From the Yorkshire Moors to the Swiss Alps, through to the side streets of Edinburgh through to Sweden’s cinematic backdrops, photographer and creative director Jack Harding has likely captured them all along his travels. Before bustling cities start stirring, Jack spends those precious calm-before-the-storm moments filling his ears with the burble of his Porsche 930 Turbo, which he affectionately calls ‘Claudia’.
We caught up with Jack not where he currently resides in Edinburgh, nor where in his favourite areas of the Fjords, but instead along the hills of Altea, a beautiful coastal city in southeastern Spain, approximately a 3-hour drive from Madrid, where our friends at Café Leather decided would make for the ideal spot to cruise up to the mountain peaks and forget about the craziness of the world, even just for an hour or two. After sliding off his Triton Leather Gloves, swapping them for his Leica, I was intrigued to find out what is it about shooting landscapes that excites Jack so much, “For me, getting up in the morning before everyone else is out, and in the right location with the right lighting, it’s all you need really – the work is already done, getting out of bed is the hard part!”
Finding his love for photography at the age of 21, Jack lived a very different life before he let his creativity run riot, “I worked in sales for BMW for several years, which is definitely where my love of cars was ignited. After that, I was in a finance company in Stockholm, where I would finish work on a Friday and immediately head out travelling for the weekend, sometimes ending up in Norway and beating the sunrise, allowing me to wait and capture images just as the sun appears over the mountains.”
The joy for him is purely in the journey, loading up his 1980 Porsche 930 Turbo, affectionately known as ‘Claudia’ and heading across the country before sunrise is the stuff of dreams for so many, and Jack is keen to savour every moment. “With a car like the 930 Turbo, you really do need to respect what it is capable of, it was a mightily powerful car back in the day, and even today requires constant concentration. But, feeling those vibrations around the car, it’s so analogue and enjoyable.”
Intrigued by the car's origins, we prompted Jack to continue, "Originally sold in the UK, the car was brought over to Monaco for a few years with a Russian telecommunications tycoon. I bought it online from auction in early 2024 and the car had done very few miles in the last ten years. I didn’t get to see it before bidding, but had a good feeling!"
Sporting its iconic wide hips and deep dish two-tone wheels, Jack has spent some time perfecting his air-cooled delight, "I bought the car and had a KW suspension installed along with lots of other handling upgrades. I then went for a bigger turbo and an upgraded exhaust system, putting the car to run around 420horsepower - a whole 120 more than the car out or the factory 45 years ago. The car is driven as much as I can, with me doing over 10,000 miles in autumn during the period this video was shot as I drove from the UK to Spain for six weeks. Amongst many other heavy, spirited miles, the car has just had a 3.4 rebuild and is ready for another summer of huge adventures!"
The content has been shot by friends of Classic Driver, Spain’s own Café Leather, who have a wide range of leather driving gloves, bags and accessories available within the CD Shop.
Photos by Alvaro Iglesias
