First, thanks to Girt for the inspiration on a documentary thread. Hopefully, this will be another good one.
My son Brian is a rising high school senior. Our summer vacation this year started as a discussion about a New England drive for a week that I have suggested for a couple of years. He figured we should go west and not fly out to drive the coast, but drive there, and yes, see the whole coast. Discussions about renting a car to get there, or driving the SUV fell on deaf ears. He wanted to drive our 87 Carrera. WOW. He drives our 944 Turbo regularly but has never been behind the wheel of the 911. Tough with racing seats for him to see over the steering wheel. So, as I write this 5 days before departure, he has yet to operate this car...
The car is a 1987 911 coupe with 171k miles. Rebuilt, mostly stock motor has about 5000 miles and 18 months on it with a trip to the Rolex, a couple weekends at VIR, and a weekend at Roebling Road and The Glen. Runs like a scalded dog thanks to WebCams and Steve Wong. 930 brakes. Koni adjustables and otherwise stock suspension. New Bridgestone RE-11s on 7/8 inch Fuchs. Rollbar and shell seats removed and stock seats installed. Original paint freshly polished and waxed to make some reasonable impression on the folks here we hope to meet along the way.
Spares include a tested DME relay, fuel pump, fuel filter and fuel pump relay, belts, fuses, a few bulbs, plugs, oil filter and a couple quarts of Brad Penn. A valve cover gasket set. Fresh A/C charge and a thorough once over at RaceWerks in Virginia Beach.
Our route will be northerly starting this Friday 6/17. From Virginia Beach, VA we'll drive 600 miles to Cincinatti for the night then a short 300 to Chicago via the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a photo op. Tickets for Cubs at Wrigley Field Saturday night. Sunday morning it's west on I90 to somewhere in SD for about 700 miles then Monday will be The Badlands, Black Hills, Rushmore, Devil's Tower then hopefully to Billings, MT. Another 700 miles. Tuesday north to Glacier NP then Wednesday to Seattle for a 3200 mile total coast to coast. Two nights in Seattle, south a night in Portland, then to Eureka, CA for a redwood visit. South on 1/101. Sunday and Monday, 6/26-27 in San Francisco riding cable cars and such. Tuesday in Monterey for the aquarium and a visit with a freind. A great route thanks to Dave at TRE south to LA and Wed/Thu playing tourist/Porsche enthusiast. Hopefully a stop at TRE and Pelican! Friday and Saturday, 7/1-2 in San Diego. Drop car off at shipper on Saturday morning and a SW flight home Sunday afternoon 7/3. Whew. About 5000 miles.
What I'm lacking are some folks who might like to get together for a beer and sandwich, a drive through your favorite spots, knowledgable shops in BF Egypt just in case, thoughts on lodging in LA and SD, and how to get around in Southern CA without melting the car.
We'll post pictures and maybe some GoPro video. We'll update daily on fuel consumption and costs. I expect about 25 mpg.
Tools include the OE roll, and what I need to replace spares I bring. AAA, credit cards, two cell phones, laptop, Radar detector, compressor, and a CB at Grady's suggestion. We'll be prepared to camp.
For the inevitable "useless without pictures", here's a gratuitous 911 photo plus Sportsmobile picture. This is VIR. No it's not my camper, but I have a very good friend who is generous with his toys. Great hauler! Great weekend.
