Average life of 911 interest?

[450knotOffice]

I've been a fanatic for 37+ years.

My Dad had a 356C when I was born. He sold it a few years later and bought a 911 in 1970 when we lived in Italy (I was six). From that point onward, I was smitten. My father kept that car for most of the rest of his life (sadly, it rusted away in the very moist NorCal coastal forest climate he lived in.)

Finally, three years ago, I decided the time was right and I bought my beloved black '84 Carrera. That car is never leaving my side (why would it? It's paid for and is NOT my daily driver so I could care less about the lack of comfort and other issues that might bother a driver who uses his as his daily driver). I work on it every chance I get. I tinker and experiment. I love driving it.

I also happen to own nothing but Porsches. My daily driver is a 996 and my wife's is a Cayman. Personally, I can't imagine driving anything else.

So, the answer for me is: I'm a lifer.

[techweenie]

Got a 912 at 20 and first 911 at 25. It's 33 years later... and I have two 911s, which are my 41st and 42nd, respectively. There've been short periods of time with no 911s, and several with three or more. I don't plan to "get over it."

[nostatic]

why would you sell a time machine?

track it. then all hope is lost...

[livi]

Simple answer.

As there is No Substitute I will be living the Legend as long as I can afford it.

I will admit to one thing though. I have always been an air cooled fan, but I recently got to drive a 996. Yes, they are often frowned upon but what a nice car that would be as daily driver to work. I wonder how a 997 must be. Well, the dream just goes on. And on and on.

[jay72]

I have been around Porsches my whole life (35 years). They have always been a healthy obsession of mine. The cars, the racing history, the legendary factory drivers etc.

I now own two mint original 930 turbos and a CGT. I would never sell these cars and am always on the look out for others that will fit into my collection. Its not something I would ever outgrow it is just a way of life

Sloane
1979 930
1989 factory 930S cab
2005 CGT

[livi]

Originally Posted by jay72

I now own two mint original 930 turbos and a CGT. I would never sell these cars and am always on the look out for others that will fit into my collection. Its not something I would ever outgrow it is just a way of life

I would not dream of denying that I am slightly envious of you being able to keep a stable like that.

[JeremyD]

It was 28 years ago that I wanted to buy a 356b - my dad said no - even if it was with my money and I could afford it at the time. I still dream about that car on occasion. My father told me "if anybody in this family gets a porsche it will be me"

9 years ago I bought a 964 - I can't imagine not having a 911 of some form in my garage. He still doesn't have one.

[CarreraDan]

For me the dream began when I was 8 and the obsession took over when I was in college after I drove a 72S. Now after almost five years of ownership I feel as if I am at a crossroads in my Porsche experience. I have a very good 88 Carrera that I have put a lot of time and money into. The problem for me is my dream car has always been a 993 widebody, I just cannot get over the look of the 993 widebody cars. So my dilemma is do I sell the Carrera and then in two years make the jump to a C4S or Turbo and pay off most of my debt in the meantime or keep the Carrera and in five years just have both? I really do not know what to do at this point.

This problem is compounded by just how much fun my 88 is to simply drive. Sure it gets very uncomfortable in the summer without a/c but when you hit a corner just right and the rear steps out just a little and you throttle steer through the apex feeling exactly what the car is doing the entire time it brings back the excitement I had on the day I purchased it. I don't know what the future holds for me but I do know I will never not be severely infected with the Porsche disease. After all, we all know that there really is no substitute why would I want to drive anything else?

[Jims5543]

22 years ago, when I was 19 my cousin who lived in Boca let me borrow his 1973 911t Targa for the day, the engine was bored out to a 3 liter and it was track prepped. It was very fast and cornered like it was on rails. I never felt another car turn like that for many years after that day and never before. Imagine cruising the strip in Ft. Lauderdale in 1985 driving this car? I thought I was the coolest guy on earth that day/night.

I had a chance to buy the car from him for a really good "family" price a few years later but had to pass due to bad timing. I just moved to an apartment and bought a brand new car. There was no way to afford it.

Fast forward 14 years and I am shopping for my first Porsche only to have to stop. I was ripped off by an attorney to the tune of $18,000. Its a long story, I spent 10,000 trying to get paid and only got $7500. There went my 911.

I saw an RX7 on the side of the road a couple of months later and bought it. I sold it a year later and bought a Turbo RX7 instead, I still have it today. It would be my 5th RX7 owned since I was in my 20's.

