now for another 911 story.

the 85 targa was my first, and after buying back still have it.

as I had morphed the 911 toward DE, some perf mods, seats/harnesses/bolt in cage I got a 84 928S for a driver.

fast forward a couple years and was beginning to consider what the next phase of upgrades I would do to the 911. but on the last session of the last day of the last DE for the year almost stuffed it into a wall at MidOhio at ~100 mph. once it came to a stop and dust settled, and I realized I had not stuffed it I had a moment of lucidity and decided to retire it from the track. almost totally restored to stock now.

at that point started considering what to get, and decided a 944 variant may be a good choice. so picked up a non-running 87 944S, but once I got it running my Bro drove it and he wanted to buy it. so I finished doing all deferred maintenance/refresh and he is still driving it today...

at that point I found a 944 turbo project car and bought it. and began building.

but those are not the story for this thread.

just as I was getting into the 951 I got an email from my cousin about a 930 a friend of his friend was willing to sell.

OH NO...

I have always wanted a 930. ironically during the period where I sold the 85 and before I bought it back almost bought a 930, just too much for my budget.

several email with more info and finally a pic (from the PO below).

'but I do not need another car/project', 'I do not have garage space', 'do not have the money'. etc etc.

but the email came with a pic, and the story the car was not running and the guy would sell for $6,000.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1486757587.jpg

at that point I HAD to have a look.

car was a 78 SC/930 conversion done in '89-'90 time frame. the guy was a couple owners down stream from the guy who had it built. and had a huge folder of pics and receipts from the build. it had a 78 3.3 930 engine that had been totally rebuilt and heavily modified. twin plug, ported, etc, etc. supposedly dyno'ed at just over 400hp/tq. but that had been ~25 yrs ago. also had the stock SC suspension.

car had been running and the muffler case cracked and the hot exhaust burned through the rubber strip above and burned some wiring in the engine bay.

after looking it over I just could not resist the opportunity. did not see and have not found a single spec of rust.

initially thinking I would fix the issues and freshen it up. but after getting in the shop and starting to get into it I stepped back and decided it would get a full, tub up rebuild.

the sad foot note is I exchanged a couple emails with the PO telling him my plans had expanded to a full rebuild. but about 9 mo after my last email exchange I called to ask about the gearbox. his wife answered and told me he had died recently from cancer. from the discussion I gathered he knew at the time he sold it to me he had cancer.

I have it torn down to an almost stripped tub, engine dismantled, etc. I have been working on this off and on in the background between work on all the others.

getting more focused on it now but still expect it will be at least a year before done. but I am planning to retire end of June so hoping sometime next year it will be on the road.

SmileWavy

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1486759263.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1486759263.jpg

I'm a sucker for buying cars in snowstorms........http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1486784782.jpg

I actually just about didn't buy mine. I was looking for a project car that I could tear apart and rebuild my way for fun. I've always had my heart set on a 911 and after reading about how dependable they could be I decided to find a Targa Carrera. I eventually made a deal with the guy in Vancouver who just happened to be a reseller so not the current owner. The more I spoke to him the more he started to sound a lot like a used car salesman. The PPI was pretty good but I just had a bad feeling about the seller. I deal with lots of people as a contractor and I've got pretty good intuition. Dealing with the guy was just getting stranger and stranger as I got closer to the closing day. The night before I was going to fly down and pick it up I was sitting in the hot tub with my wife and started getting cold feet. I didnt think this guy was on the up and up. I was ready to call it off and ask for my deposit back. We drank a bit more wine and she convinced me to go down there and take a look anyway. The guy turned out to be OK and the car was exactly what I expected. We closed the deal and I drove it straight to Victoria where it sat for three weeks before I drove it back up north. I'm glad I didn't back out after all and it's been everything I had hoped it would be. I love that it was my wife who convinced me to go get it! She knows how to keep me happy!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...oh wrong story.

I wasn't in the market to buy a car, but I do look through HMN, Classifieds (and later) eBay and craigslist regularly since high school. I didn't have the money, I had a young family, a 1 car garage and already had 2 DDs and an old 57 mercedes. More toys weren't in the cards.

But in 2010 a friend in town called me and said "hey you like old cars?". He told me this story of a friend of his in Israel bought a 911 on eBay from California, had it shipped east and now it is stuck in storage in the port of Newark. He didn't have the money to have the car shipped to Israel (I suspect he bought it not realizing it didn't have an engine, so it sat at the port for just under a year. The 911 has been on my "list" since I was a little boy. Here is a book I purchased with christmas money at 15 in 1983...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1486788315.JPG

I took a drive out to the car and I noticed it was in great shape california car, birth date of June 1975. It had no engine, missing some interior bits, and later learned was missing a transmission. The price for all this german goodness? Simply pay storage fees and it was mine (a little over $200). My late wife was supportive; a few weeks later I brought her home.

