity? Because I'm very happy they never said yes, because I wouldn't
have had money. But at a certain moment, I had the money to buy an RS. So I called her again, I said,
Annie, do you sell the RS? And she said, no, we're not selling the RS. Okay, fine enough. And I knew
of another RS that was for sale. And I was owned by a jeweler in Antwerp. I think it was a Syrian
or Lebanese guy. And so I decided to buy that one. And a week later, she called me and said,
you and we've decided to sell the car. And then I fell off my socks and I said, what the hell do
I have to do? And I immediately said, yes, he buy, although all my money was stuck in the first car.
And then I said, Annie, you knew last week that I wanted to buy the car, I bought another one,
so I don't have the means anymore. I'm going to sell the other one. And then I'm going to come
and pay you. And then she said to me, it's all right, fine. Brilliant. So that's how I got to the car.
So I knew, I knew it was a lightweight. I knew it was a third series. I am the second owner
with all the documentation from order form to invoice pictures and blah, blah, blah. But I came
aware of the fact that it was an RSH years years later. Because actually in the beginning, I didn't
know what an RSH was like. Most people don't. And then a certain moment I came aware of the fact
that it was an RSH. Then I started researching the RSHs. And the RSHs are very badly documented.
Even the factory has only I think five or six chassis numbers where they can tell you
what is homologated on the car. On my car, they cannot tell it. I don't even know what is the
homologation part or parts on my car. But it's one of the 17 cars. And the nice thing about it is
all those 17 cars, they're all lightweight in terminology of light steel. So they keep those
cars to homologate over the series. So I have a thin gauge steel car, third series, lightweight,
RSH, second owner. It doesn't get any better than that. If today I can find an RSH, second owner,
I'll buy it immediately. So those are the things that that very hard to find. So basically,
how did I find that car? I knew the car and the existence of the car. And I went after the car on
a very subtle way until the moment that I was able to buy it. And to give you an idea, I still
know of an RS, first owner. I know where it is. But the lady doesn't want to sell it yet.
Yeah, I like it. It's the first owner car, first paint car, blah, blah, blah. So basically,
that's in my opinion, the Holy Grail. Yeah. And I think there are maybe 2345 of
those cars left in the world. So I know where there is one. The one that you see here, the yellow one
is the one that I bought. Maybe, I think maybe 15 owners before doesn't bother me because I know
I traced all the owners and all the years where they own the car. I know what happened to the car.
It was a restored car. And that's what I wanted because this is a car that can drive.
The other one, I'm really afraid of driving it because it's an original car. And if somebody
bumps into it, all originality is gone. Whereas if somebody bumps into this one, we will restore
the car. So it's an expensive car. Let's make that clear. But it's possible to re-restore.
Whereas the other one, if I re-restore, I lose all originality. That's why my lightweight,
I'm not using it. Well, I'm driving it very, very sparsely because I'm very afraid on the roads.
This one, I came over here to have a fill with this car. I don't care. I'm driving back. If it
rains, it rains. I don't care. And it will be with me my time of life here on this earth.
And if it needs to be restored, my son can do it maybe in 20, 30, 40 years.
I have a theory, Johan, in life that sometimes there are cars that find you rather than you
find the car. And it sounds up with that RSH, that car found you.
I think all the cars I have found me. I'm almost certain that, well,
you can say that I was on the lookout for a car, but the car came my way.
Same thing with my very first CRS. The very first CRS was owned by the man of the widow.
And one day I came over to his warehouse and I saw the car and I said,
wow, what a beautiful turbo. And then he said to me, Johan, you don't know what it is. I said,
well, it's a nice looking turbo. And I said, no, no, no, it's an SCRS. I said, what the hell is an
SCRS? I didn't even know what it was. And then he explained me the story and they bought it from
Soleil. So they were basically the third owner. They bought it from Soleil. It was a badly crashed
car. So they really restored it and stuff like that. And then I said to him, Pierre, if one day
you sell the car, call me. A couple years later, he calls me in Alton time and we're talking about
the SCRS. And I was so enthusiastic. I said to him, yes, I'll buy the car. So I put down the phone
and my wife called me over to me and she said, did you buy another car? I said, yeah, I bought
another car. How much do we have to pay? I said, hell, I didn't even ask him how much I had to pay.
