Video: Porsche’s amazing Sapphire Blue collection lands at Fox Car Collection

You may not know Gregor Piech. Born in 1994, he’s the youngest of Ferdinand Piech’s eight children. Yes, the late Ferdinand Piech who used to run used to run Volkswagen. Gregor’s great grandfather was Ferdinand Porsche so he’s a Porsche blue-blood.

Blue is a bit of a theme within Porsche. Ferdinand Piech’s 1967 development version of the 911 R was finished in Scarab Blue and he professed that blue was his favourite colour for cars. For Gregor’s 19th birthday, his father bought him a Breitling Le Mans anniversary edition wristwatch, with a silver-blue dial and a blue leather strap.

The next birthday gift was even more special. Realising that it was 50 years since Ferdinand Piech had worked on the original 911 R, Gregor’s mother Ursula decided that her son’s Skoda Citigo wasn’t really up to snuff and bought him a Porsche 911 R. That’s right, the 991 version that is worth more than the GDP of some African nations. Gregor’s specification for this car was exacting.

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Finished in metallic Sapphire Blue, the car was decorated with British Racing Green stripe details, a subtle hat tip to Ferdinand’s acquisition of Bentley for the Volkswagen Group. The interior was finished in a special Black Watch Tartan, framed with royal blue leather and Noto green accents, continued across the dash and door panels. Finally, Gregor insisted that because this was a truly special vehicle, it would have ‘One of One’ illuminated sill finishers to greet when you opened the door.

There’s no doubt the car is utterly beautiful. Young Gregor must have been beguiled by the effect because he then did something slightly berserk, but in a good way. He decided he wanted every one of the most desirable versions of the 991-generation 911 finished in exactly this specification.

So, aside from the 2017 911 R that got the whole thing started, Gregor also took delivery of a 2018 911 GT3 Touring, a 2018 911 GT3 RS, a 2018 911 GT2 RS, a 2018 911 Targa 4 GTS, a 2019 911 Turbo S Exclusive Series, a 2019 911 Turbo S Exclusive Series Cabriolet and a 2020 911 Speedster. This would have made one heck of a garage, if a little lacking in bandwidth. To rectify that, Gregor added a couple more Sapphire Blue beauties.

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First up was a 2020 935 Flatnose. These are rare at the best of times, with only 77 being built. Four have come to Australia, with three of them housed at Fox. The naked carbon car is quite something, but the highlight is the Sapphire Blue one-of-one. That was followed by a 918 Spyder hypercar.

Despite wearing issue number 135 of 918 vehicles, the Spyder was the last vehicle to be delivered, leaving the factory in 2020. We’re still not quite sure how this happened, but if you’re a Porsche/Piech, it’s reasonable to assume you can pull some strings. This car features Sapphire Blue laser cut rims spokes with matching blue brake calipers.

All of these cars now live in Melbourne. Lindsay Fox has acquired the collection, lock, stock and barrel from the Porsche family and they’re the highlight of the newly-renovated Fox Classic Car Collection in Docklands.

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We’re not sure if Gregor had been naughty and had the cars taken away from him or whether he now wants to rebuild the collection with 992 generation models, but his loss is your gain. Having been closed since 2019 due to plans for adjacent site works, the Fox Classic Car Collection is open from Thursday 5th June and the entire upper floor is devoted to Porsche, with pride of place going to the Sapphire Blue collection.

Of course, they’re not the only exhibits that’ll catch your eye. Whether it’s a Skaife/Richards Skyline R32 GT-R, a brace of Mercedes 300SLs (one roadster, the other a gullwing coupe), a Jaguar XJR-15 or XJR220, the delivery mileage Lexus LFA, the stunning Porsche GT, the unicorn twin-engined Mercedes-Benz A38 AMG or any of the other surprises that I won’t spoil here, there’s a lot to take in.

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The boss himself dropped in during our visit to tour the new facilities and re-acquaint himself with some of the cars on display. Pausing by a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss, he chuckled as he recalled how much he’d bought the vehicle for when new, claiming that it was now worth ten times the price. Back in the day, to even be considered for one of the 75-unit SLR McLaren Stirling Moss allocation you had to be a loyal SLR purchaser and have already bought a standard coupe, a convertible and the special 722 edition. Perhaps the entry criteria were a little strict as Mercedes reportedly struggled to sell the cars. Cue Fox’s eye for a deal.

I asked what would be the car Lindsay would save if the building was ablaze and I was told it was his first work truck from 1956, which was perhaps a little more of an emotional response than I was expecting.

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If you’d previously tried to visit the Fox collection and found the opening hours to be a bit idiosyncratic, you’ll be pleased to learn that the hours are being extended, the building open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. As part of the 99-year lease that allows Fox to use the Queen’s Warehouse for a peppercorn rent, the car collection must be open to the public and the building maintained. The old customs house and mint has had a good wash and brush up, with more updates planned that will extend the floorspace for exhibits.

Because exhibits are rotated in and out to keep the museum display fresh, it’s fair to assume the Sapphire Blue collection won’t be on display for ever. It’s worth getting along, if only to marvel at one man’s temporary bout of monomania. Just try picking a favourite. It’s surprisingly hard.

The Fox Classic Car Collection is at 749-755 Collins St, Docklands VIC 3008, and tickets can be purchased online at http://www.foxcollection.org.au/

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