Since then I have purchased a lift and all the parts to get her running. She is still a work in progress but I get her out on the road quite often. I couldn't be happier with it.

Its been slow but rewarding doing all the work myself...click here for the extended version of my journey...
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/664950-1976-911s-garage-find-road.html

Before
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1262632107.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1329967588.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1262632119.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1322974820.jpg

After
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1381104622.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369697578.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1348355315.jpg

Look at the oil filter

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1486429909.jpg

Makes all the difference...

A thread like this can have many useful insights for future buyers.
Too bad this thread lost steam, so I wrote my story to a new thread in OT.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/945703-share-story-how-you-acquired-your-911-a.html

Sometime in the early 1960s I was with my mother doing errands in her 1958 Mercury station wagon in Santa Maria, CA. It was rare to see a European sports car in those days. The local car scene was American muscle cars and drag racing, but as we drove past the Vandenberg Inn , a 356 Porsche pulled out of the parking lot onto Broadway. I’d never seen a Porsche before. There was something about it. I thought it looked incredible.

Fast forward to 1970. I was in the Coast Guard stationed in Massachusetts. I was sliding around in the snow in the parking lot of a closed amusement park in ’63 Karmann Ghia having a grand old time – until I hit a low retaining wall hidden under the snow, which peeled back the undercarriage like a sardine can. It was totaled. I spotted an ad in the paper and bought my first Porsche – a ‘66 912. I kept it for a year, participated in a weekend PCA DE, sold it, and bought a 1965 911. I drove my second Porsche to California in 1972 at the end of my active duty commitment and kept it for three years. Never drove it once without ending up with a big grin on my face, but as a poor college student I just couldn’t afford to maintain it properly. Sold it to a doctor.

Fast forward to 1999. I was doing pretty well and wanted another Porsche. I spotted an ad for a factory 1970 914-6 in Los Angeles. It had a 2.5 motor in it and was a riot to drive. I drove her for two years until my fortunes changed and I had to let her go rather than allow her deteriorate on my watch.

Fast forward to three years ago. After searching for something affordable in California for a couple of years, I saw an ad on Pelican for a ’78 SC, and it was located nearby, so I drove over to check it out. She was a bit of an old warhorse and I bought her without a PPI; shouldn’t have, I suppose. After spending half as much as it cost to buy her, she’s in fair shape now. We love driving the twisties together, and I go through withdrawal symptoms when it’s raining, but there’s still a long to-do list ahead of us. I’ll never get my money out of it, but at least I won’t have to buy a casket because they’ll bury me in my SC.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1486964634.jpg

my 77s wide body targa (if had not been a targa the outcome may have been different, needed a motor, I had a spare 3.0 and it needed a tranny, I just picked up a factory LSD for a great $$.

then I got hit by a car on a bicycle so needless to say the options got much better.
I debate, and priced up the $, of building the 77. like I said, if ihad been a hard top the outcome may have been different. I also was looking a 930's. realizing I was going to put a lot of $$ into the 77 and the returns would not be as good I opted for the 930.
I spent a year looking for one. talked to the guy early on about the one I ended up buying but made no offer. after a vey very long frustrating search I called him back up.
even though the car did not have all the options he said it did, I still did ok on the price because now I could double my money on the car.

so now I have an 86 930.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1486988265.jpg

Previous owner of my car, was a true driving enthusiast & a gentleman.

I had a Shelby Cobra replica for Sale, I built it before my son was born and enjoyed it for a few years, but as my son got older I realized it wasn't a great car for a young child to be riding in. So I started looking for a car with a roof and a little more civilized so I wouldn't be as limited for driving my son around. I had my cobra for sale for a while when I saw this 1975 911 Carrera / widebody turbo hotrod for sale. I'd been looking around for a long time and not having much luck and when I saw his ad I knew this car was special. I contacted the owner to see if he was interested in a trade for my Cobra. Unfortunately he wasn't, as he was thinning his herd for a cross country move in a few months. He'd completely rebuilt & hotrodded the car 20 years previous and raced and tracked it considerably, but now he was older and some of his other toys were more comfortable & enjoyable to drive compared to the raw hotrod. I was bummed out but knew asking for a trade was a long shot anyways. So I let it go from my mind briefly, but not for long....

