odurandina

just a feeling i get about the cars. that there may be fewer of a rather rare breed of owner...


nothing against the guys who post... it's just a feeling i get.

CorsePerVita

Huh? Who or what is OD? (Sorry new to this forum somewhat)

odurandina

sorry, that's just a nickname i sort of got at P & C. (politics & controversy) a forum that is added when you become a member of Rennlist...

click refresh and read post 1 again.... this post (3) will self-destruct by morning.

CorsePerVita

Firsties on this thread.

drift a 944

so, a prediction that there may be fewer owners?

I am a single owner of ~6 944's, what does that make me? LOL

odurandina

core. that's seriously great.


















would also love to see more young guys and gals discover the cars, save parts and keep it the line going.

CorsePerVita

I'm young but I feel like an old fart, does that count?

JohnKoaWood

Problem being, SOME of the younger crowd buys the car because it is a cheap Porsche, gets dazled by the cheap porsche mentality.. then gets blown away by repair costs when the clutch self detonates, or they blow a head gasket, or any other type of "routine" repairs that crop up..

There are a few of us out here in TV land who put forth the effort and cubic dollars to elevate them from whence they came to us...

Both my cars are cared for like children, and while they have never left me standing on the side of the road (except when the clutch blew up in my N/A 2 years ago) they have not been as inexpensive to own as many other cars could be..

Ownership of a 25YO sports car is more of a labor of love than anything else.. and too few people have the love, however I constantly run into people with 944 stories, and they are fond memories.. with a few who would like to rejoin the fold, but get scared by inexpensive cars that need a ton of work, or expensive sorted cars that might be hiding something!

FWIW, I use my cars for daily driver duty, and have driven both of them on long distance drives (my N/A has carried me to Detroit, Charleston SC, and even the Fest this year!) and my Turbo is in the middle of full retooling (motor, turbo, EMS, suspension, brakes, paint and body..) when it is finished it will be a 99% new car, and all mine...

pontifex4

I'm just back from a PCA DE weekend where I met four new (or fairly new) 944 owners, all of them intent on learning to drive. Two were middle-aged guys and two were girls in their early twenties.

Getting covered in grease while you work on something major is one thing (and I'm doing my best to get there, mechanically) but I mention this because I was happy to see new enthusiasm for the car in a place where it is very likely to grow.

CorsePerVita

I thought that this discussion was about that, I didn't want to speculate till I saw a few other comments. Me and a friend always had an inside joke about the 944. "All the nice 944s are in hiding from the teenagers and young people who don't have the money to spend on them, or the will to learn how to work on them. They are either taken care of and you just hardly ever see them... or you see them driving around town with no care till the timing belt snaps and the next time you see it is on craigslist 'needs a timing belt and head work'..... poor cars.."

I don't see them often around here. And sadly, a lot of them ended up that way, and either trashed and crushed, or sent to the yard for parts.

I have only seen 2 or 3 other 944s in town. Cosmetically their paint job is way better, never got to meet them to see under the hood, but it is refreshing to see them every now and then to know I'm not the only one around here who loves my love hate relationship with my 924/944 cars.

I tend to agree on the 928 section, the car will survive for a long time, mostly due to it's numbers. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll appreciate in value so people will want to buy them not because they are a "cheap-Porsche-only-to-realize-they-actually-aren't" lol.

It makes me happy though when i see a young owner full of enthusiasm who understands them, works on them hard, and shares the passion for the cars. You know they're going to be a Porsche addict and only work their way up to more awesome cars and more knowledgeable base standards of turning a wrench.

Anyway...

dykaar

If you wanna see where we'll be in another 10-15 years, just cruise the 914 forums...