So I was so enthusiastic that I said, I want to have the car that I didn't even that I forgot
about the price. And so I called him back and said, Pierre, I said, yes, but how much do I owe you?
Because I always wanted to have the car. I never care much about the price. I mean,
obviously you have to pay. That's for sure. But it was having the damn thing. I wanted to have
the car. And that's how it came. And then the second SCRS was here on the events. Second
Belgian car. I saw it. I talked with the owner and two weeks later it was in my garage. So
I would rather say cars tend to find you and not the other way around.
I like that. Yeah, yeah. I mean, the SCRS, I'm so glad you brought that up because,
you know, that's an exceedingly rare car. You know, a lot of enthusiasts won't know about the
SCRS, you know, 21 of them made, not a road car, unlike any other RS, really. How difficult has it
been uncovering the history of those cars? Because I think you've said to me away from the mic,
you know, over the years that, you know, even the information that Porsche has on those cars is
fairly limited. And you've helped create books on those cars since, right? Well, it's, it's, it
asks quite some digging. I was lucky enough, for example, to buy the archive of Prodrive
with all the written down notes of all the rallies. So basically, I have all the information on
every chassis number, who drove the chassis number, what rally, number plates, settings and
stuff like that. And I was lucky enough to buy it one day. So things like that happened. And I was
always on the lookout whenever there is an auction or something. I tried to go and find out
those things. So that is one thing. Second thing is, I organized a 25 years reunion here in Abbeville
that also helped me to start knowing people who were involved in the project, like Roland Kuzmaal,
Jürgen Barth, people who drove the cars, people who have the cars, talking with them, what are
the histories of the car. So and I always wrote it down. I always had a notebook with me with
chassis numbers and stuff like that. And for my cars, I went into very deep. I went into the
archives. Well, not actually, they didn't exist anymore. But I found the photographers who were
the official photographers for Belga and Bestos back in the day. So I bought a huge amount of
pictures. And then at night, I was comparing pictures, which rally, what car, what are the
characteristics of the car and stuff like that. So I tried to bring everything together that I
could find. And right now, I have for both cars, I think three or four big binders with information
just on that car. And that's been a work of last last 20 years, last something like that last 20
years. And I've been continuously doing that. And I've continuously adding because when I'm talking
last 20 years, that was way before I had the SCR. I already collected all those things, articles
and stuff like that. And that's probably why I have such a good library and information on
what the cars are. And then of course, you need some luck. So at the moment, you need to know
all that car got sold number 11 or number 14, number 15. And I tried to keep track where the
cars are right now. And up till now, it happens. Well, up till now, I've got a good, very good
knowing of which car is where. Yeah. And it helps because you're in a community, you're talking to
other people having those cars, and they bring you in contact with other owners and stuff like
that. So the one helps the other. And therefore, you come to a very tremendous amount of information,
which of course, I would like to put into a book. But as I'm not a very good writer,
I think somebody else has to do it. But I have the information to try the book.
We'll have a chat. Yeah, we'll probably have to.
Can we, can we please talk about the 911 R? Because there, most people,
the every man and woman enthusiast knows about the 2016 R.
Some people know about the 1967 R. And I mean, that to me is just like the high watermark
of Porsche engineering on early cars. I think you're definitely right. That car carries DNA
for every race 911 until today. Yeah. I mean, if you look at the new RSRs,
their great, great, great grandfather was the R. Yeah. And it's amazing because
when you look at the history of Porsche, Porsche had some rally cars where they used on the
Monte Carlo rally, for example. But they were basically street cars. They were not race cars.
And so they used street cars and they were very successful with street cars. And then all of
a sudden it was a young engineer called Ferdinand Piech that came into the factory. And they told
him, well, the first thing you have to start with or one of the first jobs was making a race car
out of a 911. And that is basically how the whole program started. And Ferdinand Piech,
he made the lightest 911 up to that very moment because the idea was making a race car. And then
that very moment, his idea was making 500 cars, like they later used to do or used to think with
the RS. But the people of the commercial department never believed that they could sell an R for that
price with that spares in theory and stuff like that. And that's why that commercial, that project
was canceled on a commercial way. And he only made 20 cars and four prototypes.
So the car had to run when it ran in race, had to run in the prototype category against the
other cars, 312s and stuff like that. So it was a very good car, very nimble car, very fast car,
but it was not up to the speed of the V12s. And the very first race that was done was with
R number three that Valendep and Alford drove in Mugello. And Mugello at the time was a racetrack
of 67 kilometers. So nothing to do with the Nordschleit was about three times longer than Nordschleit.
