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APRIL 2018

Cover Story . Page 10

‘Come in No.1. Your time’s up.’

Issue No. 61/2018 2

Quarterly Newsletter of the Club of Tasmania

A CAMS Affiliated Club

Club Patron and Honorary Life Member – Klaus Bischof Club Honours - John Pooley (2016) Rob Sheers (2016)

Life Member - Leon Joubert (2013)

CONTENTS

Committee…………………………………………… ...... 3

Editorial………………………………………………...... 4

President’s Ramblings…………………………………...... 5

Events Calendar...... ………...... ………………………………...... 7

The Inside Line...... …………………………...... 8

Cover Story: Come In No.991 Your Time’s Up...... 10

Past Events: Orford PCT BBQ……....………………...... 12

Past Events: Richmond Sports Car and Porsche Parade...... 13

Past Events: Targa North West...... …...... …...... 16

Porsche In Depth: Design Influences That Shaped The ...... 19

Porsche Travels: Porsche And Other Fine Cars In Europe...... 22

Porsche Technical: Sunroof Repair...... 27

Porsche Technical: Auction Results ...... ………………...... …...30

Porsche News Snippets...... ……….……………31

Porsche Entertainment...... …...... ………………….34

What Butzi Thinks...... 35

For Sale By Members...... 36

PCT Membership Application...... 38

Opinions expressed in this Newsletter do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Editor, Chairman and Committee members of the Porsche Club of Tasmania, or Dr.Ing.h.c.f.Porsche AG or any of its authorised representatives

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Executive Committee of the Porsche Club of Tasmania

President John Pooley Tel (03) 6260 2895 (bus) 0418 120 055 (m) [email protected]

Vice-President Kevin Lyons Tel 0418 125 820 (m) [email protected]

Secretary Kevin Lyons Tel 0418 125 820 (m) [email protected]

Treasurer Keith Ridgers Tel 0408 127 998 (m) [email protected]

Events Director Todd Kovacic Tel (03) 6239 1666 (h) 0409 214 005 (m) [email protected]

Membership Joe Hand Tel (03) 6227 8381 (h) 0468 348 968 (m) [email protected]

Website Paul Tucker Tel (03) 6229 9244 (h) 0417 557 527 (m) [email protected]

Logistics Rob Sheers Tel (03) 6229 2556 (h) [email protected]

Club Awards Louise Bloomfield Tel (03) 6231 6886 [email protected]

CAMS Official Andrew Forbes Tel 0418 763 787 (m) [email protected]

Northern Members Kerry Luck Tel 0417 518 660 (m) [email protected]

Newsletter Editor Leon Joubert Tel (03) 6223 6461 (h) 0409 236 461 (m) [email protected]

Postal Address: Porsche Club Tasmania, PO Box 910, Sandy Bay, TAS 7006

Meeting Venues:

Hobart: At 7.00 pm (Committee) and 8.00 pm (Members) on the 3rd Tuesday of every month at the Civic Club, 134 Davey Street, Hobart.

Launceston: At 9.00 am on the 3rd Sunday of every month at the Blue Cafe, Invermay Road, Inveresk.

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APRIL EDITORIAL Compiling this issue of Flat Chat has been particularly enjoyable. Thanks to some excellent contributions from our members I have had the privilege to en- joy some great articles well before you will have received your copy of our quarterly PCT newsletter. I hope you also enjoy them as much as I have. In the 70th anniversary year of the founding of the Porsche car company, Paul Tucker has written an outstanding piece on the very early history of Porsche. Even though I thought that I knew quite a bit about Porsche’s early history, Paul has unearthed facts that I never knew about. Adam Foxton continues to provide us with interesting and valuable technical information and experience, and Keith Johnstone keeps up the information flow from the our active and competitive northern members. Andrew Forbes stirs our envy with samplings of Porsche, McLaren and even Koeniggsegg (and fancies a bicycle and a Lego set as well). In this issue we also welcome the return of Club stalwart and Honours member, Rob Sheers, with a very interesting (and new) column reviewing a Porsche-related book. I hope that this will become a regular feature. We also have a very special new contributor from the heart of the Porsche ‘family’. Once upon a time we had the pleasure of inputs from a fellow ‘family member’, Ferdi- nand, who gave us some special insights into Porsche. After someone complained about Ferdinand’s (harmless) opinion of the design of the Panamera, he sadly decided to with- draw his participation in Flat Chat, never to write for us again. Welcome therefore to “Butzi”, who has kindly agreed to join us in a somewhat similar role. Club President, John Pooley, and Vice-President Kevin Lyons, both share some impor- tant information in their regular columns. Please read them, and comment if you wish. Events Director, Todd Kovacic, has done a terrific job of planning the Club’s events cal- endar and for the first time that I can remember we are able to publish a fairly compre- hensive calendar for the entire year ahead. Diarise, and be sure to attend as many events as you possibly can. Finally, please remember that Flat Chat is the common communication medium of the PCT. It exists for you, the PCT members, to share information, opinions, views, ideas, advice, advertisements and general chat. Not everybody can or wants to attend all PCT events, or necessarily participate in Face- book or similar media. So always feel free to use Flat Chat to share your mutual interest in Porsche and our Club activities. Leon Joubert Editor [email protected] 5

PRESIDENT’S RAMBLINGS

Dear Members and friends of Porsche,

Well, our Porsche Club of Tasmania continues to grow and at last count we have 93 members, nearly at the magic 100.

Members that live in the north of our state now number 35 and in the south 58.

Your Committee is thrilled at the growth and are committed to providing members a se- lection of events that are interesting, enjoyable and variable to keep everyone engaged and able to experience our Porsche cars together.

A good mix of state wide events covering social drives, lunches and dinners, showing our cars, mildly competitive events and finally speed events such as hill climbs, standing quarters, regularity on the race tracks and super sprints.

Your Committee would like to cater more for those that want to enjoy their on track and at speed, the way they were designed to be driven! A unique experience that only Porsche drivers are able to enjoy.

As a start to building more speed events we have decided to join with other car clubs on their Club days on track so we can gain experience in various competitions and learn how they are managed and run , until our club is competent to run our own. By joining with other clubs we are able to share the considerable costs of circuit hire, ambulance, Clerk of the Course and CAMS permit fees.

