Would you let her drive your 911?

[Jdub]

Of course. She dumped the '79450sl because it was an automatic. She drives the Triumph TR6 like she built it.

She also holds an open-class motorcycle license she earned by testing in near-gale, February conditions here in Seattle.

My wife...I *know* I'll keep her ;>

John

[dtw]

Between the brakes, clutch, shifter, and heavy steering, I let her drive it once after persistent nagging, then never heard about it again.

Uh, widebody- I think you need to post more pictures of the ex. Meow!

[supertedusa]

Of course. On the way home from getting bent at a friend's house or a restaurant.

Following, literally, the '96 pop-punk classic recorded by the Ruston, LA band the Habitual Sex Offenders, "I Drink, She Drives."

[LeeH]

This is my wife's "daily driver." I guess if her company trusts her with a $25,000,000 jet, she can drive my car. And, yes, she is the Captain, thank you.

Her other hobbies include motorcycling. She used to instruct for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation and hopes to replace her Yamaha FZR600 when our daughter is older.

Then there's the time she signed up for shooting lessons... The former Marine instructor asked her to shoot her Glock 45 so he could assess her. After she emptied the clip and he examined the target he said, "Lady, I don't need to teach you a thing!"

She's a little different, but I think I'll keep her.

[tobluforu]

Heck no!!! My car is so low the first time she, or for the most part anybody not familiar with a low car, would rip the front dam clean off the first driveway she came out of. I could see it now, on the phone talking about god knows what, saying to her friend "hell, what was that" then getting home, parking the car and me noticing it the next day.

[Don Wohlfarth]

I am truly amazed by the comments on this thread. How about a little dose of reality.
IT'S A CAR.
The main reason for not allowing a woman to drive your Porsche is pretty simple, male ego. Put your Johnson back in your pants and get a life. To think that a woman can't drive a Porsche only shows that you haven't been to enough ax or DE's. Granted, some of the women can't drive, but it shouldn't come as a surprise that neither can some of the men. Do you really think the woman who concours her 930 doesn't love her car as much as you love yours?
Forget all that crap that she'll sideswipe a fence post or crunch 2nd gear, so will your brother.
Some of you are emotionally attached to a machine. Sell it. Transfer some of that attachment to a chain saw or electric can opener as it would be a he11 of a lot cheaper and just as realistic.
Perhaps if there were a little more "of course you can drive my car" you wouldn't be spending so much time with the dumb one's.

[78targa]

Don,

Maybe it was a car before I got it, maybe it was a car the first time I pulled it into my garage. But after the hours spent bringing my 78 Targa back to life, the hours spent on the most minor part... well, I guess I don't consider "it" a car anymore. My time spent is what I don't want to loose.
But I do offer my wife the keys whenever she wants them. She took me up on it once but for some odd reason has this idea that it would be really bad to damage the Porsche in any way. Why? Because she respects and values my time spend rebuilding it I think as much as I do.

And it is that, that very last point why I will always give her the keys. She understands.

Hmmm.....Of course she might be jumpy because I yelled at her for pegging the tach the first time she started it!

Hehe. Still not "just a car" though!

[bento]

god bless john walker.

db

[s2per]

Of course I'd let her drive the 911--on the road, on the track (where she spun at two consecutive driver's eds), anywhere she wants!

After all, it led to us being a two Porsche family and how bad is that?

[nostatic]

Originally posted by LeeH
This is my wife's "daily driver." I guess if her company trusts her with a $25,000,000 jet, she can drive my car. And, yes, she is the Captain, thank you.

Your wife rocks. I'm not so sure about the firearms proficiency though...that would scare me a little. Although I'm not sure which is worse, guns or lawyers

[jhale356]

Seems to be a difference in response depending on whether is it is a girlfriend or wife. When my wife and I got engaged, I sent her a set of her own keys. The car, my second Porsche, was a '66 912. Thirty five years of owning Porsches, thirty-three years of marriage and ten Porsches later, there was never a scratch. Well, maybe a scratch or two on the marriage, but never the cars.

John

[speeder]

I do not have a GF at the moment, but would not hesitate to let one drive ANY car, if she was a decent driver. Here in L.A., it is an every day occurance to see women driving 911's, including the fastest ones ever made. 99% of the time it is testosterone that wraps sports cars around trees. (Often mixed w/ alcohol, of course).

