Last weekend, Ryan and Stu headed up to St Albans for Porsche in the Park 2026, both taking their Gen 2 991 GTSs out for an early Sunday morning run. As far as excuses to get up stupidly early for cars go, this one was pretty solid.
The drive up was already a good start to the day because the closer we got, the more Porsches started appearing around us. By the final few miles, it had basically turned into one massive convoy of flat-sixes heading in the same direction. There’s something quite cool about seeing mirrors full of 911s before you’ve even arrived.
One of the best parts of the event was getting there before the public. Display cars were allowed in a couple of hours early, which meant the atmosphere for the first part of the morning was properly relaxed. Just owners, enthusiasts, coffee, and rows upon rows of Porsches without huge crowds around them yet.
And there really was a huge turnout. Hundreds of cars covering pretty much every era of Porsche you could think of. From older classics and air-cooled cars right through to brand new GT3 RSs, there was something interesting parked in every direction you looked. 718s, 944s, 964s, 924s, plenty of different 911 generations, the sort of event where you keep spotting another car you forgot you liked five minutes earlier.
One thing we did notice was the complete lack of SUVs. No Cayennes. No Macans. Just the fun stuff. Sports cars everywhere.
Stu’s car also got quite a bit of attention because, despite being basically the same car as Ryan’s, it currently has a roof box mounted on top ahead of a road trip to the French Alps next month. This was apparently a “test run” to make sure everything stayed attached at motorway speeds before attempting France. Fair enough really, nobody wants to explain to French police why a Porsche roof box is bouncing down the autoroute at 80mph.
The weather definitely turned things up a notch too. It was properly hot all day, which meant plenty of people hiding in whatever shade they could find between wandering around the cars. Still worth it though.
Overall, it was just one of those genuinely enjoyable car events. No pressure, no posing, no trying too hard. Just loads of interesting Porsches, good people, and a decent excuse to spend a Sunday talking about cars with other enthusiasts. Exactly how these events should be.