I guess with a few exceptions maybe, a sports car has 2 doors and is not a coupe version of a sedan, like a 2 door M3/M4..not a sportscar. Most sports cars are 2 seaters. Yeah, most 911s have 4, but some 911 models have 2 and rear seat delete was an option on models past anyway. Sports cars can be convertible or hardtop, for me anyway. Targas count.

I grew up driving sporty Japanese cars and motorcycles mostly, with an 86 GTI thrown in. I first drove an S2000 in 2001, but it was in 2008 that my father and I went to an S2000 rally. I drove about 150 miles in the fast group in SE Ohio on fun curvy roads, most of the time between 6-9k rpm and as fast as I think I will ever be comfortable with on the street. I'll never forget that day. Riding superbikes is far more exciting I suppose for the danger factor, but I'll never be without a sportscar.

 

Got my 1st sports car when I was 17. A Datsun roadster 2000 5 speed. That thing was awesome. Wish I had some pictures of it. paid $350 bucks for it. Next up was an Austin Healy Sprite. Cant remember the year. talk about a tiny little car.The roads were full of Mg's Triumphs and 356's back in that time. Those were the days and when it all started for me.....

 

I got reacquainted with another roadster back in 79 when I was living in Maui. A 1600 this time and no 2nd gear. Only other tranny was on the big island at the time so i just drove it shifting from 1st to 3rd lol. Still a blast to cruise around the island . Have an old photo of that...

 

I had a Bugeye Sprite in the 60s. But I would not call that a sports car... Chevy V8 and automatic transmission took up half the car.... no room for 3 pedals.

 

Those Datsun's are attractive cars but I could never get past driving a "Fairlady"

https://www.nissan-global.com/EN/HER...en_p44-01.html

Also reminds me of an old joke - the Japanese needed a name for their new car after the war. They thought.... the Germans are good at names - they have the Porsche, the Mercedes and the BMW. We'll have the Germans give us a name for our car line.

At the very first meeting the German's were typically methodical and precise asking a lot of questions.

"When will you need the name by?"

The Japanese delegation consulted one another and the leader spoke, "We'd like the name either today or tomorrow"

Astonished the German leader responded "Dat soon"?

(please don't ban me - it's a joke from childhood)

 

While I drove some sports cars growing up and read tons of car mags it wasn’t until 9 years ago that I bought my first Porsche 968. I worked on top of a mountain outside of Wilkes Barre, Pa. The road up it is called giants despair. It hosts the second oldest hill climb in the US every year. Two weeks after getting the 968 I almost crashed after losing control going up. Rookie mistake but an ah ha moment. I then went to Bertil Roos racing school by Pocono raceway and took two driving courses. These were of incredible value to me. They also got me thinking I should try a DE. I live 16 miles from Pocono so it was a very convenient first effort and experience. For the last 7 years I have been a track junkie. It’s interesting how things impact and affect people. Cars are certainly a great example of this.

 

Got my first sports car when I was 16 - a 73 914 2.0 that the neighborhood mechanic had rescued from the vocational department at a local school.

As a kid the only sporty car my parent had was a 72 Couger convertible with the 351 Cleveland in it - it was big, heavy, pretty fast, but not in a turn.

When the mechanic let me drive the 914 with my learner's permit and he told me I drove that car better than anyone else he had let drive it, I was hooked - guess he was a good salesman. I was hooked because it felt like a go cart and the opposite of the big Cougar.

I worked out a deal to pay for half of it with my Dad paying for the other half and then learned to work on it with both the mechanic that sold it to me and my Dad. We'd split the cost on upgrades and maintenance including an engine rebuild and a repaint. I drove it through high school and my Sophomore and Junior years in college until the motor swallowed a valve and that's when it got serious. I found a local VW shop that rebuilt the motor for me to my specs with a bunch of upgrades - that was in 1990 and that motor is now the one in my black 914 and still running strong. In the late 90s, the chassis of that rescued 914, coming from the North, as pretty much shot so I started the hunt for another 914 into which I could install my power train.