I was suddenly going to be moving houses and freeing up some cash but not for a couple months. I contacted the owner to see if the car was still available, it was, and told him my situation, that I was really serious about his car. He had offers from dealers & flippers for it but he didn't need to sell immediately so he brushed them off. I wasn't able to make the trip to see the car for about 1 month, due to work & family obligations and the distance I had to travel, approx 4 hr drive each way. He agreed to hold the car until I was able to see it in person and if I made an offer then, great, but if not, he'd just contact one of the others who were inquiring. I think he wanted a guy like me to have it, knowing I was also and enthusiast who wanted to get into track events.

So I made the trip, loved the car, gave a good deposit that day. Then had to wait another month or so to get the rest of the money together. When I did, I took a train to him and drove my new Porsche home. It was an incredible drive home, learning & exploring this new car and it was the first time i'd actually driven the car or a Porsche for that matter.

Over two years later i'm still loving this car and have done alot of work to it. I've learned alot about the car and 911's and also have come to enjoy the track events and all the great characters involved in the local PCA.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1487171154.jpg

Heart attack
 

i had a massive heart attack. my wife bought me a 911.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1487202896.jpg

Ya, das is eine gute question... For me I had always in the back of my mind wanted a classic to avoid depreciation. Having owned a "68 bug, getting around an engine rebuild or restoring wasn't a daunting thought. So one day between picking up my daughter at ballet and dropping off my son a soccer, I had a couple of hours to chill. Open Craigslist and the second item on the list (no search) was a 1970 911E. Ok, I'm interested, send off the necessary email, make the call... Now understand that I was not a Porsche guy, in fact I told my wife a long time ago, not to worry, I wasn't going to buy a Porsche, not my thing. But here was a 911 with sunroof and little rust (a big issue in Hawaii where we live) for $5k. I figured, what the heck, even if I only get 2 years out of it, what's $2.5k per year for the opportunity to drive a Porsche? I finally get a return call at 9 in the evening. Yada, yada yada, you were the first, can you meet in the morning... sure. Sold. That was in 2010. I have spent $175 dollars on a mechanic to help tighten the chains and have done regular maintenance since as well as rebuild the front calipers, replaced the tires (where can you get good 14 inch tires these days??) and had to pull the engine to replace that clutch pivot arm thingy. Other than that it runs. The interior is shot and I did get rear ended and told the shop not to bother painting the damage are so I drive around in a faded red and primer grey 911 with a functioning sunroof. And here's why - it's worth in excess of $30k just because it's a 911. Now that's avoiding depreciation!!

My Current Porsche?
 

How did I “End up With Current Cars?”
Asa kid I would go to the VW dealer when their bug needed servicing, and over in the corner of the showroom there were Porsches, my Dad would go over and look at them and I sat in a few. Fast forward about 11 years to 1967, I bought an almost new VW Bug, for $800, it needed a clutch, and tuned up. The bug was wonderful, 18 years old and good wheels, however 18 months a lady pulled out from a driveway and so hit her, crushed the nose a little, one fender came off, but i was able to get it home. Insurance gave me $1300 and I kept the car, went to All Foreign in Berkeley CA, forerunner to EASY. Found a same colored bug that was hit in the rear. Used bumper, hood, fender, headlight, running board and a few other parts $300. It took a couple days to put it all back together, touched up the nose paint and shimmed the front axle beam so it was straight with the rear. Got the bug back on the road, plus had about $900 left over.
Meanwhile on the way to school I had spotted a red Porsche coupe sitting in the back of Import Motors, that sold Volvos, and BMWs and advertised as the “Sports Car Dealer for the East Bay”. Second hand sports cars filled the rest of the lot. I stopped in to see about the Porsche, he owner said he couldn’t sell it as it wasn’t running, no brakes, bad tires and wanted to use it to keep the two man shop busy during the slow winter.
About a month later I drove by and the Porsche was gone, stopped in, not anywhere to seen. Just then a Dieter drove it in the shop, it ran, but noisy, the muffler was loose, he said it was ready to go after he did few more things. I went and saw Ralph, he wanted my Bug, and told me I could have the Porsche for the bug and $300, plus tax and license. I didn't hesitate long, the next day was Friday the 13th, but it didn't stop me from making the deal and drove the Porsche home. This was 1968, 20 years old and driving a 1959 356A Coupe.
Still have the car, had it repainted a few times, seats recovered, some new carpet, rebuilt the engine a couple of times. After 48 years, 245,000 miles it still is my favorite car.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1487204760.jpg

1984 Carrerra Coupe
 

I was interested in a 928, but drove a friends 1982 911 SC and thought it was perfect for me. I went to our local Porsche dealer Willard Robertson in New Orleans and sat down with the salesman and picked out the perfect 1984 911 Carrera car for me. Sunroof, Air Conditioning, special heater controls, limited slip differential, full leather interior, sport suspension, cruise control, whale tail and lip spoiler, and Pewter metallic color.

