Category: R Gruppe Europe

As I write this post, a fantastic event is taking place to raise funds for a fellow R Gruppe member in California. The benefit is in aid of long-serving Gruppe member Roger Grago, who is currently recovering from brain surgery.

At the time he was diagnosed, Roger was in the middle of switching from one job to another, and one health insurer to another, so when he suddenly needed emergency surgery to take a tennis ball-sized tumour out of his head, he was uninsured. Though the surgeon donated his services, there were still hospital bills and follow up treatments to pay for, running into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Roger’s R Gruppe and Der Kleiner Panzer networks swung into action, quickly organising hospital visits [...]

Could Porsches be made out of wood? Absolutely, and I’ll tell you how, with the help of a long lost friend.

When I was 16-17 years old, we hung out at hockey and soccer club member parties in The Hague with a group of about 15 guys. We all arrived together, all wore a yellow sports jacket and adored Billy Joel. The man I’m going to write about was a mate of mine in that era, and we lost touch about 30 years ago.

Diederick Kraaijeveld is by now a well known artist in a niche all his own: Images composed out of redundant wood. He and I hooked up again after all these years via LinkedIn. He invited me over to his atelier in Hilversum where we would attempt to fill in 30 years of blanks….

Diederick finished university and worked as a television investigative journalist. In that capacity he won a prestigious prize [...]

I spend a lot of time with fellow R Gruppe buddies in the USA over the course of a year, travelling with my friend and car photographer Jamie Lipman. Jamie and I catch up with the latest must-see Porsche 911 hot rods, and shoot and write stories about them.

Through my Stateside trips, I’ve met some great people. Fuchs expert Harvey Weidman is one, Arizona desert resident and Martini RSR/Kremer ST builder Gib Bosworth another. This year I met yet another 911 addict: Sam Gassel, from Virginia Beach. These three guys have all played a part in building one of the coolest 911s to come out of the USA for some time.

Bosworth is fast becoming a legend in race replica circles. His much-admired Martini RSR homage now lives in the UK, with R Grupper Mike Moore. Mike’s been [...]