I am most hesitant to let other men drive my car, would have to remind them not to beat on it, "it's not yours." 911's of course drive a little differently than other cars, not a big deal if you take it easy at first- the way all good drivers begin in an unfamiliar car, (or one that you do not own). I used to work at Porsche dealer and give test-drives in 911's; the world is absolutely filled w/ horrible men drivers- ham-fisted, bull-in-a-chinashop, no sense of "touch", total idiots behind the wheel and think they are good. Women drivers on the other hand are either complete ding-bats or very good drivers, and much more likely to take it easy in an unfamiliar car. My .02.

[campbellcj]

I've had my 70E for almost 12 years now.

If I remember right, my wife has driven it perhaps twice, and ridden in it fewer than 10 times. She has not been in it since it was restored, which is going on 2 years.

She actually liked the 914 better because it was "cute", but she found both of the 2 early cars "hard to drive". I think she was perplexed by the lack of A/C and steering-wheel stereo controls.

This doesn't trouble me one bit. We each have our hobbies and passions, they overlap in some ways and are polar opposites in other ways, and that's how it should be IMHO.

[LeeH]

No matter how fast my car is, she'll ALWAYS be faster - Here's a shot of my wife in her office:

[keitho64]

My wife has absolutely NO interest in cars. I wish she WOULD drive because I know she would enjoy it. And yes, she can even drive a stick. Maybe then she would understand my hobby.

Signed - Wishing my wife would drive the P-Car.

[davis911s]

I also WISH mine would drive the Porsche. I practically begher too. But she is only 5' tall so it is hard for her to reach the pedals. She can drive a stick and also rides moorcycles.

She just has no intrest in the 911, she loves it because I do. She enjoys driving in it (on nice days).

I am just happy that she enjoys it, I just wish I could get her to obsess like I do about it

Shawn and Heidi

[Superman]

I'll agree that testosterone, especially when mixed with alcohol, is what bends cars. I confess I have done all the scratching/denting/wrecking of cars in my family and when my wife drives my 911, I am sure it will come back safe. As I said, she is an excellent driver, although not particularly aggressive. It so happens that the scratches in the marriage have all been mine as well.

I'm also going to underscore an earlier comment. THESE ARE CARS, GUYS. Every part is repairable or replaceable. If you can't stand to lose it, then don't buy/build it in the first place. Or at least, don't drive it. I'll say I have the perfect car and the perfect wife. The car looks very nice but with some imperfections, such as rock chips, etc. Beautiful but not concours. I also have the perfect wife. Not a scratch on her, concours quality inside and out. We'll celebrate our 20th anniversary later this month, and she still gives me butterflies.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

When we participated in the BMW Ultimate Driving Experience (or whatever) my wife bested my AX times by 1/2 second (on a 20-second course). Of course she's had significantly more track time (in an automatic Corvette) than I.

That said, she doesn't drive stick very well (I taught her on our Dodge 2500 about 3 years ago) and gets EXTREMELY nervous about driving the 911. The 915 is a challenge even for an experienced manual shifter. The spectre of another $2500 rebuild probably makes her even more nervous.

Finally, she's quite petite and has trouble with the clutch.

But every time she's asked, I've handed her the keys. Hell, by law she does own half the car. And it is that: just a car.

Those of you with motorcycling SOs: you don't know how lucky you are...my wife HATES the bikes. But then, I hate her horses.

[pbs911]

I would let my wife drive the P-car if she wanted. I could care less. She just doesn't want to drive it because it doesn't have wood interior trim like her Benz and she couldn't eat her cereal while driving on the way to work. Actually I think someone mentioned her in another thread.

When I'm a passanger in her car, I have to look out the side window the entire time because watching where she is going is just too scary.

[phone rings]

I am serious now. My wife just called as I'm typing this thread and tells me she just hit something on the road that fell of another car and caused some damage to paint and mirror on the Benz. She didn't get the other cars lisence. I take back my previous statement that she can drive the car.

[bobswei]

It's better to have her wanting to drive your car then haveing her want you to get rid of it.
Just some wisdom from a married guy.