Whats your story?

[Soterik]

Paul, that's an awesome background!!!

Mine's more sedate, but certainly very long.

My father bought his first Beetle in 1955, new in Europe. He toured all around, including down to the French Riviera (incredible stories ). He brought the car back to Seattle, and found that he could sell it for a profit. He then turned around and bought another car, a new 1956 Beetle in Europe, and also brought it back (we still have it).

He saw a very good market for European cars in Seattle, so he went back to Europe, and made contact with an export office in Holland that handled European cars. He made a deal to become an independent dealer of (predominantly) German cars to be imported into the US, via special order. The cars could also be picked up at the factory in Europe, or at the Holland Export Office.

By the way, the export office was owned by Ben Pon (anyone remember him? ). My dad ended up having a very long relationship with Ben Pon. He imported up until 1984, when he decided to semi-retire.

I was surrounded by cars in my childhood, predominantly VW's as that was what had the highest demand, but we imported many Porsches, and a few Mercedes and others. The cars came in through Vancouver BC (easier to go through customs) and I have cleaned the cosmoline off of hundreds of VW's. The highest volume of imports was during from the 60's to early 70's, the dollar was still strong against the mark, and I got a chance to see (and clean) many cars.

Dad kept most of the literature over the years, and that started me with a nice literature collection which I have now expanded. My first Porsche was a 1967S that I had for 6 months while in high school. Dad bought it used out of Germany to resell (he did a couple of them, besides new cars), and he said I could drive it for a while, BUT I had to pay all expenses. It "tapped" me in about 4 months with insurance, tune-ups, etc. But it was a great "first ride".

I owned VW's from my high school days till 1985 when I bought MY first Porsche (69T targa), then a 62 Cab, 914-6, etc. etc. Joined PCA, the 356 Registry in 1985, and made a great true friend in Gary Emory, and then subsequently several other great guys in SoCal during the late 80's (where I was living) including Rolly Resos, Barry Williams, Michael Foster, etc etc.

Fast forward and I've expanded my collection of everything related to Porsche, and although family and job take the bulk of my time, I've made some great friends, and truly enjoy the hobby.

Eric Linden
67S targa Polo Red
67S targa Aga blue
67S coupe RGruppe w/ 2.7 twin plug
67S coupe project
71E targa 46K original
72S coupe 63K original
73S targa RGruppe'd
and a 1956 Speedster "outlaw'd" by Gary Emory.

Thanks for listening

[Bobboloo]

1964 a small town in Texas.

I'm 10 years old. I've never seen or even heard of a "Porsh". One Saturday morning I'm watching Lemans being broadcast on ABC Wide World of Sports and I see these unbelievably hot lookings cars called Porsche 904s rounding the circuit and I'm smitten. Later I find a Revell model of the 904 at the local drugstore, buy it, build it and then stare at it each morning when I wake up.

Fast forward Spring 1988 Los Angeles.

I've moved to L.A. leaving the recession behind in Texas (temporarily) and I see all these new Guards Red or Black 911 Turbos driving around and want one so bad but I don't have the money to buy one. I do have enough money however to buy a beat up 67' 912. I'm thinking, I'm handy with tools and I can build this car into a "Turbo 911" Anyway, weeks after buying the car I fell for the longhood look and no longer had any desire to change it into a "Turbolook". 19 years and several longhood 911s later I feel the same way.

P.S. My first car was a 66' Beetle. The smell of an early Beetle and an Early 911 interior are unmistakeably linked and no doubt had an impact upon me emotionally as well.

[daepp]

My older brother was working on his PHD in Louisiana when he stumbled upon a red, Soft Window Targa 912 (in Louisiana - I'm still shocked). Anyway, he restored it, and when he moved back to So Cal I towed it all the way behind a $49.00 Mercury (no A/C I might add).

