Road Trip: flying to the Midwest to pick up a ‘76 and drive it home to Colorado!

[shark fish]

Live from the Denver International Airport too early in the morning:

Hello Pelican family. I'm back on the forums after a 7+ year hiatus due to selling my ratty '75 targa that was acquired for cheap money in 2011 as a running and driving project and which upon its sale helped fund an completely different adventure in restoration: one of those really cheap — but not €1 cheap — 400+ year-old houses in Italy that you hear about.

I've just re-activated my Pelican account, which gifted me the user name "shark fish", but Pelicanites with a long history here will remember my posts (and my car) under the user name "Winter". Trying to recover my old account/user name with help from the admins, but "shark fish" works fine and I might keep it.

I'm sure I will have plenty of technical questions (more so than being able to offer advice). But for now I thought it might be fun to document the process of picking up a middie Targa in the Midwest and bringing it back to the Rockies. (Another middie? Another Targa? What is wrong with me? )

Disclaimer: I was searching for a '83 SC, not a middie, but the Targa part was non-negotiable as it's really hard to beat open-top driving in my part of the world. Of course, I did not save the one-year-only (and very rare, impossible to find) factory hard top that came with my ’75, it was sold with that car. Shoulda kept it, but honestly I really never drove that car with the top on and this new acquisition will be no different.

The road trip adventure starts today, as I fly out to finalize the purchase, pick up the Targa and head west into the sunset.

To start off this road trip blog, here's a pic of my old '75 Targa. Given the rust and the fact it was a middie and a targa, it has probably been parted out by now.

Stay tuned as the journey unfolds.

- Winter

[silverlock]

The only way to buy a car is to drive it home from another state ;-)

[AutoXer23]

Welcome back and safe travels

[Funracer]

Love these kinds of stories. I have done it myself. But what I really want to know is how did the cheapish Italian house thing go?

[Winter]

@silverlock - I sure wouldn’t have done this with my ‘75!

@autoxcer23 - thanks, I’m excited!

@funracer - my Italian experience is probably not for everyone, but it’s had an amazing ROI for myself and my wife in terms of investing in our souls. The village has a population of 250, one bar/cafe/market and a pizzeria. It is a sleepy place, but close to plenty of excellent outdoor recreation opportunities.

Finally, thanks to Matt @ Pelican who got my old account rebooted and I will transition to posting the rest of the updates under “winter”.

In Dallas Fort Worth now, I’ll see the car in person for the first time in a couple of hours. Getting stoked for the adventure!

[bbturbo]

Such a fun experience! Good luck and safe travels.

[shadowjack1]

Welcome back. Have fun and share the trip.

[Matt Monson]

Hey Tom,

Welcome back. I drove your old 75 911s targa for a couple years and then sold it on. I kept the top. Maybe we should talk. You’re about the only person I would sell it to.

[Winter]

I just want to give my profound thanks to the community for the warm welcome back! Porsche people are special, I’ve missed you guys!

Today was a big one:

3:13am RTD bus from Boulder to Denver International Airport, 6am flight to Dallas Fort Worth, a final travel leg to Columbia, Missouri, where Rob, the seller of the ‘76 was gracious enough to pick me up at the airport. We bumped down to his bank to confirm receipt of the wire, take care of the paperwork, etc., etc. I got to watch him make a second wire to a seller in San Francisco for his next car. It’s modern (but not too modern), beautiful and a Porsche. Looking at the pictures he showed me made me a bit jealous. He’s going to fly out and drive it back, hopefully he will share his trip and experiences here. He’s a true gentleman and a saint, and it was an honor to meet him and do business with him.

I dropped him off at his place and then hit 70 west, the goal was to beat rush hour traffic through Kansas City and get to Manhattan for an early dinner and bed

I’m now in Manhattan, enjoying a cold adult beverage and getting ready to wrap up my day, as the plan is to hit the road early and make it back to Boulder, Colorado mid-afternoon.

The targa is running flawlessly, I’ve been taking it easy, running a consistent 5mph over the posted speed limit, enjoying the rolling hills and fall foliage of Eastern Kansas. It's been beautiful and scenic and I'm definitely not the fastest on the road (hey, big pickup guy, would it hurt to slow it down a bit?, That's a truck you're driving, not a RS6 avant, LOL) but tomorrow the flatness starts.

