TOBACCO BROWN

Tobacco Brown

Photographer Trevor Dalton talks us through the 1979 Porsche that has carried him throughout his creative career.

Since the earliest days of Type 7, Trevor Dalton has been one of our favourite photographers. Always produced with a near-unparalleled instinct for the cinematic, it’s always an exciting day when we receive a fresh batch of his work. Nearly five years ago, we turned the camera around onto him so he could first tell us the story of his 1979 Tobacco Brown Porsche 911SC. By that point, he’d owned it just two years. 40,000 miles later, we’re finally catching up with the pair to see how they’re getting along.

“Brownie and I have bonded more than I ever expected over the last few years. The car has just rolled over 200k miles with more fun details added here and there. Some original Porsche mud flaps, I believe they were an option in Sweden in the mid-70s? And the tartan seat inserts for example. The car is forever a collection of ‘cool stuff’ that I’ve found over the years. It also received a top-end rebuild, now sporting a hotter cam and fresh components to carry it another 100k miles - Yeehaw.

I finally found a sort of theme for the car, with it becoming ‘New England weekend touring’ spec. The car feels perfectly at home driving through the backroads of the Northeast, often with all sorts of things mounted on the roof rack. My ’93 Eddy Merckx is on there most days of the summer, which attracts all sorts of strange looks showing up to the bike trails (not exactly the usual Subaru hatchback & modern gravel bike combo).

I moved to California with Brownie in the past year, where the car gets an insane amount of attention. It’s shocking to me, but it does make me happy. Maybe the car (like me) stands out as clearly not being from the area. It serves as a reminder of home in Connecticut, which I miss everyday out here. I’ve been told a lot that the car feels like a representation of me. People’s association with me is that car and to sell it would be selling a part of myself.

"I finally found a sort of theme for the car, with it becoming ‘New England weekend touring’ spec. The car feels perfectly at home driving through the backroads of the Northeast, often with all sorts of things mounted on the roof rack."

"I moved to California with Brownie in the past year, where the car gets an insane amount of attention. It’s shocking to me, but it does make me happy. Maybe the car (like me) stands out as clearly not being from the area."

Until my recent 718 purchase, it was my main daily, I was commuting 100 miles a day in it no problem. Now it’s happy to enjoy the weekends with me, getting lost in the mountains.”