Porsche

Feels like if you can find good versions of those, those are the obvious choices.

So once again, Sam, I am im- I'm placing a Porsche ban on today's challenge.

Fair.

Um, so with that in mind, what sensible options have you found that are actually quite interesting?

Yeah.

So if you, uh, like my car or Sam's car, you can vote on it if you are listening to this on Spotify, or you can head onto my article on the Pistonheads homepage, go into the topic, and, uh, put your own suggestions down, letting Sam and I know that we are pretty rubbish.

Now, um, I did put a Porsche ban on this, but I did find the perfect car on Pistonheads Auctions.

Oh, yeah.

Right.

It's, i- if you look at where our customers come from, they start at a relatively young age with a BMW M3 and then a 911 Porsche, and then they buy their first Ferrari or their first Aston Martin, and then you have this huge pool of people that are absolutely happy with that, right? Lamborghini buyers, definitely in that category.

And McLaren, at the time, wasn't, uh, uh, producing any cars.

It was way before the MC4, MC12.

Le Mans was a completely a different ballgame.

We were very competitive at Le Mans, uh, and we had a two million euro budget at the time, right, where the big, uh, OEMs, uh, had, uh, 100 times more.

But we did in 2009 beat every single Porsche at their own game.

Hmm.

It was the historic Suzuka 1,000 kilometer race, a triumphant return to the world stage, drawing a very elite grid of international stars, which of course included IndyCar powerhouse, Mr. Scott McLaughlin was there.

So it was a very star-studded field where the AO by Absolute Racing delivered a masterclass with their bushy Rex Porsche 911 GT3 R as the driver trio of Lauren Heinrich, Julian Anlauer, and Alessio Picariello stormed through the pack to claim a dominant victory and give Porsche its first Suzuka 1,000 kilometer win since 1994.

And you know what I think's the coolest about this is similar to what we were talking to Connor Zilich about with the 24 Daytons, bringing all these different racers together for one premier event.

It is.

So each client at Singer can personalize his own car.

So you have pink Porsche 911.

It's your taste, you know? So they made

something very, very unique with it.

It's a little bit, it's a little bit...

Like taking your kid out for driver's ed and putting them behind the wheel of a Ferrari or a Porsche or a Corvette.

Are there kids who can get behind that wheel and operate that vehicle safely? Absolutely.

Most kids at 15 and a half years old, having only ridden around in mom's Suburban or dad's pickup truck or big brother's Honda Civic, are simply not going to understand how to operate that vehicle god forbid you put them in something like a lamborghini that doesn't function the way normal cars function i mean you know double clutching and paddle shifting and all of that stuff that some of us as grown adults don't even really understand or wouldn't know how to do naturally or smoothly And I think that's where we're at with China because so much of their technology is based on intellectual property theft.

Gareth is the ambassador for 62 Degree Nord, a family-owned company built around two of the most extraordinary hotel properties in Norway, Storefjord Hotel and Union Oy, the first relay and chateau property in the country.

What 62 Degree Nord does is take you deep into this region, by boat, by helicopter, by electric Porsche, through fjords that have appeared in James Bond, Mission Impossible, Harry Potter and Marvel's Black Widow, and help you not just see Norway, but actually live it.

Our conversation went everywhere, from Norse mythology and Gareth's ancestors who sailed from these fjords to South Africa in 1880, to sitting in the middle of a fjord, popping open a bottle of champagne and turning the engine of the boat off, to why fall is the season to come to this area if you love food, to what it means to find contentment in nothingness.

And it settled around the idea of living with the seasons in a place that demands it of you.

And it becomes a very, you know, that kind of like brings me to a really interesting space about Like what this place has.

And I think what's starting to happen is, and probably one of those moves to Scandinavia having its time now, is it's really starting to appear in popular culture because people are starting to identify with it.

So, you know, we do this incredible driving trip, basically in the electric Porsches from our hotels and between our hotels.

And it's a program trip, starts on a Sunday, finishes on a Friday.

So he does that.

The garage in his garage sits a new Kelly green Porsche.

Okay.

Close by is a year old black Ferrari.

He's got a year-old Ferrari, and he's like, I need a brand-new Porsche.

That's a guy who's going to be broke soon.

That's not a good decision.

I'm into it.

Yeah, it is.

You know, I've been through the highs and lows of motorsport, both here in supercars and overseas with Porsche and things like that.

So, you know, I've sort of learned to roll with the punches.

I found myself in a pretty good spot here with Walkinshaw TWG, and I'm really enjoying working with them while still being able to do my GT racing.

Like many motorsport drivers in New Zealand, you started in karts.

You've driven all sorts of classes, all sorts of length of races, 24 hours down to sprints.

You've been incredible in Porsche series.

You've won in a Ferrari round Bathurst.

Like, the thing is, I...

Have, have you ever driven one? Like, I'm a Porsche guy, and the first time I got behind a, a Model S and, and, and, and let loose on there, on that, I mean, I was like, "This is, this is- Incredible ...

better than anything- Yeah ...

I've ever driven," right? Like, it's unbelievable.