BVF

I have not read through the whole thread but I feel compelled to chime in. OP, kudos to you for being able to communicate clearly with proper diction, syntax, and spelling. I have been on other forums and it seems that most people your age were cross-bred with a toaster oven. so very impressive. as far as the car you seem to be informed so whatever choice you make will be the right one for you. everyone will have an opinion but in the end it comes down to preferences. every car I have owned has been a temperamental frankenstein project, impractical but they gave me pleasure. get something that will make you happy, just be cognizant of the consequences

Auto_Werks 3.6

Of all the cars you mentioned a non turbo 964 gets my vote. You can pickup a decent one for sub 20K, the same can not be said about 930's.

race911

Just to clarify, I didn't "work with" them. What we had was EVERYONE who was ANYONE in Northern California participating in all the PCA events, speed or social. So you'd go out to an autocross or time trial and there would be Walt Mass a couple of years removed from his IMSA championship run. A few feet away would be Jerry Woods with the Garretson gang, just returned from LeMans with the 935. All it took was a little initiative to go over and say hi.

And one other guy I didn't mention, the guy who did my first heads for that rebuild, was someone fresh out of college with a machine shop in the South Bay. He did the engine work on the SCCA racer my boss used. Maybe the name Comptech rings a bell. Doug Peterson and his partner, Don Erb, went onto numerous IMSA wins, and even brought the Honda CART Indycar engine into the series.

magnusk9

17 year old with a Porche 930... every insurance company's worst nightmare!!

Moffman

Sorry I haven't been able to check up just read through the replies and would first of all like to thank you guys for the constructive and helpful answers, not just a ,"buy the 930 and go kill yourself."

I have decided to hold off the 930, and I am now looking at possibly an e30 or even a non turbo 930 (forget the production code) or 964 even though the 964s are still a bit high priced.

Once again thank you for the help and hopefully I'll be able to find the right car soon.

eric951turbo

get a 944 : ) 5K

UberXY

A $3k E30 would be an excellent choice. Fun to drive, bone simple to work on. I endurance raced them and I think they are great little cars.

I've had 7 Porsches, from a 64 356 to a 2006 Cayman. Of all those cars, the '76 930 was the worst car in the bunch. It was beautiful, 32k original miles, but what a big PITA. Even with 15 inch wide rear tires, the back end would go in a big way without warning. It had service records about 3 inches thick and I easily spent another $15k getting it sorted. All that and 9 mpg as well; I was filling up every 100 miles.

Andy Kay

Good idea passing on the 930. Pingman has an 86 and an 87 911 for sale. One coupe and one targa. About $12.5 and $13k. Lives in Atlanta. He owned one for 10 years. Then there a 928 for $5k down in FL. Do a search if you're interested.

jwasbury

Geeze man...based on this description, it sounds like you may have had the "binary throttle" option.

Moffman, the 930 is the only Porsche I've ever owned and I think its well worth the price of admission (...and maintenance...mods, upgrades, etc). However I would not recommend that anyone blow their entire wad on one. I'm sure many have done it, but there is a high likelihood that the dream will turn into nightmare if something blows up. Without the considerable resources needed to repair it properly, you could have an expensive paper weight on your hands.

If you have the 'itch' of "german sportscar disease" by all means scratch it...you only live once, but I'd go in with a good amount of cash on reserve when playing with these toys for maximum enjoyment.

Good luck

race911

Wow. Don't know what to say. Probably had 6-8 3.0 930s in the customer stable when I had my shop in the '80's, and can't say any of those cars were nasty. Even built my own off of a N/A chassis from leftover parts for a girlfriend about 20 years ago. After she tired of it, I used it as a track car for about a year. One of my best results was in the rain at Sears Point. I think 3rd or 4th overall out of maybe 60 cars that went for time. Then we had another rain time trial at Thunderhill. Throttle response was so poor, I was fully straight before boost came in. As long as you did everything in a straight line, all was well.

Amber Gramps

A friend of mine was the original owner of a '76 930 that he drove to work every day from 1976-+/-1992 when he was hit. His insurance paid him $80,000 for it. Couldn't have been too bad a car with that kind of payout. . . .(it looked similar to this one)

sobamaflyer

For lots of us cars are an emotional thing, they have little to do with practicality. An automotive internet forum is not where one turns for investment advice . IMHO there are those that are born well off, those that were patient and smart enough to make logical decisions and become well off and those that make toy-car dreams happen because they just can't help themselves. What you choose to do with the money you get ahold of is yours and yours alone. That said you seem to have taken the point that a Porsche of most any year or type is not going to be as cheap to care for and feed as a Honda, let alone a "blown" one . So, just go in with eyes open.