Regards,

doug
Waterloo, Ontario Canada, eh


86 951 (http://www.pcaucr.org/index.php/visu...egory&catid=61)
01 E320 (W210) 4matic Wagon (http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w210...body-do-2.html)
00 540i-6 (http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...3&d=1283457963)
94 855 turbo Wagon (sold in 09)
85 535i-5 (sold in 07)
76 300D (sold in 92)
83 944 (sold in 86)
I apparently only buy cars designated by numbers

gerhard951

i purchased my first 944 wheni was 24 and quickly realized what a great car it is but a labor of love for sure....now 19 years later i own two...and when they are both running there is nothing like driving a 25 year old car every day....my son has an 88 and I have a 87 951 that i have steadily improved over past ten years to the point now where i'd lose serious cash if i sold it...but it is for sale due to purchase of a 996 turbo with x50...all of a sudden...I am too old for the 951.....I see nothing but kids driving them....might keep it for a track car since it is soooo sorted out now....plus i just put a turbo cup turbo in it!!

MichaelK

I worry that OD is right here but not necessarily for the reasons given.

There has been a fundamental change in our relationship to "stuff" in recent years. "Shop Class as Soulcraft" by Matthew Crawford observes that under the hood of modern cars is a bunch of plastic engine covers that divorce the driver/owner from the actual functioning of the car. The trend has gotten so bad that some cars no longer even have a dipstick, they instead rely on an indicator light on the dashboard to notify the driver of oil level issues. By replacing something as simple as a dipstick with an electronics based warning system (they aren't mutually exclusive) people are being discouraged from having any kind of connection to the maintenance and function of their cars. Because most cars the younger people are exposed to are so difficult to maintain themselves they never get their foot in the door so to speak and fail to hone any mechanical aptitude they may have.

Furthermore, mechanical repairs of other machines we use on a daily basis are no longer possible as the replacement cost of a device such as a blender or toaster often exceeds the purchase price of the necessary parts (if you can even find them) As a result they develop an ethos of "It isn't working, I will just replace it". It is so bad that the Apple Ipod is the most popular MP3 player on the market despite having no way to replace the battery which has an expected lifetime of around 18 months. Can you imagine a car with nonreplaceable brake pads or airfilter??? Because things are no longer reparable it is very difficult to learn the basic experimentation necessary for effective problem solving on cars and in life.

Unfortunately, I don't think that this trend will be reversing any time soon and that, more than anything else is why there will be fewer 944's out and about in the future.

Obviously this is not across the board as I am only 30 (not old right?) and I know of at least one other member on here that I met who was not old enough for me to bring them beer so all is not lost.

SirLapsalot

21 years old and purchased my first 944 a few months ago. Ive loved the 944 since I first started working on them as well as other older Porsche models and European makes three or four years ago. I had come to the conclusion that every 944 on craigslist in my area and in my price range was passed from neglecting owner to neglecting owner usually just slightly older than me. I figured I would have to wait until I had the money to buy one that had been owned by someone who had been taking care of it. Then one day a mechanically sound N/A came to the shop on a flatbed with a blown clutch. It sat in the back for two years because the owner had just had the timing belt done, head refinished, oil cooler seals, motor mounts, coolant lines and some other stuff done and didn't want to spend any more money on it. So I eventually called and got it for $1000. Put a clutch in that weekend and after a brake job, control arm and wheel bearings she is completely street ready. I love wrenching on this car so much and will own many many more 944's in my lifetime. I will keep the bloodline going for sure

Baptizo

I just turned 45 and picked up my first 951 after wanting one since they were new and I was in the service stationed in NJ back in the mid-to-late 80's.

I don't necessarily need it for a DD since I have a company vehicle but there are limits on when and where I can use it for personal use. After looking at several 944's, Jeeps (YJ's and TJ's), a turbo'ed LS1 Supra, and some other interesting cars I settled on an all original 951. I still plan to pick up a nicely sorted YJ or TJ for my other vehicle.

I've worked on my vehicles when it wasn't over my head - basic stuff, perhaps, and have helped others with more complicated stuff. I've also tinkered with motorcycles which are a joy to work on, tear apart, and modify - my last one being an '88 Honda Hawk GT. The lack of garage space will prevent me from working on my 951 if it needs anything before I move again in November but I'm looking forward to getting my hands dirty and learning what I can about it since I don't plan on selling it anytime soon.