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Thanks, Duck & WhaleOver in Australia there’s a Porsche magazine that combines high-end design values with grass-roots stories that journey beyond the cars, and it’s set to launch in the UK
Words: Julian Milnes
Have you ever wondered where your Porsche has been, and similarly, just where it can take you? It’s a question that’s being asked by the sumptuously compiled Duck & Whale magazine, whose striking photography and design resonates against real-world stories across the globe, delivering an altogether intriguing result.
“I wanted to deliver a different type of experience on the printed page, to focus as much on the people as the cars,” says editor and founder Lee Dean. Those subsequently unearthed personal journeys are recounted over up to 16 pages, turning stories into proverbial odysseys.
Take the one about the Aussie farmer who uses his vintage ‘76 911S daily to visit his post box due to logistics, tackling dirt tracks and deconstructed tundra along the way. The car was subsequently tracked down through legend and word of mouth, then purchased in good faith, farm modifications disbanded, the car is now back on the street.
“The key time is to try and make it as much about the people as the cars. I love photographing the different things that people do to their cars. If they made a little change here or there, it creates that unique story.”
However, while Lee grew up with a fascination for motors, whether reading about them or tinkering with them, he admits his passion for Porsche only fully bloomed after working as a designer on one of Australia premier automotive magazines, Wheels.
“It became clear that Porsche was something special, a brand that stood out, so admittedly the obsession came a bit later on and I worked my way backwards from there,” says Lee, who drives a ’73 911. “It plugs me straight into the essence of what these cars are about; how they produce different emotions. Mine’s a bit of an old club racer, it delivers such a visceral experience. It’s what makes Porsche so special, the enthusiasm created around the cars.”
Having also worked in various creative roles in publishing and advertising, including a two year stint in London, Lee decided to combine his knowledge and enthusiasm to create something new.
“I felt there was a need for something different at this point, one that aimed to blend creative design with Porsche culture.” They say in business a great way to approach it is as an ignorant hero, someone who isn’t aware how hard it is to achieve the goal.”
And so with this in mind in 2016 Duck & Whale’s first photo shoot took place, recruiting a friend’s 964 and a photographer, Lee planted the flag and established the magazine’s blueprint with his first feature.
“I knew if I told enough people I was going to launch this magazine I’d have to follow through on my word!” And so the good word was spread.
Being completely independent is key to Duck & Whale’s philosophy. It doesn’t have kowtow to external commercial pressures or have the editorial narrative dictated by mainstream audiences, who’ve been brought up on standard road tests.
“I found that a lot of stories were short and lacking detail in mainstream magazines, Duck & Whale set out to deliver a more emotional journey. Our stories go over 16 pages, even our short stories are six pages,” explains Lee.
“For me, Porsche people are enthusiasts that really appreciate amazing engineering and quality attention to detail, so it’s seemed only natural to want to dive deep into these stories.”
This is complemented by Lee’s love for a car that’s been there and done that. “I love a Porsche that’s well driven, had a nice long life that gets used regularly. But what does that say about the owner and their relationship with it? Why have they altered the car in a certain way? That’s what Duck & Whale is about, we’re covering these people and their stories,” says Lee.
“I love the honesty of Porsche people, all the cars have their quirks and I think you can relate to them as individuals, with their own personalities. It’s funny, before social media you’d go on the forums and get to know people via their car’s problems and the trouble or hardships they were bringing. I mean, running an air-cooled can sometimes be a pain in the arse, like a relationship you’ll fight sometimes, but you’ll also kiss and make up!”
The desire for integrity and quality across the board in Duck & Whale even extends to the paper stock, which switches from an initial 40 pages of high-grade gloss, to 40 matt, then back to 40 gloss.
“People are amazed that we’re doing it, they love the quality feel of the magazine, the smell of the ink, the aesthetics – it all shines through, which shows we’re on the right track.”
The genesis of stories are a mix of Australian and global Porsche culture, which reflects the way the public consume information now via social media, says Lee. “It’s brought everyone closer, so Duck & Whale tends to be like that, I get approached by so many people from all over the world and try and encapsulate that world-wide Porsche passion.”
Lee’s personal favourite features include an interview with cult Belgium-based Porsche photographer Bart Kuykens, who mixed his passion for analog Leica cameras with vintage Porsches to create the book A Flat 6 Love Affair. While a focus on the GT2 RS, entitled Road Trip Acid Test, with owner and collector Kim Burke delivered a spacey affair, which took the reader into a different dimension via the GT’s interstellar capabilities.
“That’s the great thing with Duck & Whale, it can take you to places that have yet to be fully explored!”
]]>Every Porsche journey is unique and it’s our aim to highlight and understand the path each Porsche person is on, regardless of how long they have been travelling, we are just happy each person is on the journey with us.
We also recommend going down a gear and flooring it as often a possible!
Welcome to Duck & Whale.
