American Dream

Scottsdale, Arizona is the unlikely epicentre of America’s car culture. For 50 years it’s hosted the week-long Barrett-Jackson Auto Show, which regularly sees around 1,700 classic cars up for auction. The city’s many Cars & Coffee meets also spill over with tyre-smokin’ US muscle and brand new supercars, yet Gregor Mina’s 26-year-old 911 still turns hundreds of heads. Indeed, with a supercharged engine built by Scottsdale’s own Patrick Motorsports, this tribute to a 993 RSR is something of a local hero.

Gregor has made Arizona his home, but his accent swiftly betrays that he isn’t so local. The 44-year-old marketing consultant hails from Edinburgh, Scotland, and most of his memories of growing up there involve cars. “My dad always bought What Car? magazine and I would memorise all the facts and figures in the back, then talk about them incessantly,” he says with a smile.

Years later, it was Gregor’s dad who ignited his passion for Porsche after buying a first-generation (986) Boxster. “I think those cars are perennially underappreciated,” he opines. “I can still remember driving that Boxster. Its handling