Your Committee has identified four such events across the year. These will be listed in our Club’s calendars for this year with the contact details of the organising Car Club so you can get the supplementary regulations and make a decision to compete or not.

CAMS are again organising a Club Challenge (see calendar) that requires a team or teams from each Car Club of up to 5 and not less than 3 cars to represent their club in a hill climb competition at Baskerville.

It was also agreed that the entry fees of the team or teams would be covered by our Club.

For more information on this event please contact Kerry Luck , Andrew Forbes or John Pooley (Motor Sport Sub-Committee) who will help you to be in one of our club’s teams.

Last year Kerry Luck led our team to third place in the competition, perhaps we can win this year, with several teams?

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I am also very pleased to announce that we have inducted our first female committee member, Louise Bloomfield.

Louise has her own accounting and business practice in Hobart and has taken on the role of Assistant Treasurer and Club Points Administrator. She is currently reviewing these two areas with the plan to take over from Keith Ridgers, our inaugural treasurer, when he retires later this year.

Thank you Louise for standing in after the resignation of Clive Emmerton late last year

This year is the 70th birthday of the first Porsche to go on the roads of Germany.

Porsche #1 , a mid engine ,two seater, 1100cc four cylinder boxer , air cooled engine sports car ,without a roof. This is the car that the Boxster took its configuration all those years later. So we should celebrate our cars birthday and have a party! Or better still celebrate at every event this year?

I leave it up to you to make the suggestions.

That’s enough ramblings, over to you Mr Editor!

John Pooley

President

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Events Calendar April: Mon-Tue 2-3 Easter Weekend Sunday 15th Northern Group Meeting: Inveresk Mo-Sat 16-20 Targa Tasmania Tuesday 17th Committee Meeting: Civic Club Wed 25th ANZAC Day Sunday 29th Drive and Luncheon TBA

May: Fri-Sun 4-6 Barnbougle Golf and Wine Weekend Tuesday 15th Committee Meeting: Civic Club Sunday 20th Northern Group Meeting: Inveresk Sunday 20th PVCC ’Picnic At Ross” Sunday 27th CAMS Challenge Baskerville

June: Monday 11th Queens Birthday Saturday 16th Dinner. Launceston. Sunday 17th Northern Group Meeting: Inveresk Tuesday 19th Committee Meeting: Civic Club.

July Sunday 15th Northern Group. Blue Café, Inveresk Tuesday 17th Committee Meeting. Civic Club Sunday 22nd Drive and Lunch (Hobart) – Venue: TBA

August Sunday 19th Northern Group. Blue Café. Inveresk Tuesday 21st Committee Meeting. Civic Club Saturday 18th Lufra Hillclimb Sunday 26th Economy Run & AGM – Bark Mill, Swansea

September Sunday 16th Northern Group. Blue Café, Inveresk Tuesday 18th Committee Meeting. Civic Club Saturday 29th AFL Grand Final Day

October Thur-Sun 4-7 Bathurst 1000 Sunday 21st Northern Group. Blue Café, Inveresk Tuesday 16th Committee Meeting. Civic Club

November Tuesday 6th Special Committee Meeting (Hillclimb) Venue: TBA Sunday 11th PCT Hillclimb – Baskerville (Tasmanian Hillclimb Series) Friday 16th Presidents Dinner. Venue: TBA Sunday 18th Northern Group. Blue Café, inveresk Tuesday 20th Committee Meeting. Civic Club

December Saturday 8th Christmas Dinner. Venue: TBA Tuesday 18th Final Committee Meeting – Venue: TBA Tuesday 25th Christmas Day Wednesday 26 Boxing Day 8

THE INSIDE LINE

This column provides members with an insight as to some of the internal issues dealt with by your Committee, over the past 3 months.

Committee Changes – Due to work and family commitments, Clive Emmerton has re- signed from the Committee. Clive, unfortunately, was with us for only a short time and down the track, hopefully, may be able to re-join the Committee. We thank Clive for his contribution and look forward to seeing him at future Club events. Local Hobart based accountant, Louise Bloomfield, of Bloomfield & Associates, has stepped up to replace Clive and help out the Committee. Her professional skill set will be an obvious asset to us and in turn, if anyone is looking for accounting services, we en- courage members to discuss their needs with her. Welcome to the Committee, Louise. Club Donation – In January, the Club organised a Classic Car Show at Richmond and through the efforts of your Committee and members assisting, an amount of $2 800 was raised for the Cancer Council of Tasmania. At our recent Committee meeting it was agreed we would donate $200 direct from Club funds for a net return of $3 000 to the Cancer Council should be the result. A Flat Chat article covers the event in more detail. Club Membership – We now have 90-plus members which includes Family Membership (covering all participating members of a given family). The Committee is looking to revise the membership structure to provide for different levels of membership, comprising say – Family; Full; Social and Casual Membership. We are presently researching how other Porsche Clubs address this issue. PCT has always counted all members within a family as “one membership”. The reason for this is CAMS charge a higher Affiliation Fee, based on actual membership numbers. We are trying to avoid the imposition of the higher fee rather than count every individual as a Full Member. However, as the Club grows, it is prudent to review the type of memberships available from both a cost and participation level. For example, to be eligible for Club Champion- ship Points a “Full” Membership should be a requirement. Insurance cover also comes into play and the Club needs to keep up with the latest trends to ensure that we comply with our Duties of Care. We have various membership structures before us at the moment and will address this important issue at our April meeting. It is essential that everyone who participates in a Club event has some form of member- ship in order to be covered by CAMS Third Party Event Insurance (Injury).

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Club Membership (Continued). If anyone is not a member and wishes to participate in a Club Event, then , at consider- able cost, the Club is obligated to obtain a special Permit from CAMS for the event to pro- ceed. This is a reason why we need to introduce an equivalent “Day” membership, at a nominal cost, to ensure we have blanket insurance cover for everyone, including members’ guests, who may also wish to participate socially. Club Championship Points Awards – As a result of the above review of membership levels the Committee also needs to revisit the allocation of points for various events / con- tributions to the Club’s activities. It is our provisional intention that for future events a member must be a Full Member (not ‘Social’ or ‘Casual’) and complete the Events’ registration document in order to qualify for the award of Club points. This issue will also be addressed at our April meeting.

