When I was in high school, I worked in the shop at a Jaguar/Volvo dealership, part time and during the summers. I detailed cars during the week and cleaned the shop on weekends, among many other random. Any spare moment I had, I tried to learn as much as I could from the techs I worked with.
Back then, a coworker of mine owned a continental orange 911 Carrera 3.0 – I don’t recall if it was the real deal or a clone. But he sold it for $15,000 circa 2001 in order to purchase a second hand Boxster S, a move I could tell he regretted. I couldn’t afford it at the time and that car has always been in the back of my mind for being one that “got away”. So back flash back to 2013, when I found the ad for this car on Pelican Parts.
High mileage with a few cosmetic issues, but owned by a fellow Pelican and true enthusiast. It had a 3.2 litre short stroke with single plug heads, CIS, 9.8:1 compression, 964 cams, etc. Very intriguing, and at a reasonable price. I corresponded with the owner and the car seemed solid. I found out that the car had been delivered in Honolulu in 1980, but that it was moved to California a year later, where it lived until ca. 2003, when it moved again to the Slocan Valley, B.C.
So a plan was hatched. “Good buddy,” he of the engine swaps and the blue 240SX above, drove to Calgary on Friday night. Following some beers and merriment, we set out for Nelson B.C. Saturday morning at dawn in his (now white) 240SX. We met the seller at noon, checked the car over, test drove it, and then spent the balance of the day hanging out in Nelson and the Slocan valley with the seller talking cars, etc. Great guy. Met some friends in the Slocan for dinner. Listened to their folk band. Chatted chemtrails and other conspiracy theories with the locals. Took good buddy aside and told him that he probably shouldn’t ask strangers in these parts questions like “what do you do for a living” or question firmly held beliefs. Good buddy is a computer programmer with a science background, but we aren’t in Alberta anymore. Slocan is a special place. Smoothed things over. Good food, good beer, good friends, easy living. Parked the cars for the night and went to bed on a couple of couches . . .
Woke up Sunday at dawn, and she was mine. It was hard to contain my excitement. We said our goodbyes, and set out to meet the 911’s previous owner for a farewell run on some excellent driving roads, from Winlaw to New Denver to Kaslo. Breakfast in Kaslo, a soak in the Ainsworth hot springs, a bromantic ferry ride across lake Kootenay, and an uneventful road trip home.
On that day, I can say that the 911 SC pulled way from the (450+ whp) white car in the corners, but was obviously no match on the straights. The white car is all oversteer, all the time. The alignment and suspension geometry are optimized for controlled oversteer in competitive drifting. The power is of the “old school” turbocharged variety – lag followed by crushing boost. As a result, managing the rear end in spirited driving on twisty roads is a challenge. In other words, pucker-inducing through a high-consequence mountain pass. Speeds were at all times kept within the range of reasonable, given that we were on public roads, of course.