Thank you Pelican. But Goodbye. For now?

[Redcoat]

House of Whatty
Norfolk
United Kingdom

October 6th 2014.

Memo to:
Wayne & Pelican Porsche.
All Pelican 'Forumistas'
Rennlisters & Early S'ers

Just a brief and virtual line to thank you and the wonderful resource that is 'Pelican'.

In 2009 and as a UK expat in NJ I decided to fulfill a boyhood dream and own a 911.

That 911 turned out to actually be a 964. While posting I'm in the 'wrong' forum I'd like to address the greater 911 community, if memory serves me correctly this is where its at.

As a banana fingered non-wrench twirler and literally knowing no one socially in NJ, car related or otherwise, I turned to the internet and stumbled on the 'Bird'.... and Rennlist and the Early S Registry I might add.

From the candy store Classifieds to the online garage that is the 911/964 Technical forums I learnt a lot, laughed a bit and made some new virtual friends and real life acquaintances, even did a bit of business.

Most importantly (as it wasn't always a barrel of laughs in New Jersey) Pelican et al provided the resources for me to:

A. Drop with some confidence, what was to me, quite a chunk of change into a potential automotive black hole.
B. Recover that investment pretty much complete.
C. Drive at 70 mph in 2nd gear across the NY Giants Stadium parking lot while laughing hysterically.

My post count shows I was never much of a contributor, technical or otherwise.

Unlike resident Pelican V.I.P's, Jack Olsen, and fellow Brit Expat Magnus (Something?) I was a not-very-important person in both the community or even in my day job in the U.S media.

A job that meant I was too busy during the day telling other peoples stories, while surviving in NJ as an Immigrant, to share my own car adventures at nights or even weekends.

So that said I do feel an obligation to give back to the Porsche community so thank you Pelicanistas, Rennlisters and S'er's it was a blast.

Scroll below to read my Opus Minimus on my U.S auto adventures.


Cheers
Whatty a.k.a Redcoat
Just A Car Bloke.

Edited//Link fix

[wildthing]

Link not working. 404 - page not found.

[Redcoat]

Originally Posted by wildthing

Link not working. 404 - page not found.

Sorry about that Mr. Wildthing. Link now fixed. Thanks for the heads up.

[steely]

I'm reading your opus minimus over on piston heads (a pun perhaps wrt the mini anyway).
This is great.

edit:
digging the humor.
my car has the same patina as your friend's 911 BTW, and I didn't buy it sight unseen.
I really like the 10 years of historic commentary, maybe because I live close to NJ.
edited so'more:
canned air, 'dick about your job', we're not all abt the pork, kudo's to your g-pop.

will have to visit PH once in a while

[Dueller]

Enjoyed your automotive opus. Don't be a strangrr....stop in and gives updates once you're across the pond.

[jwasbury]

I think we met once at the cars n coffee in Chatham.

Congrats and best wishes on your return to Blighty.

[wildthing]

Good read. Spent the last two hours reading the whole thread. What I don't get is the non-compete clause from The mfg mag.

Too bad you're not in California. Those are essentially unenforceable.

[Redcoat]

Originally Posted by steely

I'm reading your opus minimus over on piston heads (a pun perhaps wrt the mini anyway).
This is great.

edit:
digging the humor.
my car has the same patina as your friend's 911 BTW, and I didn't buy it sight unseen.
I really like the 10 years of historic commentary, maybe because I live close to NJ.
edited so'more:
canned air, 'dick about your job', we're not all abt the pork, kudo's to your g-pop.

will have to visit PH once in a while

Hi Mr. Steely

Nice to hear that the humor and commentary entertained you.

PH was a bit of a British locker room for me.

Pelican & RL were the classroom's where I really learnt things of value.... for free. Hence the note of gratitude.

Shame NJ isn't more like PA, had some fun times in Del Water Gap and the Lehigh Valley over the years. Plus Hershey of course.

My last field trip job was to Pittsburgh re. gas shale play.
Good for the mfg industry, not sure about the environment.......

I know the Bird is more than Porsche, Off Topic kept me entertained, guns and gals

Cheers

[Redcoat]

Originally Posted by wildthing

Good read. Spent the last two hours reading the whole thread. What I don't get is the mfg mag. Unless that outfit is a front for something else.

Too bad you're not in California. Those are essentially unenforceable.

Hi Mr Wildthing

I very much appreciate you taking the time to read my PH thread and your subsequent comment.

Clearly the 'virtual' world is a very small place and easily explored. S,o while I recognize and respect your 1st Amendment Rights I would also, respectfully, ask that you edit or even abbreviate that corporate entity named in your 2nd posting.

Obviously that might be construed as hypocritical as I was the one who originally made reference to my professional life on PH.

You will see from my PH thread that I'm often insightful and occasionally scathing about NJ but never rude about the U.S.A, the country I lived in for 11 years and the birthplace of my wife and son. Secondly I try to keep my professional and personal lives separate.