Kevin Lyons PCT Vice President and Secretary

NEW MEMBERS

We welcome the following new members and look forward to seeing you at a Por- sche Club of Tasmania event in the very near future.

Michael and Bianca Pritchard Sandy Bay Leigh Mundy Hobart James Mundy Hobart Ivan and Jennie Poole Verona Sands John Maggiacomo Tasmania Timothy van der Ster Tasmania

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COME IN No. 991 YOUR TIME’S UP - IT’S TIME FOR No. 992 By Leon Joubert The 991 has already been with us for almost seven years. It made its debut at the Frankfurt IAA in September 2011. It was a key model in the 911 pedigree as it revealed a completely new platform for only the 3rd time in the history of the model range. The 991 spawned almost a dozen variants ranging from the 911 Carerra through S, GTS, 4S, GT3, GT3 RS, GT2, R, Turbo, Turbo S, Touring and Cabriolet models. As recently as last year it also set a new benchmark in 911 history by adopting smaller, turbocharged engines across the entire model range (with the lone exception of the 4-litre normally aspirated GT3). Most models in the range now used the semi-automatic 7-speed PDK transmission, again except for the GT3 which was “retro-fitted” with a 6-speed manual gearbox in 2017 after initially also starting off with a 7-speed PDK. The collectible models of the 991 range (notably the GT variants) have already largely been snapped up by enthusiastic owners or speculators and even mainstream Carerra models are thinning out in showrooms. It is time for No.991 to be replaced by No.992 . Porsche has already released an official photograph (below) to confirm the event.

So when will the new 992 be officially released and what can we expect from it? The Paris Auto Salon and Frankfurt IAA alternate annually and this year it will be the turn of Paris in September/October , and the most likely venue for the official reveal of the new Series 992 COVER STORY 11

COME IN No. 991 YOUR TIME’S UP- IT’S TIME FOR No. 992 The official release will confirm the detail appearance and technical specifications of the new model but ramp-up for series production will probably mean that the new cars will only reach most showrooms early in 2019. The Carrera and Carrera S are likely to be the first in showrooms, with other variants slowly feeding into the range over time. As can be seen from variety of test model photographs below, no major surprises are ex- pected in the general appearance of the new range. The 992 will only have slightly revised styling with a mildly raised rump, vertical rear venti- lation slots, full width tail lights, and revised front and rear air intakes the most obvious external changes. Track width may also increase slightly. The new range will also adopt the mainly electronic instrument panel of the latest Panam- era models and spy photographers believe they have even spotted a cup holder - a first for a 911 (!). Some driver assistance, like auto speed controls, will also be offered. Turbo engines will now be universal (even in the GT3) and there will initially be mild 48 Volt electrical energy harvesting and stop-start assistance systems to help emissions and fuel consumption targets. However by 2020 Porsche has hinted that proper electro boost- ing and KERS systems may become available on some models to offer up to 700 bhp. There will probably be power increases of around 22 kW (30 bhp) across the board, and the top models (GT2) will now push towards 650 bhp, and PDK’s will have 8-speeds. Prices for the 992 are likely to increase, unless of course our outdated luxury car tax fi- nally gets scrapped, in which case huge and very welcome price reductions should result. 12 PAST EVENTS

ANNUAL PCT BARBEQUE: DAVIS BEACH HOUSE, ORFORD. - 11 FEBRUARY 2018 The annual PCT beach side BBQ, generously hosted by John and Sue Davis at their wa- terfront shack in Orford, was (as usual) very well attended and (also as usual!) the East Coast weather played along fine after a slightly chilly start. To ensure that no attendees were accidentally left out of Club award points, our Club President circulated an attendance list for all who wished to record their presence. Some, happily ensconced in their wine and victuals, did not bother so we don’t really know how many attendees there were. But there was certainly a nice turn-out and a nice collection of Porsches - as these pic- tures show.

John Pooley thanks the Davis’ for their generous hospitality. Seconded by all !

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RICHMOND CLASSIC SPORTS CAR AND PORSCHE PARADE - 17 FEBRUARY 2018

In his spare time (if he has any) our Club President is also the de facto “Mayor of Rich- mond”, the picturesque and historical 1830’s town in the Coal River Valley, some 20km north-east of Hobart.

The Coal River Valley is one of Tasmania’s prime wine producing regions and Pooley Wines, whose Belmont House and Butcher’s Hill vineyards are located just on the out- skirts of the town, is one of the premium wine producers in the area.

In 2017 John Pooley came up with the idea to combine the Porsche Club of Tasmania’s annual “Show and Shine” with a more broadly based public event in Richmond and utilise it to raise funds for a charitable cause.

The first event was a great success, and this year John and the PCT again organised a sporting car show which raised over $3000.00 for the Cancer Council of Tasmania.

With support from other motoring groups like Autoclassica Tasmania and Club Motori Italia there was a stunning selection of 25 classic sports cars on display on the Richmond Village Green. PCT members also provided 13 of their finest Porsches ranging from a rare 356A Cabriolet, through a 968 Club Sport to the latest 911 GT3 RS.

Left: BMW 850i fronts immaculate Fer- rari Dino 246.

Austin Healey 300/6 reveals its engine, ahead of Lamborghini Ur- racco , Ford GT40 and Ferrari Testarossa in the background

Right: Rare 1950’s AC Ace alongside spotless Austin Healey. Mercedes-Benz 250SL and Lotus Elan (in rare Gold Leaf Team Lo- tus colours) lead up to equally rare Bristol 400.

14 RICHMOND CLASSIC SPORTS CAR AND PORSCHE PAST EVENTS PARADE - 17 FEBRUARY 2018

Almost 2 000 hp trio on display: Lotus Esprit Turbo JPS, Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, and Ferrari 430 Scud- eria Novitec. (The latter car is fitted with a twin supercharged. 707 bhp Novitec conversion).

While some admired engineering from a past time, the visitor (right) had no doubt about his preference ! Event adjudicators Rob Sheers and Andrew Forbes simply had to do their work around him.