It took about three or four months to arrive at our port and saw it being driven down to the dealership on a truck filled with sport cars. What a perfect car. The only thing I should have gotten was heated seats, but never thought I would end up in Virginia.

Besides typical oil changes and the like, I have had to replace one cooling fan, a distributor cap, had the rubber bushings on the shifter replaced, and after 25 years had to replace the dash after it split.

It now has 80,000 miles on it, starts up and rumbles like a dream. The only addition I made to the car was a European DME that added a few horse power to the engine and European H4 headlights (55/100).

It has been a remarkable car, trouble free and still capable of 150 mph. She does not get driven very often now, but when I pass by her in the garage, I love the feel of the wheel flare curve of its metal and still pat her and smile thinking about our numerous adventures. And, funny, but when the door opens it still smells like new fine leather.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1487216499.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1487216499.jpg

Please post some photos!
Everyone loves a weathered worn driver with battle scars!
Always the crowd favorite.

It's always crazy to be reminded that some posters have owned their car for 3-4 decades.

Well, it was 1988. My mom had a brand new Saab that needed an oil change at the dealer and I was all too eager to take her at my dad's request. I was 25 at the time. By the time I got home, I had missed the opportunity to play golf for the first time on a real golf course with a relative. So, I opened the local newspaper and in the classifieds saw an advertisement in the next town for a 1974 Porsche Targa, $5500. Well, my dad and I had looked at Porsches together all over the NY/NJ/PA area since I was 12 or so, but the timing and money were never right for him - always 356s. He loved 356s. I announced I was going to go look at this 911 and he eagerly said he was coming. He was 57 at the time. Well, about 3 hours later the silver 1974 911 targa was in our driveway. That car served as an inseparable bond between my dad and I until December of 2015 when he gave it to me, about 1 month before he passed. For the next six months I had that car torn apart and redone including a newly rebuilt 3.2 to replace the ailing and leaking 2.7. In 2000 I bought a 356 and restored it with Bruce Baker in Collegeville, PA and we had forged a great bond. Bruce took on the 911 project knowing how much it meant to me and Performance Automotive in Malvern did all the mechanical work. The car got done so quickly because Bruce made it is focus. Today she is a pure dream. Better than at any point in her previous 29 years of ownership. My dad would be so proud of her. She joins her younger brother, a new speed yellow 7 speed 991 convertible......and of course, that 1988 Saab with 51K miles. Oh, the 356, while no longer mine, still lives around 10 miles from me and now belongs to a guy who has become one of my best friends.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1487498295.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1487498335.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1487498361.jpg

And the 88 Saab.....http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1487498591.jpg

Great story...see you in New Hope!

I have bought five air cooled 911s over last ten years and they were all interesting purchases, however, the one that stands out is my 81 SC.

I purchased the car bit over 3 years ago and at that point we had a 86 930 and a 98 Targa. I was perusing an online cars for sale site, as I often do, when I spotted a new ad advertising a 81 SC. It looked beautiful in the ad, unusual Rosewood Metallic with brown interior with sports seats, and it was priced very, very attractively. Then I noticed that it was located in my home town about twenty minutes away!

I couldn't resist so I emailed the owner expressing interest in the car. I didn't hear back for a week. I figured, as often happens when there's a great deal, that the car had already sold. The owner finally replied a bit over a week later, he had been out of town on business. He told me he had been inundated with emails and calls but he didn't want to sell the car to just anybody. He said he wanted to meet the person that would be taking over ownership, after all he had owned the car for 13 years and it was his baby. He had only driven the car 5000 miles during his ownership and obviously loved his car and sounded like he kept it in top shape.

I went over to look the car over as soon as he was free and the car was so nice it was difficult to hide my excitement after seeing the car. I had taken my Race Ramps with me so that I could more easily look at the underside of the car, he was fascinated with the ramps and asked lots of questions about them. I took the car for a test drive which confirmed my initial impressions and I decided I had to buy it.

As we started to negotiate the price it was obvious he was not real flexible on it. I finally offered $500 below his asking price and at this point he suddenly got quiet and then told me he was having sellers remorse and was not sure he wanted to let it go. Holy crap! He said he wanted to think it over, I'm thinking I'm screwed and that it was another great deal down the drain! I left completely bummed out.

I didn't hear back from him next day so I called him the following day and offered to throw in my Race Ramps on the deal. To my great relief he accepted my offer making me a very happy guy!

Here's a picture of the car fairly soon after I got it.


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1487528305.jpg