As mentioned above Ann Sargeantson, Peter's widow, kindly wrote to me detailing the background to them obtaining the car, together with their adventures collecting the 911T from the factory:
In 1955 in Manchester, England I married Peter George Sargeantson. I was just 18 and Peter was 27. Peter was home on leave from Kenya where he was serving as a Police Officer having just completed a two year tour of duty. At that time a state of emergency had been declared within the British colony as a result of the Mau Mau uprising and recruitment by the then Colonial Office in London had taken place to enlist officers to help maintain the security and stability of the country. Two months after our marriage we flew by piston aircraft, I think it was a Comet, (24 hour flight) from London to Nairobi, the capital, (re-fuelling in Paris, Tripoli, Benghazi, Cairo and Khartoum) to commence a new tour of duty. It was then November 1955 and the last month of autumn in Kenya.
Through Gordon Crow, who was then the Porsche agent in Nairobi, Peter placed an order to take delivery of a 911T whilst on home leave in 1968. If the order of the specification of the car was fairly simple, the payment of such a vehicle was not. Kenya had a “soft currency” in shillings. One hundred Kenya shillings was the equivalent of 5 pounds sterling. I think the car cost at that time about 3,000 pounds. Mrs Crow ran the office and was very au fait with the currency exchange regulations in Kenya at that time. Tourism, which brought hard currency to the country, i.e. sterling and dollars, was always a boost to the economy. However, if you were employed in the country and received your salary in Kenya shillings, you can imagine how keen you would be if someone was prepared to pay sterling into your bank account in the U.K. in exchange for goods or services in Kenya. I suppose it was a form of money laundering, and one had to be very careful as Kenya was a one party state and almost a dictatorship. However, between the Kenya shilling, the pound sterling and the German deutsche mark, we bought the car.
After renewing contact again with family and friends in England, Peter and I flew to Stuttgart from London to take delivery of the car. We flew by Eagle Airways, who subsequently went out of business, in an Argonaut aircraft. I have to mention that Peter’s main passion in life was aeroplanes; not the commercial or military type but vintage, veteran. I think his favourite aeroplane was the Tiger Moth and, I think, there was also a Gypsy Moth. He loved flying and actually held a PPL (having qualified in a Colt) so the flight to Stuttgart was of great interest to him with the knowledge and understanding of the procedure of take-off and landing. The mini bus which took us to the aircraft was all rather jolly as a group of Germans had been on holiday salmon fishing in Scotland and as it was rather expensive to hold a permit for fishing on a given stretch of river, they were all very keen to get their catch back home. Consequently, there was a rather large number of cool boxes accompanying them on the bus. This, of course, would not be allowed today. We boarded the aircraft, fish and all, when a few minutes later an announcement came from one of the Stewards that we must disembark and go back to the bus and wait on the tarmac as, on pre-flight check, the Captain had found a half inch cut in the tyre of the wheel of the under-carriage. This caused great alarm as any delay in take-off would extend the time in which the salmon would eventually reach a table. Insult was added to injury, when an airport official was seen (and Peter also witnessed this) to be kicking the offending tyre. Peter later told me that this was not an unknown procedure. However, the expertise, reputation and patriotism of English aviation became very much into question at that time! Eventually we all re-boarded and had an uneventful flight to Stuttgart.
The following day Peter and I went to the Porsche factory to collect the car. The reception area was quite something with an almost museum like atmosphere, showing the history and achievements of Porsche through the ages. In addition, there was a shop where one could purchase a Porsche related item as an added extra; all beautifully displayed but terribly expensive. However, the immaculate reception area and the goods on display in the shop were nothing compared to the receptionist. “Can I help you sir”. She was blond and blue eyed and wore the Bavarian national dress; very high waisted skirt and the white broderie Anglaise blouse cut very low. If Sargeantson had been impressed with the reception area and everything on display, this was nothing compared to the blond, blue eyed beauty behind the desk itself. He informed her of the order that had been placed in Kenya, and that he had come to collect his 911T. After consulting various ledgers, all seemingly placed on a level beneath the counter itself, and much straining of neck and eyes by Sargeantson to be in a position to read them, she advised him that the car was not yet ready. “You seem to be very hot Mr. Sargeantson”. “Can I get you a cool drink?”. Peter was indeed feeling the heat, and I stood behind him thinking: this will be a story for him to tell (and elaborate on) when he gets back to Kenya and has a night out with the boys. “Yes, I am rather hot” said Peter, who, poor soul, was now sweating quite visibly. She went to a dispenser and brought him a frosted glass of iced Coca Cola; nothing for me. He signed various forms with his usual flamboyant signature and we went back to the hotel making arrangements to collect the car the following morning.
Staying in our hotel we met a fellow who had been on the same Eagle flight. He was in Stuttgart on business and worked for SKF the ball-bearing company. Apparently the rep. he was supposed to be taking out for dinner that night had called to say that his wife was ill and could not make the dinner date. He was, therefore, delighted when I suggested we should all meet for a drink and dinner. Peter was horrified, but not surprised, at my bold suggestion. However, we three had a wonderful evening and a meal at a restaurant where our host must have been well-known, as I was given a large bouquet of flowers and a violinist who stood by me at the table and serenaded me with It’s a Long Way to Tipperary. I don’t remember the name of our host, but he must have had a most generous entertainment allowance for his regular visits to Germany.
We went back to the factory the following morning and collected the car. Motoring back along the Autobahns and crossing the channel by ferry, we eventually reached England and, more important, home to our two year old son Philip.
Peter joined the Kenya Police in 1953 and left the force in 1963; remaining in the country to join Marshalls, a Peugeot agency, with the holding company in Croydon.
Life settled down once again in Kenya for another tour this time in Nyeri (pronounced Nearee). Nyeri is 96 miles north of Nairobi, the capital, and is a small African trading town. By this time Peter had left the Police Force and was working for a company selling the Peugeot motor car. The European population was very small, perhaps about 50, but had one wonderful asset – the Outspan Hotel – which was described as a “feeder” hotel for Treetops. If you sit on the back veranda of the Outstpan Hotel, drink in hand (an absolute must) you would experience the backdrop of Mount Kenya. This majestic mountain, sometimes with snow on the top peak (Batian), stood at 17,040 ft./ above sea level. I have many times cupped my hands together (drink on the table) and looked at this wonderful mountain to be held in my memory for future reference. Treetops was a nest in a large, multi-limbed fig tree in the Aberdare Forest near Mount Kenya. Platforms were built into the upper branches of the tree, and from a ledge 30ft. above the ground visitors (who slept in the tree in specially adapted bedrooms) could look down on a pool of mud, spicy with salt, where animals came each night to bathe, play and feed; this salt lick was very popular with elephant. An excellent dinner was provided for guests, and was described as a kind of periscope out in the forest thirty feet up in the leaves. It was here in 1952 Princess Elizabeth who was on holiday with the Duke of Edinburgh heard of the death of her father King George VI.
Peter did so much during his life that I am delighted and not altogether surprised that part of his legacy has come back, and it would seem that Tim will restore this with much sympathy both for the car and its original owner.
Ann.
