[SlowToady]

It's been awhile since I had to get part with my dear 944, almost 2 years, but driving through the country late last night I realized how much I really, really miss it. The other day, the girl I bought it from, who happens to be a good friend of mine, called to tell me that she "saw another blue 944 driving through Gurnee. It was like seeing a ghost..." I didn't think much of it at the time, except for "hmm, blue 944s are relatively rare.." But, like I said, on my drive last night...

I'm driving a 2.0 Golf GL. Not an inspiring drive, by any stretch of the imagination, which makes it all the worse. It's not like I went from a 944 to a 968, or a 911, or a hopped up GTI. I went from a quickish car to a car that has trouble moving out of it's own way. One of the things I loved most about the 944 was the way the doors closed. You can tell a lot, I think, about a car by the way the doors close. They weren't heavy, but they weren't light..and that lovely "thunk" when they shut....Made me feel good everyday to open and close those doors.

Don't even get me started on the chairs. For a few days I entertained fabricating brackets to put 944 chairs in the Golf. My chairs were even nicer than usual, since the girl's father (his car originally) replaced the entire when he quit smoking. Getting into the 944 was like sliding into a glove. Getting into the Golf makes me want a sex change operation.

On the driving side of things, I'm sure the Golf gearbox is technically leaps and bounds better, although there was something slightly more magical about shifting the Porsche box. Probably just rose-colored glasses though, the linkage was getting loose, the first gear synchro was slightly worn. Ironically, a few days before the accident I studied up on repairing the linkage and had plans for that Saturday to fix it.

Handling isn't even a fair comparison.

Braking? HAH! I had just put new Cyro frozen Frozen Rotors on, coupled with Hawk HPS pads and I rebuilt the calipers. One of the first hard stops I made after the brakes were broken in, I almost put my face through the windshield. WooHoo!! THAT'S how a vehicle should brake! I ended up selling the car for less than I spent on the brakes alone.

Driving the 944 just had a slightly more magical air to it. From hearing the big 4 kick over to 4-3 downshifts to make it through the local red light:-D to how planted it felt in the corners. It's hard to even enjoy driving the Golf, it's more like utility, something I have to do. In 40,000 miles and 2 years, I have one memorable drive in the Golf (that doesn't involve sex). I only put 10,000 miles on my little 944, but oh the memories....!

There truly is a specialness to driving a Porsche that other vehicles just don't have. I've driven plenty of faster cars, but few as enjoyable.

When I get out of University, I'm buying a 911. Maybe a 944/968 to go with it:-D