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Thread: curious..to all shop owners?.....has the customer of early cars changed?

  1. #1

    curious..to all shop owners?.....has the customer of early cars changed?

    with values out of control....and w/ cars over the radar...

    how has the owner that drives a car in for work changed?


    gold rolex crowd.......true car guy?......grease monkey.....is the owner more "into" the car or less than say 20 yrs ago.....are they clueless or well versed in 911 lore?

    r u now making more income than ever?..it it still fun?

    Im curious

  2. #2
    Senior Member VeloceAlfa's Avatar
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    All over the place, younger guys buying caymans and water cooled 911's. Couple younger guys with SC's and longhoods (mostly Conversions) However young guys are not buying 356's. That scares me. All the 356 guys are getting quite old.
    Phil

    Twitter and Instagram: @velocealfaltd

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by 70tangerine View Post

    r u now making more income than ever?..it it still fun?

    Im curious
    Curious as to why you’re curious? Always fascinated by motive.

    That aside, to answer the questions above, yes I still love it but it begs the question: Why else would we do it? Because we “have” to?

    As far as depending on longhoods or G-Body cars for “a living” that’s just silly. We make more dough than ever but it certainly has little to do with old 911's. I take them in because I know them exceedingly well and want to teach my young techs about them. I certainly can’t speak for other guys but my opinion is if a shop owner isn’t willing to diversify and work on newer cars they will get left behind. (We do ALL years, even cars under warr.) Specializing in newer models allows me the luxury of working on the old ones.

    As far as profiling our early 911 customers? Lol. Never thought about it. Rolex, Timex... (do people even wear watches any more?) who cares as long as they pay their bill and bring us IPA? I will confess that my particular business model is NOT a good fit with DIY'ers. I would rather fix something before it gets jacked and hacked.
    Last edited by Frank Beck; 03-21-2018 at 05:23 PM.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by 70tangerine View Post
    with values out of control....and w/ cars over the radar...

    how has the owner that drives a car in for work changed?


    gold rolex crowd.......true car guy?......grease monkey.....is the owner more "into" the car or less than say 20 yrs ago.....are they clueless or well versed in 911 lore?

    r u now making more income than ever?..it it still fun?

    Im curious
    I'm not going near this one............................................... ...........................

  5. #5
    Early 911S Registry # 237 NeunElf's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by VeloceAlfa View Post
    All over the place, younger guys buying caymans and water cooled 911's. Couple younger guys with SC's and longhoods (mostly Conversions) However young guys are not buying 356's. That scares me. All the 356 guys are getting quite old.
    I've heard the opposite: that younger folks are interested in (and buying) 356s.

    My own personal research hasn't achieved anything like statistically meaningful numbers but I do know three relatively young (roughly 40 years) 356 owners (one who inherited hers) and one (roughly 40 years) couple who are more longhood 911-oriented (but have at least one 356).

    By the way, as I type this there's a Timex (rhymes with Rolex) on my wrist.
    Jim Alton
    Torrance, CA
    Early 911S Registry # 237

    1965 Porsche 911 coupe
    1958 Porsche 356A cabriolet

  6. #6
    I owned 911's for over 30 years - my reasons for ownership haven't changed at all. I suppose I have more $$ than I used and traded my Seiko for a fitbit. In the old days no one ever talked about what there car was worth, that has changed
    Early S Junkie # 658

  7. #7
    If you take a look at Rod Emory's instagram post tonight you can see there is plenty of 356 interest. Must be 20 cars waiting to have money spent on them.
    Early 911S Registry #263

  8. #8
    Frank

    y am I curious?....Im not really sure exactly..I have not analyzed it. But I have been a car guy for over 45 yrs.....and I am also a track guy that has gotten to know many shop owners, car owners etc etc thru the yrs

    I am also self employed for over 30 yrs.....and I see many changes in health services ( my world) and the auto fixing/tech world. I wanted to hear how you all that own shops felt.

  9. #9
    Senior Member eaton's Avatar
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    I really want to hear Jim B's thoughts.
    '66 912 with a 2.2
    '62 Lotus Seven S2
    '66 Lotus Elan
    '63 Karmann Ghia convertible
    '76 Alfa Spider

  10. #10
    yes Jim....

    share some thoughts/stories........we know you have them.

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