Dan in Pasadena

I thought about this while responding to comments from you guys on my "found 911" thread.

I'm older than you guys but I imagine we're very similiar. I really would like a 66-72 911S. They were the hottest things while I was in junior high and high school. Probably like 944 & 951's were when most of YOU were the same age.

When I was that age my mom's boss, this "old man" probably mid 40's like I am now!...drove a 356A every day to work. It was in perfect condition, not restored, hell it was probably only ten years old! In his tidy suit everyday he parked it carefully and it was never dirty. I remember thinking, "...someday when I'm older I'm going to have a really clean perfect old Porsche like that one". Well, I got all hot about Porsches after I got out of college in '77. But I gave up on the idea when I got married and had two kids by the time I was 26! I never thought about it again until my '44 fell in my lap after my divorce last year.

So I thought, "screw it if this old Porsche is impractical and not for men 'my age' it's clean, I need an inexpensive car and I'm buying it". I haven't regretted it since. I'm having fun playing with it.

Now, the other day this '86 911 -the same (almost)burnt orange color as that "old man's" 356 falls in my lap. I IMMEDIATELY flashed back to age 18 and that 356. In short, I WANT this car, this color. So that's it. Where did your love affair strt with Porsche? Can you really remember the seed it grew from?

Tabor

I drove my friend's 1981 924. I fell in love with the steering feel. 6 months later I had a 944.

Dan in Pasadena

How old are you Tabor? Hadn't you ever thought about or wanted a Porsche before driving one?

Tabor

I am 18 and, actually, no. At least not any more than any other car. I was actually looking for a 1992 Acura Integra GS-R when I was introduced to Porsche.

My main requirement was handlig. Depending on who you talk to, both of these cars handle great. I never actually got to drive a '92 GS-R because no one ever sells them (must be a nice car).

I think part of the reason I never lusted after Porsche before this is because prior to my 16th birthday, I never paid attention to cars. I only started paying attention to car after I started working on my 1984 Honda Accord.

Matt O.

When I climbed under the velvet ropes as a 7 year old to touch a 959 at the '86 Frankfurt Auto Show. Probably also because my dad had a '79 924 from when I was 4 'til about 9.

-Matt

Renntag

I am a road racer at heart. I started off with old V8 mustangs. In the process of building a mustang for SCCA competition...I drove a '72 911S, Weber carbs, good rubber Relatively stock.
Needless to say I was impressed and sold. I haulted the process on my Mustang, sold it and began the search for a Porsche.

During my search I drove a few 944s. Being more affordable and evenly balanced, I chose the 944.

These are great cars.

I plan to eventually own a '72 911s (aka the oil door freak) and a highly modded 914.

Thaddeus

The first time I wanted a Porsche was when I came across a 928 in 1978 or 79... I was thunderstruck. 16 years old and just got my license, my idea of performance and style was a 68 Stang. Then I saw that brand-new shark and thought: someday I'll get the GOOD stuff... remember, too, how radical the styling was at that time..

So OK, I got a 951 instead. But you know...

Thaddeus

Renntag

[quote]Originally posted by Dan in Pasadena:
<strong>How old are you Tabor? Hadn't you ever thought about or wanted a Porsche before driving one?</strong><hr></blockquote>


OK, as a V8 muscle enthusiast in high school, there were a few Porsches I would see on the road and they never wanted to play. I thought they were snobs. I had NO INTEREST in Porsche until I drove one and felt how responsive it was stock. A couple guys in the club I belonged to had track prepared Mustangs, camaros, corvettes. They all handled great, but were highly modded. For the money I was going to have tied up in my car after mods, I could own a Porsche. I made the switch.

I am on Porsche #4 and lovin every minute.

Dano_944

Dan to Dan: I'm 42 years young (never grow 'old!'). I saw my first Porsche as a 10-year old kid. My friend's dad had the classic 1968 911 Targa in Canary Yellow. I rode in it once (the dad was a total picky-owner who didn't want kids in his car). What a thrill! From that day forward I wanted a Porsche. When I turned 17, I bought my first car.... a '68 type I VW. It was the closest I could get to 'that German sportscar' I wanted.
I dreamed of Porsche ownership for years without realizing the dream.

After being in business for myself and making real money, I was able to afford my first Porsche... on my 40th birthday! My friends claimed Mid-life Crisis purchase. I said it was a Mid-Life Celebration purchase! I was single, 40, owned my own business, and buying a Porsche! I shopped for 911's for years and realized, with great dissapointment, that I didn't fit (6' 4" tall, 200 lbs.) inside a 911 comfortably. A friend recommended the 944's. The cost was right, the fit was great, and the performance and handling were, in my opinion, better overall than any of the squirelly 911's.

After 2+ years I am a dye-hard 944 fan. Dreams come true with patience! I'll mortgage my organs before I sell the 944!

Renntag

[quote]Originally posted by Thaddeus:
<strong>The first time I wanted a Porsche was when I came across a 928 in 1978 or 79... I was thunderstruck. 16 years old and just got my license, my idea of performance and style was a 68 Stang. Then I saw that brand-new shark and thought: someday I'll get the GOOD stuff... remember, too, how radical the styling was at that time..

So OK, I got a 951 instead. But you know...

Thaddeus</strong><hr></blockquote>

I dont really like the 928. Its like the Caddi in GMs corral. Nice, cushy, fast, but no corvette.

