the true crux of the issue.

i made my choice. finstone has made his choice. what will the OP choose?

I agree.

I just got back from a collision center that gave USAA and me an estimate on damages to my formerly pristine and unmarked 1996 Land Cruiser. A low mileage, triple-locked LC in the condition mine is in is worth a lot more than you think.

I was hit in a parking lot and did not notice the damage until a few days ago. Damage was on the passenger side and that side of the car is along the garage wall when parked.

USAA is great and so is the body shop...in addition to the accident damage they are going to do some rust repair and other touch ups.

I will continue to DD it because it makes me happy...and it is just a car.

Experience with a collector car and a beater is not similar in any way. I am pretty sure the topic was valuable, collectible 911s, not $500 beaters. Owning a long hood does not necessarily prevent one from also owning a beater 944 or Miata. Nor does it mean that one must treat their 911 poorly to enjoy it.

It seems that you cannot leave PARF behind (and your "positions" there) ...not me. It is your go-to argument. Nothing I posted (or CP) had anything to do with PARF or politics. You were the one that could keep your politics out of the thread.

Check your own baggage.

This is my issue as well. I am more concerned about my cars being damaged in a parking lot than when I am driving them. That and when getting tires or a state inspection. Lots of damage to pristine floor pans and oil lines is done with jacks/jacking.

Both, to some extent. Air cooled 911s are a fun car to drive. They are rolling art. Few cars even have a stick shift these days...much less are available as an open car (Targa). Exclusivity and nostalgia are also a pretty heady combination.

It is also nice to drive a cool and desirable car...which is largely what determines its value (unless it is a particularly rare model).

I only carry liability on my cars. It is not the value, but rather that I do not want to allow any damage to a pristine example that I have been lucky enough to own.

Just a reminder, the original post specifically concerns long hoods. A long hood is a 911 built before 1974. A long hood with a history of accident drops in value considerably no matter how well its been repaired

^^^

true Greg but again, is your joy tied to its value or how fun it is to drive?

That's a question I struggle with. I love driving the car but it also was an investment. I get get more enjoyment driving my cars of less value equaling less risk. I know, it's stupid but I'm being honest

whats dumb about that?

i dont think there is anything dumb about realizing the point of cars is to maximize enjoyment of driving them, rather than whatever comes with owning a rarer, more valuable car?

i think thats just called maturing. being less concerned with what internet forum jockys think of your cars, and more interested in what they do for you personally.

That's all that counts. Everyone has different priorities. If you bought your car as an investment then by all means keep it safe. But Tadd's case is going from having fun when the car wasn't worth much to worrying about it because it's valuable now.

Just my opinion, and everyone has their own priorities, but for people in Tadd's case I say protect yourself with insurance and enjoy your car the way you used to.

Its not that I consider it an investment per se. Just that if it gets wiped I don't think I could put humpty dumpty back together. You just cant go buy another.

Would I feel better if I Porsche sold 67 body shells? You bet. That is just money.

I always thought the British heritage foundation did the coolest thing selling MG B and midget body shells. Pull the running bits off a dead rusted car, refurbish as needed, bolt onto a new galvanized shell.

Trying to figure out what came off your car in that first video...:confused:

Tadd, hate to sound gory but if you are in an accident so bad your car can't be rebuilt, you are not worrying about anything other than what's that light off in the distance. Anything less than that is why god made Celette benches.

there is also just maturing and growing out of a hobby and into a new one.

i was sad when i sold my turbo, but not for selling it. i was saying goodbye to myself at 22 years old. when i bought that car, it was the coolest thing. it was everything i wanted when i was 22. i sold it because my new hobby wasn't cars or car culture anymore ... my new hobby was racing cars. and it was useless for that. and i wasn't sad because i wanted to be 22 again, i was sad because it was the end of that era of my life. i was saying goodbye to my 22 year old self, because i was no longer that person.

its like saying goodbye to your first love. your high school crush. would have made a terrible couple, terrible relationship and a terrible life together. but for 5 minutes you can enjoy the feeling of your first love. and a car like that, for the first 15 minutes of driving can be that feeling. and then the realization that you grew out of it, you want different things than when you bought it, the worries, the money ... and it just doesnt give you the joy anymore because thats not really who you are anymore.

so i just leaned into it. racing cars are basically all piles of junk, held together with duct tape and zip ties, but the fun part is the driving, not the owning. thats the person i grew into. thats the person i am now.

i suspect there will be a time when i want another nice car. when im done with doing all the racing things i want to. i call these "old man" cars. or "toodling" cars. cars for toodling around in. a nice 997.2 C2S. TR6. MGB. Suzuki cappuccino. ND2 miata. tesla model 3 performance. these are the kinds of things that when im done racing i will buy.

but right now, what i love is driving the piss out of them, and that means ruining a lot of cash value, if they have any of that.

glad someone noticed, it cracks me up every single time that it was caught on video.

its the power steering belt.

before i build the underbody protection, the stock plastic tray would slowly fill with snow and ice all day, and the first thing that it would do is knock the power steering belt off.

Oh, damn.

Been through it. Your car, your decisions.

yeah. so i had to do some stuff to get the engine bay to to not fill with snow and ice.

the other funny filled with snow and ice problem i had was the reason i converted the car to hood pins. the space up by the hood latch, is a dead spot in the air flow in the nose, and so the snow doesnt melt out of it even though its next to radiator. so it keeps building up there, and eventually it fills up, without affecting cooling, and froze the hood latch mechanism.

so i went to pop the hood, and the whole thing is frozen shut.

so, i had to convert the car to hood pins, because one does not bring a 500 dollar miata onto a lake without being able to open the hood whenever you need to. haha

weird stuff happens to cars on the lake. they dont test them for this kind of thing.

Do you need the money?

That is the question. I have a vacation house and 2 911s that have gone up greatly in value...and I don't use any of them much.

I have thought about selling, but why? I do not have anything else I want/need to buy...and I enjoy them (just as I would art on my wall). If I sold them, I would just put the money in T-Bills (which I would not enjoy). If I ever need money, I can still sell them. Maybe someday my grandkids will enjoy them.