Every good story starts with a title.
Every good story starts with a title.
Very interested! I happen to like the 964 cars and would love to have one soon. In fact, I came across this picture recently and it made me want one even more!
I am on the edge of my seat!
mazdeuce wrote: Every good story starts with a title.
and pictures.
Call it Ishmael
I'm a story teller. My dad was a story teller. My kids are all well on their way to becoming first rate story tellers. Before you ask me a simple question, you might as well grab a drink and find a comfortable chair, I've probably got a story.
My kids love to hear stories about the cars I've had. Whether it was my first car, a Dodge Omni that I had for a brief 6 weeks before flipping it over, or the first generation neon that my sister and I and a friend drove to Alaska and back, or the time in college I borrowed my mom's minivan and ended up doing an indicated 103 across Montana while talking to the hitchhikers that I had picked up during that brief time when Montana dared abolish their speed limits, I've always got a story. The one thing all of my stories have had in common is that they've happened in quite unremarkable cars. In 16 days, that's going to change.
Do to a rare combination of financial stability and timing, I find myself slightly more than two weeks away from picking up a 1990 Porsche 911. I haven't yet seen the car other than in pictures, yet it's paid for and I hold the title you see above. My hope is that things will all go to plan and this will be a good story. There is always the chance that things will go pear shaped and you'll end up reading about misery and financial ruin. I hope it's entertaining either way.
The project part of this really starts with the driveway. I always told people that I have a gravel driveway. That's not really true, it's more of a dirt driveway. When it rains the puddles form. Big puddles. Big muddy puddles. Then there are the roots. Big trees in the yard mean big roots crossing the driveway. My truck handled this with ease. Even my Mazda2 acknowledged that the driveway was less of a challenge than a rallycross. I felt the Porsche deserved better. Last weekend I brought in a crew to help me spread some decomposed granite gravel.
We put down 10 yards. I'm giving it a week or so to settle and get driven in, and then I'll order up another 5 to finish things off. I'm already very happy.
dyintorace wrote: Very interested! I happen to like the 964 cars and would love to have one soon. In fact, I came across this picture recently and it made me want one even more!
HOLY SHMOLY I LOVE THAT CAR!!
I'm pretty sure a 964 is my next "big" car purchase in the next few years.
Following!
LOVE 964s.
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I am on the edge of my seat!
You and me both.
The question of "why a 964" is bound to come up. There's a couple of reasons. The first is that I was born in 1975. In 1990 I was 15. Even for a farm kid in the midwest, a new 911 was at the very tip top of the list of cars that I lusted after. I had a poster of a yellow one on my wall and dozed and woke to it for several years. This is my dream car. The second reason is that the 964 is an interesting beast. I actually like things like fuel injection and ABS and airbags. I also really like the idea of owning an actual air cooled Porsche. The 964 is right at the blending point of the old and the new. All cars are a compromise, this one has the right set of compromises for me. Last but not least, it just sort of came up. I wasn't necessarily looking for a 911 right now. It was on my list, but I wasn't shopping. I figured that it would happen sometime in the next five years or so, proper mid life crisis time. However, a fellow forum member mentioned off hand in a thread that his 964 was about to go on the market. Messages were exchanged, pictures viewed, a check sent. It just sort of all fell into place. I'll let him identify himself if he so chooses. I wouldn't blame him if he would rather sit back and watch and at least see if I can manage to take a car that I've never seen before and get it 1600 miles across the country before he admits that he's aware of my idiocy.
Color me jealous! I'm looking forward to living vicariously through you 
A 911 was always at the top of my list as a young adolescent, too. Other kids had the Testarossa or Countach posters, but the 911 is what I drooled over (especially the 959).
Have you ever driven one? I have not. Very curious.
Will this one share your $100/week car budget, or carry all the kids at one time? I'm guessing neither..
964 is a good buy right now. Under 10K for an early C4? Sounds like a plan...
Maroon92 wrote: 964 is a good buy right now. Under 10K for an early C4? Sounds like a plan...
Where are you seeing any for that price?
OHSCrifle wrote: Have you ever driven one? I have not. Very curious. Will this one share your $100/week car budget, or carry all the kids at one time? I'm guessing neither..
