A few weeks ago I was on vacation in Kelowna BC visiting my wife’s family when we took a drive to visit some friends. The route we took went past all the car dealerships in Kelowna. As I was not driving I got to inspect the forecourts of the dealerships, eagerly keeping my out for any tasty supercar along the way. As we drove past the new Porsche dealership in Kelowna my eagle eyes spotted one of the famous racing liveries ever found on a racing car, the Gulf oil livery, only this time it was adorning the façade of a Porsche 918 Spyder hypercar. Naturally I had to pop into the dealership on the way home to see this masterpiece up close.

​On the way back home I dropped by Porsche Kelowna where the friendly staff kindly allowed me to take a ton of photographs of the 918. The Gulf Oil livery looks absolutely stunning on the 918. As a motor racing enthusiast I am familiar with many iconic race liveries, the John Player Special Lotus F1 livery, The Marlboro McLaren F1 livery, and of course the signature Gulf Oil livery raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans by Porsche 917’s. The Gulf Oil livery was also found on the Ford GT40’s that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times from 1966 to 1969.

Loading...

After leaving the dealership I sent an email to one of the sales associates to find out a bit more about this particular 918 and to see if I could come by again and get inside the car. Thanks to Vaughn Wyant the owner of the Porsche 918 and the Porsche Kelowna dealership I was granted permission to film inside the 918. I was handed the key to the 918 and was delighted to find it was coloured coded to match the livery which was a nice touch. It was a thrill holding the key to a hypercar, even if I could not go anywhere with it (sadly).

The interior is bespoke with orange piping on the seats and side panels accompanied by a healthy dose of carbon fibre panelling bedecking the interior surfaces. The seat headrests are stitched in orange piping spelling out 918. In the passenger foot well there is the obligatory hypercar fire extinguisher. This 918 has the six point racing seat belts. With only delivery mileage on the odometer (122 km) this car is practically brand new. I was tempted to try and manoeuver the 918 around other display room Porches and put a few more miles on the odometer.

Loading...

After speaking with Evan Cross sales manager at Porsche Kelowna I was pleasantly surprised to find out Vaughn Wyant owns not one but two Porsche 918 Spyders both in Gulf Oil liveries. Now that is some dedication to Porsche history. Naturally I had to try and talk to this electric owner. I was able to chat to Vaughn this past Monday as he was making his way home from Arizona to Kelowna. Proof that this gentleman is a passionate car enthusiast may be found in the fact he was driving his Range Rover and towing a rather tasty Porsche 911 R in a trailer. As I was to discover the 911 R and the 918’s are only a few members of his car collection.

Photo courtesy of Vaughn Wyant 911 R Photo courtesy of Vaughn Wyant 911 R

As the owner of two Porsche dealerships Vaughn had the inside track on acquiring the 918’s, however he wanted to make them unique by adorning them with the Gulf Oil livery. Porsche were willing to build the cars however they were sceptical of Vaughn getting permission from Gulf Oil. Vaughn Wyant’s passion as car enthusiast must came have across during his multiple correspondences with Gulf Oil as they finally gave him permission to use the iconic livery with the stipulation that the cars not be displayed at tradeshows. Porsche painted the cars at considerable expense with historically accurate liveries. A gentleman from Atlanta also has a Gulf Livery on his 918 however his decals are stick on rather the painted ones on Vaughn’s 918’s. Needless to say Vaughn is recognised any time he drives one of his iconic 918’s. It’s also good for advertising for his Porsche dealerships. Vaughn’s second 918 which resides in Saskatoon happily gets driven more often and has some 500 kilometers on the odometer.

Vaughn houses the rest of his car collection in a private museum in Saskatoon where he is happy to grant access to fellow motor enthusiasts. Vaughn has a few more cars in the Gulf Oil livery, his daily driver the Porsche 911 R, the loud Porsche 911 GT2 RS, and his 2006 Ford GT. In late July or early August the second generation Ford GT will be have new companion in the form of the new limited edition Ford GT. This too will be painted in Gulf Oil Livery. Although to be precise Ford calls them heritage colours rather than Gulf Oil colours. The collection houses amongst others things, two E -Type Jaguars, a 930 Porsche, a 356 Porsche, and a split window 1963 Corvette.

I am looking forward to stopping by the museum in Saskatoon to take a look at the collection. Seeing the Gulf Oil 918 Spyder parked alongside the heritage Ford GT’s would make for a memorable photography session. I will be wearing my favourite pair of driving shoes, my Hunziker Gulf racing shoes for the occasion :).

A big thank you to Vaughn for speaking with me and for allowing me access to his pride and joy the Porsche 918 Gulf Oil Spyder. If you are in Kelowna or just passing through stop by at Porsche Kelowna and see the iconic liveried 918 for yourself.

​

​