944Fest (aka Dan P)

Sunday was a great day up here in on the North coast, the sun was shining not a cloud in the sky. PCA was hosting an all-german car show 15 minutes from my house. This is my fav show of the year because it seems there isn't a bad car in the bunch.. BMW, Porsche, Audi, Merc, VW. I like them all. I don't get to drive my 340 hp 951 much, but today would be one of the good days. I washed her up and headed out for the show. The freeway along the way has just been repaved and was smooth as glass, and it seemed all the traffic must have been at church. (oddly enough, I too was in my little house of rapid worship) I wound it up, grinning ear to ear. The off-ramp (I-480 to 252 S) is a great right/left sweeper free of traffic. Yee-haw! 2 minutes later I was pulling up to the registration tent for the show. As I filled out the registration form, I noticed I was having a little problem writing legibly. My hand had a slight quiver..yes, the adrenalin was still surging thru my veins. What a rush!

Gawd I love that car!!

toddk911

AWESOME!!

I know that feeling and the hand still shaking when you get out after some good open road runs!!

B951S

Dan
I love your collection of cars! Yes, I too love the 951, and the Cooper S, very nice, and a 67 Charger.....Wow.
Talk about a 'broad' cross section of kick *** cars.

Gator_86_951

Dan. I know you aren't going to believe this....but my car is still not on the street :-(. The 3 hurricanes we have had and actually having to start the semester has prevented me from going back to Tallahassee to pick it up and bring it back to Gainesville. It is running. Very well I might add :-). I will need to have it aligned after replacing all the suspension stuff, but I too will soon be doing the same.....all the way back from Tallahassee to Gainesville. I plan to drive back on US-27 instead of the interstate. It is like 120 miles of completely flat and smooth Florida pavement in the middle of nothingtown.

944Fest (aka Dan P)

B951S, Thanks for the kudos. I've been gathering for 15 years and have worked hard for my collection. I don't like to brag on them, so here is a rarely posted pic of the stable. I feel very fortunate, and like to give back a bit..thus the 944fest. They all are a lot of fun, but I'm sure you know which one is the MOST fun!
Gator, I'm sure you will have fun breaking it in on the way back home! Make sure to find a good concrete bunker to park it in (on high ground) next time one of those tsunamis checks in. You are very lucky to have friends who let you drive theirs so you don't forget the feeling!

M@rk951

Very nice cars.... your story made me remember some good times i had for sure lol its even better when u get your knees shaking.... o man! lol
=Mark

Judson951

Charger looks very clean, have any more pics of it?

944Fest (aka Dan P)

Thanks for asking, since I was out in the garage wrenching on her, I'm in the mood to talk about it. Sorry in advance for the blather..we go way back. I knew this car from when I was 15, I'd see it daily as I rode the bus to high school.. it left an imprint. 10 years later I saw it in a shop for sale..the timing was right and was hooked.. 440, dual quads, lotsa chrome underhood, fold down back seats, etc.. I bought it ($5k..peak of the muscle car craze) and a couple of months later threw a rod. I had the bottom rebuilt but I couldn't keep the 2x4s in tune so I put a 6 pack in there. It is fairly solid and quite rare. She left the factory with a 440 auto, A/C, power windows, brakes and steering. The white top is part of a "White Hat Special" package, I've only ever seen one other. Those are 16/10 295s up under the rear, man if I could only get that much rubber under the 951!! I've had this car for 15 years now, I pick up a part here and there, but drive it very rarely. Attendees at 944Fest 02 and 03 were treated to smoky burnouts from her, but the 03 show toasted the tranny. Next weekend I'm taking it to a show in Norwalk OH, her first outing in a few years. I feel more like a caretaker than an active participant like the pcar. It really is like driving a BOAT down the highway.. it roars and runs in a straight line but really gets loose while braking or turning. My 14 sec 1/4 mile at 105mph scared the crap out of me, these cars are NOT stable at 100+ like the 951. (It was starving for fuel and coasted thru the traps). Since it is paid for, cheap to insure, and easy to work on, I can't imagine letting go of this dinosaur any time soon. I'd like to think when I retire in 15 years I'll throw it on a jig and do a full resto. There isn't much of a following for the early chargers, but she's mine and I do what i can for her. FWIW< the dash lights have no bulbs..they are electro luminescent..they run on AC voltage thru a transformer!! Behind the fold down rear buckets the package area folds down into the trunk, leaving a HUGE flat area from the back of the driver's seat to the taillights.. perfect for some pillows and a blanket for the drive-in!! Thanks for letting me tell the tale, there sure aren't any Charger boards anything like rennlist!!

Edit: Oh yea.. that rear wing is a mustang piece. The PO put it on. I've gotten a replacement trunk lid but haven't gotten it painted yet. When i bought it it also had a shaker hood--- BONDO'D on top of the hood. I had to get rid of that ASAP..the wing I'm kind of OK with. Also, that under hood pic is a couple of years old.. I'm gradually cleaning it up.

porshhhh951

wow. Very very cool.

Judson951

Thats one sweet car let me know when you want to let it go.

Maciek

Dan,
No pictures of the Odyssey? Just kidding. I also really love your cars. I have a S2 with a 951 powerplant and I convinced my sister to get a Cooper S. She thought a regular Cooper would do but I taught her otherwise. Now if I could just convice her to get the John Cooper works package for it, we would be in business. Again, beautiful cars!

944Fest (aka Dan P)

Thanks much, guys.. I did the price per HP math on the Cooper Works kit, and it was just too much. The car is fun as it sits and it really isn't going to dust anything because of that extra 30hp. Don't get me wrong, I'd LOVE to have it, but 5K is a lot of change.

I formally apologize for starting a thread about Porsche adrenalin and thread-jacking it to talking about Mopars and Minis!

Dilberto

WOW...what a quiver! I commend your diverse choice of fine cars...