Going Undercover At The FlatSix Show

Psssttt… over here. Ah yes, you probably can’t recognise me in this cunning disguise.

Normally I rock up to a car show in some sort of BMW. Those who’ve read my articles in the past will know that my alliances with the Bavarian titan are blood tight. Fidowicz with no BMW is like Christmas with no pine tree. But this time I’ve gone undercover. We’re going to infiltrate the Porsche crowd at the 2023 FlatSix event from the inside, Trojan Horse style. But instead of a horse, it’s a 20-year-old convertible, and instead of an army of Greek soldiers sitting inside, it’s just me holding a camera.

I’ve left my BMW at home, and instead managed to get my pesky hands on a different set of keys for the weekend. Because, what better way to get involved with the Porsche community than rocking up to one of their own car shows in a Porsche?!

My steed is a 2.7L mid-engined, manual Boxster with a mere 160,000 miles on the clock and its fair share of age-related dents and scrapes. But while my disguise might not be the flashiest in the crowd, beneath its appearance we have a well looked after sports car, fuelled and ready for the sprint down from London to Goodwood Motor Circuit.

While the Greeks had to endure a sweaty, cramped, wooden journey to reach their target, I got to enjoy my journey on some of South England’s finest B-roads, with wind in my hair and a raspy, induction-filled flat-six at the mercy of my right foot. It’s an experience that’s largely unparalleled in the motoring world, and one that provides so much driving enjoyment that it’s only continuing to grow the Porsche brand.

So much so that it’s impossible to go to any car event in the UK now without it being dominated by Porsches, specifically the 911. You could go to the annual MGB Owners Club UK gathering and somehow MGBs will still be outnumbered by 911 owners. Head along to any Sunday Scramble event at Bicester Heritage and you’ll find a general carpark that looks more like a Porsche main dealer parking lot.

You just can’t shake the things. They’ve always been incredible cars, but recently their presence at motoring events seems to have quadrupled.

I think the recent influx of used Porsche purchases can be largely attributed to the rise of social media creatives and so-called ‘influencers’ getting their hands on them to enjoy as objects of luxury on top of just being great sports cars alone. A Porsche is the type of object that fits a lifestyle where your furniture is from Scandinavia, the food you eat is plant based, you have tennis lessons on Tuesday, and you’re married to someone who works on Vogue magazine.

People want a slice of that life. Porsche themselves are aware of this, and even fund their own lifestyle magazine to encourage the mystique.

So the big question is, how does this new-found Porsche energy radiate when you finally get your hands on a little sports car to take to a Porsche event?

Bluntly speaking, quite well.

The FlatSix show is hosted by those also responsible for the UK’s show calendar highlight, Players Classic. As the name suggests, it’s ultimately a celebration of everything Porsche.

The first thing I realised is that nearly every 911 here seemed to have an exciting spec. Sure, you had the classier, safer options like dark metallic colours too, but it’s clear that your average Porsche customer pushes the boat out to get something interesting and unique. This orange 911 is probably the strongest example of what I’m trying to say. Check out the contrasting purple interior!

This carries into the real high-end offerings from Porsche, and this 996 GT2 was definitely a highlight. The way we see today’s GT3 RS as a ridiculously capable car with the biggest rear wing in the world, this probably had the same impact on folks back in the early 2000s.

Tamer, but not too far down the food chain were these two 996s. The glorious roof down blast with the Boxster really got me thinking about a 996 Cab, and a green-over-tan one ticks all the boxes for the perfect summer sports car.

As is always the way with a Speedhunter, you quickly gravitate to the modified section. No amounts of social media affiliation with modern day architecture or finely cut organic cotton can take away from the pure determination of taking a car and making it faster.

The first set of paddocks hosted a line up of modified Porsches. All sorts too, from slammed G-bodys to Sultan Al-Qassimi’s 997 drift car.

But the real gem from the show – and the one that really made me understand the love and passion for Porsche – didn’t even come from a Porsche-badged car.

When I attended this show last year, I came across a Porsche RTurbo – a 996 Turbo that got the RUF treatment at Pfaffenhausen in 2002. The chap who owns it is called Adam, and he brought it along again for this year’s event. But that’s not all.

Alongside the RTurbo, Adam brought another car he owns, and this one is really special. An actual RUF RTurbo.

That’s right, not a Porsche, but a RUF, with a RUF vehicle identification number and all. Bought new by his father, the car belonged to Adam’s mum who used it as her daily. Yup, Adam’s mum’s daily was a 1-of-25-ever-made, and only right-hand drive RUF RTurbo in the world.

Today, Adam uses the car himself to ferry his kids around, whilst his wife drives the Porsche RTurbo. We’ve had some pretty cool line ups over the years on Speedhunters, but this one will be engraved in my mind forever.

I finished my time at the FlatSix show and headed back to the plucky Boxster. My day cosplaying as a Porsche owner was complete, and I drove home thinking about the RUF RTurbo. It left me feeling pretty damn good about that fact that the steering wheel I was holding onto shared the same DNA as a car that blew me away.

I’ll leave you with an extended image gallery from Flatsix 2023 below, and some closing thoughts.

It’s impossible to compare my love for BMW with what Porsche has to offer. It’s apples and pears at the end of the day, but the Porsche community’s charm is undeniable, exciting and, most importantly, optimistic. I don’t think I’ve ever walked away from a car show feeling like that before.

Michał Fidowicz
Instagram: candyshowroom