Frankly I'm surprised a turbo 911 predating the OP by at least 7-8 years is on the daily-driver aspiration list, but I'm glad to hear it! Seems most your age I encounter don't even know (or care) what a vintage 911 is.

If it were me.....and I had $20k something available for cars, I'd get a nice 911 SC or Carrera for $12-13k as my toy and spend the other $10k on a reliable daily driver (WRX, Civic, GTI, list could go on forever). You'd be miles ahead of those of us that started out our young lives with car payments and the insurance would be kinder do you. I've almost always had a toy car (read: doesn't matter that sometimes it doesn't run) and a DD and it's given me lots of fun.

Good luck, let us know what you do end up with

Moffman

I was actually looking at buying a 951 way before 911's, and I even found a few decent ones I wasn't particularly happy that it wasn't a RR layout but with the history and handling of it and the inexpensiveness it seemed like a good choice.

However I presented the idea to my dad and he has had 6 porsches his whole life, 4 928s, and 2 911s (996). He said no to the idea saying it was way to small and unsafe.

See my father is a car lover but not so much enthusiast, he doesn't know much about cars but he loves to drive them, thats why I'm kind of on my own when it comes to finding the right car.

The problem is though I need his approval on the car before going through with it because he's lending me the money until I hit 18 (its in a locked bank account with no access till I'm 18), and yes if your wondering he was fine with the 930 not knowing much about it even though I told him the truth about everything and how unsafe they can be.


Haha like I said I was made with some classic tastes when it comes to cars, I love muscle cars too like the 69' GTO or a 68' Firebird or even a '68 Camaro.

Yeah thats basically what I'm looking at either buying a decent 911 or E30 (Possibly M3 but out of my price range so far) and a decent DD. :]

sTyleR

I'd wager that there is NO WAY that a 930 is safer than a 951. Just none.

Having said that, I'm 17 also. I bought my first Porsche when I was 15, before I was even licensed to drive on my own. I've always been into specialty sports cars, but I knew very little about Porsche's before I pulled the trigger. Since then, I have learned a wealth of information about about these cars. They are fun, yet can hold many hidden secrets. A car that looks nice on the outside may very well be a mechanical project in need of thousands of dollars in work, especially if regular maintenance has been neglected or if the car has been sitting for an extended period of time (several years).

Would I do it again? Yes, well I have. But I knew what to look for the second time around, and that knowledge saved me many headaches and $$$$'s from the get-go. Having said that, I'm glad I learned that early on at my age with a lowly 924S rather than later on with a pricier toy.

Come to think of it, I learned a lot of aspects about driving in general, in my 924S. A proper technique of shifting being one of them, as well as how to handle and drive without any electronic assistance. I learned a great deal about control from this perspective, but the car's capabilities or road conditions must always be taken into consideration and held with a high respect.

When looking at a Porsche, or any German car for that matter, it's best to know what mechanical aspects to look for and check maintenance records to see when and what was completed. Research the model of car you are looking at before purchasing. Be it Porsche or not, ask around on an applicable forum so that you know what to look for mechanically before hand.

Lastly I'll say: there's no such thing as a cheap Porsche, regardless of the model. Often, money is better spent when you pay more for a nice, well maintained example than if you were to cut corners and save money on the purchase of a less expensive car that needs work. As previously stated, the purchase price is simply the cost of admission. But if you have the funds to take care of everything and won't go on neglecting needed services, than you'll likely find owning a finely built sports car to be very rewarding when you hit the road.

If I had 23k to solely spend on a car, I'd pass on the 930 Turbo solely based on the financial burden of finding a nice car with no issues for that price. Even if you did, you're still only looking at the price of admission. You could buy a nice 2000-2003 Boxster S for that money, or a early 996 Carrera, but I'm under the impression that you'd prefer a less refined, older, more raw car. Given that, a 944 Turbo would be a nice pick. There are some very nice, well sorted cars to be had at less than half of that 23k. In fact, I'd look around and try to cut a deal on a nice 1988/89 Turbo S car. They are essentially the greatest of the 944's, if you like the boosted stuff. They had the latest body, interior, suspension, breaks, and an upgraded turbocharger. Plus with a perfect 50/50 weight distribution you'll soon find that they'll cut up the corners like nothing else.

Whatever you end up getting, just take it easy and be safe out there. Great power and performance commands great respect.

Tango635

WOW, i get goosebumps just thinking about the 935s at Lemans and then to have Jerry Woods right there!?!? Very, Very cool!