Sometime in the early 1960s I was with my mother doing errands in her 1958 Mercury station wagon in Santa Maria, CA. It was rare to see a European sports car in those days. The local car scene was American muscle cars and drag racing, but as we drove past the Vandenberg Inn , a 356 Porsche pulled out of the parking lot onto Broadway. I’d never seen a Porsche before. There was something about it. I thought it looked incredible.
Fast forward to 1970. I was in the Coast Guard stationed in Massachusetts. I was sliding around in the snow in the parking lot of a closed amusement park in ’63 Karmann Ghia having a grand old time – until I hit a low retaining wall hidden under the snow, which peeled back the undercarriage like a sardine can. It was totaled. I spotted an ad in the paper and bought my first Porsche – a ‘66 912. I kept it for a year, participated in a weekend PCA DE, sold it, and bought a 1965 911. I drove my second Porsche to California in 1972 at the end of my active duty commitment and kept it for three years. Never drove it once without ending up with a big grin on my face, but as a poor college student I just couldn’t afford to maintain it properly. Sold it to a doctor.
Fast forward to 1999. I was doing pretty well and wanted another Porsche. I spotted an ad for a factory 1970 914-6 in Los Angeles. It had a 2.5 motor in it and was a riot to drive. I drove her for two years until my fortunes changed and I had to let her go rather than allow her deteriorate on my watch.
Fast forward to three years ago. After searching for something affordable in California for a couple of years, I saw an ad on Pelican for a ’78 SC, and it was located nearby, so I drove over to check it out. She was a bit of an old warhorse and I bought her without a PPI; shouldn’t have, I suppose. After spending half as much as it cost to buy her, she’s in fair shape now. We love driving the twisties together, and I go through withdrawal symptoms when it’s raining, but there’s still a long to-do list ahead of us. I’ll never get my money out of it, but at least I won’t have to buy a casket because they’ll bury me in my SC.
