I daily drove my 911 for 60k miles.
I had a secured gated private parking at work.
Still a stop at the post office resulted in a fender being brushed on and slightly dented.
The public just thinks its an old sports car not a collectable.
If it is a collectable maybe we should not drive them daily?

I always just wanted a fun sports car not a collectable.

Maybe consider a sports car that is not a collectable or as expensive to repair and maintain.

I sold my nice street cars and kept my 2 race cars.
I just enjoy driving on the track in a sports/race car where other experienced drivers are at least trying to drive well.
The fun of public roads became a hassle with distracted drivers in disposable cars that don't care about anything nice.

This should be my mindset.

I live in Houston and drive a Camry with paper plates....let's race!!

Seriously it will be OK.....and bravo.

I drive my 911 into work from time to time, if you have to worry about everyone else around you, you would never step foot outside your own house. I actually enjoy every minute I'm in the car and just pay a wee bit more attention to those around me.

@TXGerman - What says you?

I used my 85 cab as a DD for about a year. It was a great car, but no ac was pretty bad in our humid summer. Then I got a 996 and used her for a DD instead of the cab. What made things bearable with the cab was the zip out rear window. I liked that feature, and miss it on my 88 cab. However, I got the ac up and running on my 88 and it was blowing 40 degree vent temps tonight.

First off, the Griffith's AC system is wonderful. I have the 4 condenser, hurricane blower and variable speed fan switch. I can be totally comfortable with my wife in the car in 100+ degree heat. With no doubt it is the very best upgrade, repair, fix, modification or whatever you want to call it I have done to my 911 in the 26 years I have owned. it.

I used my 1974 914 2.0 as a daily driver for 26 years. It was my only car so I had no choice. Over the years it had every since fender crushed in by other (expletives deleted) drivers. It was always in a good safe spot, and some idiot managed to flatten a fender. I never got a note of course, just a nice bill to fix it. I was never in the car, just idiots in a parking lot.

My El Camino had the tailgate crushed in a couple of years ago while legally and safely parked.

I drove my 911 to work several times per year, as allowed by my insurance. On sunny Fridays and not more than once per month. It is a weird feeling on my road trips to go make a grocery run, or just to go out to dinner and drive it like a commuter car.

Whatever you decide, enjoy a 911 with great AC, and drive your 911 on some curvy roads where it belongs.

H-Town Driving
 

I agree. I drove my 911SC into work today. I keep my head on a swivel but still enjoy the drive. If someone wants to "race", they can be an isht bag and I smile as I let them go. I have nothing I need to prove, just trying to get as many smiles per mile.

I do understand the feeling of stress when in public areas, parking lots etc., but I just park farther away and get my steps in. I also do not enjoy gridlock with an old school clutch, but, I just do my best to plan my route and timing such that I avoid that as much as possible (not always possible of course).

I recently recharged my A/C, thank goodness! It is so hot I would melt without it. I do plan to upgrade to the Griffiths system in the next year or so. That system is the way to go, IMHO.

Dennis

One of these good days, TxGerman and I will drive our Guards Red air cooled cars into work and look forward to share these pictures with y'all.

What are the chances that two gearhead guys, work together, are good friends and also own air cooled cars in the same color! Good times!

I have long ignored any and all wanna be racers. I seem to attract more in of them in my El Camino than the 911. It would easy to drop in 500 HP in the Elky and have a tire burning machine. I have zero interest in that.

Most any modern car is as fast if not faster than a old air cooled 911 in a stop light race. So what. How many basically stock 1980s Hondas or Toyotas or Corvettes have you seen at the race track for a fun day of screaming around the track.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1624540626.jpg

Even a the new econoboxes of today would not have the brakes to stand up to a 25 minute session at a track like Eagle's Canyon, in Texas or Laguna Secca in Ca. I drove my 911 to Decatur, TX and then played on the track at Eagles canyon for over 130 miles of track time. 3/4 of a tank of gas, and a full day of smiles. Then I drove it home.

What other 36 year old car can do that? And still be used as a commuter if I want.

I daily drove a 911 to work for years. This was 40 years ago, back when these cars were new, not garage queens. In fact, for years I didn’t even own a car that wasn’t a 911.

In that same era, I spent a summer working in Houston. I left the 911 at home and drove to work in a rental car. No 911 of that era can cope with the heat and humidity of a hot Houston summer, at least with respect to my desired level of comfort. I don’t care what you do to the air conditioning system, the systems don’t move enough cabin air, not even the ones built after 1986.

The drive into work in the morning will be fun, the drive home at the end of the day will suck.

Yeah is it the best 40 year old slow and reliable but expensive to repair track car around?
At the track a stock 911 may also provide the least amount of driver safety too.
No race seat or belts, no cage or HANS device or air bags, no fuel cell and no on board fire system and flammable carpet and materials in your 911 no one would want in a track car.

You are free balling it with a helmet and not much else for the sake of safety.
You can find a less expensive and safer 200hp street car to noodle around the track.

At the track driver safety should be a factor too.
I choose my track car based on accident survivability.

Never understood why someone would want to compromise their safety on track for the thrill of driving their street car to and from the track?

Absolutely agree with OWP and your statement. I daily drove mine, and if you've got to commute, it's generally better to commute in something fun, IMO. I think the only time that I would skip a classic air-cooled 911 for commuting is if my commute was almost all stop and go. Some stop and go is fine. Driving in Houston, there's always spots where the traffic goes to hell, but then, at least in my experience, there are other parts where the traffic is moving more steadily.
I've been in Houston since 1995. I've had a few issues over the years, almost entirely due to other folks not paying attention or doing something silly crazy. That does not, would not keep me from driving a nice car. If it was an original '67 R or '73 RS lightweight or a McLaren F1 or a Pagani or CGT, I probably wouldn't commute in it every day, but anything else, sure.

No doubt I was likely the slowest car on track that day. But we had 6 or 7 cars on a 2.7 mile track. No racing, just having fun at 8/10th and 9/10th and no red mist. I let the modern cars pass me on the straights with a point by. I had just as much fun as the guys in the fast run group in their 911 GT3RS. No timed runs, no trophies of any sort, just fun driving.

Safety is a great selling point with the wife.
She says yes to all safety related upgrades.
20 years ago I gave my wife a ride for track session at Laguna Seca.
First thing she said when she got out of the car was...
"I will never question you again when you want to buy new tires".

So nice to have a wife that cares about safety and good tires.

But not nearly as valuable.

That depends on how you see value in a vehicle. Some say it has monetary value, but in reality, that car is worthless if he won't drive it. The Kia Soul plays a far more important role in his daily life, thus it is more valuable.

I rented a Kia Soul to drive 850 miles each way to Montgomery, AL and back home. I am pretty sure they call it a Soul because is will suck your soul out to drive one every day. It was not a bad car, but utterly devoid of anything that would make me want one.

german steel has so much more ethereal content than korian steel.

It was just an appliance. That is what is is designed to be, but there are better appliances available. No kid ever had a poster on their bedroom wall of a Kia Soul.

yeah, before making adult decisions in my daily life, i check the walls of a child's room like a totally normal person.

im so over the "magic" car bull****. its a car, calm the **** down.

I am waiting for the day you make your first ever adult decision. It will be a banner day.