Tag Archives: Stefan Kotze

When A Genuine Porsche 930 Turbo Slantnose Isn’t Enough…

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When A Genuine Porsche 930 Turbo Slantnose Isn’t Enough…

 

Introduction

 

The Porsche 930 Turbo ‘Flachbau’ – more commonly known as the Slantnose – is an extremely special car in stock form. But when you have one worked to the hilt, it’s something else.

The idea of a road-going 935 came about when Kremer Racing started making conversion kits for 930 Turbo models, with bodywork that resembled the famous Porsche 935 race cars. Then in 1982, watchmaker TAG Heuer’s co-owner Mansour Ojjeh commissioned Porsche to develop a one-off road-legal version of the 935, which Stuttgart did using a body shell from the 930 and fitting fabricated 935 body panels to it. The specially commissioned car also borrowed suspension and brakes from the 935 race car, a 3.3-litre turbocharged flat-six engine from the 934 race car, and was finished in Brilliant Red with super-dished BBS magnesium wheels. As you might expect, Porsche immediately began fielding requests for a similar factory offering.

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They eventually obliged too, adding the Flachbau (‘flatnose’ or ‘slantnose’) 930 to their Sonderwunschprogramm (special order program) from the 1986 model year.

This was basically an otherwise normal 930 with a 935-style slantnose instead of the normal 911 front end. Each car was handcrafted, which involved a complete remodelling of the the front fenders, so unsurprisingly, the Flachbau conversion wasn’t cheap – a 60% premium over the normal car to be exact. A total of 948 units were built, 591 of those being convertible models.

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Since then, there have been countless replica Slantnoses built, but this one is the real deal, as verified by Porsche AG. It’s still finished in its original Carmine Red, with some added Coca-Cola graphics.

Big Power

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If you know your Slantnoses, you’d already have noticed the rear wing, which wasn’t part of the standard offering. But this oversized unit had to be added to allow a larger intercooler to fit. Yes, the owner of this rare beauty was happy with the factory 330hp for a while, but eventually got bored I’m guessing. He wanted more; a whole lot more.

Today, tuned through a state-of-the-art MoTeC M84 ECU it makes a dyno-proven 486kW (651hp) and 794Nm at the wheels only a lowly 1.1bar (16psi) of boost pressure. The engine has been built for more though, and I’m told it should make close to 700kW (938hp) with around 2.2bar (32psi) dialled up. Although actually being able to drive it with that amount of power would be… interesting.

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As it always is with 911 Turbo engines, when you pop the rear lid you can’t see much. In this case it’s taken to the extreme with a massive custom-fabricated, twin-core Garrett intercooler staring back at you.

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The 3.3-litre engine itself features 930 Turbo Mahle Motorsport cylinders and forged pistons, along with Pauter I-beam rods, GT2 Evo cams, uprated valve springs and titanium retainers, and ARP hardware throughout. The intake manifold is a modified, newer-generation 911 Carrera unit which was cut and enlarged so it could be paired with an 80mm throttle body. Meanwhile, fuel is fed via Bosch Motorsport injectors, and there are 12 individual electronic coils for the twin-spark setup. To help eliminate any oil starvation issues, a complete GT3 oil pump conversion was made.

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The aforementioned boost is supplied by twin Garrett GT3071R turbos with Precision 46mm wastegates and a TiAL blow-off valve, all plumbed into a custom exhaust.

Even on the low boost setting, a lot of power is being made here, and helping it get to the ground is the factory 4-speed 930 Turbo gearbox with a Spec high-torque, single-plate clutch.

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Although the car sits really low, the suspension hasn’t been tinkered with. It’s still 100% stock. Of course, the 930 Turbo had decent suspension, but that was designed for factory power levels, so I’m not sure how it would fare with the boost turned all the way up.

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The wheels are proper ’80s racing porn – tasty BBS magnesium centre-locks with reverse faces. They’re wrapped up in Toyo Proxes T1 Sport tyres, 235/45R17 up front and 265/40R17 out back.

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In the brake department, although the stock calipers were retained, there are upgraded cross-drilled discs and competition pads all around for improved stopping power.

Get In

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It’s crazy to think you’re looking at a car from the 1980s when there’s a speedometer that reads all the way up to 300km/h and a factory boost gauge too.

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But with the black leather trimming, aluminium shifter, and Rennline floorboard and pedals, the cabin feels surprisingly modern.

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Taking an iconic Porsche and making it even better is always a good idea. In this instance, I believe it was a great idea.

The Coca-Cola livery is also well-suited for me, as just like Coke, driving this car must be super addictive.

