Harry’s Garage

[Jobbo]

I quite like the red hood with the silver paint. The red interior wasn't as appealing - probably because the black bits on the seats don't really work with the red, being not quite black and just looking like the seams rather than a design.

Overall though, yes it's way faster than you can ever need but it's still massively appealing. I'd buy a Carrera S if I were considering it because 480bhp is plenty and it's a good bit lighter, but this is very low on compromises which is incredible really. Even the soft top is more appealing than I thought; the way it's lined makes it basically as good as the coupe other than for visibility. It's also not surprising that it's heavy; it's a wide body soft top with the 18-way electric seats, nose lift etc - all heavy options. For the road it's fine. I think I'd actually use one far more than a GT3 if I had one. Would be a 992.1 Turbo S though; that's already fast enough.

[GG.]

He had the gearbox fully rebuilt by Iain Tyrrell last year. It could have been caused by someone on the Evo test,, it could have been Harry himself who caused it, or it could have been something wrong with the rebuild - though it did seem fine for a year afterwards so that seems less likely. Having said that, I remember with the Espada he kept going back to Tyrrell because the engine parts supplied by Lamborghini weren't up to spec but that wasn't apparent until he drove it properly. Maybe the same here and the Evo test has just revealed the deficiencies?

I think having seen Harry's trials and tribulations, I would be put off owning a very expensive classic of this type given the difficulties keeping them on the road. Think I'd default back to an early 1970s 911.

[Jobbo]

I think the expensive classic which goes up in value mitigates the hassle and cost. Imagine owning a cheaper classic where the cost of a gearbox rebuild isn't quite as justified against the value of the car.

[Jimexpl]

I think the expensive classic which goes up in value mitigates the hassle and cost. Imagine owning a cheaper classic where the cost of a gearbox rebuild isn't quite as justified against the value of the car.

There was a reason why my old boss used to have us sell the pre-90s Italian cars on a different contract to everything else in the showroom - I should have kept a copy, but I think it described them as antiquities or art that was not intended to be used as a motor vehicle!

He's been lucky with the value increase on the Countach and is still in for a decent profit after many years/miles of use, which I assume is his aim after the paintwork is done.

[Jobbo]

It's interesting - everything he is doing with the Countach (magazine articles, fixing stuff) looks like prep for sale and getting the best price. But he's said that it's the last one of the 80s trio he'd sell... well I guess he would say that wouldn't he

In the Evo podcast two-parter with Harry he does refer to the McLaren 650S being a car he intended to sell but likes too much, so that definitely explains why he was so keen to push the MSO stuff and talk about how brilliant and how much of a bargain it was. I know they've been his cars so he's hardly going to be unbiased, but when Harry's Garage becomes a shop window for him selling expensive cars it loses its appeal a bit. The Zonda didn't feel like that; it genuinely felt like he would have rather it hadn't gone up so much in value.

[Marv]

Looks like Harry might be slightly annoyed by “unfair” speculation on what has made the gearbox crunchy!

[Jobbo]

I found the previous engine-out work on his channel - it was four and a half years ago he took it to Iain Tyrrell. How time flies.

Anyone blaming Iain for a gearbox failure 4 years later is totally unreasonable. And yes, Evo had it for a test recently but Harry's done most of the miles himself since the last work.

[mik]

I found the previous engine-out work on his channel - it was four and a half years ago he took it to Iain Tyrrell. How time flies.

Wow. Genuinely surprised by that

(I’m sure time is accelerating as we get older you know )

[Jobbo]

Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving and revolving at 900 miles an hour.