Ted Gushue: “My 911 was restored by Ruf”

Ted Gushue is the editor-in-chief of Type 7, a Porsche lifestyle magazine aimed at a new generation of owner. When he's not travelling the world finding stories, the automotive photographer and writer is usually behind the wheel of his classic 911, which was recently rebuilt by Ruf. Here’s 10 questions with Ted.

It’s a magazine that my company developed for Porsche. At first it was Instagram only, but from there we went to an annual printed volume. It’s our way of introducing the next generation to the Porsche universe by talking about everything that they might be interested in: art, architecture, design, travel and life. We also tell stories of young people from around the world who have Porsches. It’s been going for almost two years and it’s a dream project for the best company.

Where did the name Type 7 come from? 

Type 7 is based on the model Type 754, which was the inter-model between the 356 and the 911 that was never released. It’s quite an interesting looking car.

What are some of your favourite stories you’ve covered for Type 7?

Our favourite stories are the ones of young people that have an amazing passion for classic or modern Porsches. And we just highlight that passion. And anytime that you’re highlighting passion it’s very rewarding. Our magazine is really not a Porsche magazine. We talk about people that own Porsches but it’s more focused on art, design and architecture. I’d say one-quarter of what we do is focused on cars, maximum.

Volume two is going to be filled with so much more. It’s going to be about 150 pages larger. It will be better quality. Better everything. We’re really excited about it. We finish production in the next 10 days, and it goes on sale later this year. It will be on Amazon and in bookstores worldwide.

How did the partnership with Porsche come about?

They approached me. I was the editor-in-chief of Petrolicious for two years. After I left Petrolicious in 2017, Porsche contracted my agency to create Type 7.

My passion is photography but I’m a media strategist by trade. I’ve started a few magazines, worked in magazines in New York, been a newspaper reporter and all sorts of things. I moved to Europe from the USA to work with Porsche.

It’s a 1976 911S that was restored by Ruf. So, it’s only a restoration, not an actual Ruf. The car was crashed three summers’ ago, and they restored it. They unbent the chassis and gave it a full bare-metal respray. It took about three or four months. They were very efficient. Ruf also services my car, and they always use Motul lubricants. My father purchased the car in 1992. So it’s nearly 30 years’ old and has done 200,000 miles. It’s still on American plates and it’s the only car I own in Europe. I also own a 928GT and a 944 Turbo but those are back in the States.

I’m very close friends with the family. We travelled the world together. We share a bunch of mutual friends. And we’ve ended up over the past five years going to the same events together and really having a lot of fun.

I work for the town of St Moritz in Switzerland. We manage their social media. I also do a lot of luxury brand photography for Larusmiani, a men’s fashion brand based in Milan.

We’ve always had old cars in the family. It was just natural. It was like growing up speaking a second language. I didn’t think it was special, but now you realise how special it was.

© Picture credits: Jonnie Craig, Ted Gushue