Classic records

Porsche has once again triumphed at New Zealand’s prestigious Ellerslie Classic Car Show and Intermarque Concours d’Elegance, held in Auckland earlier this year. Widely regarded as the country’s most prestigious national concours, the event comprises two main categories: the Masters class, where participating clubs enter a single car for judging, and the Teams event for club entries of two cars. 

This year saw the Porsche Club of New Zealand enter two special 911s into the Teams event, a category the Club scooped in 2021 with a pair of impeccably restored 356s. 

The remarkable win was an exciting addition to the show’s 50th anniversary celebrations. With the 2022 event cancelled due to the global pandemic, 2023 became the Club’s opportunity to secure a consecutive victory and build on its record for the greatest number of category wins at the event.

“More than 80 different marque clubs participated in this year’s show,” said Ashley Powell, President of the Porsche Club of New Zealand. “The level of judging in the Concours at the annual Ellerslie event can only be described as intense. The smallest imperfections and details are reflected in the scoring.”

Amongst the world-class field in this year’s prestigious Teams event stood the 1970 Porsche 911 E Coupé of Wayne Marmont and the 1967 911 Coupé of Craig Whitehead. Superbly prepared, both cars earned an exceptional combined score of 1,102 points from a possible 1,180 points, sweeping the field and almost eclipsing the Club’s record score of 1,119 points from 2021. 

In fact, Marmont’s magnificent Signal Orange 911 was judged Best Overall Car in both the Teams and Masters class events, scoring 554 points. Whitehead’s stunning Sand Beige 911 sealed the winning Teams tally with 548. 

“The years of restoration and countless hours of preparation by the Club’s Concours Team definitely paid off,” Ashley said.

The Porsche Club of New Zealand has a long and illustrious history with Auckland’s Ellerslie Classic Car Show and Intermarque Concours d’Elegance. Throughout the event’s history of more than 50 years, the Club has won the Teams event, the competition’s glamour category, more times than any of the other competing marques and clubs. The Teams event, Masters class and Survivors class are judged to the highest standard and judging is carried out by a team of independent judges from the Thoroughbred and Classic Car Owners Club (TACCOC).

The club that wins the Teams event at the Ellerslie Concours has the privilege of hosting the following year’s show. In the case of this year’s edition, it almost didn’t happen. 

After the Club’s comprehensive 2021 victory with Allan Shanahan’s 1957 356 Speedster and Martin Rees’s 1959 356 A T2 Coupé, and then the event’s 2022 cancellation, everyone at Porsche Club New Zealand was eager for this year’s Concours. The arrival of Cyclone Gabrielle earlier this year and unexpected flooding caused a two-month delay. The result, however, was worth the wait. 

“A tremendous amount of work went into preparing both of these early 911s,” said Ashley. “Along with everyone involved in preparing the cars and hosting the show, special thanks must go to Continental Cars Porsche in Auckland for their support. They have supported our Club and this important annual event for many years, and it’s this type of commitment that is essential to classic Porsche communities around the world.”