Stefan Kotzé
Instagram: stefankotzephoto
info@stefankotze.com
www.stefankotze.com

Gallery

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Editorial Director:
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Commercial Director: Ben Chandler
Creative Director: Mark Riccioni
Contributing Editor:
Dino Dalle Carbonare
Technical Editor: Ryan Stewart
Concept Artist:
Khyzyl Saleem
Contributors: Will Beaumont, Keiron Berndt, Jordan Butters, Ron Celestine, Mario Christou, Cian Donnellan, Matthew Everingham, Blake Jones, Stefan Kotze, Vladimir Ljadov, Paddy McGrath, Sara Ryan, Trevor Yale Ryan, Dave Thomas, Simon Woolley, Naveed Yousufzai

 


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Piazza Motorsport: A Hidden Gem

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Piazza Motorsport: A Hidden Gem

 

A few weeks ago we featured a beautiful and boxy Zakspeed Escort recreation built by Piazza Motorsport here in South Africa.

Looking at the Escort build, it’s hard to believe that it would have come out of anything less than a fancy, high-profile shop. But if you think that, you’d be mistaken.

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Piazza Motorsport’s shop is located on a smallholding in a residential area, with no signage at all. Driving up to the gate, it’s a completely unassuming facility.

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Entering the property and heading up the driveway, I was greeted by a few Fords that have seen better days and a Chevy C10 cab being worked on.

At this point, I don’t think anyone could predict what they’d find inside the building. But a surprise awaits…

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Walking inside, the first car I see is a TVR Tamora. Piazza Motorsport were busy rebuilding this one’s 3.6L six-cylinder DOHC ‘Speed Six’ engine.

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Before I go any further, it’s probably worth me quickly talking about the shop itself, which Paolo Piazza Musso founded back in back in 1987. The Piazza Musso family comes from a long line of racers with successes dating back to the mid-1960s.

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Giovanni Piazza Musso, Paolo’s father, was the Italian karting champion in 1965, won the SA Production Car series from 1976 to 1979, and is a multiple South African and European rally champion. He was also awarded the SA State President’s award and is a recipient of the Motorsport South Africa (MSA) long-time achievement award.

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Before getting into cars, Paolo was a South African and Italian national BMX champion. Once he moved onto cars, his first big win was becoming Class B national rally champion in 1995, and he also raced and won in Super Trucks. His brother Claudio has also had a successful kart career, claiming the national title seven times.

Paolo still does the occasional race here and there, but they’re mainly invitational events these days.

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Having been involved in South African motorsport for so long, Paolo has become well known and respected for building some great race cars. He’s also branched out over the years with more specialised work, including restorations.

When I visited the shop there were some pretty classics in for some work, including a stunning Jaguar E-Type.

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The colour on this Mercedes-Benz 190SL roadster restoration is so perfect. This will be the ideal classic weekend cruiser once Paolo is done with it.

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Paolo is a real expert when it comes to Fords – something we’ve seen in the Zakspeed Escort build – so I wasn’t surprised to find a few blue-oval-badged cars under the knife. This Capri is not a restoration, but rather a full custom build with new paint, big brakes and a fresh engine. It’s going to be really awesome when completed.

The black rally Escort was one of my favourites; it looks so ready to go and tear up everything. You obviously can’t go wrong with a Gulf livery either, especially when it’s applied to a classic.

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This shop is definitely well-equipped, and Paolo and his small team do as much fabrication as possible in house.

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But no matter how packed your workshop is, it’s always a good idea to have a well-organised storeroom. Paolo’s is super-neat in this respect; everything has its place, which not only looks good but makes it easy to find a specific part when its required.

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Next to the main workshop is a store room for race cars. The yellow McLaren M10B is an original car, chassis #17, that was originally raced by Formula 5000 champion John McNicol and now regularly competes in hillclimb events. The Alfa Romeo race car was supposed to go to the Goodwood Festival of Speed and be part of Alfa’s 110 year celebration this year, but COVID-19 obviously screwed up those plans.

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Memorabilia makes any car place a million times cooler, and Paolo has a whole bunch of magazines, books, posters and even some cool RC cars on display.

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Piazza Motorsport is a really cool old school spot, with even cooler cars. I love finding places like this that do such a wide spectrum of work. When, like Piazza Motorsport, they do quality work and don’t work on modern and everyday cars, it impresses even more.

Stefan Kotzé
Instagram: stefankotzephoto
info@stefankotze.com
www.stefankotze.com

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Team Speedhunters

Editorial Director:
Brad Lord
Commercial Director: Ben Chandler
Creative Director: Mark Riccioni
Contributing Editor:
Dino Dalle Carbonare
Technical Editor: Ryan Stewart
Concept Artist:
Khyzyl Saleem
Contributors: Will Beaumont, Keiron Berndt, Jordan Butters, Ron Celestine, Mario Christou, Cian Donnellan, Matthew Everingham, Blake Jones, Stefan Kotze, Vladimir Ljadov, Paddy McGrath, Sara Ryan, Trevor Yale Ryan, Dave Thomas, Simon Woolley, Naveed Yousufzai

 


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