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I grew up next to my 911, my dad's neighbor owned it for 20+ years. Almost bought it in 2003 but it wound up sitting for another 10 years before i purchased it.
I think it was the 1st Gen Turbo 930, the styling was just so perfect. But I knew as a kid, it was outta my league dollar wise. So I thought it was the 914 for me, until the 944 came out. That car was so much better styling than the 914, it would be the first Porsche I would buy, but many years later. After marriage, twins and living in the expensive Bay Area, Porsche's were not on the menu. But I got my mid-life crisis, found a 1984 944 with 50k mileage for $5k and I just said, I gotta have it. I still do and it has provided many miles of Porsche "love-dom".
The live IROC races in 74 did it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOvFEBkLXbA
We didn't have a TV but at a family dinner at my aunts house, it was on- on a color TV no less- and I got addicted. Rennenhaus had a new Black 74 Carrera in the showroom that I lusted after. Ron Langford ended up buying it.
I got my first Porsche in 76- a 75 Carrera and have had one since. I grew up in cars as my dad was a Chevy mechanic so the Porsche wasn't an immediate hit but it grew on him.
This video brought back many memories! Thanks for posting it.
My family was not a "car family" per se, but I was from an early age. I had a neighbor who was heavily into cars--and they happened to be Porsches, initially. He was 28; I was 12. (Now He's 81). He had a knack for things mechanical, and was a dentist, who enjoyed tinkering with cars and racing them. He is still racing today! He embarrasses the young pups out there who are simply no where as smooth as he is. Wayne switched from Porsche to Mazda for the linear power production of the rotary engines. He ultimately had a tremendous amount of free time to play in his 'hobby' and a very understanding wife! And then our hot high school French teacher drove by my house in a 914-6 with the Fuchs wheels. I was hooked again. The father of my best friend from the 5th grade, while we lived in Germany from 1964-1967, purchased a brand new "901" in 1965 and it was one of the first 911s out there--white, with a red interior. Those things, and the IROC series which I watched in my family room on a tiny color TV (our first!) nailed Porsche for me. Wayne helped me with my ordering my second Porsche via the mails when living in Germany. He bought one of the first 928s in the country in 1977-8. (I had sent a brochure to him from Germany in 1977--the local dealership had not even seen one yet!) My first car wound up being a Zambezi green 1973 1.7 914--bought used from a buddy who needed to sell it. $5,000 for a used Porsche in 1974 was a crazy amount of money for a used car but worth every dollar! My mother thought I was insane. I sold it in late 1976 to the second guy on my purchaser waiting list (guys were in line to buy it) and I immediately ordered a new 911S in late 1976 while living in Germany by then. I took delivery of a new chocolate brown 911S in March 1977 and drove it for 6 years, racking up the miles. It needed a new engine by then so I traded it for a 2 year old modified 1981 911SC with a turbo engine. From 69 PS, to 157 PS, and now to 270 PS, I was getting more and more power out of my Porsches. That sleeper 911SC coupe, in Bamboo Beige, had a discrete early turbo tail, and would top out at 172 mph--being gear limited. I ordered a new Carrera S Cabriolet in 2005 and picked it up at Zuffenhausen (see my story in the February 2008 PCA magazine Panorama) and drove it through Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland, amassing some 3200 miles before reluctantly returning it to Zuffenhausen for the slow boat home via the Panama Canal. While in Germany, just north of Switzerland, I hit my break in mileage and proceeded up the autobahn from Basel at 182 mph--just checking out it's high end capabilities. I caution everyone who is interested in a Porsche--DO NOT DRIVE ONE--or you will want one. I have been a Porsche driver since I was 19 years old. While many mark purchasing a 911 as a reward for many years of good business sense, I bought my first Porsche as a teenager and was totally addicted. I still have that paint to sample Blue Turquoise hard-topped 997 cabriolet as well as a '64 356C which unit me, was a one owner car. "Porsche--there is no substitute!" I have been lucky to have met many Porsche AG personnel like Tony Lapine--designer of the 928, and Helmet Bott, developer of the 959. I used to frequent the racing parts shop at Werk I in Zuffenhausen in the 1980s picking up parts occasionally.
early 930. My dad's friend bought one new and I spent hours detailing it for him. I was late high school /early college age and it seemed impossible to imagine I'd own a 911 someday. Kept me focused. Still haven't been able to snag a 930, but maybe a 491 sometime. We'll see....
A friends dad asked me to store his SC in my garage for a while, I was heavily into Datsun 240z's at the time.
As "payment" he let me take it for a long drive, by the time I got back I understood two things.
1. NO amount of work on my 240z would ever make it into the car a 911 is, with the personality, quality and quirks that are so endearing
2. I had to get one even though I had no money.
One thing led to another and I got a semi-abandoned 911S for a really good price (actually a nice car that had been left parked on the street in the snow, hail and rain as the owner could not afford the insurance.
13 years of work, a whole lot of sweat equity, too much money and one Kremer 3.2 engine and I had this....all my own body work, paint, restoration....did everything myself except the engine rebuild.
Then being forced to sell it due to, shall we say, "unfortunate marital circumstances", I now am repeating the process again, this time much better, much more "stuff" and with better quality....
Yes, its a backdate...rust free '89 Carrera chassis out of Sacramento.....but that is another thread methinks...