New Porsche Enthusiast

[EvoRace]

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to introduce myself.

Hardcore BMW guy, I have found myself more and more interested in 911s and I am considering buying one in a near future. Originally from Corsica, I recently moved to Pasadena, CA, after spending 12 years in New York.

I am excited to learn more and more about Porsches before I make the jump and meeting people that are part of the community.

Regards,
Carlu

[ant7]

Welcome Carlu,
Plenty of members here who have extensive Knowledge and experience of BMW and Porsche, so your in the right place!

Originally Posted by EvoRace

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to introduce myself.

Hardcore BMW guy, I have found myself more and more interested in 911s and I am considering buying one in a near future. Originally from Corsica, I recently moved to Pasadena, CA, after spending 12 years in New York.

I am excited to learn more and more about Porsches before I make the jump and meeting people that are part of the community.

Regards,
Carlu

[Cairo94507]

Welcome Carlu. Take your time and read all you can find about the various models over the years to help you decide what is right for you.

[NeedAJoker]

Welcome! When you get through the first page or two here and you are itching for more to read, just pick a random page of threads between 1-7000 on this sub forum and start at the top. There always seem to be a great thread or two per page and the information doesn't ever get outdated.

[icarp]

Welcome Carlu, nice to have you aboard. Pelican is filled with many people like you.
We all want to have fun
Ian

[TooTall]

You're not alone. I had an E30 M3 for 25 years. Still have an E90 328. Been around Porsches forever and finally got a '73 911 last year.

[Matt Monson]

Welcome.

[snbush67]

Hi Carlu,

Greetings from Arizona and welcome to the forum, lots to explore here. Are you limited to specific years of cars or all 911’s? Open to projects or just want to get into something ready to drive?

I really need to make it out there to the crest.

Cheers, Shane

[TeeJayHoward]

Hi Carlu.

Things I've learned as a new air-cooled 911 owner:

1) These cars are built to 1950s standards. Screws and spade connectors, everywhere. The carpet is a bajillion pieces, with no moulded-in-place variant available. Things like that.
2) The windshield is held in place by a rubber strip. Many windshield shops will screw this up because they're used to the "glue in a new windshield" method. DIY or go to a specialist.
3) The 915-transaxled cars are cheaper for a reason. They shift pretty badly compared to the G50 models. Yes, even the modified ones. Mine's worse than an old farm truck.
4) You can get pretty much anything brand new for these cars. When's the last time you saw a new E28 dash?
5) Everything is expensive for these cars. A whole M52 costs about the same as a single head for the air-cooled motors... And there's six of them.
6) There are changes to the car for basically every month of every year it's out. You could have a '72 with '73-only parts in it, and that's just how it was built.
7) The community is, no joke, the absolute BEST I've seen of any of the brands I've owned.
8) You get a sticker with every Pelican Parts order. You'll soon find yourself with a pile of them.

[Jdub]

Welcome! I saw the light after multiple Brit cars and a stroll through the late '60's MB coupes. This was when you could find a Targa SC for around 5k. I've had mine now for over 20 years and this forum (and John Walker) are the reason it remains on the road - the best advice you will find.

When the time comes it is very handy to have a Pelicanite (or Rennster) come with you when you look over the car. I could afford to make a mistake when these cars (the SC anyways) were not that expensive. Today, if you monitor BringATrailer or similar you will see some eye-popping numbers.

Good luck! Great cars that will always bring a smile to your face and a wave from others.

[EvoRace]

Originally Posted by ant7

Welcome Carlu,
Plenty of members here who have extensive Knowledge and experience of BMW and Porsche, so your in the right place!

That's what it seems like. Thank you Ant7!

[EvoRace]

Originally Posted by Cairo94507

Welcome Carlu. Take your time and read all you can find about the various models over the years to help you decide what is right for you.

That's seems like a very sensible piece of advice. It is easy to get tempted to jump on the next great car I see for sale but it is probably wiser to take my time and do a lot of diligence on the different models and their specs to determine what would be a good fit for me. At this point, what I know for sure is that I want a 911 that is a driver's car and not a garage queen, that I can fully enjoy on canyons roads in California

[EvoRace]

Originally Posted by NeedAJoker

Welcome! When you get through the first page or two here and you are itching for more to read, just pick a random page of threads between 1-7000 on this sub forum and start at the top. There always seem to be a great thread or two per page and the information doesn't ever get outdated.

