Words and Photography: Ross Delaney - Owner: Matt Glassup
It’s 2019 and I’m halfway across Europe on the banks of an alpine lake known as Ossaicher See. Countless stanced machines of all shapes and sizes are leaving a small, peaceful campsite that just played host to the annual Swissbox Meeting. Two UK registered Porsche 911s pull smoothly onto the road and disappear into the mountainside, flat six's singing. The first, Rich Paynes Rubystone example and the second, the car you see here, Matt Glassup's Forest Green 964 Carrera 2.
Fast forward time and skip through the Covid infested year that was 2020 and I’m finally booking Players Classic, the first big show of 2021. Eager to secure a shoot as the show emptied on Saturday evening, I slid into Matt's DM and crossed my fingers that he’d be free. Just as the sky threatened to drop a considerable amount of liquid, I found Matt and quickly grabbed a few shots.
Matt's love affair with the 964 began in 2011 when he switched jobs and no longer needed to commute large distances. At the time, he owned a little G60 MK1 Golf which soon found its way onto the chopping board and was parted out and sold, alongside his daily Audi A4. With sufficient funds raised, he loaded up the classifieds and began the hunt for his 964.
By today's standards, Matt picked up this low mileage manual Carrera 2 for a steal and used it as his daily driver for around 18 months, slowly maintaining and subtly modifying it. His good friend Rich Payne (of Milestone 71) soon convinced him to splash out on a custom suspension setup courtesy of KW allowing the front to sit a good deal lower while crucially maintaining full damping performance.
Over the following months and years the 911 received a considerable amount of tender love and car with Matt fitting late spec mirrors, a US spec rear bumper, RS brake ducting and a ducktail bootlid. “The car has run a variety of wheels, but none suit the car quite as well as the custom ETA Beta Porsche Twists”, Matt mentions. Said wheels are built to custom widths and offsets, filling the arches nicely while clearing the bespoke Tarox 6-pot calipers and two piece 340mm rotors with room to spare.
Behind the skin, Matt's attention to detail is just as thorough. Milestone 71 are regularly commissioned to carry out any diligent servicing the car requires. A fully polybushed subframe, new brake, fuel, oil and hydraulic lines and a RS clutch and flywheel just some highlights in a long list of preventative maintenance tasks. Inside, Matt has kept the car simple with the original steering wheel swapped out for a Renown item.
With so many show cars built to sit in static displays and rarely driven for fear of the effects of the elements, it’s refreshing to see Matt use his 964 as Porsche always intended. “I have driven the wheels off it, enjoyed it, gathered stone chips and memories, driven four up, taken it to Europe on several occasions and generally loved the ownership experience”. Matt says. “It’s a sports car that can do it all and I love it for it”. A fitting remark for a car that is, for so many including myself, a bucket list purchase.
After all, we build these cars to use them, right?!
