EXCLUSIVE: Introducing #ProjectStork, Rennlist’s Official Project Car

After 15 years wedged tightly in a garage, we’re about to make #ProjectStork the dream car it truly is.

My story with this 1977 Porsche 911 S began in 1985 at the age of two … days old. This is the first car in which I ever was a passenger. The resonance of its 2.7-liter flat-six must have zapped me on my stork’s journey home from the hospital, for this was the vehicle that determined the course of my life as an automotive enthusiast. For that reason, this is the most important car in my life.

Had my parents brought me home in a Toyota Corolla or a Ford Fairmont, chances are slim I would have been an automotive writer. Who knows where my lifelong career trajectory would have pointed?

What I do know is that this is the car that laid the foundation for who I am. Beyond making me a car enthusiast, this Porsche 911 S made me ambitious. My father was 34 when he bought this car brand-new.

CHECK OUT: What the Rennlist Forum Is Saying About #ProjectStork

While I was growing up, having this Porsche sitting in the garage gave me the hope that if I were to work hard enough, perhaps I could be able to afford a brand-new Porsche 911 someday. Maybe even at an age as young or younger than my dad’s.

Unfortunately, the distracting glow of newer, flashier cars and motorcycles meant that after 1992, my father had pretty much cast this vehicle aside. After 1995, it was never registered again.

My adolescent years didn’t help its plight, either. By 2000, I had my driver’s permit. One summer day in 2001, I attempted driving this car for the first time. Armed with the conceptual knowledge of manual transmission operation, and lacking the experiential knowledge, I was only able to drive this (by that time smoky) machine down my street. The ordeal really began once I tried getting it back up the street.

I enlisted the help of my middle brother, Scott, to get the car back to the house. Even at six years older than me, my non-car-enthusiast brother had yet to learn to drive stick. He also was unable to get the Porsche back up our reasonably inclined street.

Scott’s 1976 Chevrolet Impala station wagon to the rescue! Tow straps? We’re in a hurry. Let’s just situate the Porsche and the Impala nose to nose, and push the 911 backwards up the street. Those impact bumpers can handle it.

Blame the missing front bumper trim on
16-year-old me’s injudiciousness.

Notice how the rubber trim is missing from the front bumper? Yeah. That’s from Scott’s and my injudiciousness. I ended up telling my parents I was trying to push the car around the driveway, and that the 911’s age-related oxidation was to blame for why it was so easy to rip the rubber off the bumper. My dad succumbed to asbestosis in 2013. I never told him or my mother the true story of how I defaced the Porsche. In fact, I never told my oldest brother, Jeff, the story of how the damage occurred. He will read this article. He will be upset with his two younger brothers.

At 16 years old, my enthusiasm for this Porsche ended up harming it. Now that I’m double that age, I’m in a better position to allow my enthusiasm to help this car, and that’s why I’m beginning my mission to restore it. Welcome to the #ProjectStork saga.

The video above kicks off a series of episodes that will document the restoration process every step of the way. Each episode will be shared here at Rennlist. To ensure you never miss a thing, subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me on Instagram. I’ll be linking to my latest Rennlist articles from those accounts.

ALSO READ: Jim Donnelly Photo – Porsche Photography at Its Finest

#ProjectStork is the most symbolic story of my career. I’m incredibly excited to see how this restoration unfolds. With each episode and Rennlist forum post, I look forward to sharing this story with you. Truth be told, driving this car is only the second-most exciting thing about this project. I’m most excited to share my #ProjectStork experience with you in person at car shows, and I’m beyond eager to dive deeper into the Rennlist community.

Special thanks to Haynes Manuals for letting me use their shop to resurrect #ProjectStork. Automotive repair is so much easier when you have a proper facility and tools at your disposal. I am incredibly proud to associate this project with a prestigious, globally recognized brand such as theirs.

Enjoy the gallery below, as well as the Rennlist Facebook live footage we shot as we were extracting the car.

Words, Photos and Video via [Manuel Carrillo III]

Follow @manuelcarrillo3