buying my porsche, for me at least, was not like buying other cars. i'm interested to see what other folks stories might be.
in my case, during the spring of 1994, my wife started complaining that my daily driver was on its last legs. she drove it occasionally, and was concerned that it was going to leave her stranded at some point. the car in question was an 81 vw jetta, which happened to be the first new car i'd ever bought. the car had been hit on the left front corner and indifferently repaired, so the car looked tired and shabby. the sunroof leaked (it had a real talent for dumping cold water down the back of your neck), the ventilation had always sucked, and with 185K miles was pretty worn down.
if it bothers you, i said, don't drive it. it works for me and it's long since paid for. and, i just sort of tossed out: if i buy another car it's gonna be a porsche. do what you have to do, my wife said, but i don't want to have to come get you on some dark, stormy night when that car leaves you stranded.
in 1970, i borrowed a college friend's 912 for an hour, and was really impressed. i'm gonna have to buy one of these someday, i had told myself. i had come close on two different occasions, but the time just wasn't right, i guess. then i got married, we had a couple of kids, i had a sailboat i raced extensively (j/24, best sailboat evar!), demanding job, yadda yadda.
but now i had my wife's ok, and it was her idea! there had to be a downside here, of course, and the downside was budget. my wife and i agreed that i had 15K to spend. in total. which included taxes of 6.8%, licensing fees, and any repairs that would be needed. eek, i thought. yes dear, i said. and so i started.
i bought, and still have, the used 911 story by peter zimmerman. i read about rust, thermal reactors, short wheel base handling characteristics, the necessity of a PPI, 20% of budget for required repairs, finding a good wrench before you started looking at cars, and other bits of 911 lore. once i had an idea of what i thought i was looking for, i began to look for cars.
I had a maximum of $13980 to pay for the car and any repairs (15K minus 6.8% tax), and holding 20% in reserve for repairs left $11184. 11K was going to get me into an "older" car, but i thought a good SC was possible. i was ok with a good SC.
now, this was before craig's list, and before ebay, and before google. i started by cruising the newspaper classified ads, and looking for the little boutique car shops that might have a 911 or two on the lot. i'd drive by car lots, slowed down, and if they had a 911 on the lot and i had a few extra minutes, i'd stop in. mostly i'd ask questions, and sometimes i'd drive one. in general, the cars i liked i couldn't afford, and the cars that i could afford didn't do much for me.
one fine day i turned into prestige imports in lakewood, co (denver metro area). i was driving my non-airconditioned, beatup, and old vw jetta. it was very hot, and i was hot and sweaty. i had turned in for a chance to get out of the sweltering car as much as to look at cars, so i spent a few minutes gasping in the air conditioned showroom before looking around for somebody to talk with.
and nobody wanted to waste their time talking with me. the salesmen had watched me drive up and get out of an old, beatup car, and had written me off. nobody said "beat it, punk", but their disdain was palpable, and the one guy i cornered was remarkably rude. what they had on their used lot was 3 black cabs, the cheapest of which was 50K. that day started my firm conviction that porsche dealers, in general, suck.
and i started wondering whether or not it was really true that porsche people were all arrogant snobs. a good friend of mine had recently sold an 81 SC, but maybe he was the exception that proved the rule.
so i asked around for a good 911 wrench, and was referred to pat moyle, who owned and ran his own shop named motorsport, located in englewood, co. i went and talked to pat about all manner of things porsche. pat was (and i'm sure still is) quite a guy, and i really enjoyed talking and dealing with him. he introduced me to some folks, some folks introduced themselves, and i came away from the hour i spent there with both my wrench and the feeling the porsche folk were getting a bad rap on the arrogance front.
one day i happened across a white coupe. cork interior, black trim, black fuchs, 15" wheels, and reasonable miles. hmm, i thought, so i drove it. this was perhaps the 5th car i'd driven, but the first coupe. i had always wanted a coupe, because i think the rear 3/4 view of a 911 coupe is about the sexiest and most powerful line on any car ever. i still think so, so it's a real crying shame that i don't fit in sunroof coupes. i am 6'4", and i have a lot of height in my torso. i could not adjust the seat so that i could both reach the steering wheel and shifter and not have my head in contact with the roof. i'm not talking about my head brushing against the headliner, i mean i had my head cocked to the side because the roof was so (#&$*#$* short.
well, maybe i could do something with a different seat. so, off the car went to motorsport for the PPI, and i talked to pat about after-market seats. after learning just how much a single recaro seat cost, much less two of them, the couple was looking pretty shaky. and then they called me into the shop to show me the huge weld bead that had been used to repair the tub. the car had taken a
big impact on the front end, the tub itself had been crinkled, and the front pan had been straightened and rewelded. it was actually a pretty good job of repair, but pat said "you don't want this car" and so that was that for the pretty grand prix white coupe.
i had no interest in owning a cab (sports car with no roof or roll bar == bad), so i guess i was now targa boy. oh, snap. a targa doesn't have the sexy, powerful 3/4 rear view line i loved so much. but, it was still a 911, and maybe i'd learn to enjoy taking the top off.
about 6 weeks later, i found an 80 sc targa in silver. higher mileage than i wanted. blue interior, which i didn't like, and the car as a whole, exterior, interior, engine compartment, trunk, wheels, everything, kinda looked rode hard and put away wet. tired, past its prime. the price was right, however, and i would have some money left for repairs. i drove it, and it drove ok, so off it went to pat.
pat said, well, maybe. the big problem was that the heat exchangers were toast, and required replacing. as in, you ought to replace them, but you must replace them, because they will pump carbon monoxide into the passenger compartment. i mentioned to my wife that i might kinda sorta possibly had finally found my car, but i wasn't really all that thrilled with it.
i was going to go look at the car again, and my wife said she wanted to come as well. so off we went. she took one look at the car, and said not that one i hope. yeah, actually, that's the one. hmm, she said, and spent 5 minutes looking it over. she sat in the seats, looked at the top (tired, like most everything else) and said this won't do.
i agreed with her, but grouched a little bit that i had spent months looking and this was the price point i could afford, and they all would kinda be like this. now, the boutique dealer we were at happened to have about 5 911s on the lot, which was by far the most inventory i'd yet seen in 5 months of serious looking. the top of their inventory was a 25K coupe, resplendent in ice green, that was a grey market car. my wife looked at that one and asked how much is that one?
too much, i said. waaaay too much. plus i'd have to replace the seats, for another couple of grand, and besides, it's a grey market car, and there is some question about whether or not it can continue to be licensed by the state (there was some issue with the car's importation, and the feds were cracked down on grey market cars big time at that point).
well, what about that car, she asked, pointing to the car i've owned for over 17 happy years. it's out of my budget, dear, i said. they're asking 20K. see if they'll deal, said my lovely wife. i did, and they would. pat moyle said it's a keeper.
i've kept it ever since, and they'll bury me in that car.
what's
your story?