A couple of years later I bought a 2003 Mini Cooper S JCW and after 18 months of owning it I tracked it. It was too easy to drive, I wanted more of a challenge, I remembered my cousins 911 and I remembered my failed attempt to get one 3 years earlier. I decided to sell the Mini and buy a 911. Its the one I have now and I do not see myself selling it anytime soon. Its a keeper.

Is it an obsession of mine? Nah, I am more of a Rotorhead than a Porsche fanatic. I just like cars. Will I keep this 911 a long time? Most likely its a really fun car to cruise in and to drive really hard. I am quite impressed with it. I have only Autocrossed it so far, it needs better brakes for the track but some day I'll do that too.

[p911dad]

I arrived at owning an SC about 15 years ago, and after a few years bought the 84' Carrera I have now from a Dr. in Rochester that kept it in a little shrine(his garage)and never drove it. I plan on keeping this car forever. But I always have had sports cars, including a TR3A, 240Z, Firebird 400(1967), and very briefly back in high school a white Jag XK150(1957) drophead(couldn't afford to keep fixing it). 911's forever! It is built like a tank and is easy to maintain. It doesn't lose value. It is fast. It has an iconic design. You can't get much better than that with a car!!

[Aerkuld]

If were getting into stories of how we all got into Porsche then I'll see how my story telling goes.

I don't think I was ever really into Porsche road cars as a kid. I knew Porsche was something special because of the Le Mans race cars, but that was about the limit of my interest. Maybe when I got into my early teens I started to realise that the road cars were great too and they got held in the same regard as Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Maserati as super sports cars.
I remember going to the motor show one year and wanting to go and look at all the really great cars. We got to sit in the Lambo, Bentley, Ferrari, etc. But the guy at the Porsche stand was a real dick and wouldn't let us near. I told him there and then that I would never buy one now.
It must have been around that time that I started getting a little negative about them, seeing them associated with the yuppie set at a time where I was getting distinctly rebelious. I know that when I bought my Renault Alpine that I saw it as unconventional and somewhat anti-Porsche.
Fast forward a few years and I'd grown up a bit and lost that opinionated view. I had moved to California and was doing some work with a friend of mine, a South African guy that I had known in England. I was about to move over to the East coast and was discussing with him the possibility of getting a weekend toy, possibly an old Mini Cooper as I had grown up driving those in England, or an E-type Jag. He suggested a 911 would be far more appropriate and I should find one to take one out to see if I liked it. I guess I should thank him.
So that is how I ended up looking for one to buy, eventually finding the '87 I have now. Of course it just grows from there, but I didn't appreciate that at the time.

[Zeke]

I've had a 911 around for the most part of 25 years. It's not the end of the world if there isn't one in the garage. A good choice of cars, no doubt, if you want a superb sports car. But, I'd take a substandard (handling wise, anyway) older Ferrari in a heartbeat, even if I had to promise I'd never buy another Porsche. When I sold the '77 in '96, I didn't think there was another Porsche in the future. But, the idea of a 356 popped up and then a Boxster to replace that for more comfort.

There's just too much out there. It's a love of convenience in some ways.

BTW, w/o Pelican, the BBS and the tech articles, I'd probably have moved on by now. To what, I don't know because all Ferrari's are out of my reach. And when I say Ferrari, I mean Borani's and 12 cylinders. Nothing short of that would take a 911 away from me personally.

[Victor]

7 years.

I had always wanted one since my first visit to a German Autobahn (the A3 I think.....) as a five year old. The sight / sound of those 70's 911's buzzing by did it for me. Although, in hindsight they where probably only pushing 80mp/h.......but, that's awful fast looking when you only just lost your first tooth and you are peering out the back window of a VW Kombi on winter rubber struggling to hit 45.

I ended up with a nice '89 3.2 about a decade ago and kept it as a daily driver/occasional track day car for seven years and had a ball. The only thing I couldn't stand was the absolute absence of anything even remotely resembling horsepower. I sort of felt like the huge wing, sleek looks and rumbling sound where a little "all bark but no bite"......so got rid of it for a Subaru WRX. It was fast, but junk. It took about 6 months for the novelty to wear off and 26 months before I could get rid of it.

Now I have an MB CLK430. To me it's sort of a combination of both with a whole lot of comfort - and stump pulling grunt. Folks with the sort of "one brand, on God, one Fuehrer" mentality creep me out. I say mix it up a little - life's too short to drink one brand of scotch.....