Summer Nights: Shooting The Bosses 930 Turbo.
The 911 Turbo, coined “The Windowmaker” by many journalists and drivers alike, for it’s high risk of snap-oversteering and killing the rich businessmen that drove them, it was a car feared by the casual driver. But, it was highly revered as one of the best driving experiences of it’s time by professional drivers and those more seasoned.
“turbo lag as long as a coffee break. Mash the throttle at 3000 rpm, and the boost gauge plays dead until the tach reaches 4000. Then you enjoy a chiropractic neck adjustment until the wham peters out at 6000 rpm.”
There’s just something so charming about a car that has what I’ve deemed “ketchup method” boost delivery. When a ketchup bottle is squeezed, as pressue is added at the low end, nothing seems to happen, but as pressure is applied faster and faster, a sudden release of the tomato condiment is ejected. That’s what cracking the throttle in a 930 Turbo feels like.
This is the Andy Kilcoyne, CEO of Kelly-Moss’s Porsche 930 Turbo, decorated with a nod to the “widowmaker” nickname.
After months of deconstruction, modification and then reconstruction, Andy Kilcoyne, the CEO of Kelly-Moss’s personal 911 Turbo was ready to hit the streets. The car received a mechanical refresh, modifications to the audio system and a reupholstered interior to add modern comfort to this well maintained classic. As the car neared completion, Andy requested my co-worker Dan, @a.solid.state on Instagram, to shoot photos of the newly rebuilt car for him, personally. To do this, Dan was given the keys to the car for an evening to shoot at a location Dan had coordinated a few days prior. Thankfully, with Dan knowing I’m into photography, he invited me along.
Andy’s 911 Turbo, codenamed “Doc” sitting in Kelly-Moss’s project department.
“Best car ever”
Once the work day had settled down and Dan disappeared with the car, I recieved a text with the quote above. I was so jealous he got to drive it. I went home, ate dinner and did some homework. I then received a text that read “So are you coming down, or staying home?”
I replied with “When and where? I’m ready whenever.”
I got a text with a google maps pin. I grabbed my camera gear, bolted out my front door and headed to the pin.
Not to give Dan too much credit, but he somehow landed an amazing spot. A beautiful countryside mansion with a long driveway and a barn to the right as I headed up the driveway. We started shooting around seven o’clock which was perfect. We had some nice orange/gold lighting for about an hour and forty-five minutes. Dan moved the car around the driveway and eventually down to the barn for various photo angles. I met the owner of the house, who has a car collection of his own various muscle cars. He loved the Porsche and was enthusiastic to learn about its story.
A beautiful summer sunset with almost no clouds in the sky created some amazing gold hour photos.
I think the photos I shot that night are to this day my favorite when it comes to really showcasing the car. With no other people, cars or buildings around, the setting really allowed me to focus on the car and all its little details. The time of day, setting and car make this a hard shoot for me to beat. There may never be a private shoot I do that beats this one.
As the sun set, “blue hour” set in, giving our setting a new hue.
After the sun set, the sky changed from orange to blue, and then to black as the night set in. Dan had kept the car on the long driveway the rest of the shoot, which is where the photos I like the most from this shoot, were shot.
A long driveway on a hill, with trees and lanterns on both sides, perfect parking for a Porsche of this caliber.
When the sun had finally set far enough that natural light wasn’t an option, I begged and pleaded to go for a loop around in “Doc”. This ended up being my first experience in a turbocharged 911, and it was a good one. The 934 style exhaust accentuates the turbo spinning up to create boost, the four speed gearbox makes the buildup of power more dramatic and the 15 inch wheels mean you feel everything in the road. As Dan and I rounded the first of the four right handers we would take on this ride-along, he gradually revs the car up in second gear, when suddenly as predicted, the boost kicks, hard. Right as the turbo begins to ferociously spin up, Dan frantically shifts into third gear to mitigate the unrelenting wheelspin, thank goodness. The shift knob, held in with a suction cup type of pressure to the shift lever, pops off. Dan asks rhetorically “Is it still in gear?”, I was hoping so. Thankfully, it was. And for all that action, the car had only revved to 4500RPM. Not bad for a car from 1983. Not to mention, this car is rumored to have a hopped up motor from some hole in the wall tuning shop that made 550whp back in the 80’s that has not had the case split since then. That’s get you in trouble horsepower now, I can’t imagine the number of cars dusted by this thing back then.
“I don’t know. There’s just something about engines that calms me down, you know?”
With the ride-along over, I got in my car and headed home, with an everlasting grin attached to my face. What a night. Big thanks to Dan for inviting me along, it really means the world. Full shoot photos below, and check out Dan’s photos from that night here.
