Racing Through Mexico In A Porsche 914 GT

Story by: Gustavo Daniel Bogo // Photography by: Daniela Bogo and Mike Satterfield

The Rally Historico Transpeninsular started in Tijuana and ended in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and I entered it in a 1973 Porsche 914 GT—a car I decided to build for the race. With my co-pilot Jim Burke, we did about 1,100 miles over three days—and what a drive it was.

The purpose of this rally was to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Baja California’s Highway 1, the only paved road that connects Cabo San Lucas with Tijuana and one brought life to small towns along the Baja peninsula that were forgotten by time and now are big tourist attractions, like Cabo San Lucas, La Paz, Loreto, Catavina, Guerrero Negro, Santa Rosalia, San Ignacio, San Quintin, Vizcaino, Ensenada, and Mulege.

My trip was very special from day one, the day I decided to participate and build the car just for the race. The best part was that my wife and kids told me that they will run behind me on a chase vehicle. Racing on open roads in beautiful Mexico, and have your family with you has no price.

I had just one problem, on one of the schedule service stops I fuelled the car at a gas station and the gas had water in it—so that created major issues on the car fuel system, making day two the longest day of the race. First the in-tank fuel pump failed, then the fuel regulator failed, and then the car had no power; we barely made it to a small property with a small tree for shade on the side of the road and pulled the entire fuel system out of the car, emptied the fuel tank and added new fuel, switched to secondary fuel pump and pulled carburetors off the car and cleaned them in order to continue. We made it to our last check point by 4:00 am.

It was great to be able to take part in such an event and get to know many people along the way that were happy to have us in their little town, and also helped in all possible ways, from bringing cold water and food, to helping with parts on the side of the road…

Snd then you have the scenery, all the beautiful sites of the Baja peninsula, the small clear water beaches, the towns with history dating back to Hernán Cortez and the Spanish colonization, and the people: always very welcoming and happy to see us there.

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