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The original owner, John Searle, a Philosophy professor at Berkeley, said he had the car shipped by air to SF in '84, there a dealer in the area of the university prepped the car, that's all he remembers, he did say it has never been in an accident.
Thanks for your comments re: your own White/White FUCHS 944.
Do you know how long he had it in Europe ? The paperwork for my 911 - 900 code car shows it was built as an early '88 in August of '87, then sat at the factory for a bit awaiting his arrival. He apparently was there touring around for awhile ( about a year ? ) as the next documentation shows it getting prepped in San Francisco at his home dealership. The book has stamps from the German Auto dealer and then the Northern CA dealer.......
Today I am making final preparations of the Alpine White with Grand Prix White FUCHS for it's entry into our local German auto show called Auto Lieben.
I am also cautiously checking the weather forecasts, as predictions are for possible thunderstorms from Friday thru Tuesday of next week. Sunday is the show ......... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
If I only wasn't so stubborn about driving a Porsche to an event instead of trailering it, this problem wouldn't concern me.
Off to continue the cleaning of wheel wells, engine bay, and applying the final dressing of LEXOL Vinylex to the dash and door cards. Just hope it all comes off without fear of hail ruining the event.
It was a long day today, and I have a ton of details to address tomorrow.
I am NOT a part of the Q-Tip crowd altho I do appreciate clean Porsches. I much rather be driving them at full wide open throttle or dicing up and around curving mountain road passes. My legs hurt, my back hurts, my fingers hurt from detailing around small areas. I cannot imagine doing this with the zeal that true show aficionados have for their cars. I MAYBE get carried away with just one car per year at this level, and since this one is new to the stable and has me cranked a bit, it deserves to be finessed into a show queen for the day.
Wish I could show some pics of the progress, but it just didn't happen. Completely forgot about getting the photos shot after about 12 hours of diligence with cloths, wax, and vacuuming. ( but I will have some from the event in about 3 days ! )
Excellent thread. Thanks for sharing! I so enjoyed reading through this, as well as CTK's garage find thread, that I think I will attempt a similar documenting of my newly acquired 30,900km Canadian 924S. While my car is not as clean or unblemished as your car or the CTR's 3614 mile 944, it is pretty cool in it's own right, and should make for in interesting "documenting" thread. That is an amazing car you've got there!
If you notice, I did not have opportunity to post photos of the event I planned to attend. The reason was a dramatic one.
The week I was to go, my father was hit by an oncoming Toyota 4 Runner on a two lane highway about 15 miles from his home. As he was going to get gas for his yard tractor and lawn mower. The guy who came across into his lane at the very last instant was making an attempt to cut a 'diagonal' corner in Dad's opposing lane and took the entire front of my father's car off at the windshield. Air bags saved him, but he still got bruised, bloodied, and shaken. He was able to brake about 2 feet before impact at 40 mph.
Needless to say, his body and his car needed attending to, and the show for me got put on hold. I can post photos of the accident but have some reservation. They are horrific and a bit hard for me to deal with.
Legally it's still being sorted; the car my Mother picked out and they bought together about 8 months before she died of cancer, is now history. Thankfully I still have my Dad and he is mulling the legal advice of his attorney on what steps to take next......
Sorry for the bad news, but pictures of the white 944 in it's splendor will come at the next point of a Porsche showing; a definite time and place where Porsches will be on the lawn and appreciated by those of good character.
I spent the day today getting the car ready for winter storage.
Also made some headway on tracing down the roots of the car's history on the first owner. He has been a difficult person to locate and I got a lead on where he may be living today. After I make a few phone calls tomorrow, I will relate the story as it unfolds.
All the small replacement items I ordered from Porsche came in to the dealership and were either delivered by express or picked up by me.
I am somewhat amazed at what Porsche still has in stock by way of rubber grommets, replacement plugs, little decals ( not for this car, but on another I am preserving ) and what ISN'T available. Things which make a person go "huh"?
