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This is a story of a large part of my life and association with the Porsche marque, the people and enthusiasts who influenced me, came into contact with or worked alongside. It recalls attending my first motor race as a mechanic for Dickie Stoop, who in his latter days raced a Porsche 911S around the circuits of Great Britain, who was previously a class winner at Le Mans racing numerous Frazer Nash and Porsche cars. It describes my love and admiration for the pure engineering that all Porsche products encompass. From my earliest days as a trainee mechanical aircraft engineer and working alongside my elder brother Mike "Ginger" Giddins and latterly with my younger brother Roy, for companies such as; Maltin, AFN, Sports Cars Switzerland, Willi Kauhsen Racing, Brun Motorsport to name but a few, on a diverse range of Porsche road going types such as 356, 911, 924, 944, 928 and 930 and Porsche racing cars such as 904, 906, 907, 908, 910, 911 and 917 models. To covering the Circuit of Ireland Rally as lead mechanic for a Porsche 911 throughout the worst times of the troubles in Northern Ireland, through to supporting a Porsche 911 entry at Le Mans in the unforgettable days of the enormous battles between the Ferrari 512 and Porsche 917 prototype sports cars. How I went on to become a Porsche owner and driver working alongside Bill Bates at Van Hallan, society photographers for Tatler and Harpers Queen, AFN and Porsche Cars Great Britain amongst others. Restoring and building a special Porsche 356C type.Exposing a Porsche driving drug dealer. Driving overland from one side of Europe to the other, from Isleworth in West London to Manama in Bahrain, in a Porsche 911 Targa, purchased from AFN for £1,200/-. Nearly getting shot at in the middle of the night in the Turkish mountains and then driving on through Iran in the days of the Shah, pre-Islamic Revolution and breaking down in the middle of nowhere, miles from civilisation and ending up in a police station on the Persian Gulf coast. Establishing the Porsche Importer business for Bahrain with absolutely no capital. Building the business in the first six months to outstrip Porsche AG's wildest expectations of sales in the territory, to become the fastest growing Porsche market in the world within eighteen months. All this without any capital funds and not even a showroom. Building unique, individual bespoke Porsche cars for every single one of our customers in the Bahraini market, under our marketing slogan of, "We make cars....but not for everyone!" Providing ground support for the "Round the World" Porsche 911 powered Mooney light aircraft, including extensive "flight testing" with me taking a turn at the controls and even more extensive socialising with the extraordinary flight crew Michael Schultz and Hans Kampik. Working with Porsche AG on developing and implementing the first Pan Arab Middle East advertising campaign, through to selling the first Porsche motorcar worldwide paid for with an American Express card. Developing the world's first dedicated Porsche Design Boutique and selling a series of handmade 18ct solid gold Porsche Design sunglasses and compass watches for the Arab that, "Has everything!" Hosting the first ever Middle East professional snooker match with Porsche 928 driver Steve Davis and his colleague Terry Griffiths, supported by the inimitable Barry Hearn. Seeing one of our VIP customers pull a M16 gun on Bahraini Customs because he would not wait to get his Porsche cleared through normal process. Covering Hans-Peter Porsche in lemon juice not only once, but twice at the same lunch. Running an original 1 of 20 factory Porsche 911 SC RS in the Middle East Rally Championship through Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Jordan and Kuwait (in the middle of the Iraq/Iran war).
