原標(biāo)題：Road To Race: Going The Distance In A Porsche?914

原作者：Brad Lord

攝像：Stefan Kotze

Tim Abbot never intended to build a race car when he got his hands on this 1970 Porsche 914.

接手這臺(tái)1970年產(chǎn)的保時(shí)捷914時(shí)，Tim Abbot根本沒(méi)有打算把它改裝成一輛賽車。

As the man behind Abbot Cars, a highly-regarded independent Porsche specialist restoration workshop in South Africa, Tim knows his way around all the classic models from Stuttgart. He’s also squarely in the ‘love it’ camp when it comes to the 914.

身為南非知名保時(shí)捷修復(fù)室Abbot Cars的掌門(mén)人，Tim對(duì)來(lái)自斯圖加特的所有經(jīng)典車型都了如指掌。當(dāng)然，他也是914的眾多粉絲之一。

Tim’s interest in the?opinion-dividing model was initially brought?on during a concours-level restoration of his father’s?914 in the mid-1980s. That car was ultimately sold and shipped off to the US, but Tim promised himself that he’d one day build his own.

Tim對(duì)于改裝的興趣最初源于80年代中期，他目睹了父親對(duì)一臺(tái)914競(jìng)賽級(jí)別的改裝。雖然那輛車被運(yùn)往美國(guó)，但是Tim向自己承諾：終有一天，我也要造一輛自己的！

That?opportunity?came in 2005, when one of Tim’s customers decided to part with his car –?this?914, then powered by a 2.0L Type 4 engine.?At first, Tim’s idea was to enhance the Porsche for fast road use and the occasional track day. That sort of direction?isn’t uncommon,?but neither is?having a project?evolve into something?much bigger.

2005年，Tim終于等到了機(jī)會(huì)：他的一位顧客決定出手一輛914——那時(shí)，這輛車還由一臺(tái)2.0L的TYPE 4引擎提供動(dòng)力。一開(kāi)始，Tim打算強(qiáng)化這輛保時(shí)捷以便于日常出行，同時(shí)偶爾參加賽道日。這種改裝方向并不罕見(jiàn)，但在改裝路上，把一件小改變成一個(gè)大項(xiàng)目的案例同樣不罕見(jiàn)。

It was in 2008,?when Tim, his son Douglas, cousin Donovan, and brother Anthony, who at the time headed up Red Bull?Racing’s?F1 engineering software division, all travelled to France for the prestigious Le Mans Classic.?It was at this event that?the 914’s future direction was written.

那是在2008年，Tim、他的兒子Douglas、表弟Donovan和時(shí)任紅牛賽車F1工程軟件部門(mén)負(fù)責(zé)人的弟弟Anthony，一起前往法國(guó)參加著名的勒芒經(jīng)典賽。正是在那里，914的未來(lái)改裝方向得到確定。

Watching classic cars duke it out around Circuit de la Sarthe?was all the?inspiration that Tim – spurred on by?his family?in attendance – needed to build the?914?up for the very event they were all spectating.

看著一臺(tái)臺(tái)經(jīng)典賽車在德拉薩特賽道上拼得你死我活，在同樣在場(chǎng)的家人鼓勵(lì)之下，Tim意識(shí)到了一臺(tái)老車的價(jià)值：參加那些自己家人們?yōu)橹疅嵫序v的比賽。

On his return to South Africa, Tim wasted little time researching 914 factory race cars, with the idea to build something similar from his road car. He didn’t need to look any further than the three cars?Porsche built for the 1970 Marathon de la Route – a mammoth 84-hour endurance race held?on the Nürburgring’s combined north and south circuits – a whopping 28.3km per lap. By the end of the gruelling three-and-a-half-day event, the three?works 914/6s crossed the finish line 1st, 2nd and 3rd. The first car, driven by Claude Haldi, Gérard Larrousse and Helmut Marko, completed 360 laps, clocking up over 10,200km in the process. It’s little wonder that some manufacturers used this event to distance-test their new models.

回到了南非后，Tim花了一點(diǎn)時(shí)間尋找914的已出廠賽車。他想制造一臺(tái)和自己的街車914一樣的賽車。當(dāng)他看到保時(shí)捷官方為1970年的 Marathon de la Route耐力賽而打造的三臺(tái)914——那次，它們?cè)诩~博格林的南環(huán)和北環(huán)（兩條賽道合并使用，使得每圈長(zhǎng)達(dá)28.3千米）一共奮斗了84小時(shí)——他意識(shí)到自己的尋找結(jié)束了。在那次折磨人的，歷時(shí)3天半的比賽中，這三輛914/6s 飽覽的前三名。由Claude Haldi, Gérard Larrousse和Helmut Marko駕駛的冠軍車一共完成了360圈，最終達(dá)成了10,200千米的總里程。不難發(fā)現(xiàn)，許多制造商利用這場(chǎng)比賽對(duì)它們的新產(chǎn)品進(jìn)行路試。

The car you see here is what Tim calls his ‘914/6 GT Marathon de la Route Tribute’. As expected with a name like that, many of the modifications?are based off those used in the works cars, but Tim also looked to the ‘M471′ special equipment package that Porsche offered?in order to homologate the 914/6 for SCCA production racing in the US. This equipment included wide steel fender flares and front valance, fiberglass rocker panels and Fuchs wheels among other things.