It’s a 1973 Californian delivered car still LHD and now painted in ‘73 RS Grand Prix White. Along with the paint colour it also sports the front and rear bumpers, ducktail and the obligatory flared rear guards of that model. The car had been configured for track driving by its previous owner, sporting a solid 3.0 litre injected SC engine with a close ration 915 gearbox and LSD. Completing the setup are engineered fibreglass race bucket seats, a welded in half cage, a set of street legal slicks and suspension components are as tight as a drum. It was a turnkey proposition into the world of supersprints, motorkhana and track days and I’m all in.
I enthusiastically turn up to an independent track day at Wakefield park and drag an instructor into the car to find out how best to get around the track. Halfway round the first lap I realise I’ve forgotten twenty plus years of driving and can’t work out how to do it! Let’s say I put on a less than impressive performance - the instructor smiles and says, “Try to get a few laps under your belt remembering what I told you, and when your cup stops overflowing let’s hit it again!”
There is so much to learn and I realise I’m on the first rung of a very tall ladder. I come away responding to questions about the day with - yeah it was ...fun... If your version of fun means being totally overwhelmed by an alien environment! But all new things will be just that... NEW, I bought this car to improve my driving craft and that’s what I intend to do.
So the following track day I’m the first name down to go. This time it’s not so daunting, I’m listening, learning and slowly working out sections of the track, trying to put the puzzle together! I start to feel comfortable with the car and my history of coaxing overpowered under chassied drag cars up the strip comes in handy when things get loose. My car isn’t the fastest on the circuit but it’s no slouch either, and my hope is that learning track craft with a more analogue car will be a rewarding journey and it has been so far!
My advice to fellow newbies looking to get out onto the track is DO IT! Put your ego in your pocket and go to learn, everyone has a first day and don’t let that stop you getting involved. If you want to impress, your lap times will do that in time...
You can see the Duck & Whale Porsche in the drive article on page 100 of this issue and follow us on Instagram @duckandwhale for the latest pics.
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Let me tell you about my experience...
Initially I just got around the cars as much as I could to become accustomed to the interior and the form of the cars. To begin with I had tunnel vision for just one model, obsessed with still images of it until I drove a stock version expecting to to blown away by a hard edge performance machine, of course what I received was a lovely nostalgic driving experience of class and era. I was left feeling confused about what I was expecting from the car and asking questions as to what I really wanted in a Porsche.
I’ve found there to be a huge difference between a standard car and one that has had it’s blade sharpened. After having the opportunity to drive more cars it became evident that every model was different and even two cars within the same year of manufacture were different.
So where did that leave me, first I set out to decide on how I wanted to drive the car, I drove as many as possible. And with this information I’ve come to a conclusion.
These beautiful cars are so customisable you can get a doughy stock model and sharpen up the suspension and engine performance to your liking or if you are a lover of carbon bucket seats and roll cages you can in turn find a track warrior and soften it to suit a more road focused driving.
For the first time classic Porsche buyer reading this, the most important decision to make is first you must decide what you want out of your car.
Personally I wanted a sharp GT3 style driving experience in an early classic model, this style of car is an eggs in one basket proposition, low hard and hard... Not to everyones taste but I love the fun in the misgivings of track prepped car on the street.
If you want it all and want it now, choose a more modern car with Sport mode and get the best of both worlds.
Whichever way you go it is our reccomendation that you get your local dealer or reputable Porsche workshop to perform a Pre Purchase Inspection (PPI) on the car so you know what you are buying.
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Looking back over the history file of jumbled receipts and dubious service history of my own motoring background, I try to evaluate how I came to be obsessed with cars and the act of driving.
On my father’s side of the family there’s Australian Rules, East Sydney Football great in my grandfather Jack Dean and Wally O’Connell, an Australian rugby league footballer, but no drivers of note.
Look to my mother’s side there are some clues, two uncles who were both mechanically minded and belted around the streets in worked Brock Commodores. Their influence was very early on and not around my teenage years, they both heralded from Warialda and Armidale - further back along that blood line, leads to Australian Frederick Wordsworth Ward, better known as Captain Thunderbolt. An Australian bushranger renowned for escaping from Cockatoo Island, and for his reputation as the “gentleman bushranger” and his lengthy survival, being the longest roaming bushranger in Australian history. I bet Thunderbolt would have had some street racing tendencies!
Maybe it was necessity, growing up on the Central Coast, north of Sydney. The only way you were getting around was by car, the senior’s school car park had a few of the classics, Ford Escort MkII, Mazda RX3, KE10 Corolla, Ford Cortina, a sexy TA 22 Celica that once prowled the streets on huge 15inch wheels and my TX Gemini coupe.
This is where it started for me, once we all left school the power wars began and racing ensued.
If enthusiasts are born then all it takes is a little exposure to anything mechanical and they are on the highway to automotive nirvana, but if motoring enthusiasts need shaping then we all have our own roles to play in making that happen. To quote the Pittwater Motor Enthusiasts Association: “Run ‘em - Drive ‘em - Ride ‘em - Don’t Hide ‘em!”
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