My Passion With Richard Colvill

I’VE always had a love of cars, especially Porsche, since I was a boy.

My passion for these vehicles (or should I say fault, as this interest has cost me a lot of money over the years!) lies with my dad. One of my earliest memories was helping my dad to build a car, one I’m still desperate to own to this day – an AC Cobra. Ever since I saw this red beast I was hooked! It had two exhausts running down the sides, the kind that would burn your legs if you got out with school shorts on, which was a hazard I remember vividly. When helping to assemble this car, my main job was to get into the hard-to-reach places, screwing on nuts and reaching into spaces that were too small for man-sized hands.

As time’s gone on I’ve owned many cars, nine in total, but I’ve always had a preference for Porsche. After a while, I realised it was time to create my perfect Porsche, so I spent over a year looking for a base car in a rare colour to kick-start my project.

My passion for cars, partnered with my love of design, meant that I couldn’t settle for a standard car or colour, I wanted to drive something that reflects me as a designer and a car fanatic’s dream! That’s when I found a classic, 21-year-old, 911-shaped Porsche. It was the perfect model, a now classic shape known for its performance and reliability.

Over the last couple of years I’ve spent months perfecting my Porsche, stripping, tuning and custom-building it to my taste, which has been an exciting process. When I bought the car 
it was pretty much a dog’s dinner, complete with bird droppings, cigarette burns and rust, but it presented an exciting challenge to restore it back to its former super-car glory and more.

The extensive restoration has included full respray, rare gold magnesium race wheels, gold seatbelts and colour-coordinated leather upholstery amongst other modifications. I re-produced all the original warning stickers in gold matching the seatbelts and wheels perfectly, along with the engine and breaks that complement the leather interior.

The custom-made roll cage also comes apart ensuring I can still get the kids in – the perfect mix between style and substance, or race and cruise.

One of the best moments I’ve had on my journey to restoring the car is the recognition it’s received from fellow car-enthusiasts and key people within the automotive industry.

The car is now at a standard where it actually gets invited to events! It has also featured in magazines such as Total 911 and PVW at the publications’ request.

Judges at the Concours Porsche Show at Lotherton Hall and the Fueled Society Show in Wakefield have also awarded the car a few accolades in its time, which is really fulfilling as the project has taken so much time and effort. It’s moments like this that makes all the hard work worthwhile.