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Petrolicious explores long-term living with Porsche's 914/6

After its last video starred none other than the spectacular Ferrari 250 GTO, where was there for the video team at Petrolicious to go? Certainly, in the realm of classics, there are only a few other vehicles that can match the badge and pedigree of the ultra-rare Ferrari. Maybe a Jaguar D-Type or an Aston Martin DBR1? No, this latest video doesn't star either of those British icons. It stars an oft-misunderstood, occasionally derided entry from Germany's most sporting manufacturer - Porsche.
Yes, we've gone from a Ferrari 250 GTO to a Porsche 914/6. As is often the case with Petrolicious, though, the story told about the car by its owner are often more important than the make or model of car being highlighted. That's exactly the case here, as Jack Griffin talks about the 38 years he's spent with this particular Porsche.
Having been born into the Volkswagen fold and introduced to Porsche in the best way possible - behind the wheel of a 356 - Griffin has some interesting stories (including his attempt at running the 12 Hours of Sebring), and he knows a fair bit about some of the 914's attributes.

Porsche launches classic racing program with restored 917k

Porsches is launching a historic racing program to support private owners of its competition classics. The program will offer customers support restoring and repairing their racecars. It'll also help get vintage vehicles up to spec for modern safety equipment. The company is developing a network of trusted specialists, and will continue supplying spare parts and trackside technical assistance at major historic events. Porsche will also offer to store and maintain privately owned classic racers at its facilities – like the new Porsche Experience Center that's soon to open in Los Angeles – putting them on display for visitors to admire and even transporting them to and from the track for racing events. To highlight the newly enhanced program, Porsche is showcasing this restored 917K. This particular example, resplendent in iconic Gulf livery, won the thousand-kilometer race at Spa in 1971, and was entrusted a few years ago to Porsche Motorsport North America for restoration. It'll be participating in the Rennsport Reunion at Laguna Seca this weekend, but whether or not you'll be in Monterey for the event, you can check it out in the image gallery above. Restored Porsche 917K returns to US race track after 40 years Porsche provides new services for historic motorsport Stuttgart. Historic Porsche race cars represent many victories at the 24-hour classics of Le Mans and Daytona. And they also celebrated memorable successes at 1,000-kilometre events on storied circuits such as the Nurburgring and Spa-Francorchamps. To ensure that these vehicles can still be admired at race tracks today, Porsche now also offers customers a comprehensive service for historic motor racing in Germany and the USA. The priorities of the new business field are to restore vintage race cars as true to the original as possible as well as to repair and maintain them. "These vehicles have written motorsport history and have gained in value, at times markedly, in recent years," says Jens Walther, President & CEO of Porsche Motorsport North America in Santa Ana/California. "The historic motor racing scene has an extremely strong following in the USA, but many of these vehicles can also be seen on European race tracks. An increasing number of owners are now recognising how important it is for future gain that such vehicles undergo a true to original restoration." The figurehead for the new business service is the now completed restoration of a Porsche 917K.

Steve McQueen's last Porsche headed for auction

Most people might be happy ordering a new car off a lot, but Steve McQueen was most definitely not "most people." The Hollywood icon was known to custom-order his cars. What you see here is the last car McQueen would ever order, and now it's going up for auction. This is a 1976 Porsche 911 Turbo Carrera (known to aficionados as the 930) that the actor had done up in Slate Gray, with sunroof, dual mirrors, a limited-slip differential, black sports seats, and a switch on the dashboard to kill the taillights in case he was being pursued at night. Chassis number 9306800408 is powered by a 3.0-liter flat six that's turbocharged but (in a rare early configuration) not intercooled. The air-cooled engine features Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection and drives 234 horsepower through a four-speed to the rear wheels. McQueen ordered the 930 new from Bob Smith Porsche in Hollywood. He died a few years later, never having special-ordered another new car – making this the last of its kind. "This car is rich in history," said his son Chad McQueen. "This is the last of the McQueen cars, really. That's known. That's real." And it can be yours, if you place the right bid. Mecum Auctions has it on consignment for its upcoming event during Monterey Car Week, with a portion of the proceeds to benefit Boys Republic – McQueen's own alma mater. STEVE MCQUEEN'S LAST SPECIAL-ORDER PORSCHE TO BE OFFERED AT MECUM MONTEREY 1976 Porsche Turbo 930 Personalized by The King of Cool to Cross the Block Aug. 15 WALWORTH, Wis. – July 14, 2015 – The very last car special-ordered by The King of Cool—the late mega movie star Steve McQueen—will be offered for sale at the Mecum Daytime Auction in Monterey this Aug. 13-15 at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa – Del Monte Golf Course. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the 1976 Porsche 930 Turbo Carrera will be donated to McQueen's alma mater, the reform school Boys Republic. "This car is rich in history," says McQueen's son Chad. "This is the last of the McQueen cars, really. That's known. That's real." McQueen's untimely death in 1980 at age 50 made this 1976 Porsche 930, chassis 9306800408, the very last of his special-order cars. His insatiable and notorious need for speed and his affinity for fine automobiles meant always having the best sets of wheels, and his Porsche 930 is no exception.