RARE BREED BOXSTER - JZ Machtech

Sorjo Ranta at the wheel of
his 901, a car that he’s had
from new in 1964 and
bought straight from
Porsche’s London Motor
Show stand at Earls Court.
It was in fact the first
901/911 in the UK
Travelling on backroads, the route north from Monte
Carlo took them to Stuttgart where, coincidentally, staff
from Porsche GB were visiting the factory. ‘We got there
just as the reception started. The men were all in suits
and the ladies were in long gowns and we were in grungy
clothes, having been driving the scenic route. Who should
come along but Huschke von Hanstein and his wife. We
told him, “we can’t go in there,” but he said, “oh no, leave it
to me.” He went ahead with Aira on his arm and I went in
with his wife, and he very loudly announced, “Mr and Mrs
Ranta are here!” That man had style.’
The Porsche Competitions Manager knew who they
were because of the car. ‘It was an “open sesame” to all
kinds of interesting people in England through the
Porsche Club,’ recalled Sorjo. ‘Jim Parker in Westmoreland
started doing the servicing because he was only about an
hour away, but before that I used to have to drive to
London from Preston. Actually that wasn’t a big problem
because there weren’t any speed limits so I could cover
100 miles in an hour, no sweat, and not much traffic. I
could drive by a police Jaguar saloon going hell for leather
and they didn’t pay any attention to me, which was nice!’
Not everyone was so impressed, though. They arrived
back in Southampton docks after their
Monaco/Stuttgart adventure to be greeted by a
customs officer nursing a hangover who refused them
entry. ‘He told us, “you can’t bring the car into the
country, your time is up with it.” We’d heard that you
could get a six-month extension so we made our case on
that basis. Then a guy came in with a yacht who’d been
to a regatta in France and they discovered 30 cases of
wine hidden in his hull, so they were now dealing with
two difficult cases. Eventually they said, “right, we will
give you six months but no more.’’ ’
Temporary repatriation for the 901 was on the cards.
Aira landed a job in Bremen, north Germany, so the car
would leave the UK in any case. En route to Dover they
planned to attend a race meeting at Brands Hatch.
‘Before we got to the circuit I started having trouble
getting the car out of gear. Ok, I thought, the clutch
cable is stretching. We pulled into a lay-by and I jacked
the car up and got underneath. I had the original toolkit,
of course, so I adjusted the clutch cable and we were
back on the road, but at the first gearchange the same
Better than new? Possibly!
Sorjo’s 901 has undergone a
painstaking restoration by
Ruf. This is chassis no 24
and is one of 82 cars to
feature a 901 chassis tag
before Peugeot intervened
42 911 & PORSCHE WORLD