But enough words from me, here are some pics of the journey so far.

-- Winter


The moment of truth!



Getting acquainted with I-70, here we go!



West is the best!



Kansas City - no rush hour, no problems



First oil check. Car running like a top, oil level perfect, Oil temp and pressure ideal. Rob has been a wonderful caretaker, the bar has been set high!



Kansas tall grass prairie enroute to Manhattan. A beautiful landscape, especially when the light is right!

[Matt Monson]

Chocolatey

[Hi_Fi_Guy]

Go on then…

[Boydyrs]

Love sepia cars….enjoy roadtrip

[evan9eleven]

Excellent, congrats! Nothing like a great Porsche road trip in a car you just bought. I've done it twice buying cars in Germany, nothing compares to buying my first Porsche and being on the Autobahn 5 minutes later! Enjoy :-)

[maverck]

This - is - amazing! Welcome back to the club and beautiful new vehicle you have there!

[Winter]

@Matt - I'll pm you about the top, but probably out of my price range. Anyhow, I hope you are well and looking forward to catching up.

@everyone else - Thanks for your positive reinforcement! Very appreciated!

[Winter]

Long day behind the wheel. I was a bit disappointed to not be able to spend more time in Manhattan, it appears to be a sweet little town. Dinner was at a brewpub with great bar service and a good selection of sandwiches. Guy next to me was a young electrician from Portland who got some special certifications and works in/around environments like large fuel tanks where you can blow everything up with a single spark. He travels all over the place from Monday to Thursday and then spends his 3-day weekends in Oregon. Cool kid, and I (a liberal arts grad), congratulated him on his unique and lucrative career path. He did admit that the travel was getting to him a bit.

In the car at 5:00am, and put in a couple of hours in the dark until it definitely became time for a coffee. I didn't go with the "20% more caffeine option, but instead opted for a 50% drip coffee, 50% cappuccino. The coffee was nearly ruined by the "cappuccino", which was horridly sweet. I've definitely been spoiled by my time in Italy, when it comes to coffee.

Winds were insanely strong and cold across western Kansas and into Colorado. The car managed it well, but there was a point in Kansas where the recently laid down white lane striping on the highway was literally blown out of place and was flapping in the wind! I was too busy holding onto the wheel to attempt to snag a pic.

Once I got west deeper into Colorado, the wind stopped and the temps warmed up considerably. I probably could have taken the top off for the rest of the trip, but for the last 3 hours of driving, it was about avoiding Denver traffic and closing the deal. It sure felt nice to pull into the driveway at 1:00pm! The garage spot for the car is occupied by my soon-to-go-on-sale stage I 2001 Imola 6MT S4 avant. If anyone is interested, let me know.

But enough blabbing, here's the photographic diary of the day:



5am start time. The owner of the B&B I stayed in was kind enough to let me park in a well lit spot in front of her garage off the street. It wasn't the fully secure parking I had hoped for, but Manhattan is a pretty safe place and all turned out well. I pulled the fuel pump relay for the night as a "just in case" measure.


Good morning! I ended up chasing the full, fat and beautiful harvest moon towards the western horizon for a couple of hours before the welcome sight of the sun coming my way popped up in the rear view mirror.


I admit it, I was not "man enough" to go for the high strength stuff!


Western Kansas - Yeah it's flat out there!


Insanely windy rest area. Did an oil level check and went my way as fast as possible. Only professional truck drivers out there


Eastern Colorado - Pretty much as flat as Kansas, too.


Denver traffic. A sign that the trip is getting closer the the finish line.


Coming over the mesa on HWY 36, there's Boulder. Not. Quite. Home. Yet. But pretty damn close.


Made it! Still some nice fall foliage to look at, snow expected over the weekend in the mountains.


The inspection "team" checking out the car upon arrival.

[shadowjack1]

The section of KS between Saline and the CO state line is where kinky sex was invented. Not much else to do out there.
Nice pictures

[PeteKz]

The view of the Flatirons coming in on US 36. Seen that a few times.

[AutoXer23]

Nice pics and memories.. Congrats on your new journey..

[almostordinary]

well done!