PlPlenty of Porsches and people everywhere. 15 PAST EVENTS RICHMOND CLASSIC SPORTS CAR AND PORSCHE PARADE - 17 FEBRUARY 2018

Award Results GRAND CHAMPION Keith Drew, 1923 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost Classic Sports cars (not Porsche) - best in Class;

Pre 1960 – Michael Clark, 1937 Riley Brooklands. 1960 to 79 – Mike Hobden, 1972 Lancia Fulvia 1980 to 99 – Chris Edwards, 1988 Ferrari Testarossa 2000 on – John Toigo, 2008 Ferrari Scuderia 430

PCT Member: Class Awards Pre 1965 1st – Lee Hudson, 1962 Porsche 356B 1965 to 97 air cooled 1st – Rob Sheers, 1982 Porsche 911SC 1980 to 99 water cooled 1st - Joe Hand, 1993 Porsche 968CS 2000 on 1st – Brian Shearer, 2016 Porsche Cay- man GT4

Judges notes; Cars were judged using the following categories – exterior, interior, engine compartment, boot (trunk), wheels & originality. Cars were judged on condition, cleanliness and general care & maintenance. An age bonus was added to scores – this helped balance things for older vehicles. Old original cared for cars with a little patina had the potential to score well. Alternately new cars that weren’t cleaned so well had the potential to score not so well! The newer cars were very hard to judge – it came down to how well they had been cleaned. The “wow” factor wasn’t taken into account - it was hard as there were some very special cars on play! A very ordinary but well-presented vehicle could easily out score a “special” car. The judges may not have had the white gloves on but they did have quite dirty fingers by the end of judging!! 16 PAST EVENTS TARGA NORTH WEST 17-18 FEBRUARY 2018

Report by Keith Johnstone Photos: Courtesy of Jarrod of Angryman Photography

Targa North West was run over two days based from Burnie on the 17-18th February.

A field of 39 competitor cars entered with a smattering of Porsche Cayman GT4,GTS and a Turbo 996 of Tony Quinn. PCT was represented with three teams, Phil Leith, Pete Nunn and Ralph Norton.

Saturdays’ Leg 1 traversed a short sharp average speed stage at Montumana followed by some fast flowing full on stages through Irishtown and Edith Creek. Then, following a pleasant lunch break in the main street of picturesque Stanley, the afternoon stages were via the very fast Oldina stage, and on to the Hellyer Gorge stage, then the final stage of the day back through Hellyer Gorge in reverse direction.

Sunday Leg 2 started with overcast threatening skies with the first stage on Calder Road being dry, followed by wet conditions through Hellyer Gorge and then to the wet and very slippery 21km Savage River stage which claimed a number of competitors off into the shrubbery.

Grange Resources provided their usual lavish lunch in the company canteen which was well received, followed by the afternoon stages, the reverse of the morning, also in wet but drying conditions

Tony Quinn in the leading Porsche AWD pulled some impressive times in less than per- fect conditions.

PCT members fared well, all finishing without incident. Ralph Norton teamed with son Malcolm sharing driving duties and finishing a strong 5th in GT4 class with their Impreza STI.,

Philip Leith with navigator Kim Taylor also achieved 5th place in the Early Modern class driving the powerful Aston Martin Vantage, and Pete Nunn and self had a great event achieving 2nd GT2 class and 4th outright in the Cayman GTS.

Tony Quinn pulled 47 seconds on us to finish 3rd outright and fastest Porsche in the wet conditions.

Ralph and Mal- colm Norton. GT4 Class (Left).

Philip Leith and Kim Taylor’s As- ton Martin (Right).

Peter Nunn and Keith Johnstone. Cayman GTS PORSCHE IN-DEPTH 17 THE DESIGN INFLUENCES THAT SHAPED THE PORSCHE 356 By Paul Tucker The 356 was the first pure Porsche car , the ethos of a company producing purely sport- ing models until the SUV revolution of the “noughties”. Most people are very familiar with the VW Beetle. Not so many recognise a Porsche 356; they were and still are quite exclusive. It cannot be denied the 356 resembles a squashed Beetle , and its mechanical principles and underpinnings were essentially VW derived . At least in the early models. In the polite drawing room of automotive design , plagiarism and innovation make for un- comfortable afternoon tea talk. But artists and designers generally re-interpret the ideas of others. Such is the evolution of human thought and action. The air cooled engined , rear wheel driven, independently suspended and aerostyled car concept was essentially invented by Hans Ledwinka , announced as the Tatra T11 in 1924. Like , he was mechanically gifted yet not formally trained. German engineer Joseph Ganz refined the Ledwinka design by placing the engine in the back, which improving efficiency. The1933 Standard Superior (right) looks a bit like..... a.VW Beetle! Meanwhile Tatra perfected and patented the air cooled engine designs announced in the Tatra T77 in 1934. Hitler was immediately enamoured with this model, suggesting it was the car for his auto- bahns. Whilst employed by Daimler , Dr Por- sche had tried to develop small, rear engine Mercedes models, though there was little sup- port at Daimler. As head of his own new design/engineering company from 1931, Porsche’s was com- missioned by Hitler to develop Germany’s own people’s car , the Volkswagen. As it happened , VW “borrowed” several pat- ents , and lawsuits in the early 1960s re- sulted in financial reparations having to made to Tatra. The VW appeared remarkably similar to the 1930s rear-engined Mercedes 170H! (Left).

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The genesis of the 356 partly lies with Dr Porsche’s strong involvement in motor sport from Edwardian times. While working for Daimler he designed the highly successful Mercedes-Benz SSK racing cars in the 1920s. Hitler, a huge fan of the concept of expressing nationalistic pride and superiority through motor racing , sought out the renowned engineer. The Porsche company was recruited to design the Auto Union Grand Prix race cars, which together with the Mercedes-Benz models dominated pre-war grand prix racing. Think 646 horsepower, in 1937! In this era, aircraft inspired aerodynamics, and efficiency and construction methods were beginning to permeate many car designs, especially racing models. Just before WW2 , the Porsche company built three examples of their first “Porsche”, the Typ 64 (aka Typ 60K10) road race car. This slippery little devil, refined in a wind tunnel, was driven around Carinthia by Ferdinand Porsche himself!

