Thinking of leaving Early 911S for 997/991

[MountainRoads]

There is no simple answer. It depends on the experience you're seeking. A buddy of mine and I took turns a week ago driving each others' 911s on some twisty backroads I'm familiar with, in Central Washington. His: 2005 997. Low mileage. Excellent condition. Fanatically maintained. Mine: 1972 911-T. Recently restored (by another member here). He had never driven an early 911 (that he could remember), and I had only driven his 997 once before. Sorry. No pictures. I was either too busy driving or watching the road for errant critters, including deer and cows

There's no question his 997 is a superior car, performance-wise. It felt very planted, torquey, shifted great, and had top speed potential that would have been foolish to play with. As my friend so eloquently put it: "You'd think in 30+ years, there'd be some improvements." It also felt comparatively heavy (it is), was much quieter, much more refined, and therefore reminded me more of a fine GT car than a true "sports" car. No rough edges to be found anywhere, and long road trips would be a breeze.

By comparison, my '72-T is smaller, noisier, cruder, and edgier. Simply put, there's a sense of nostalgia I just can't get in a newer car. The steering wheel is delicate, but little effort is generally required to keep the car properly pointed. Shifting is fun and engaging. More time is spent rowing the gears to keep the engine RPMs in a happy place. My friend was impressed by the MFI throttle response and plenty of power for the task at hand. No power-assist anything, so braking required more pedal effort and didn't inspire the same lock-down confidence as his 997 brakes. His comment was: "You have to pay more attention with this car."

Bottom line: Decide with attributes are most important to you and appreciate each car for what it is and the era it was built in.

- MR

[62S-R-S]

Variety is the spice of life... Ideally you'd keep both. Personally, I've learned from my mistakes (selling a 356C and a 356A and watch them reach unfathomable prices now). After I sold, I was happy for many years with a series of modern P-cars and track days, but eventually the old Porsche bug bit again. Except I had trouble convincing myself that the cool 356s I bought for $10-15K were now worth 50. So I hesitated and waited and passed on some cars I maybe shoulda pounced on, and now they are $100K ;-( And it will therefore never happen again... It's not so much the $ per se, it's the difficulty I have making myself pay 6x what I sold a car for, and the value point where I was comfortable in price/performance/pleasure is long exceeded... Same thing may happen to you with an early 911 - Would you buy one back for 6 digits in a couple years if you realize you messed up ?

Wondering if a ratrod would fit the bill for you.

[Greg D.]

Not sure it matters, even rat rods are $$$ these days. And Emory is buying all the As in any condition so the market is tough ! I'm glad I did not sell my 911T - taking it to an aircooled Rally this w/e !

[rpidduck]

This thread has been very interesting, and reflects many of my thoughts as I recently went through a similar decision making process. This is where I ended up. The 912, restored in 2008 and well set up, provides the visceral Porsche experience, great for carving the mountain roads, and with its place in my history will always be in my barn. The recently purchased 997.2 is a modern sports car, comfortable and can reliably go anywhere anytime, and with capabilities way beyond my reach. Did I mention I'm not exactly young anymore? The deal makers for the 2010: the 997.2 model, low mileage, color, and the PDK. I much enjoyed the attributes of the '85 911 acquired in 2009, but its value facilitated the transition to my new Porsche era.
-Richard

[haul]

This thread has been very interesting, and reflects many of my thoughts as I recently went through a similar decision making process. This is where I ended up. The 912, restored in 2008 and well set up, provides the visceral Porsche experience, great for carving the mountain roads, and with its place in my history will always be in my barn. The recently purchased 997.2 is a modern sports car, comfortable and can reliably go anywhere anytime, and with capabilities way beyond my reach. Did I mention I'm not exactly young anymore? The deal makers for the 2010: the 997.2 model, low mileage, color, and the PDK. I much enjoyed the attributes of the '85 911 acquired in 2009, but its value facilitated the transition to my new Porsche era.
-Richard

love the greens and especially your racing green 4s…rare combination to find.
interiour is in which color, and do you have, as extra, the black face gauges?

br
haul

[dr914]

one cannot compare a vintage 911 to a new one. Not the same environment. One is an old 50 plus year classic car that lived its life in the era of which it was made, a modern car for the times, vs the new car which was made and now living in the era for which it was made.
The vintage car, although still operational, is just not practical. Keep it, take it to shows, enjoy looking at it but buy the new Porsche to enjoy driving. (like the guy did who owned your car back in 1966!
Last night I drove home a 5100 mile 914-6 remembering how GREAT these cars used to be when new, and how Porsche should have never discontinued them, but were forced to by few sales and no profit. However while driving realized that this 52 year old car could NEVER be a daily driver, and ran back to my 2006 Boxster!

[sanders]

Old Porsches are faster at slower speeds. At least it seems that way.

[rpidduck]

love the greens and especially your racing green 4s…rare combination to find.
interiour is in which color, and do you have, as extra, the black face gauges?

br
haul

Haul - Something about green, the color of trees. My 912 spent its first 11,000 miles in Europe, based in Vienna so we enjoyed seeing a lot of Bavaria.
The interior of the 997.2 is black which I favor. The white gauges are growing on me, though would have preferred dark faces. The proper name for the green is Porsche Racing Green Metallic. Very happy with the car, both cars.
-Richard