Anyway, as thanks he let me drive the 912 around So Cal for the summer of my 16th year before he eventually sold it to a doctor in Palos Verdes around 1980 (my bro had to buy a house for his new family). I guess that really affected me.

My next cars were VW's - including a 21 window bus during my senior year in high school and first 2 years of college. I sure wish I still had that one.

Anyway, I had a lot of fun looking ofr a 911 for the next 15-20 years - looked more seriously the last 5 of those and finally found my 911 when I was 42. Now it's a passion!

[gruen911]

Eric Linden
67S targa Polo Red
67S targa Aga blue
67S coupe RGruppe w/ 2.7 twin plug
67S coupe project
71E targa 46K original
72S coupe 63K original
73S targa RGruppe'd
and a 1956 Speedster "outlaw'd" by Gary Emory.

That is an amazing collection Eric.
After numerous discussions about coupe versus targa this board has had, Eric has done the only sensible thing: Buy many of both

[Bummler]

I'll try to be brief...

My parents emigrated to the US from Austria in 1951, I was born shortly thereafter. From my earliest recollections ALL things car related fascinated me. As a child I spent a great deal of time watching and helping my father and brother repair our 1953 English Ford Zephyr, a traditional English nightmare vehicle of the postwar era. In 1964 we took European delivery of a 1964 VW Variant 1500S (Squareback for the uninitiated). I have fond memories tooling around Germany and Austria seated in the back of that VW, visiting family and enjoying the countryside. That summer began my fascination for air-cooled vehicles with their motors hung off the rear. The drone of that 1500CC four still rings in my ears. If any of you have spent any time in a VW Variant you know whereof I speak.

Two years later my brother the engineer (EE), 12 years my senior, traded the VW and bought a new 1965 911, it was February of 1966. It had been imported from Holland by a small independent foreign car dealer, T&M motors, somewhere near the LA/Orange County border. He originally was going to buy a 912 but then at the urging of the owner of the dealership drove the 911, that was the end of the 912.

Memories include synching Solex's with a Unisyn gauge, replacing the Bendix fuel pump with a Stewart Warner that sounded like a jackhammer, fouled Bosch platinum plugs, installing a Mark Ten CD ignition, and going though corners in Placerita canyon sideways.

My brother sold the 911 in 1972 and bought a BMW Bavaria when I was a freshman at UCLA. I have never never forgiven him. In 1973 I bought a brand new VW Super Beetle to replace my '65 Plymouth Belvedere with a 413 wedge. That was only a few months prior to the first "gas crisis."

I was forever smitten with the early cars, especially after seeing the DOT bumpers grafted onto the 1974 models. I decided on a LWB for their subtle evolutionary improvements. In March of 1982, after six months of looking at countless cars (mostly junk), I bought my 69 911E from its second owner with 52K original miles. My wife was three months pregnant with our first of four daughters. I figured that if I didn't buy it then I would never again have the opportunity...

I'm sooo glad I did...

[lkadams]

I wasn't even born when long hood 911s were in production. My wife bought me a 1969 912 as a surprise about 2 years ago, so we're just starting to write the history 1975 BMW 2002 was my first car, had a Volvo 242 GT, some VWs, and just recently acquired a 1969 MB 280 SE coupe. Tune in 20 years from now, I'm sure the story will be more interesting :P

[Mr9146]

My dad's a Porsche mechanic and has been for the last 30+ years, so Porsches have been a MAJOR part of my life since day one.

I grew up in the back seat of 911s, but the first "experience" I can remember was when I was less than a year old. My parents and I drove cross-country in a 1968 S "Softie" Targa - sport seats, 5 "R" wheels, working gas heater, etc. - from New York to Los Angeles and they gave me a bag of pretzel logs to keep me quiet during the trip. Apparently - and this comes from my dad, not me - I entertained myself by jamming pretzel logs into every nook and cranny of the back seat ... even up into the targa bar. He says that when he sold the car a number of years later he was still pulling pretzels out of places he never would have imagined.

