What do you think about when doing a spot of cleaning in the house? “What do I have for dinner?” “What car does Gareth Southgate drive?”
Maybe the thoughts you have while scrubbing your oven caked in caramelised grease even has you pondering on the borderline philosophical. However, it’s extremely unlikely that, while gazing at the way a spoon bends your reflection during the daily housework, that you have ever, even fleetingly, contemplated the idea of deserting your life to go race around the World in a pimped out Porsche 356.

Well, as remarkable as it may initially sound, this is exactly what happened to Renée Brinkerhoff, a 65-year old lady from America who now tours the World in her very special 356.

Well, you might say, she must have experience with racing before, right? It’s quite something to be going from touching up the coffee machine to skidding, zooming, plummeting and crashing through every crevice, naturally created pothole and spontaneous dirt ramp available on the face of the planet – especially when you account for the fact that even extremely qualified professionals often struggle to reach her feats.

As you can probably anticipate by the use of rhetorics in the last paragraph, she had had absolutely zero background in racing before she decided to embark on her mission to conquer the world with her faithful right hand.

“I was doing the laundry and had a thought: ‘I have to race!’ Fast forward a few years and she was down in Mexico on the start line of the Carrera Panamericana with zero experience behind the wheel of a Porsche 356 that she’d fallen in love with.”

“My whole body was shaking uncontrollably, I couldn’t stop. On the first morning of the race, two brothers who were racing a few cars in front of me rolled over. One of them died. Three days later, a car caught fire and the navigator was medevaced out.”

An experience so profound that it would have conceivably put even the most rugged and experienced racers off, but, of course, in no way was that going to stop Renée, whose determination to race was soon romantically emphasised by the fact that Renée became the first woman in Carrera Panamericana history to succeed and win her class.

Since the Panamericana, it’s gone from the Targa Tasmania, South America, Caminos del Inca, the Peking to the Paris Motor Challenge (which is made up of 12 countries and 18,000 miles) to the East African Safari Classic Rally in Kenya.

If your jaw is not significantly lowered by this point, then there’s not much else we can do to gobsmack you.

Oh, wait, yes there is.

Her next venture will see her tackle a 356-mile journey through the most arctic racing region in the entire world, while simultaneously becoming the first-ever person to race on every continent in the world.

Yes, you can pick that jaw up now.

This adventure will, quite obviously, demand vital upgrades to her trusty Porsche 356, while also requiring a team worthy of a Bear Grylls series. That’s where Jason De Carteret, a hardy explorer and part-time record-breaker, and Kieron Bradley, an Antarctic expert and part specialist, come in.

What upgrades were made you ask? Well firstly, to combat the sub-freezing temperatures, a hot air input system and some glorious automotive plumbing will do the job of maintaining the engine’s warmth. But, at this point, you’re presumably craving to know what on earth is happening to the exterior of the car. Those rear tracks are there to create the effect of a flat tyre, delivering the best possible mass displacement, on top of retaining a strong traction footprint. This is a way of avoiding driveshaft issues and potential servicing – not really an option when you’re out among the penguins (unless a few of them happen to be Porsche mechanics).

Those skis at the front are produced from chromium steel that’s fabricated before heat is applied to it, which works in tandem with a high-density polytetrafluoroethylene base, which is accompanied by a blade through the middle to sort out any traction issues and understeer.

Last but not least, there’s the long bar that sticks out of the front, whose duty is to avoid issues with crevasses (because, you know, arctic crevasses blistered with ice are easy to fall into and hard to get out of). On top of that, it has solar panels that source energy to the communication systems of the car and provide the security blanket of being used to change the weight and balance of the car.

There’s something for everyone to take from the story of Renée Brinkerhoff. Maybe that’s not engulfing your Porsche in borderline insane equipment and tackling every race you can get your hands on, but, it goes to show that if you set your mind to it (along with a generous helping of elbow grease and advice), anything really is possible and that age is just a number.

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