But on normal roads, the R was very good and was even better than the V12s. And so basically,
they ended the very first race on third position, which was tremendous. But then again, if the R
would have been illicit in, for example, Lamar or whatever, it would have been nowhere because it
wasn't fast enough. It was a fast car, but not fast enough. So and then afterwards, it did very
well in rallying. It really, it won the Tour de France, it won the Tour de course and stuff like
that. Of course, it won the record running Monza in 67. But as a prototype, it didn't stand a chance
against the real prototype with the V12 engines. But every aspect of a race 911 today is found in
the R. And therefore, I think it's the most important car in history of Porsche, the most
important race car in history of Porsche. Although most people don't recognize it as being a most
important car because visually, it isn't all that different from a normal 911 from that era.
It has rear wings that are a little bit wider. It has all those tweaks, polyester and stuff like
that. But if you look at the car, most people will not notice the difference. They will not see
that this car is really something special. But it is, in my opinion, the most special 911 and
has ever existed. I have to say, I completely agree with that. And it's lovely to have a conversation
with somebody of the same opinion, really, because the crazy thing about it all is not a lot of people
know about car. And I think if you if you then look at the evolution, because how I see that car
as a project of one man's obsession with detail and pushing the company to extract this car from
Butsu Porsche's original design, how far can we take that concept? And the 2.7 RS is a homologated
Porsche race car that came along six years later on. It took until then for Porsche to be able to
develop a race car with the same power, 210 horsepower, but even a lightweight is 975 kilos.
The R was 800. 800, yeah. It's incredible. It is absolutely incredible. I completely agree. It's
a quintessence of Porsche engineering of that time. I think that message should be spread around
the community, because not many people know that. And Porsche came out with a 911 R in 2016,
which obviously was a little bit of a mistake. It should have been 2017, but anyway.
And people were crazy about the new R. But most people didn't even know what R was standing for.
And they didn't know the striping, for example. Why was it white and red?
But white and red came from the Monza record run. The Monza record run, for a long time,
people believed that it was white and green, because it was a BP sponsored car. Basically,
it was a white and red car, because it was a Swiss-entered car. And it took a very long time
because before pictures, color pictures showed up where people saw that it was a white, well,
an ivory white and red car. And that's what Porsche did in 2016 with the new R.
But I think that they missed an opportunity to make an R. And I discussed that matter with
some engineers at Porsche. And I said, why the hell didn't you make an R R? Let's see,
throw everything out. No insulation, no nothing. Everything, but we don't need to throw it out.
And then they said to me, we would have liked to do that. But the brass we stood
kept and at that time in Wolfsburg didn't agree. They thought we weren't going to sell those cars.
And I'm sure that they could have sold at least 200 of those lightweight cars,
which would have been real R's. Now, the R is a fabulous car. It marked it area. And I'm talking
about the 991 R. It's a fabulous car. It marked the era. But it's still missing a little bit in
terms of being an R. Now, let's see what happened this year. It's now it's a 10 year anniversary
of the R. So I'm sure that people will dig up the old R to accompany the new R and to make
it into a new team. So I think that gradually people will start to understand what the R is
and what the R stands for, historically speaking. And that's what I'm hoping a little bit that this
year some commemorations are made, where the old R is put into evidence as being the basis of the
race 9-11. Yeah, yeah, definitely. 100% agreed. What's it like there for Johan to own and drive
the most important Porsche, or the most important 9-11 in its history then?
Can you imagine that I never thought of it like that? When I bought the car about 15 years ago,
never thought that I was ever gonna own an R. I was sure the fact that I was never gonna own an R.
I looked at a lot of R's, but I was sure I was never gonna own one. And then all of a sudden,
I was able to do it. And at that very moment, it was about 10 times the price of a 9-11 S.
So some people I talked about, they said that was absolutely crazy, paying so much
money for an old 9-11. I said, okay, let me do it. I'll do it anyway. So I had a tremendous time
with the car. I did everything. I drove to speed, I drove it sideways, on the track.
