|
|
| Porsche: There Is No Substitute |
I went to a private prep school in Philadelphia in the 80's and saw my share of P-cars dropping off students (and showing up for conferences with the headmaster). Porsche, BMW, Lotus, Ferrari -- these were frequent topics of conversation at this all-boys school. Somewhere along the line I left the talk behind, but I guess the fascination never left me. Because when I found myself wanting to have a car again but not needing one for daily transportation, my first thought was, "It could be anything -- I could buy an old Porsche!"
The most recognized Porsche, certainly the most popular and long-lived model, is the 911 in its various forms. But the one I fell for, hands down, is the 914. This model was produced in partnership with Volkswagen, and has always suffered for the association in the eyes of Porsche enthusiasts. Produced from 1970 to 1976, the youngest example of this design is now 21 years old. Since I am not an accomplished mechanic, and don't even have a garage to call my own at the moment, this was a daunting prospect. Here are several examples of the 914: a yellow '70, a silver '72, a blue '76.
What to do? Given the difficulties of keeping a car that pre-dated Disco on the road, I decided to compromise. There are many fine examples of the 944 on the road in good condition, and available at a reasonable price. It seemed to me that I could pick up a 944 that was only 10-15 years old, gather the necessary tools and learn how to work on it myself, and then add a 914 in a year or two.
Well, I did actually go ahead and purchase a 944. And I did do some really minor stuff on it like replace the speedometer cable, the power antenna, normal fluids and maintenance. But the car was in pretty rough shape when I first got it, and the effort to make it roadworthy required a real shop. I was referred to Bill Pfister at Eurotech Advanced Automotive. Bill isn't cheap, but he's very good. Not only do I recommend him, but I'm still using him a year later.
Well, that first 944 didn't even make it six months with me before it was taken away -- see the story here. I went off and found an '87 944S to replace it, which is a tale unto itself. I've had a lot of fun with this car, and I'm looking forward to many more years of the same.
But I haven't been able to carry out my goal of doing most of the work on these cars myself. All things considered I haven't done too badly, given that I live in Manhattan and don't have a garage to work in! For that I have my friends Alexea and Eric Portner to thank, as they have graciously opened their garage to me when I have stayed with them from time to time.
Well, with buying a new house I don't have a lot of cash on hand to play with for the next few months. But it seems to me that not a whole lot needs to be done to my 944S, and it's in such good shape overall that I'd hate to trash it trying to figure stuff out. And now that I'll have my own garage at last, I can afford to take something apart and leave it that way until I figure out how to put it back together, so...
I figure by Spring of '99 I'll have some old random 914/4 sitting in the garage waiting for me to figure it out. They're pretty cheap, and when it comes down to it they're pretty straightforward machines. So I'll keep the 944S as a nice cruiser and resist the urge to turn it into a track vehicle. Instead, let it be what my friend SKD calls "the dating appliance" and hope it functions well in that regard.
And while I can tool around town in that, I can try and live out my grease monkey fantasies with a nice little 914...