When I was 15 my dad told me that for my first car I could either "build it or buy it." Since I was a broke high school kid I opted for the "build it" option. I cashed in my life savings and, in the summer of 1995, I built my first car - 1970 Standard Beetle w/a single port 1600. I drove that car for a year when I sold it to fund the building of my 914-6. I drove the 914-6 until 14 months ago when I sold it to fund my current 911 project.

Unfortunately I can't say that I've owned a ton or Porsches - so far the count is a lowly 2. But, over the years, I've managed to get my hands and butt in just about every type of Porsche you can imagine, including a number of vintage racecars - 550, RS-60, RS-61, RSK, Abarth, 904, 904/6, 906, 908, 910, 917LH, 956 ...

Luckily, however, my story is still being written...

[69Sman]

OK, I'll bite. It's 1959 (or thereabouts) and by older brother's friend, Howie Krause, invites us over to see his Dad's new car - it's a black, oval window, (I believe) '57 or '58 Beetle. WOW! I was like 8, and here's this WEIRD car with the ENGINE IN THE REAR! AIR COOLED! 4 cylinder. Man, I was smitten - I thought that car was the COOLEST thing I'd ever seen. Funny thing, my older brother never gave it another thought. Cut to; my first car, a '63 VW Bus, then a '65 Beetle. Finally, I saved enuf money ($1500) to buy my first Porsche; it's 1976, and I'm living in Malibu - I found a 356, a '63S in Van Nuys - trouble was, it was a basket case, completely in pieces and primer, but I went for it. When I drove to pick it up, the owner, (a house mover by profession in Van Nuys and Porsche collector by hobby), had just taken out of storage a Signal Red, 1965 SC CAB with 11 miles on it! Original paint, original EVERYTHING! I practically DIED! Well, I KNEW, someday, I HAD to have a '65 SC CAB....

Me and my friend my Oklahoma (Craig) lovingly put that car back together in my garage. THAT was an adventure...WE made a few mistakes on the engine, and I sucked a valve after only 10K miles, but that was just an opportunity to re-build it with some nice performance mods.

The '63S lasted for about 5 years, when I had to sell it for some not so very good reasons....but I never forgot that SC Cab, and 19 years later, when I finally had the means, I found and bought my Irish Green car.....That was 1997, and it only took about 4-5 years for the 911 bug to strike BIG TIME....So I fly up to Seattle, bought a NICE '69S from Eric Linden, drove it home, enjoyed it, sold it, bouught a '72S, then the RS, and a Club Sport, and a GT3....and on it goes....Some are still here, some are gone, and I'm sure they'll be more in the future....

[kaufmanp]

my parents arrived in australia in '49 from eastern europe as refugees.my father and uncle set up motor car repair business in the late '50s.being a young boy of 4 or 5 years age around this time i was fascinated by all this, i real keen to start driving 'em and pulling 'em apart.

i developed a huge interest in the the "giant killers" of the day,the mini cooper "s" in my earlyteens.untill one day whilst walking home from school i came across something that really impressed me, it was a green porsche '68 911S.
i thought to myself whilst checking it out this is the one, when i'm rich and famous iam going to buy that car?

my interest and knowlegde in these cars grew, about 12 -15 years later and after a succession of other cars incl. '59 austin lancer, '64 vw, '74 citroen gs1220 club, '79 saab turbo (and although i still was not rich nor famous)
i did have enough cash saved by then, so i thought, "it now or never" so i went out and found/bought my '73 911e.

after a couple of years of ownership,i had this urge to pull it apart, but that's another story.........

that was 24 years ago next month.......it,s still parked in my garage?.

------------------------
Peter Kaufmann
'73 911E fully rebuilt to 2.7RS carrera specs.

[Naplesworkshops]

I was about 7 years old when my dad took me to see the movie "Lemans".

I don't think I have to say anything more...