Holbert 928 Visits Home Again - Holbert Porsche Dealership
#31
Gotta think that is one of the coolest stories and roadtrips ever with a 928.
The story from Bonneville, to IMSA, to the shop teacher, to Kibort, to this trip and the subsequent resoration, and then the 2012 run has got to be documented in a book.
"The Continued adventures of the Al Holbert 928"!!!
The story from Bonneville, to IMSA, to the shop teacher, to Kibort, to this trip and the subsequent resoration, and then the 2012 run has got to be documented in a book.
"The Continued adventures of the Al Holbert 928"!!!
#32
Yes an hand modified 86 1/2 into a preproduction 87 is truely a one of a kind Porsche 928. no question about that ! Add in the "special options" like cams , undertray, LH box .....I have to admit it is probably good that someone opted to save it ! It is a bit like the factory show cars which were supposed to be crushed but somehow end up at Barret-Jackson.....
#33
Excellent write up and pics Sir Dwayne, oh great Knight of Sharkdom!
Thanks again for letting the AZ gang be a part of your trip. Enjoyed getting a chance to meet you in person and see the Holbert car again (only a little more bent this time )
And thanks to you too Ed for taking on the stewardship of this great piece of 928 history.
The stories also reminded me again, Thanks to Mark Kibort for saving this car from the shop class dismantlers!
Thanks again for letting the AZ gang be a part of your trip. Enjoyed getting a chance to meet you in person and see the Holbert car again (only a little more bent this time )
And thanks to you too Ed for taking on the stewardship of this great piece of 928 history.
The stories also reminded me again, Thanks to Mark Kibort for saving this car from the shop class dismantlers!
#34
...Tom shared stories about the car like how they replaced the control arm bushings with poly bushings and after the Bonneville event, Al would complain about the bushings squeaking. Tom would lube them up only to have them squeaking again a couple of days later. Tom still has the original rear seats to this car. Tom and Rich both talked about the fully belly pan that was installed for the Bonneville run and described it as looking like a giant Cookie Sheet. They commented that Al Holbert wanted to make sure there were minimal air currents underneath the car...
#35
...Rich commented how they did a quick and dirty paint job on the car to get it ready for the run. He said they simply masked off everything and shot the outside of the car - he pointed out on the video that you could still see the white door jambs when Al was getting into the car...
OK... I'm done for the night...
#36
It went 180mph in May of '86 at Nardo. Keep in mind, that was at sea level, and on a pavement speed track . The main issue with the holbert car at bonneville, was wheel spin. Looks like the only real mod was the versions of the cams that were basically from the prior year, which are near identical to the GT cams. Ron's GT made the exact same HP, with the same mods. Just a tad more. I dynoed the car before I did any mods, and it ran 292rwhp, without a CAT. After, it did 335/335 HP/torque. 2 years later it was running near 320ish for the next 6 full racing seasons.
mk
mk
#37
Mark, Ed & Dwayne,
Thank you!
I just spent a time reading the threads surrounding the crash, discussions on the future of the car and transport. Very good story to see.
While it was sad to see the car pretty much destroyed it does prove that this car is in my mind of the most important 928's in the USA. What makes it special is its history. That includes Holbert's run, but not just that. Its interesting path from record car to IMSA car to shop tool to weekend racer to the unquie trip accross the nation. All this ADDs to the history and I believe makes it more valuable now than ever before. The fact that the car was not put in a muesum back in 1986 is really good news since there I could never had traveled an experineced what it did. I am happy to see that it wil not be chopped up, but restored. I do hope that Ed can gather not just the parts to the car, but records all the history of it. Photos, stories etc shoulld all be maintined with the car as it is those things that make it more than bunch of sheetmetal and aluminum. I do agree Excellence should do an article on this cars crash and transport to the east coast. There was already a story on it and I think what has occured is very unique and rare. Then once the car is restored and run back at the salt flats it probably deserves a book.
Very nice guys!
(PS... too bad I saw this tread too late as I would have loved seeing the car on Phx, of course being out of town did not help either.)