If you'd like, as a fellow Pelican / Car bloke, to speak with me about my professional life I'd be happy to speak offline via email or the phone.

I could have PM'd you but I would rather 'we' talk in public.

Cheers
Redcoat / Whatty

[wildthing]

Done. Your turn.

[Redcoat]

Originally Posted by wildthing

Done. Your turn.

Much appreciated Mr. Wildthing. Like most on Pelican you're a gentleman.

Sad to say that in 15 years I never visited CA in any capacity.
Laguna Seca looks a blast to drive.

Cheers

[TheSt|G]

Sorry you were locked in NJ for your time in the US. It is second only to Florida for the worst state in the US.

[Redcoat]

Originally Posted by TheSt|G

Sorry you were locked in NJ for your time in the US. It is second only to Florida for the worst state in the US.

Oh it wasn't all that bad in NJ, while I had to sell my wheels I did get to 'keep' my beautiful wife, born and bred in the Garden State she was.

My only real regret is that I never got or allowed myself the time to visit states such as Minnesota, the Dakota's, New Mexico, Idaho etc.

Did some fast road trips in VT, ME, NH, some of which, looking back, were both poignant and hair raising. Miht ust work those into my next PH thread.

Cheers.

[grizzfan]

Good luck!

I believe the little dog is a Cairn Terrier, right?

Tom

[hbueno]

I enjoyed reading your thread over on Pistonheads, didn't enjoy the NJ bashing - but that's par for the course.

Hugo

[Redcoat]

Originally Posted by grizzfan

Good luck!

I believe the little dog is a Cairn Terrier, right?

Tom

Hi Tom

Pretty close if you mean the red dog, he's actually a Norwich terrier.

I'll have to confirm with my wife but I think the Norwich/Norfolk breed came from the Cairn line.

Regardless he's a plucky little fella and good company.

[Redcoat]

Originally Posted by hbueno

I enjoyed reading your thread over on Pistonheads, didn't enjoy the NJ bashing - but that's par for the course.

Hugo

Thank you for reading my PH thread Hugo.

Apologies for any offense I may have caused re: NJ.
It does get a bad press, not always deserved.
The Real Housewives thing doesn't help.

In the same way that I'm not brave enough to define my NJ born wife as a housewife, I know its not really representative of what is a very multifaceted state.

[Redcoat]

Hi Pelicanistas

Six months to the day since I started my little UK based blog-ette about my American motoring adventures I thought I might share my car love Stateside.

Its got quite a lot of Porsche 911 content it also features a wide variety of Audi's, BMWs, real Mini's, Mercedes, Volkswagens plus the odd bit of Autocross, Race Cars, Automotive Wrenching & Home Improvement and a couple of weather related events thrown in for good measure.

Should it be deemed OT I'll understand if the mods choose relocate it elsewhere.

Having recently moved myself, family, two dogs and 129 pieces of 'stuff' 3500 miles to the Right Hand side of the Atlantic I think I can handle the virtual upheaval.

Anyway.......

Back in July 2014 I started writing...

As a soon to be Ex-Expat Brit I thought I’d post a few pictures as a visual timeline of my motoring experiences in New Jersey from 2004 to present as we prepare to return to the UK in September.

Always suffering from what my family refers to as ‘itchy car key syndrome’ I’ve had an eclectic sometimes eccentric variety of rides while Stateside, oddly enough few of which have been American.

Not knowing a soul in New Jersey on a social level, cars and car forums quickly became a great way of meeting people and as a result I’ve made some good friends along the way.

2004 – 2005

Can’t seem to find any pictures of the Ford Explorer or Jeep Liberty that were my company car’s and they were a bit boring.


2005-2008

VW Golf GTi

While Europe was enjoying the much improved Mark V GTi North America was still putting up with the sluggish Mark IV and I made the mistake (not my first as you will see) of leasing a 1.8T with a NJ traffic friendly autobox. Dull is not the word. Badly built would be two better words to describe it.

Assembled in Brazil my particular GTi was definitely a Friday car suffering a laundry list of problems from Day 1 when the A/C crapped out on me on a beautifully humid 95f July day. Coupled with the memory of 2” of standing water in the footwell after a particularly violent rain storm this was a 3 year automotive period I’ll happily forget about.

This hapless steed also introduced me to a lovely old gent and his equally ancient Nissan.
Doing my bit for international relations I tried to avoid a major diplomatic incident.

Suffice to say I failed.
Reset 21 accident-free years clock to zero. Thanks Mr. Myopia





Edited: Jan 25th 2015. Added long lost picture.

2008 Audi TT 2.0 FSI DSG

While Yank V8’s and V6’s are still popular here I could never quite get my head around the build quality or the 1970’s amusement arcade interior styling that incorporated reverse Tardis engineering.