Ferdinand’s son Ferry became the motorsports design supervisor, though wartime saw the company’s efforts expended in numerous military and agricultural machines and as- sociated ordnance. The seeds for a Porsche brand sports car were sown above. After the war it was possible to pursue this dream. Ferdinand had been incarcerated , but his son Ferry fanned the flame. He stated: "We had the idea to build ourselves a sports car, but we had trouble with the government. There was a law preventing a government-owned factory from selling parts out of its pro- duction. After the war this law was no longer in effect and so we made contact with Volks- wagen to obtain parts with which to build a sports car. That was, in my mind, the only way to start production with a minimum amount of money." “By the end of the war I had a Volkswagen Cabriolet with a supercharged engine and that was the basic idea. I saw that if you had enough power in a small car it is nicer to drive than if you have a big car which is also overpowered. And it is more fun. On this basic idea we started the first Porsche prototype. To make the car lighter, to have an engine with more horsepower…that was the first two seater that we built in Carinthia”.

PORSCHE IN-DEPTH 19

In 1947, a single VW based V2 Sagitta was built by yet another German engineer Volkhart, with an incredible drag coefficient of 0.217. No doubt Porsche would have been aware of its existence. A side note: The coach builder Hans Waibel was commissioned by Dr Porsche to build prototype VW based sports cars based on Komenda’s designs for a Vienna fair in 1948.

1947 VW-based Sagitta by Volkhart 1948 VW-based Waibel with Morris grille In 1947 Cisitalia also com- missioned Porsche, Ko- menda and Rabe to design a Mille Miglia coupe, the Typ 370 with a V8 mid mounted air cooled engine. This was never actually built. But the idea of a “VW sports car” was inspired by Cisitalia. In Ferry’s words: “One can state quite frankly that the impetus came from Cisitalia” and “At the time that company was building a small sports care with a Fiat engine. I said to myself : why shouldn’t we be able to do the same thing with VW parts?” Ferry’s pre-war “hot rod” hobby car was soon developed into the venerable Por- sche 356#1 . Produced at Gmund in Austria as a roadster and announced on June 8th, 1948, it was essentially a re-imagined VW Beetle. The body resembled a small boat, reflecting the nautical passion of the Porsche family. Satisfying Ferry’s aim of emulating the Auto Union, the slightly warmed air cooled VW engine was turned 180 degrees so the 1100cc flat four engine was placed ahead of the rear swing axle / torsion bar-sprung shafts and the transaxle trailed behind. This necessitated turning the suspension 180 degrees also. It sported a unitised body and chassis. Cable brakes were used together with the VW steering mechanism. PORSCHE IN-DEPTH 20

Erwin Komenda designed the narrow lightweight body of this first Porsche, with a cd of 0.46, and it was built by Friedrich We- ber. Many of the exterior design fea- tures were influenced by Italian cars of the era. Herewith Porsche #1 at Gmund, near the Aus- trian country factory , a converted sawmill. Erwin Komenda to the left of Ferry and Ferdinand Porsche. The prototype was extensively tested in the Carinthian alps by and the vaunted race engineer Robert von Eberhorst. The 40hp engine could propel the car up to 87mph/140 km/hr!

The early cars used VW mechanical parts. Later these were redesigned to suit the more sporting nature of the 356 in its various itera- tions. It must be remembered this project was the work of many, not just “Mr Porsche”. Crucial team members included body de- signer Erwin Komenda and chief designer and technical director Karl Rabe. Both were highly experienced and regarded German engineers with impressive curricula vitae. Komenda joined Porsche’s new company in 1931, having also worked for Daimler. He was chief construction engineer and leader of the Porsche car-body construction depart- ment . His last design was for the fibreglass body for the 904 race model , completed not long before his untimely death in 1966. He was also part of the Auto-Union and Cisitalia race car story mentioned above, involved in the military Schwimmenwagen and Kubel- wagen vehicles plus the 1950s Spyder. Komenda submitted many design patents. The “Komenda Sweep” became an euphe- mism for the organic shapes he created in his quest for efficiency of production and the “form follows function” ethos of the company. The initial forays utilising aluminium sheets beaten over wooden shaping buck were suc- ceeded by the cheaper steel bodied cars suit- able for greater production numbers. The engine of the production cars was also moved behind the rear axle to reduce costs and allow for two additional seats. .

PORSCHE IN-DEPTH 21 Some alloy bodied cars were however devel- oped into aerodynamically efficient Le Mans race cars, the SL coupes. This is a 1951 356 Gmund SL coupe. (Right). Other design variants included roadsters , coupes , cabriolets and speedsters. Many lent themselves to out and out racing. The aerodynamic body , light weight , solid chassis and suspension dynamics together with the air cooled engine led to many suc- cesses in road and track competition in the 1950s. By 1953 the definitive shape of the Porsche 356 had been well established by the “pre 356A” seen here. Over time engines were enlarged and im- proved with the last iteration (the 1963 356C) sporting a 1600cc motor. In passing , mention must also be made of the frighteningly complex , powerful and successful four cam “Furhrmann” race mo- tor variant of the lightweight Carrera GT/GS . This is a fascinating design subject in itself; some of us were lucky enough to watch an extremely valuable Porsche museum example at the Longford Revival a few years back, under the careful watch of honorary PCT member Klaus Bischof. (Your Editor and Club President were both privileged to actually have runs in that famous and remarkable ex-Mille Miglia car - Ed.). In the early 1960s , Komenda and the Porsche family conflicted over his input into the design of the Typ 901 , later known as the Porsche 911. Apparently Komenda was keen to further evolve the popular though dating 356, whereas Butzi Porsche’s own clean sheet design principles were favoured by the Porsche company. Paul Tucker

References: The definitive tome , “The Origin of the Species” by Karl Ludwigsen , (2012) - a 5 star book to comple- ment Ludvigsen’s other Porsche magnum opus , “Excellence Was Expected”. http://k45-286.blogspot.com.au/ a forensic analysis of Porsche #1, a gripping account. http://flatsixes.com/cars/porsche-356/history-origin/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Porsche https://www.pre67vw.com/history/rabe https://www.komenda-porsche-designer.at/english-1/ 22 PORSCHE TRAVELS