We obviously went to Monza with the new R when I picked up the new R. So basically we did the
Monza Revisited team. The car was used or at least Porsche demanded me to be able to use the car for
the brochure of the new one. So we went to the system pass. So I did so many things with the car
that basically I cannot add any more experience to it than what I did already. And that's why
I consider that car as being a car for somebody else right now. Somebody else should experience
what I did. I did everything. I contacted the first owner, Dr. Daolio. I spoke with the son
of Ronsoni, who drove one of the cars. I tried to contact the second owner in Japan. Unfortunately,
he had passed away by the moment I talked to him. But I talked with a lot of people
still at the factory that knew something about the R. So it is very important that we could
get that together. Unfortunately, I never spoke to Ferdinand Piech when he was alive about the car.
I would have loved to do that. Although probably he would have talked about the prototypes and not
the R. I don't know. But anyway, it's a tremendous thing and I never would have thought that I could
have bought a 911 R. That's for sure. But I did so many nice things and it's an absolutely
privilege to have owned the car and to have all those memories. It's achingly beautiful. There's a
wonderful, it's a gorgeous pattern on that ivory car as well. It really is. I mean, probably the
day the car goes, I'll probably weep because I know that I will never own an R again. But then
again, I'm one of the lucky bastards that ever had an R in this position and I did all those things
that I did. So it doesn't get any better than that. Yeah, yeah. Is there again, from your
position of experience, is there another car, perhaps not to the same extent of the R, but
certainly even that same remit that perhaps is underplayed for its importance or history on the
Porsche story? Well, I think that there are still some cars that are underplayed. In my opinion,
the car that I would love to add to my collection is the 935. Because an 935 is for me the ultimate
race car that you can imagine. Imagine a three liter, single turbo, six to seven on the brake
horsepower on the rear wheels with the slam nose. I mean, that was pure magic. That
And I'm happy to own the 934, which is a little brother of the 935. But the 935 is still a dream.
And I hope that one day it might come true. So in my opinion, the 935 and especially the
first generation of the 935, the single turbos, because everybody's talking about the double
turbos, and the double turbos drive better and the single turbos differently. But the iconic 935
is, in my opinion, a single turbo car. Yeah. Yeah. Aerodynamically, I just love those,
because this is way before computerization. This is aerodynamics. It is most archaic yet
beautiful form, I think, you know? What Norbert Singer did with that was absolutely, I mean,
trying to find the loophole in the regulations and make you some the enemy, because everybody
tried BMW, tried it, Ford tried it. They all, they all read the same regulations. But none of them
found what Norbert Singer found to make slam notes. Yeah. Yeah. And the slam nose is, you like it or
you hate it, but it is a car that marked its era. Yeah. It's definitely, it's a look inside
Norbert Singer's brain and a mark of his genius. Absolutely no question. No question. And I think
that's that's a car. I mean, all its derivatives that were after the 935 and then you have the
the factory cars, the B2 and the Moby Dick and then the Kramer cars jumped onto the train with the K1,
K2, K3, K4. I mean, that is such a lineage of cars, all based on the same concept of the 911,
where you say that is absolutely amazing. And some people say, well, it's a 956,
962. Yes, they were amazing cars. But in my opinion, making a successful race car out of a 911,
the way they did it with the 935 is much, much more gratifying than with the prototypes because
the prototypes were built to be race cars. The 911 was not built, was not built to become, to win
Le Mans, for example. And it did. Maybe a lucky shot, but it did. So, so I mean, it's, it's
tremendous if you think, come to think of it, what they did with the 935. Oh yeah, definitely.
That kind of sturdy, rugged determination to make a concept work and to make it triumph.
And in my opinion, one of the, the underrated cars at this moment, and most people know the 935,
probably know it because it's slam nose. It's maybe not all that good looking, although it's
up to, to, to taste. But it's a tremendous, tremendous car. Yeah, yeah. I've got one more
question. I mean, I could talk to you all day, yo, and I'm really good, but I'm aware that time's
getting on. But I'd love to ask you again, from your position of experience, to pitch into the 993
RS versus 964 RS debate. And I know, obviously, you've got a 3.8 in the mix as well. And I'm very
much in the 993 camp. I love that car so much. And the 3A is such an incredible machine. And
it kind of sounds obvious to say, but until you've driven it, the 3A, you can really tell,
is the car after the 36, but before the 993 RS, such a fabulous thing. But, you know, if you had,
if you had to pick one out of those three, so we'll keep the 38 in there, you know, which one
would you choose as the, as the better drive and driving purity and why? I probably would choose
the 3.8. Yeah, I think the 3.6 was my very first new RS. So obviously, I have a soft spot for that
car. I bought a new 993 RS, so I have a soft spot for that one. But I think that I when I
compare 964 and 993, I have a slight tendency for the 964 as giving me more pleasure to drive.