A good example being the Ford Mustang V6 I hired for a touring trip round Maine and New Hampshire. I think the barn would have handled better than the ‘stang



Amidst a sea of beige Japanese 4 door sedans European Coupe’s have a bit more exclusivity on the U.S Eastern Seaboard and the launch of the Mark 2 Audi TT caught my interest.

Before RWD devotees laugh at the much maligned TT bear in mind my everyday motoring pretty much looked like this.



And as my budget would only stretch to the FWD I justified leasing one on the grounds that as bends and curves are in short supply in my urban bit of New Jersey a FWD car would not be at much of a loss to the slightly more powerful AWD V6.

[Redcoat]

The TT proved a reliable and fun daily over the three years I had it with some memorable journeys in New England and Ontario Canada.

It really proved itself in December 2009 when we set out on what was supposed to be a quick 1300 mile round trip blast to North Carolina to pick up a new terrier pup.

Once out of the New York Metro area the little silver TT always drew a lot of attention, if only for the lack of proper sized cupholders. Espresson fine. Big Gulps - not so good.

In rural Pennsylvania we stopped for a washer bottle top up. We really should have bought some sheepskin slippers for what was about to follow as the Eastern U.S got slammed with a major blizzard.



It was fun to see 10 year old kids in North Carolina experience snow for the first time, likewise some locals get some 4WD off highway snow driving practice
Oops



Having picked up this little fella.



We turned straight round and set off on the return 650 mile return journey which should have taken 10-12 hours. Until the snow REALLY came down.

This Chevy Impala driver had the right rubber for the conditions, just possibly on the wrong car.



Things then went from this.



To this



Stationary for 6 hours outside Washington D.C in a smallish TT with a dwindling supply of fuel, non-house broken puppy and only some M&M’s to eat was a bit of a downer but heated seats and 900 tunes on the ipod made life a bit more bearable.



We finally found some clear road, north of Philadelphia at about 3.00am on the Sunday morning and I got up to what felt a very brave 50 mph on run flat all season tyres….



And a little bit faster once on the I-95 NJ Turnpike.



Having left North Carolina at 9.00am Saturday with only 8 hours sleep over 72 hours we pulled into our driveway 22 hours and 40 cups of coffee later.

The missus and I didn’t speak for about 4 days.

3 years, 28,000 miles and only a broken door handle due to ice and a hamfist later the TT went back to the dealer.


Cheers Whatty/Redcoat

PS. I know what virtual SPAM is.
Ditto real Cracker Barrel, Arbys and Roy Rogers.
Prefer a NJ deli made footlong sub.

PPS - Happy to share more if required.

[Redcoat]

No comments, then again no negatives.
Assuming all is good......

So while the Audi was a fun daily other than wash it and admire its curves I really felt the need to tinker with something old.

Note the word ‘tinker’. I’m no spanner twirler and having helped my brother refurbish a couple of MG’s I knew that a full blown restoration was beyond me. So what was needed was a structurally sound car that could be improved on.

But what?

Thinking back to my first car, Ma’s hand me down Mini 1000, the memories of a misspent youth buzzing round the lanes of Norfolk, England prompted me to go on Ebay and see what might be about that could be a bit Cooperized 1960's style.

Why, you might be asking, in a land of V8 muscle, would you want a British rustbox mustering all of 38-90bhp?

I still have no idea but a couple of months later I tracked this 1969 Morris Mini Mark 2 down on Long Island, New York.




The non-original Primrose yellow paint was a bit Marmite but the Cooper-ish white roof toned it down a bit.

A genuine Sixties LHD North American model imported into Canada this Mark 2 lacked the more desirable Mark 1 grille and small rear lights but at least it had the exposed door hinges and … well finding a solid example of 20th Century British engineering in 21st Century America within a day’s drive of New Jersey was always going to be a tall order so a compromise had to be made.

The guy selling was actually the owner of an independent German car repair shop. Owed money by a bodyshop unable to pay a large bill he’d had the Mini restored by them in lieu of payment.

A test drive and thorough inspection on his lift found a structurally and mechanically sound car with paintwork that exceeded anything ever to roll off the British Leyland line.

A nice fat folder of receipts including a new alternator conversion kit plus new shock absorbers and the fact that the drum brakes sort of actually worked saw money change hands.

Lacking the brave pills required to drive it back across Manhattan the seller kindly trailered it out to Jersey for me a week later.

Newish rear subframe and solid if not concours standard battery box.



He’d got a bit carried away with the accessories so within hours of taking ownership I’d removed the self adhesive Union Jack flag from the roof and the 4 of the 6 battery killing chrome foglights and the chrome badge bar.

The engine bay was the only real negative, ditto the ageing wiring loom.



The A-series 998cc seemed a bit lacking but I simply put that down to the contrast with the Audi.