Business Owner and Porsche Racer
Meet Nort Northam of Winter Park, Florida – that’s in the metro Orlando area. Nort owns the Nort Northam Collection where for the past thirty-some years he has bought and sold Porsche, Mercedes and other high-end cars, dealing with customers from all over the state, the country and the world. And for over forty years, he has been racing sports cars all over the country.
Oh, and last year at age 67, he won the National Championship for his class in Porsche Club Racing. This year he is going for the repeat.
Nort has road-raced almost everything and almost everywhere since the 1970’s. A multiple-event competitor in the famous Rolex 24 At Daytona, he has raced Porsche, Camaro, and other makes in the twice-aournd-the-clock endurance race at Daytona International Speedway as well as other endurance races at road course circuits all over. Racing is in his blood, and a little thing like age isn’t going to make him stop – or even slow down.
While most people can’t wait for age 65 or so to retire, Nort is still running his dealership every day, six days a week, taking the occasional weekend to race to a top finish in a Porsche Club race. Although technically an “amateur” racing series, the competition is stiff and each race is a move in a year-long chess match to the end. Nort gets to eight or nine races each year at tracks as far away as upstate New York and even Utah. With a crew of one to help him, Nort has surprised many with his talents.
“Watkins Glen (New York) is probably one of my favorites, not just because of the great track, but because of the community and scenery that surrounds it. And the Glen is an older track with a lot of history” Nort said about his annual trek to upstate New York to compete.
Nort retired his beloved Kelly Green 911 race car – The Bean – several years ago in favor of a 1988 Porsche 924S Carerra GT Replica, also in his trademark Kelly Green. The 924S has proven to be a reliable racer that is much less expensive to maintain than the 45-year-old 911. The Bean will be converted back into a street car and live out it’s life with Nort in retirement in Central Florida.
So what does retirement mean to Nort? Certainly there are no plans to sit on the porch and wave at the neighbors. “I suppose that some day I will stop working, but that only means that I can spend more time concentrating on my racing.” Nort has a place in the mountains in western North Carolina. “One of the benefits of being there is that I am less than a day’s drive from every great race track in the eastern half of the country.” That is one way to evaluate real estate!
Nort Northam is a true House Spouser – Over 50, and serving as an adventurous inspiration to the rest of us. On his 68th birthday this February, Nort was heard saying, “I’m not as old as my age…”
Well put. And good luck in your chase for another trophy in the 2016 Racing Season.
Nort Northam. The April 2016 House Spouser.
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