I've been hanging 'round here a long time. Long time. Like, 10 years. That was, middle school; 7th grade. Yeah. I know.
I don't remember not seeing Porsches. Used to ride a 1970 911T to pre-school. Remember that car. Some stripper model in white, with nothing on it. 4 speed. Steel wheels. Someone walked into the dealer and asked for the cheapest 1970 911 they had. And you know what? That thing was fun.
One of those early morning rides to pre-school Dad and I were running late. I was being slow getting ready or something. Dad was pissed. Don't remember why, just remember the frown on his face.
We got in the car. Ran some stop signs because we were in a hurry. You always stop at certain places on the way, you know, but that time we didn't. Then we hit this on-ramp. Picture #3.
That changed everything.
I remember feeling the back end come around a bit. I ended up in my Dad's lap. ...Now, when I could finally sit up again after we slingshot onto the freeway, I thought my Dad was going to cut my head off. But I looked at him and I just smiled, and he smiled back.
That was it. Really, it's true, nothing else quite does it after that.
Fast-forward through some years. The 911T was accompanied by a 356 Hardtop ('62S Black/Red), then an '82SC (White/Chocolate). Dad planned some kind of RS replica project for the 70 911T, but never did it and sold it to a friend of his. He had a heart attack at 48 and that was that.
He told stories of a legendary 70 911 he built before I was born, stories of some type of old-school R Gruppe running across California. Packs of S's at 115mph. I found out later it was actually an Irish Green '70 911E, now in the hands of andrew15, 9110200350, that was fitted with a 2.5L built from a 2.2S (6301418). It was repainted in Gran Prix white with RS flares and a 72S spoiler. Picture #1 and #2, Irish Green 70E, and later, after my Dad's mods.
Sold it to get my childhood home. Always wanted to get back to that car. . .that idea. . .somehow. It was IT. Certainly, now you'd all take the black trim and wheels off-in fact Andrew did-but that thing was cool. I loved the idea of a father-son project, goofing around with that white T that he had, turning it into some kinda something. But it wasn't to be. . .
So, I set out to do the project anyway. I didn't have the car and I didn't know $hit, at 13, but I was going to figure it out.
Did the normal thing. Went to school. Had friends. Played football. Ran track. Had a cute girly. Jammed out in a garage band on the weekends. . .
But, when summer came, I think when I was 15, I decided I'd buy a cheap 69E motor that someone overrevved. Brilliant idea right? Spend all your savings on a blown 911 motor for a car you don't have.
Turned out, it was full of S parts and got it back together with a new valve, a machinist nearby that hand cut a valve seat for me, and a new rocker arm. Sold it on and made out pretty well. Onto the next thing! At that point, my family all realized I was secretly insane.
Now, move through a few more years of high school, dreaming and fiddling with 911 motors, doing humdrum work to get things back in shape and summer jobs. Saved every cent. Worked obsessively at times. Looked at classified ads.
Went and saw a 69 Tangerine T for $8k. Owner seemed to be hiding something. Car was aligned terribly. No deal.
Found a 'project' 70 T in Eagle Rock, in Albert Blue no less. But that was missing all kinds of things, least of all the motor. And one of the things I learned pretty early on was the 911 is really full of valuable pieces-alloy this and special that-and once you take the pieces off, and add rust, you have not very much left. So I walked on that one.
Everything else, even then was out of my price range. And it seemed like if I bought a car that ran, I would pay a premium for it, and later I would be surprised by rust or accident damage, waiting for me like $5 bills in your jacket pocket, except. . . they would not be fun surprises.
[ "It all started when I began looking around and just could not find my dream car. So I decided to build it myself. . .” - Ferry Porsche ]
So I posted a thread on Pelican, what the hell, see what comes up. That was 6 years ago. But first I had to figure out what to ask for.
I read Tobias Aichele's book, 'Porsche 911', backwards and forwards until I could tell you when they switched the carpet from velour to Haargarn (I've since forgotten). The later 911s seemed to have nothing but added weight and features I didn't care about, on top of a basic design that I liked. The early cars were what my Dad always wanted, too, so I started there.
Once I learned all about them, the car that struck my fancy was of course a '73 RS. THE Porsche. An early car, yet, seemingly refined, with the 'better' gearbox, the magical 2.7 MFI engine, FLARES, more tire, spoilers so the car wouldn't get floaty in the back. Just a one little problem.
They were $150,000. (In 2003.)
So I lowered my sights to the classic, more elegant and less 'boy-racer' 2.4S, '72 would work, with the oil door and aluminum trim. Didn't see many of those. Lusted after Paul Donkin's car (he actually let me drive it when I was passing by his place in Oregon!) but of course, they're unobtainium, let alone achievable for a chicken scratch $10k.
But I read more. And more. And the more I read the more I wanted an earlier, LESS refined car. A '67 S? Of course, but the skinny wheels and quirky proportions, touchy handling? That's what all the lore said, anyway. Maybe a '69, I thought. Got a lot of improvements but the engine was still that short-stroke, high-compression unit, and the transmission was still the 901 'dogleg'. Then I remembered my Dad's favorite. '70. '71 just as good but '70.
The perfect proportions of a LWB. Mechanical Fuel Injection. Short Stroke. High compression. CDI Ignition. Wiring harness and clutch got better from '69 to '70. Still had deep six Fuchs in '70. Basketweave interior. Alloy lid and rear panel (for S), alloy brakes, magnesium transmission and engine. Nothing in 'em. 1000kg out-the-door. Now we're talking.
I looked and looked for a project 'S' for $10k. Of course, now you're thinking, 'yeah right', but at the time it could have been done. Except unless your old lady neighbor was cleaning out hubby's barn you were going to end up with a rusty pile of $hit that you just spent $10k on.
So, I looked for an E. It looked like I could get a car that was almost as rare, almost as fast and almost the same, under-the-radar. And get a car that wasn't turned into fine red-brown dust. . .
Picture #1 ) 9110200350. Dad's hot rod project. Turnout on La Tuna Canyon Road. Deep Sixes, Irish Green '70 911E.
Picture #2 ) The original 'YTNUKLR'. RS flares, S spoiler, 2.5 S motor, black out trim, Gran Prix white.
Picture #3 ) The on-ramp near my house that did me in. It's a perfect slingshot into a downhill race course. Can't count the number of times I slid through this thing on my way to high school . . .