Thank you!
I just spent a time reading the threads surrounding the crash, discussions on the future of the car and transport. Very good story to see.
While it was sad to see the car pretty much destroyed it does prove that this car is in my mind of the most important 928's in the USA. What makes it special is its history. That includes Holbert's run, but not just that. Its interesting path from record car to IMSA car to shop tool to weekend racer to the unquie trip accross the nation. All this ADDs to the history and I believe makes it more valuable now than ever before. The fact that the car was not put in a muesum back in 1986 is really good news since there I could never had traveled an experineced what it did. I am happy to see that it wil not be chopped up, but restored. I do hope that Ed can gather not just the parts to the car, but records all the history of it. Photos, stories etc shoulld all be maintined with the car as it is those things that make it more than bunch of sheetmetal and aluminum. I do agree Excellence should do an article on this cars crash and transport to the east coast. There was already a story on it and I think what has occured is very unique and rare. Then once the car is restored and run back at the salt flats it probably deserves a book.
Very nice guys!
(PS... too bad I saw this tread too late as I would have loved seeing the car on Phx, of course being out of town did not help either.)
#38
Thanks.
I have given Ed as much of the documentation that I could put together, including a disc of ALL the professional pictures of its racing life over the past 8 years. He even has one of the salt flat posters in a protective tube.
This is getting interesting! I say it's worthy of a movie, especially when he finds the drugs in the frame rails........
mk
I have given Ed as much of the documentation that I could put together, including a disc of ALL the professional pictures of its racing life over the past 8 years. He even has one of the salt flat posters in a protective tube.
This is getting interesting! I say it's worthy of a movie, especially when he finds the drugs in the frame rails........
mk
Mark, Ed & Dwayne,
Thank you!
I just spent a time reading the threads surrounding the crash, discussions on the future of the car and transport. Very good story to see.
While it was sad to see the car pretty much destroyed it does prove that this car is in my mind of the most important 928's in the USA. What makes it special is its history. That includes Holbert's run, but not just that. Its interesting path from record car to IMSA car to shop tool to weekend racer to the unquie trip accross the nation. All this ADDs to the history and I believe makes it more valuable now than ever before. The fact that the car was not put in a muesum back in 1986 is really good news since there I could never had traveled an experineced what it did. I am happy to see that it wil not be chopped up, but restored. I do hope that Ed can gather not just the parts to the car, but records all the history of it. Photos, stories etc shoulld all be maintined with the car as it is those things that make it more than bunch of sheetmetal and aluminum. I do agree Excellence should do an article on this cars crash and transport to the east coast. There was already a story on it and I think what has occured is very unique and rare. Then once the car is restored and run back at the salt flats it probably deserves a book.
Very nice guys!
(PS... too bad I saw this tread too late as I would have loved seeing the car on Phx, of course being out of town did not help either.)
Thank you!
I just spent a time reading the threads surrounding the crash, discussions on the future of the car and transport. Very good story to see.
While it was sad to see the car pretty much destroyed it does prove that this car is in my mind of the most important 928's in the USA. What makes it special is its history. That includes Holbert's run, but not just that. Its interesting path from record car to IMSA car to shop tool to weekend racer to the unquie trip accross the nation. All this ADDs to the history and I believe makes it more valuable now than ever before. The fact that the car was not put in a muesum back in 1986 is really good news since there I could never had traveled an experineced what it did. I am happy to see that it wil not be chopped up, but restored. I do hope that Ed can gather not just the parts to the car, but records all the history of it. Photos, stories etc shoulld all be maintined with the car as it is those things that make it more than bunch of sheetmetal and aluminum. I do agree Excellence should do an article on this cars crash and transport to the east coast. There was already a story on it and I think what has occured is very unique and rare. Then once the car is restored and run back at the salt flats it probably deserves a book.
Very nice guys!
(PS... too bad I saw this tread too late as I would have loved seeing the car on Phx, of course being out of town did not help either.)
#40