The Porsche Classic Restoracing Competition 2018 celebrates the 20th anniversary of the 986 Boxster, a car that fundamentally shaped the Porsche business and brought a whole new generation of customers to the brand. When it launched in September 1996, the Porsche Boxster set new performance and safety standards in the open-top sports car market. The roadster combined the dynamic performance of a sports car with day-to-day usability.

This year’s competition requires us to locate and restore a Boxster S 986 model. In addition, we will have to prepare our Boxster S to compete in a dedicated, three-round Porsche Classic Restoracing Championship run by Porsche Club Great Britain. Harking back to the 924 Championship of the 1970s, the championship will see Centres race head-to-head at three of the UK's most iconic circuits.

Porsche Centre Guildford, in association with our Porsche Recommended Repairer, Premier Panel Skills, sourced a year 2000 registered 986 Boxster S. The car had just over 20,000 miles on the clock and was in great mechanical order so it was almost a shame to dismantle it. However, its low mileage and excellent condition will ensure it will perform competitively as a race car.

The first stage of the restoration was to strip the Boxster. In just six hours, the Boxster went from road ready to a bare shell.

Discover the latest videos and photos of the transformation on the Porsche Centre Guildford Facebook page.

The Boxster 986 has received a number of enhancements to make it track ready. This included wielding a roll cage to the body and finishing the Boxster in a racing livery.

The competition will see our fully 986 Boxster compete head-to-head against 15 others, each with their own livery paying homage to iconic Porsche race cars. We have chosen to replicate the ‘Hippie’ design from the wildly painted Martini Racing long-tail Porsche 917 LH (pictured). For our project we opted to go with a full paint job rather than vinyl. A painstaking process but one that was worthwhile with the end result.

It has been a huge team effort by Porsche Centre Guildford and Premier Panel Skills to source the car and transform it into a track-ready race car.

But now we reap the rewards - the first two race meets have taken place at Brands Hatch and Silverstone, and our 986 took the first place podium at Silverstone on 2 June 2018.

The final round is during the Festival of Porsche at Brands Hatch on Sunday 2 September. At 1.2 miles, this the shortest circuit of the competition and will ensure fast-paced action and highly competitive racing.

Porsche enthusiasts are very welcome to come and view the final race. Tickets are available via the Brands Hatch website .