PORSCHES (AND OTHER FINE CARS) IN EUROPE

by Andrew Forbes Looking at my photos from an extended holiday to England, Sweden, Denmark and France in September-October last year, I realise how many include Porsches. It seems that I was suffering from Porsche deprivation and the photos took the place of actually driving my own special Porsche. But, you’ll have to wait until later in this article to see some pictures of Porsches because two events temporarily distracted me. You see, our family holiday included my brother-in-law Graeme, who happens to own a McLaren 650S. It was therefore mandatory to make a pilgrimage while in England to the McLaren factory in Woking, Surrey. The other distraction was visiting a former PCT Member at the Koenigsegg Factory in Sweden. McLaren Cars: Woking, England. McLaren… What a visit! Their design, development and manufacturing centre is set in beautiful parkland with a lake bordering the buildings, all architect designed with spectacular curves like their cars. It is vital to book a tour in advance, which we had done, and we were greeted by our per- sonal guide for the day. Ushered into a private room for coffee, he quizzed us initially to gauge our levels of interest in design, performance or technical aspects, then we were escorted into the display of their most famous racing cars. Similar to Porsche’s development over many years, McLaren’s produc- tion models are all reflections of what they have learned through their racing history. Bruce McLaren’s first racing car is there, bright red and “cute”, followed by an evolution of designs for SCCA, Can-Am and F1.

Seeing all of them in a single line-up really highlights the evolution of aerodynamics as an aid to traction and performance. 23 PORSCHE TRAVELS

The increasingly complex additions to front and rear wings of the F1 cars is where engi- neering and art meet and merge into opti- mised form and function

Like Porsche, McLaren has a research and development division that produces design solutions for fields as diverse as medicine and recreation.

The S-Works bicycle is a good example, which as a cyclist I inspected very care- fully, even though it was as far outside my budget as their cars!

The world championship winning soapbox racer (left) is truly a beautiful piece of smooth wind-cheating, low rolling resis- tance design.

I trust the brakes were up to the task of stopping the orange missile at the bottom of a long steep hill after a gravity-only driven descent.

The S-Works bicycle can be seen behind.

The design and development departments are off-limits to visitors (unless you’re funding the project) so we had to be content with staring through glass partitions at technicians carefully forming prototype components in multiple carbon fibre layers, slowly building up 3-D objects from flat laser-cut Kevlar cloth. Around the corner on the way to the production facility is a full-scale Lego version of a 720S in the same colour as Graeme’s car. I think it would need a rather large box for the 280,000 bricks (too big to fit under the Christmas tree), and a bible sized instruction manual to assemble it. (See photo overleaf). PORSCHE TRAVELS 24

McLaren 720S made from 280 000 Lego pieces. Forbes did not buy the kit.

McLaren’s modest production hall makes Porsche’s factory look immense and there is only an informal version of an assembly line. It is more a series of assembly zones, end- ing with a sealed module where an artificially generated “tempest” of wind and rain is hurled at each finished car to test its leak resistance. Although I will never abandon my Porsche brand loyalty, I must admit to being tempted to pick a red 570S! Who says you can’t collect more than one brand? From One Hypercar Manufacturer To Another. Our next destination was Gaevle, an hour’s drive north of Stockholm, where we spent a week with our daughter’s Swedish exchange student (from her high school days) and her family. After that we headed over to the west coast (many beautiful islands!) then south towards Denmark, but on the way we stopped by a to visit a former Porsche Club of Tas- mania member, Steven Wade, who lives and works in Angelholm.

What’s he doing there?

Well, the lucky lad works for Koenigsegg, the hypercar manufacturer.

I had been in correspondence with Steve some months earlier to line up a visit and learned that, unfortunately, they would not be open for individual factory tours during the period we would be in Sweden. There was a slim chance that we could join group tour if, say, a dozen Porsche Club members all booked for a visit on the day we would be pass- ing by. However, Steve encouraged me to drop in and we could at least see a couple of cars in the showroom.

So we did.

PORSCHE TRAVELS 25 On arrival at Koenigsegg Steve had arranged to have the Australian flag flying from one of the company flag- poles, a nice welcoming touch.

But that was not all… My brother-in-law had secretly corre- sponded with Steve and negotiated a full factory tour as the Forbes/Tait/ Marshall “group”. It was a complete surprise and a wonderful birthday present! (my real birthday was the day before). For the next three hours Steve personally took us into every corner of the factory where we could see the complete process of hand building a hypercar (no photos allowed!). Even the wheels are carbon fibre, laboriously layered up like we saw F1 components being built at McLaren. I hefted one… super light! Returning to the showroom, Steve opened up a bright orange exam- ple of a CCXR so that we could thoroughly examine it inside and out. My favourite though was a slightly used blue CCX which just happened to be on sale for “around a million dollars”

I didn’t even ask which dollars, USD or AUD, as “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it”.

Steve was a wonderful host, and I would encourage any PCT Member to get in touch with him ([email protected]) if Sweden is ever on your overseas itinerary.

Now to Porsche matters…. We stayed at an old farmhouse at Madriat in the Auvergne region of central France for a few days, and one morning while driving on a nar- row road to the local market, I pulled over to let an approaching Porsche pass safely. Surprise, surprise, there followed a dozen more, all on a weekend Porsche Club tour from Lyon, way to the northeast. We lowered the windows, waved and snapped photos as they streamed by, all smiles!

Who wouldn’t on a sunny day in a Porsche in rural France? PORSCHE TRAVELS 26 Next day was even better… In nearby Issoire there is a racetrack originally built and owned by Michelin as their tyre test facility. It is now in private hands, and available like our own Bask- erville and Symmon’s Plains tracks for Club events. A local mixed car club was in attendance so we stopped by to have a quick look at the track and see how the French organise their track days. One particular car caught my eye – a 996 GT3 RS just like mine, except for the red wheels and lettering! I introduced myself in less than perfect French, but the language of Porsche enthusiasts is universal, so we immediately struck a chord!

The owner, a young man from Lyon, offered to take me around for a few laps. Donning a spare helmet and strapping in, I was off for a rocket ship ride. Boy, he was good! I know what to expect from that model Porsche, and he certainly was able to extract the most out of it. We were easily the fastest car of the event, but there were a couple of hot Renault Megane RS’s that were a bit more nimble on the tight corners of the small circuit, which kept my driver honest! No way could they catch him on the straights though!

It’s these unexpected encounters and experiences that make travelling so worthwhile.

Until next time....