I have not driven one. There's a lot of cars I haven't driven that I want though. When buying a car I rely heavily on the opinions of people that have driven a lot of different cars. Whether it's car magazines or forums or other online sources, there are a lot of more knowledgeable people than me that are able to sort the wheat from the chaff. It usually takes me at least a month of living with a car to really get a feel for it. I've never taken a test drive that has swayed me one way or another about a car. I've made some buying mistakes, but none that I could have prevented with a 10 minute drive. One big advantage that I have is that I'm a hair over 5'10" and 150 lbs. I fit in pretty much every car that has ever been made. In fact, many many cars were made to fit people exactly my size.
I'm not sure yet whether this car will share the $100 a week or get it's own budget or exist on more of an open checkbook policy. I can't fit all of my kids in it so I can't drive them to school so it won't be my daily driver. That fact actually worked in favor of buying the car. My wife is very excited about the fact that I can't drive the car every day, because that means that she can. We'll be sharing.
mazdeuce wrote: One big advantage that I have is that I'm a hair over 5'10" and 150 lbs. I fit in pretty much every car that has ever been made. In fact, many many cars were made to fit people exactly my size.
Same here (there abouts...) Once in awhile it's nice to be average, eh? 
I always wanted a C4...
Digging the "lego-black out" idea as well.
Having had a few 911s and I did a stint selling them - oddly enough in 1990. I've driven a bunch of them and lived with them. The 964 is a very good blend of old and new(er). Suspecting who the PO is, it should come with some good stories on its own and a decent dose of humor, sarcasm and irony - well maybe not irony, we don't get that around here.
My last 911 was an ebay buy - sight unseen, known to be at least scruffy and a 1200 mile drive home. The latest was a 928 from San Francisco - driven back to Chicago. Part of the fun is the adventure.
LEGO MY PORSCHE!!!
bravenrace wrote:dyintorace wrote: Very interested! I happen to like the 964 cars and would love to have one soon. In fact, I came across this picture recently and it made me want one even more!HOLY SHMOLY I LOVE THAT CAR!!
Me too, and I can't stand black cars! 
mazdeuce wrote: However, a fellow forum member mentioned off hand in a thread that his 964 was about to go on the market. Messages were exchanged, pictures viewed, a check sent. It just sort of all fell into place. I'll let him identify himself if he so chooses. I wouldn't blame him if he would rather sit back and watch and at least see if I can manage to take a car that I've never seen before and get it 1600 miles across the country before he admits that he's aware of my idiocy.
I exchanged those emails as well. I think you're getting a darn nice car!
Winston wrote:Maroon92 wrote: 964 is a good buy right now. Under 10K for an early C4? Sounds like a plan...Where are you seeing any for that price?
+1
Well, FWIW, I purschased my 964 C4 last August for about $13k with roughly 70k miles, and a bit scruffy. Aircooled 911 values of every generation have been steadily climbing, it would seem. 964's seem to have finally shaken off their status red-headed stepchild in the 911 world....
They say "never meet your heros". I'm happy to say that while I bought the car largely without driving it, the driving experience has met and exceeded all of my expectations. I hope your experience is similar! So far, working on it has been a pleasure. Mine needed a front wiring harness and ABS/AWD controller, which I found on Ebay and Rennlist respectively. Good luck, and I'll be watching this thread closely!!
mazdeuce wrote: ... It was on my list, but I wasn't shopping. I figured that it would happen sometime in the next five years or so, proper mid life crisis time. ... It just sort of all fell into place. I'll let him identify himself if he so chooses.
My recent Porsche infatuation (I never saw it coming!) salutes your decision. I bought my SV650 in generally the same way. I wasn't planning to buy a motorcycle, but I just happened to check motorcycles on Craigslist, saw a terrible listing that had the potential to be a deal, pulled the plug after clearing out my bank accounts a week later.
Perhaps the big decisions in life benefit from intuition, gut feelings, and impulsiveness.
While we're waiting for next installation in this epic adventure, let's talk about this:
Already having a project makes me a sad panda.
Initial observations:
In reply to Winston:
If the door is any indication, that car has RUST-like-run-away-don't-walk... Check out the row of bubbled paint and holes just above the bottom edge of the door.
Winston wrote: 4. Deal of the century or money pit?
When people say there is no such thing as a cheap Porsche they are not kidding. Starting with a rusty shell is a sure way to make damn sure you are broke before you get it running.
You'll need to log in to post.
