RajDatta

GD, nice write up. I know the Z is very heavy compared to our cars. Did the additional hp masks its weight or was that something you could easily feel?
Regards.
Raj

RajDatta

Grant, it is indeed a beautiful machine.
Raj

H2OJazz

I drove an 88 944 for a number of years and finally convinced my wife to let me upgrade. Had a limited budget of around $12-16K so I looked into older 911's and Boxsters. The more I looked the more a 968 seemed attractive: as fast or faster than any others I could afford, absolutely beautiful lines, rare enough to be cool, and for a high performance car, very dependable if chosen wisely. I ended flying to KY to drive mine back and have been thrilled with it ever since, at DE's, on the street, whatever.

I can't believe folks aren't clamoring for these and the latest Excellence values dropped. So it goes.

StewHatch

I wasn't looking for a 968; I was in the market for a 951 and was looking around when my wife (!!) found two 968 coupes on Autotrader and suggested I check them out. The first one was a bust but the second one was a gem. I rented a car at the airport and drove to NH from PA to check it out and run it to a Porsche tech in Manchester for a PPI. Passed with flying colors - handed buddy a cheque, dropped the rental at the airport and brought my new car home. Wifey is definitely a keeper. I never considered the 968 but was sold on the car after driving it. Even w/o the turbo, it has so much more "legs" and exhibits a lot more tractability. Is there a better car out there for the same buck? The car is 15 years old now and still amazes me with it's degree of engineering.

FRporscheman

It's good to see a lot of people owned 944s prior to 968s. I feel this really lets one appreciate every last improvement the 968 saw.

Raj, you didn't say what color your 2nd 968 was (the m030 one). Was it that yellow coupe? It would have been hard for me to choose between a yellow m030 coupe and a white turbo S replica. They're pretty much my two top choices. Shoot, I can't think of anything I'd prefer... except maybe both.

Since my mom doesn't post here but she owns a 968, I'll give her story. She drove the '84 944 for about 10 years and loved the thing. It started to get beat up and run-down so we started looking for a replacement. She said it had to be a 944 or a mercedes SL (gee, I wonder who I got my tastes from...) so we looked for 2 months and found nothing she liked. I found a blue 968 that looked really girly and had insane mileage. I never thought she'd even look twice, but the instant I showed her the ad, she knew it was the one. I checked it out and it was solid, so we bought it. I'm trying to keep it up to snuff so she can really enjoy it, because I felt really bad the way she was dragging that broken 944 around... she deserved better.

It's funny - the first two owners were women, and now it again belongs to a woman. I want to meet more women that like 968s.

Lord_Galva

Wahh. I didn't get that chance. I was praying for the best 944/951 and I got a 968.
It did match everything I needed at the time.
Now I want 4 of them.

Racing turbo 968
Racing N/a 968
DD 968 built to CS specs
968 Convertable

Ouch! Thats about 120k in 968's.

FRporscheman

Dude you're HELLA crazy.

Racing: 911SC with 993 engine
DD: 944
weekend: 356C cabriolet or settle on a karmann ghia cabriolet

The 968 has a perfect driving position and the giant trunk is super useful. But by the above plan I don't know why I have a 968. I just like 'em.

RajDatta

Arash, my 1st M030 was Adventurine Green.
I bought the SY coupe probably 3 yrs after I sold the Adventurine Green. The AG car was sold to buy the turbo.
Raj

RajDatta

There are quite a few female 968 owners. My cab was owned by a woman before me as well.
If you could make it to Hershey and if we have a good turn up, you can expect to see atleast a few woman.
Raj

Stephenwz968

I had a white 1988 944 that I had done quite a bit of work to, and when I brought it to the dealer I bought it from for a clutch job, they offered me a deal on a 1994 Adventurine Gree 968 cab since they had someone looking for a 944 like me to make a track car. We made a deal, and after that cab, a black cab, and my red coupe...I finally have the bananna. I've always loved 968's for their handling and lines, and just can't seem to get away from them!

Steve

luckett

...

luckett

The 300ZX and 3000GT are not all around better performers than a 968. Both of them have crappy brakes and are overweight. A 968 will spank them on a track.

The M3 is a EQUAL performer and typically not a better value.

luckett

I'm really a 911 guy at heart, but wanted a bit more utility and cargo space. It was between a 964 C2, 951 or 968. After subscribing to the 951 email list and hearing all the issues with them, I turned and ran! I needed something reliable since I was going back to grad school and the 968 was newer, cheaper and had more storage space than the 964. It's made the transition over 7 years from a DD to a track car and soon to be race car. It hasn't yet given me a reason to get rid of it! I guess that's the mark of a great car. Although, I still regret not buying a 964...

Jim Child

That's definitely true. I probably wouldn't be racing a 968 today if it wasn't for my wife. Before the 968, my sports car of choice was the Mazda RX7. I had three of them over the years, one of each generation. My wife was also into sports cars, and she had always wanted a red 944. In 1996 she found a red 1992 968, and immediately declared it the car of her dreams that she absolutely had to have. At the time I was driving my 1993 Twin Turbo RX7 as a daily driver and an occasional track car. I didn't think we needed two sports cars in the family, but she won the argument and we got it.

In 1997 and 1998 I started doing more track events. When it was working the RX7 was a fantastic track car, but its reliability left a lot to be desired. One time I was signed up for a track event, but the RX7 was having a problem getting its 2nd turbo to engage. Not being able to get it fixed in time I took the 968 instead. I was surprised to find it every bit as fun to drive as the RX7, and able to turn roughly the same lap times. Over the next couple of years I used the 968 on the track as often as the RX7 eventually coming to prefer the 968 due to its superior reliability, and higher overall build quality.

In 1999 my wife got tired of me taking her 968 to the track and told me to get my own. So I did. I looked around for a M030 car for a couple of months, and got very lucky when a local PCA member decided to sell his black 1994 M030 968. M030 cars were in high demand at that time, and fortunately I was the first to see his advertisement for the car. We were shaking hands on a tentative deal only moments after he put it up for sale.

I've been tracking that car ever since, driving it to DE's all the way up until 2003. There aren’t too many cars that can carry 4 extra tires, a jack, tools, and various other gear, then unload and kick butt on the track all weekend. In 2003 I started racing and only then decided it was time to start trailering the car. Its been a full blown race car since then, consistently running at the front of PCA F class and NASA GTS2 with another season coming up in 2008.

luckett

That's one of the huge advantages of using these cars as track cars.