Thank you! Absolutely, it seems like there is enough content here for me to read here that would definitely save me from boredom during the next pandemic! Haha

[EvoRace]

Originally Posted by icarp

Welcome Carlu, nice to have you aboard. Pelican is filled with many people like you.
We all want to have fun
Ian

For context, I heard about Pelican from icarp - which I met randomly on Angeles Crest while doing a sunset drive in my E34 M5 and we had a really awesome run with icarp and his friends who were driving two 911 longhoods. We hit it off right away, and have been spending a lot of time together since then. That's the magic of sharing a passion that makes it all worth it!

Thank you icarp for the amazing knowledge sharing, whether on the cars or the driving skills, and most importantly, the great intellectual conversations, memories and the good laughs. Hopefully many more to come!!

[EvoRace]

Originally Posted by TooTall

You're not alone. I had an E30 M3 for 25 years. Still have an E90 328. Been around Porsches forever and finally got a '73 911 last year.

Ha! Congrats!! Even though I definitely want a 911, I am still very faithful to BMWs, which I have always loved and will always love (except for the newer models that are such a turn off). Do you regret parting ways with your E30 M3?

I still keep a few BMWs back home, including an E30 M3, which was my first love - I have had it for the last 15 years:

[EvoRace]

Originally Posted by Matt Monson

Welcome.

Thank you, Matt!!!

[EvoRace]

Originally Posted by TeeJayHoward

Hi Carlu.

Things I've learned as a new air-cooled 911 owner:

1) These cars are built to 1950s standards. Screws and spade connectors, everywhere. The carpet is a bajillion pieces, with no moulded-in-place variant available. Things like that.
2) The windshield is held in place by a rubber strip. Many windshield shops will screw this up because they're used to the "glue in a new windshield" method. DIY or go to a specialist.
3) The 915-transaxled cars are cheaper for a reason. They shift pretty badly compared to the G50 models. Yes, even the modified ones. Mine's worse than an old farm truck.
4) You can get pretty much anything brand new for these cars. When's the last time you saw a new E28 dash?
5) Everything is expensive for these cars. A whole M52 costs about the same as a single head for the air-cooled motors... And there's six of them.
6) There are changes to the car for basically every month of every year it's out. You could have a '72 with '73-only parts in it, and that's just how it was built.
7) The community is, no joke, the absolute BEST I've seen of any of the brands I've owned.
8) You get a sticker with every Pelican Parts order. You'll soon find yourself with a pile of them.

Thank you so much TeeJay for the very thoughtful response and these super helpful tips! I will definitely keep them in mind as I have EVERYTHING to learn regarding these cars, which are very different from everything I have known to date (BMWs exclusively). The oldest car I have owned is my '87 M3 so definitely very different standards as opposed to pre-70s 911s. That will be a big adjustment for sure with a 20-40 year age gap!!

[EvoRace]

Originally Posted by snbush67

Hi Carlu,

Greetings from Arizona and welcome to the forum, lots to explore here. Are you limited to specific years of cars or all 911’s? Open to projects or just want to get into something ready to drive?

I really need to make it out there to the crest.

Cheers, Shane

Hi Shane,

Thank you! I have heard a lot about you and your car from icarp. Awesome shot by the way!!

So far, I am particularly interested in Longhoods, SCs, 3.0 and 3.2 Carreras, 964s and possibly 993s.

You should definitely make it to the Crest and we should all go for a nice drive together!!

[EvoRace]

Originally Posted by Jdub

Welcome! I saw the light after multiple Brit cars and a stroll through the late '60's MB coupes. This was when you could find a Targa SC for around 5k. I've had mine now for over 20 years and this forum (and John Walker) are the reason it remains on the road - the best advice you will find.

When the time comes it is very handy to have a Pelicanite (or Rennster) come with you when you look over the car. I could afford to make a mistake when these cars (the SC anyways) were not that expensive. Today, if you monitor BringATrailer or similar you will see some eye-popping numbers.

Good luck! Great cars that will always bring a smile to your face and a wave from others.

Thank you, Jdub. Totally agree - considering the value of these cars now, can't really afford to make a mistake!!! Sadly, this is happening to all cool classic cars these days... many of which are no longer bought and driven by enthusiasts but by pure speculators.. Luckily, I believe that I am on the right side on the fence on this forum

[ahh911]

e46 m3, 911 sc stock, and.... a 328gts?

missing the last one...

I enjoy having the difference in the m3 vs 81 sc, the kids like the m3 (convert), I usually take the SC, it will build your skill as a driver, when I get back to the bmw, it's like I'm a new driver, really pretty neat, the 911 is an instructor on how to drive that can then be applied to other cars and you'll enjoy them even more. When you feel the 911 rubber dig in on the perfect corner, it's pretty cool.