I found a freshly painted roller in Seattle and bought it. I spend the next 4 years of weekends working on that car - completely stripped and repainted everything but the exterior, moving good parts from the old red one to the new black one, and in 2001 finished it and have been driving around my sports car ever since.

Added the silver 997 in 2012, the black one (now pink) in 2013, the 928 in 2014, and the Cayenne in 2016. The 914 is the purest form of a "sports car" in the fleet, but the 997 is certainly the sportiest.

 

My dad was the original owner of a 1960 356B and then a '67 912. He died the next year in 1968 when I was five. Ever since I can remember, there was only ONE sports car for me: Porsche. Finally achieved my dream of getting my 997.1 just over a year ago. Still not taking it for granted - every day is Christmas in my 911! Managed to track down my dad's original car a few weeks after getting my 911 - here's a picture of that reunion. One of the most extraordinary things that's ever happened to me. My local region published my 2 part story on this topic. You can read them here:

Part 1: https://lsrpca.com/legacy-a-porsche-story/

Part 2: https://lsrpca.com/legacy-a-porsche-story-part-2/

 

Bill,
One fantastic story! Thank you so much for sharing a heart-warming life moment. The cars, admittedly beautiful Porsches, are just the icing on that cake.

 

I always loved cars growing up, but in a different way. I was cataloguing them. What cars have what engines, light packages, models and years. It was pretty much only regular cars, nothing especially nice or sporty. It wasnt until 2012 when I needed a car that would fit in my 5000 budget and would be super cheap to own. Something reliable with cheap parts. Enter the 2002 Miata. I'd never driven a sports car or anything sporty at all.

I'd never had an interest in driving for the joy of driving, or a serious interest in sports cars. I only bought the miata because I knew I could get one cheap and they were dead reliable. Getting the Miata changed my entire perspective on cars.

 

Great story, really enjoyed it.

 

I learned the difference between sports cars and everything else early as a kid when my Dad would take me and my brother to the 24 hours of Daytona in the late 60's/early 70's. But we also liked NASCAR because back then they raced cars like the one my Dad drove. But I didn't really learn about sports cars till later, when I was 15. I was the equipment manager for my HS football team and didn't have a license then, so was walking to practice when I hear a car pull up behind me. I turn around and it was a senior kid on the team in his Dad's 914. He tells me to hop in for a ride to practice. I got in and barely got the door closed when he took off. The seat was thin, the cabin was cramped, you could feel every bump in the road, and that mid engine motor was deafening as it just screamed through the gears! Even though I had friends with various muscle cars at the time, that was the coolest car ride I had ever experienced! And still remember it like it was yesterday. That's when I learned the TRUTH about sports cars.

 

Very cool!

You would probably appreciate this then - my Dad in the 80's worked on Wall Street and he kept a red Ferrari 512 BB in a barn behind our house in New Caanan, CT. It was a very special car though my brother told me a local Italian mechanic named Mario was constantly working on it - very unreliable. I'm also told my Dad took this Ferrari up to 180mph on the Merritt PKWY. Guess it runs in the family haha

 

Hatchet your story is awesome - i'm now looking for my Dad's old Ferrari BB 512 - I have very little information other than make year and model and the shop he sold it to over 30 years ago - want to track it down - well over my budget i'm sure worth over 500k now but if I can get a recent photo of it or see it that would be good enough for me.

 

My first exposure to sports cars were anything but ideal. The 53 MG I had was slow and handling was "interesting" because the suspension was right out of the 30s. I bought a first gen 911 (64 maybe) that had a replacement motor. It was slow, loud and smelly and handling was unpredictable, especially when the roads were wet. But, it was cheap. My girlfriend at that time had an MGB (or maybe MGC). Truly an awful car. It leaked fluid from everywhere but the headlights. It wouldn't start if rain was even in the forecast. The engine weighed a ton for the meager power it put out. I was close to breaking up with my girlfriend just to get away from working on that awful car.

The irony is I tried to buy a modified 53 MG, 3 years ago but somebody else bought it first. It was known as the Dave Plumley MG. I heard it might be for sale somewhere in Florida. I'd buy it if I could find it.