Andrew Forbes

PORSCHE TECHNICAL 27

PORSCHE 928 SUNROOF REPAIR By Adam Foxton

(Editor’s Note: The sunroof on the Porsche 928 was made by Golde who made the majority of sunroofs for German luxury cars in the 1980’s. The comments and advice provided here by Adam Foxton will probably also apply to other Porsches of that time, as well as BMW and Mercedes-Benz models).

When I was looking for my 928 I would have much preferred one without a sunroof (head clearance issues!) but being as most had sunroofs fitted, that was not possible. When I found the sunroof non-functional in my initial viewing of the car it was of no real concern for me – there was power to the motor (switch and motor therefore worked, just a seized sunroof). So I just left it as it was and worked on other areas of the car, and just drove it. It was on one of these drives, a fairly wet one, where I found out that my sunroof leaked, badly onto the driver’s seat! As my car was garaged it was not of immediate concern. Only after a second wet outing with another wet seat was it moved up the list of things to do….. First thing that is needed when removing a sunroof is to have it open so to be able to re- move the screws that hold the inside cover of the sunroof in place. As mine was seized and the motor would not turn it I started out by turning the motor shaft. Where the motor shaft joins into the sunroof mechanism there is a large rubberised junction and this is quite easy to grab and turn. Slowly the sunroof started to open and after a while it was open enough to start the dismantling work. My sunroof open for the first time! (Photo right). I had found some information online about remov- ing the sunroof and once the lower sunroof panel is removed, it is a fairly straight forward procedure. There are fixings either side and once these are removed only a little wrangling is needed to re- move the metal sunroof. I was quite surprised at how heavy it was – thick gauge steel. I was expecting aluminium but I suppose they were going for absolute strength as it is part of the roof. PORSCHE TECHNICAL 28 PORSCHE 928 SUNROOF REPAIR

Once I had the panel out I could remove the guides and cable. The cable was very much dry, seized and “gunked” up with old lubricant! The motor needs to be removed to access the guides. All is easy to access once the panel is out. The guides and cable were cleaned up to look like new again! Cleaned vs dirty! (Photo right) One of the surprising things that I discovered was that if you have a leaking sunroof it is most likely not the seal. Apparently they are not designed to seal 100% of the time and that the drains are more vital.

I poured a little water into all four corners of inside the roof area (there is a drain located at each corner of the roof – one down each A-pillar and one each to the sides of the hatch opening) and no surprise that the driver’s side A-pillar one was blocked!

I then spent the next 2 to 3 hours using various methods to unblock the drain.

Water, compressed air and wire proved to be the best (although I have since found that thick brush cutter cord may be good to use as well) and it was finally unblocked!

Corner drain hole for the sunroof clearly visible and circled in red 29 PORSCHE TECHNICAL

PORSCHE 928 SUNROOF REPAIR The next step was to lubricate the cables and guides and reassemble it. Lithium grease seemed to be the best grease for the job as it is resists moisture and has a high drip temperature (melting point if you will), so it should stay in place for quite some time doing its job. All the cables and channels went back in easily with the motor. As always it is a great idea to take photos of anything that you pull apart just to make sure that it goes back the same way! Adjust it slightly upwards or downwards as required so that it is flush with the outside of the roof and all should be good. Once all back in I tested it and now have a fully function- ing and most importantly leak proof sunroof! The now fully functioning sunroof. (Photo right).

POOLEY WINES FLAT CHAT CONTRIBUTOR AWARD We are very pleased to announce that Pooley Wines has offered to provide a prize of a bottle of Award Winning Pooley wine to the “Flat Chat” contributor whose letter, article or photograph is regarded as the best contribution received in every issue of “Flat Chat”. Adjudication will be done by the Club President and the Editor. Our first winner, in the January 2018 issue, was Adam Foxton for his very informa- tive article about refurbishing the engine intake system of the brilliantly engineered Porsche 928. Our easy winner of a the Pooley Wines prize in this issue is Paul Tucker for his fascinating in- sight into the history and origins of the first Porsche sports cars in this, the 70th birthday year of the founding of the marque. Thank you, and congratulations. Please contact John Pooley to arrange to collect your prize.

30 PORSCHE TECHNICAL

RECENT PORSCHE AUCTION RESULTS

1977 Turbo Coupe $119 000

1992 Porsche 911 Cabriolet . Not sold.

1982 Porsche 930 Turbo Coupe $181 000

SOME OTHERS...

1968 Jaguar E-Type 4.2 $174 000

1997 Mercedes-Benz SL 500 $28 500

1987 BMW E30 M3 $65 000

1967 Lotus Elan S3 $52 000

1960 Jaguar XK150 3.8 $105 000

2005 BMW M3 $77 000

Auction results courtesy of Shannons

31 PORSCHE NEWS SNIPPETS

MACAN UPDATE DUE THIS MONTH An updated version of the top selling Porsche, the Macan SUV, is reportedly due for release overseas this month. Photographs of test models have been circulating since 2017 and reveal comparatively few changes to the exterior appearance. New, improved 2.9 litre and 3.0 litre turbo V6 pet- rol engines, jointly developed with Audi, will make their debut in the updated 2018 Macan. A petrol-electric hybrid model will probably join the range later.

PORSCHE STOPS ALL DIESEL MODELS - TRUE OR FALSE? This widely circulated rumour is false. Earlier this year some British motoring magazines claimed that Porsche had decided to terminate the manufacture of all diesel engine Panamera, Cayenne and Macan models because of a new “cultural” policy decision to completely move away from diesel powered cars. That is not true. The production of some diesel models was halted, but apparently only as a temporary measure. The complete truth remains somewhat difficult to ascertain but it is linked to the wider Volkswagen Group “Dieselgate” scandal which is still a long way from being ultimately resolved as it plays out in different international scenarios. Porsche receives its diesel engines from Audi and has made no secret of the fact that its first engine installations were very much of a “plug and play” nature. It has only been comparatively recent that Porsche’s own engineers have been able to fettle the Audi die- sel engines themselves. The Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt ( KBA ), the Federal Motor Transport Authority of Germany, has not been at all happy with Audi about its diesel engines. The KBA claims that Audi had or still have, some software that can mask the emission data of some of its diesel en- gines and has instructed Audi to recall large numbers of cars to fix the issue. This problem also spilled over to Porsche models that use the affected engines (in fact Porsche even sued Audi for damages because of reparation costs) and, to limit any fur- ther damage and risks, Porsche temporarily suspended the manufacturing of the Macan S diesel and the Panamera 4S diesel earlier this year. Diesel powered cars make up approximately 15% of Porsche’s sales in Europe and it will not abandon the product, but it is being meticulous to maintain Porsche quality standards. 32 PORSCHE NEWS SNIPPETS