That's one, too. The better car of the 3 is the 3.8. Definitely. It's so much better. It looks,
it looks good, but I'm not talking about looks, engine performance and stuff
like that. But the way it drives, it's a leap forward compared to 3.6. And you don't have the
the easygoing chassis of the 993. The 993, obviously with the y-side axle, has a very good axle,
has a very good road holding. But the 964 3.8 has, I think, better road holding
without having all those gimmicks of the 993. Yeah, still feels like a properly classic 911
in the way that the rear of the car behaves. And yet the nose of the car is more predictable,
more planted, I would say, than the 3.6 narrowbody car. The 3.8 is a car where you can write your
name. At the time, we did some articles and people asked me for the pictures to put the car sideways.
And the 3.8, no problem. You can do it with your fingers in your nose and you put the car
sideways and get it back. I had a great shot with the 3.6, but what the pictures don't tell
is that I spun it after the pictures. And the thing is, the 3.6, if you can drift to 3.6,
you're a great driver because the way your suspension is made in the front makes it very
difficult to have the counter steering that you need to go sideways. Whereas with the 3.8,
you can go much, much farther. And obviously, before your spin, you can still get it back,
which you will do with the 3.6. So the 3.6 is a much more difficult car. It's gratifying if you
get it, but it's more difficult. 3.8 is, in my opinion, the better car of the trees, of the tree.
It is, I think, as fast as a 993. But it still has the old school chassis without all the
gimmicks that came later on to get the car better into the road holding. So I would go for 3.8.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's great. It's great to have another opinion into the mix there, it really is.
So, look, Johan, like I said, I could honestly talk to you all day. And I really would like to wrap
this interview up by just saying a massive thanks to you. As I said, I feel very lucky and privileged
to have known you for such a long time. Your generosity has just been unbelievable. And I've
driven some fantastic cars thanks to you. We're talking about the 2.7 RSA earlier on,
and two owner car and whatnot. You know, you let me drive that here. So, yeah, a big thanks,
mate. You're welcome. You're welcome. It's always my pleasure. And it's always my pleasure to see
you here and to host you guys. So, hope to see you in the next couple of years.
Oh, without a doubt. Yeah, thank you. Thanks for joining us on our mix radio. And yeah,
please do join us again soon. We will. Thank you. Thanks, Lee. Bye-bye.
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About this episode
Johan Dirickx talks collecting and sharing Porsche history, from annual trips to Goodwood and Le Mans Classic to why provenance and correcting factory “mistakes” matter. The conversation connects his passion to childhood freedom and family Jaguars, then traces how a grandfather’s RS and first turbo shaped his driving habits. They dig into 911 R and RS/RSR lineage, homologation, and rare variants like RSH and SCRS—plus what makes the 935 such a satisfying 911-based race legend.
In this episode of 9WERKS Radio, Lee Sibley is trackside with one of the most respected Porsche collectors on the planet: Johan Dirickx.
Johan’s collection is the stuff of legend, featuring a staggering array of RS and RSR Porsches, the rare SC RS, and the "Holy Grail" itself: an original 1967 Porsche 911R. We sit down to discuss the origins of Johan’s obsession, what specifically separates Porsche from every other marque, and the technical "soul" of the early R cars.
Finally, we put Johan on the spot to settle the greatest debate in the air-cooled community: 964 vs 993. Which of these two icons truly represents the pinnacle of the air-cooled era?
‘9WERKS Radio’ @9werks.radio is your dedicated Porsche and car podcast, taking you closer than ever to the world’s finest sports cars and the culture and history behind them.
The show is brought to you by 9werks.co.uk, the innovative online platform for Porsche enthusiasts. Hosted by Porsche Journalist Lee Sibley @9werks_lee, and 911 owner and engineer Andy Brookes @993andy, with special input from friends and experts around the industry, including you, our valued listeners.
If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support us by joining the 9WERKS Driven Not Hidden Collective you can do so by hitting the link below, your support would be greatly appreciated.
