My journey to Porsche ownership

1987 Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera Sport Targa
1987 Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera Sport Targa at the top of the Black Mountain Pass (A4069) in South Wales

My journey (Chris Stretton) to Porsche ownership started when I was still a teenager in the 1960s. My father, Lionel Stretton, was a serious petrol-head owning many different cars and competing in VSCC events, and so it was perhaps inevitable that I would become enthused by these activities. The first time I travelled at over 100 mph remains a vivid memory: it was at the age of five, sitting beside my father in his Healey Silverstone, with the wind ripping at my hair.

Too young for the requisite four-wheel licence I was on two wheels the very day that I turned sixteen. With my test passed, I bought a 500 cc ES2 Norton from the local scrap-yard and rebuilt it from the big-end up.

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