RECORD SALES FOR PORSCHE IN 2017 Porsche again achieved record sales in 2017 with total sales (246 000) now approaching a quarter of a million vehicles, a remarkable level for a manufacturer of mainly luxury SUV’s and sports cars. Sales were up 4.0 per cent over 2016 and around 28 000 units were of the new Panam- era saloon with an increase of 83 per cent over that models’ results for 2016. SUV’s are still Porsche’s best-selling product range with the Macan SUV selling 97,000 units in 2017, up 2.0 per cent on 2016 efforts, and the bigger Cayenne SUV adding an- other 64,000 units. Around 25,000 Boxster and Cayman sports cars were sold, which is up 6.0 per cent on 2016 efforts. The hero model in the Porsche range, the 911, also experienced decent fig- ures, matching 2016 efforts of around 32,000 sales. World wide sales distribution was as follows:

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TASMANIAN CARRERA CUP ENTRY Adam Garwood has, as far as we know, become the first regular Tasmanian entrant in the Australian Cup series. His first races in 2018 have resulted in some excellent top ten results, and we wish him well for the remainder of the series.

Photo: Chris McGregor 33

34 PORSCHE ENTERTAINMENT FLAT CHAT BOOK REVIEW - Faster, Higher, Farther - by Jack Ewing

You may ask what has a book about the Volkswagen scandal “Dieselgate” got to do with Porsche. The answer, a great deal! I came across this book on the Financial Review’s recommend New Year’s reading list. It sounded interesting and worth a look so I put it on my Christmas wish list and I was lucky! Once I got started I quickly found out it was one of those books that is hard to put down. While yes, the main theme maybe “Dieselgate” but it is much more. This is a book about people (driven people), companies, determination, naivety, politics, research and techni- cal endeavour. By mid-2015 Volkswagen had over taken Toyota to become the world’s largest car maker, things were looking good for the VW Group. And a few months later the US EPA announced that it had discovered software in some diesel models that was acting as a defeat mechanism during emissions testing – and with that the world of VW changed dra- matically. This book has been very well researched and goes right back to Ferdinand Porsche’s early days well before VW existed and builds from there. It is 273 pages long, and after enticing the reader in chapter one, Ewing doesn’t actually get to the scandal until about halfway through. The first half is the story of Volkswagen, the creation of the “People’s Car” (the Beetle) driven by the Nazis and the ties between Audi and Porsche. As we know, Ferdinand Porsche’s company was responsible for designing the “People’s Car” in the 1930’s. And there has been a connection between Porsche and VW ever since. What’s amazing is how much influence the Porsche and Piech families had on VW and continue to have to this day. The VW Group may now own Porsche but the Porsche families are the main shareholders in VW and apparently hold more than 50% of the com- pany voting rights. Jack Ewing has done a great job on this publication – there are a few slower pieces that get a little technical but it’s mostly very interesting and fast moving. A surprisingly good read, I recommend this book and especially to Porsche enthusiasts. Rob Sheers 35

WHAT BUTZI THINKS I’m pleasantly amazed at what started with a few gatherings of enthusiasts so many years ago has now grown into hundreds of Porsche Clubs worldwide! It all started with our little 356 so many years ago and grew even stronger once the 911 became accepted, and has gone on from there. The gathering of like minded people to compete, socialize and have fun always seemed like a good idea to me. I think it’s important to understand that a Porsche club is not a business but a not –for - profit organisation that exists only to serve its membership. The most successful clubs I’ve seen are those that are more concerned about the fun and competition than the bank balance. How successful a club is depends on its members. Yes, clubs all have committees to organise things but the best experiences and most fun are had by the members of clubs that have good member involvement. I have watched with interest as Porsche Club Tasmania came together about 15 years ago with the gathering of a few like minded Porsche enthusiasts. This small but active club has seen some really great times over the years. The small committee works well to provide enjoyable and interesting events but I can’t help thinking that with a little more member involvement it could be even better. I’m sure many members have some good ideas for events and others are keen to help. I encourage those with ideas and who would like to help to contact the clubs’ event director or any member of the committee. I also encourage your committee to seek greater member involvement. This, over time, would increase enjoyment for all and lighten the load of your committee. Enjoy your Club and your Porsches! freundliche Grüße Butzi

NOTIFICATION: CLUB AWARD SCORING Members will note that this issue of “Flat Chat” does not contain the usual update of scoring towards our annual Club Awards. Members’ participation in all events, and their contributions towards organising events and submitting material to “Flat Chat”, are still being recorded by Louise Bloomfield and award points will be correctly allocated as soon as the Club membership structure and points scoring system has been refined - as reported in “Inside Line” on page 8. Updated award scores and corresponding information will be published in the July 2018 edition of “Flat Chat”. 36

FOR SALE - MEMBERS PAGE

PORSCHE 996 GT3 CUP CAR 2003 First entered in Carrera Cup in 2003 by VIP Pet Foods. CAMS log book duly signed and stamped shows the full history of the car and its track record since new. I am the fourth owner/ driver of the car after Sherrin Motorsport as the log book indicates. I bought the car from Wayne Hennig in August 2008 in excellent condition and enjoyed several years of club sprints with PCQ and a magic long weekend at Bathurst organ- ised by Trackcorp. The car underwent a complete engine rebuild by Cragsted Performance Engines in 2010 and has spent less than 15 hours on the track since mainly due to health reasons. The car is now silver in colour. Photos and much more information is available on request by those genuinely interested. The car has never had a collision since I’ve owned it as senior PCQ members would know and the log book indicates very little damage earlier. Included are 3 sets of wheels, 2 with slicks and 1 with wets, gauges, high pressure hose and lance for the air jacks and jack stands and tie down wheel rings. Price $75000.00 Contact Trevor Needham 04177 33 275. Email [email protected]

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