Tomorrow I drop the oil and oil filter and replace with new, before I pull the battery, air up the tires, and give a final wipe down before the car cover goes on in the garage.
Thanks folks for following this story and supplying encouragement by private email or messages on this forum page, phone calls, and posts on my f/b page. If anyone comes across another of these "I" coded, Sport Equipment Package 944s with the Sport Touring Group which includes Sport Seats, Sport Steering wheel, and Sport Suspension, please add your photos and story to the lore.
There could not have been many of these made back in the day and fewer less that have survived to our current time frame 30 years on......
this is what it looked like after the accident that could have taken him from us. Horrific to say the least.
Impact zone at bottom. Head on with the FourRunner coming from a point on left on the horizon, attempt made to avert at the final second by steering toward the gravel road where the transaxle fluid stains are, all while Dad was in a direct path heading south towards that grain elevator. The guy who struck him didn't see him and had just entered the highway from the liquor store in the distant.
Tore the front wheel drive engine from the chassis, broke the transmission and pushed the right front wheel back some distance while transferring the impact into the frame rails down and into the bottom of the floor pan. Twisted the 4 Runner into a pretzel as Dad's car impacted the side and tore into the rear wheel structure/ axle, breaking the Toyota's rear suspension, transfer case, rear axle, and rear half of the transmission off the back of the bellhousing. Both were pulled from the scene and Dad went home with the State Trooper, then up to the Hospital to get checked over. Trooper and a State worker were witnesses to the accident as they stood to the rear and right of the scene as pictured, so within a couple of minutes they were pulling Dad out from the air bags.....
I am SURE thankful for airbags; VERY grateful he is with us yet today. Bloodied and bruised, but alive
And today, 4 months later during this Thanksgiving weekend, family is indeed grateful Dad is alive.
The car is scheduled to be rebuilt, drivetrain is coming out, and the chassis is getting pulled on a frame rack; parts are ordered. They will pull it straight, cut off all twisted and deformed steel, replace with new, replace drivetrain, then hang sheet metal and paint...... a long process ahead.
One of the most trusted shops in a 4 state area is doing the work, so I know the outcome will be good.
MGJ, wouldn't the car have been totaled? Interested why you're going to the trouble to rebuild it. Glad your dad is good.
Yes, the car was totaled.
Dad wishes to keep it for sentimental reasons as it was the car my mom picked out for Dad, together, as she knew it was terminal for her. It was in a color she liked.
It was an inexpensive Chrysler ..... around 21,000 new. Dad will be paying at least 10 more for the rebuild, or about 1/2 what it cost new in 2000. He couldn't see it parted or thrown away when it was their last purchase together before she passed. It's a 4,000 dollar car with no legacy or merit other than sentiment. Granted it has extremely low miles on it and was in perfect condition when it got wiped out, but this is his decision and my brother and I will allow him that wish to be honored. It isn't a frugal decision, nor is it most likely the decision one would make if one wanted a perfect 16 year old vintage car worth little to nothing. It is a decision made out of love for his wife and my Mom; one made because he cherished the life they had together for nearly 50 years..... I cannot explain it any other way than this.
Thanks for your kind words...... I am pretty sure you understand this very thing; hence your own involvement with your 944 you bought. It isn't perhaps the 'same thing' but it involves those same feelings one has towards an inanimate object which contain memories or stimuli which trigger emotions one has towards a time. A vehicle. A connection to only that which the heart fully has knowledge of. Emotion. Perhaps a supernatural connection to a love who has left us.
That alone makes one do things which don't have any conceivable reason for a correct decision.
Well put MGJ. I remembered why it meant so much to your Dad and the rest of the family. Mere objects which bring us joy thru remembrance of a passed loved one are priceless and simply can't be replaced. I have inherited firearms and many tools in my 65 years. Using one or simply seeing one of them brings back memories of my long gone Grandfathers, Uncles and WW2 generation friends. Those same things in the hand of a stranger are nothing more than tools, to me with each use they reconnect me to a past of better times and better men than me.
07-25-2016, 02:23 PM