現(xiàn)在，在你眼前的是Tim自稱為"914/6 GT 耐力冠軍”的作品。正如其名，許多改件都基于那些曾經(jīng)的改裝賽車，但Tim也使用了一些來(lái)源于“M471”特殊工具包的材料。這些材料由保時(shí)捷官方制造，使得914/6賽車可以參加美國(guó)的SCCA比賽。該這些改件包括寬體鋼擋邊和前唇，玻璃纖維面板和Fuchs車輪等。

Marathon de la Route regulations allowed for the 914/6’s engine capacity to be increased by 10%, but the factory block had to be retained. After sourcing a 2.0L six cylinder Porsche engine, Tim increased its capacity to 2.2L by sleeving the block and fitting oversized high-compression pistons. A strengthened crankshaft was added, and the cylinder heads were ported and fitted with larger valves. The result is 10.0:1 compression.

Marathon de la Route的賽事規(guī)定使得914/6原引擎的功率提高了百分之十，但出廠模塊尚未改動(dòng)。在采購(gòu)了一臺(tái)2.0L的六缸保時(shí)捷發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)后，Tim通過(guò)安裝超大的高壓縮活塞將其容量增加到2.2L。此外，他還添加了一個(gè)加強(qiáng)的曲軸，氣缸蓋也被移植并安裝了更大的閥門(mén)。結(jié)果，Tim得到了10.0:1壓縮比。

Finally, with?a twin-spark ignition system in play, the Porsche 2.2L engine setup?revealed a?solid 180bhp and the ability to rev out to 9,000rpm.

最終，隨著雙火花點(diǎn)火系統(tǒng)的運(yùn)作，這臺(tái)保時(shí)捷2.2L發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)可以穩(wěn)定地輸出180馬力和轉(zhuǎn)速到9000轉(zhuǎn)/分的能力。

（譯者注：雖然區(qū)區(qū)180匹，但考慮到914的超輕車重，這種高轉(zhuǎn)輕量化的改裝對(duì)賽道日而言已然足夠。）

To take full advantage of the engine output, the 914’s 5-speed gearbox was modified with?close-ratio gears suited for most of South Africa’s circuits. A lightweight flywheel and racing clutch kit were?also fitted.

為了充分利用壓榨發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)的輸出，914的5速變速箱改換了適合南非大多數(shù)線路的緊密比齒輪。同時(shí)，輕量級(jí)飛輪和賽車離合器套件也被安裝。

Although Tim hasn’t overlooked any area of the 914,?special attention was paid to the?chassis preparation and weight in order to?perfect the handling. The full chrome-moly roll cage ties into the four suspension points, which?Tim says has stiffened up the car significantly. It only tips the scales at 890kg too, so the power-to-weight ratio is rather healthy.

雖然Tim沒(méi)有忽視914的每個(gè)部分，底盤(pán)和輕量化明顯是改裝的重中之重。Tim使用全鉻合金的懸掛，使得底盤(pán)強(qiáng)度顯著改善；車重最終被控制在890kg，使得動(dòng)力車重比相當(dāng)樂(lè)觀。

The 914’s bodywork is one of the few?aspects of the build completed outside of the Abbot Cars workshop, but Tim knew that handing the car over to Anton Dekker at Exclusive Conversion was the right thing to do. Flaring the Porsche’s steel arches in fibreglass, and using the composite material to re-skin the doors, bonnet, boot and bumpers was always going to be?a big job, but it’s been executed perfectly.

914的車體外觀是為數(shù)不多的由他人代工的部分。盡管Tim擁有為保時(shí)捷上色的能力，他還是選擇讓保時(shí)捷官方處理這輛車的外觀。從玻璃窗的鋼制框架到車門(mén)和保險(xiǎn)杠上的油漆，這是一項(xiàng)浩大的工程，但處理得非常完美。車身的上色與涂裝參考于那次比賽的亞軍車。

There’s not a lot of space in the 914 cabin, especially when you add a full roll cage into the mix, but the space is used well with everything you’d expect to see in a race car and not much else. That said, Tim was keen to make the cabin as comfortable as possible, hence the carpet – a lightweight type of course. One neat upgrade is the use of 911 gauges, meaning there’s a tachometer that reads to 10,000rpm – perfect given the engine almost sees that number – and a 300km/h speedometer.

914內(nèi)部本來(lái)就沒(méi)有許多空間，尤其在添加了防滾架之后。然而，這點(diǎn)空間被充分利用。你可以看到所有賽車中應(yīng)該出現(xiàn)的物品，沒(méi)有一樣多余。Tim已經(jīng)盡力讓車內(nèi)部顯得舒適，因此加了一塊地毯——當(dāng)然，是輕量化樣式的。值得一提的是，這輛車使用了911的儀表。這意味著轉(zhuǎn)速表達(dá)到一萬(wàn)以上（引擎的改裝使得914的轉(zhuǎn)速已經(jīng)非常接近這個(gè)值），以及可以達(dá)到300多千米每小時(shí)的時(shí)速表。

Although Tim’s?914/6 GT Marathon de la Route Tribute was built to compete at the Le Mans Classic, he never quite got there with it. However, it has seen plenty of historic racing action in South Africa,?including the?Kyalami 9-Hour Retro and?Passion for Speed events. Better still, Tim has shared driving duties with his son Douglas and daughter Jennifer, so racing the 914 has been a true family affair – fitting given how the car came about in the first place.

雖然T這臺(tái)914最初的建造目的是在勒芒經(jīng)典大獎(jiǎng)賽中競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，但是Tim還從未帶著它參賽。然而在南非本地也有大量歷史性的汽車賽事，包括著名的Kyalami Retro and?Passion for Speed九小時(shí)耐力賽。更好的是，Tim邀請(qǐng)了兒子和女兒作為比賽時(shí)的搭檔，所以這臺(tái)914成為了家庭的紐帶——與這臺(tái)車誕生的初衷不謀而合。