The 928 doesnt hold a flame to the 951 in my book.
But everyone knows opinions are like bungholes... <img src="graemlins/roflmao.gif" border="0" alt="[hiha]" />

Hmmmm...a mustang Thad? The '69 was my favorite.
But alas, only so many toys can be had at once.

John Welch

Being a small guy, I was attracted to the way Porsche would win races with a smaller more agile car. I also loved the looks of all of the models. In '86, I had a good enough job were I could afford the payments on a 944. It wasn't a 911, but there was something about these cars. Now I have a bit of a 'problem'. I have three cars, and still occasionally browse the classifieds. YIKES!

944Fest (aka Dan P)

Aye, My father had a 911 since I was a youngster, I always knew it was something special. Once I got through my rebellious "muscle car" stage, A well timed raise at work and an agreeable wife made me a Porsche owner. Here's an old shot of the 911, now being transformed to a supercharged 3.6..(yikes!)

Wachuko

Dan, you pose and interesting question. I too share your wish of having a pristine 1970-1973 911S. To me that is the best looking 911 ever made.

I have always liked sports cars. In my teen years we would race anything that had wheels on it down in the ¼ mile strip (a piece of public road not much used after midnight on Wednesdays). But thinking back, there were no Porsche cars, it was all dodge colts, rx1/2/3/7, rabbits(boy where those car fast!!), 240 and 280 Datsun, Toyotas. It was mostly four cylinder and rotary engined cars…

But where did my lust for a Porsche came from??? Hummm?? I really had to give it some thought.

Some background… I come from a poor-mid class family where nobody had a sports car or an expensive fast car for that matter. My father owned a hardware store and I would work on the John Deer and some of the Ford 350 (that is where I got my first exposure to the mechanics of a car or truck). I have always like to take stuff apart and, sometimes, put them back successfully. I would do a lot of Testor’s model cars. That exposed me to a lot of the model sports car of the era. The funny part is that I never had a good sense of the size of these cars… to me, a Lamborghini was huge inside (remember, I had never seen one) with lots of amenities. Heck, when the first promo for the Fiero came out I thought it was an impressive car. During High School and college I got a better feel for the size and real characteristics of these cars. And it was in college that I saw up close the first 951, 911, a few Ferrari 308, a Jalpa.

After reading, and reading, and reading for many years I decided I wanted a Porsche. I wanted a 911 simply because it was the best sport car in the world that could be driven everyday. But I had never been in one nor driven one until I was 26. At that point I was looking to buy a car, after I started working and gotten married, a Porsche was the first thing on my mind. I went to the local Porsche dealer and started looking at a 968. It was too much money at the time… ended up with a Civic Si. But the bug was there. A year later I went back to the dealer and test-drove an old 911 (1982??) that was in very poor condition. That was a huge disappointment. It was hard, shifts were difficult, and taking an exit turn was like a roller coaster(and I do not mean that it felt like it was on rails). Awful. I guess the dealer saw the look on my face when I got back. He immediately gave me the keys to a 1995 993 he had in the lot to take it for a test drive. That ride was a complete hook, that was, what I thought, what a Porsche should have felt like. But no way could I afford to buy it. Since then I put aside the idea of owning a Porsche and every time I would get a promotion or a good bonus I would change the car (about every 8-10 months) for a sport car of some sort. Civic Si-&gt;300Z-TT-&gt;BMW328, etc. Talk about throwing away money. I wish I would have stuck to the Civic Si, kept the money invested, and then….. but you know, nobody learns by some else’s mistakes… anyway… I ended up buying my first Porsche, a brand new MY1997 993 C2S.

Now I am just simply in love with the lines of these cars. I still look in autotrader.com for a 1970-1973 911S, but I know my wife would kill me before I bring another car to the house. I have placed the 951 twice for sale and always end up taking it out because I just can’t depart from the car. Heck, I just spend a few $$ on a new Turbo (and the one the car has is in top shape), exhaust, A arms, etc... Weird?? I do not think so, you guys here understand. My wife calls it a sickness… but prefers to see me working in the car than out with the friends on a Friday night.

Long, but if we can't share stuff like this here, were can we do it???

Now I cannot imagine not having a Porsche (any model)... ...but some day I will get around to convincing my wife on a third Porsche (that sweet 1970s 911S)

AndyK

For me, Risky Business (1983) started the Porsche-lust. Even though it was a silver 928 in that movie, that car impressed the hell out of me! I soon learned that the 944 was born, and was almost affordable--until I actually saw how much they were!

In 1987, when I was shopping for my first new car (Integra), I stopped into a Porsche dealer and sat in a brand new '87 944--red/black leather. I can still remember the leathery smell, and the way the door closed like a vault! I didn't have the $30k for the 944, so I bought the Integra, brand new, for $12k....swearing that some day....the 944 would be mine.

So, it only took 15 years!

Vrooom!

elf89

I'm 35. When I was in High School, the 944 came out and was priced in the 20,000s. I loved the 911 and 930, but the 944 looked great too and had a price I could see myself affording some day. This fall I found a good one and picked it up...for considerably less than 20k.

It was funny, because when I went to my folks house for Christmas, my family stayed in my old bedroom. When I opened the closet door, I found an old picture of a 944 I had taped up almost 20 years ago. Same color (red) as the one I bought.

I thought that was pretty cool. Now if spring would just get here so I can start driving it and see if it was worth the wait!