Hi...I bought my first 911 in 1980 when I was 36; married with 3 children. My wife just about drove it more than I did in that I had a company vehicle and she often used it rather than our family car to take the kids to and from school.
For many years I had always liked the looks of these 356's so this is what I started to look for, a restored 356B coupe - The main difference from an 'A' was the new 4 wheel disc brakes
I eventually found a 10/10 restoration that was for sale at a local Porsche Club meet. I agreed to the owners price, which was $12,000.00 at the time, and then made an arrangement with the fellow to take it for a drive after work the next day-Monday.
I was so disappointed in how it drove. The 93hp was very unimpressive, and although not a pure VW motor it sounded and performed in a similar manner-
It was just too much VW in so many ways for me that I decided not to buy it
The search was now on for a low mileage 911 which I found within 4 months. It was very nice one owner 1970 911T with all the books ect.
I also, of all things, ended walking away very disapointed from it due to its colour... It looked like VW's beige but it did have a very nice black interior. (I am not anti VW - I had years earlier owned a two year old 1967 VW which was a great little machine)
After thinking about it for over a week, I decided that if it was still available I would buy it and have a complete colour change to Black. It was still available so I bought it and drove it from the seller's home directly to a shop that I had pre arranged to do the job.
It was then stripped, taken completly a part, and in reality was restored. I had the trunk, hood, doors, the windshield and rear window seals replaced, including buying new front and rear signal/brake lens. I also had all of the latches; hood, trunk including other bits and pieces such as springs, re-anodized to their correct colour. It was repainted in a 2 pot mix urethane and then cured in a bake oven.
If you care to see it when apart and when finished, have a look at it in 'my garage'.