Ten Fifty-nine

[LongRanger]

It's all I can do to sit still, right now

Punched-up Google . . . . 'swiss white pages' . . . . 'hans mazza' . . . . and bam! ---- I just went back 40-years! Search results even came with a satellite map! The 'net never stops being totally utterly amazing . . . .

Wrote my letter Friday . . .

Dear Mr Mazza . . .

I am the owner of the vehicle in the enclosed photographs --- 1970 Porsche 911S VIN = 9110301059. During my research of the history of this vehicle, I made a request to the Bundesamt für Strassen ASTRA and came up with the following information . . .


MOFIS Halter- /Fahrzeugauskunft

Dated 14.05.2012

Mazza Hans
Braemabueelstr.3
7270 Davos Platz

IV/AVCode Kanton . . . . . A GR
Datum . . . . . . . . . 28.02.1982
1. IV-Kanton . . . . . . . . . BL
1. IV-Staat
1. IV-Datum . . . . . 29.12.1971
Halterartwechsel . . 04.11.1981 . . .


I searched the Swiss telephone directories and found your name and address.

Please excuse me --- I don’t mean to disturb you, but . . . . are you the same person who once owned this car? If your answer is no? --- then, I apologize for any intrusion.

But if your answer is yes --- then I would very much appreciate hearing from you, about your experiences with this car, and anything that you can tell me . . . where you found it, and what happened to it. I’ve owned the car for ~3 years and have stories to share, and many pictures . . . .

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely . . .


Went to CVS Pharmacy Sunday. They have this Kodak film processing set-up there --- took my now-dead camera w/ the up-loaded images I wanted to make prints of --- the key-fob shot + the sunrise @OC C&C shot . . . sat down, hooked-up, made a coupla 5 X 7s. Nobody else there, so took, like, 5 minutes . . . $5.00

Went to the local UPS Store, last night --- sent an envelope . . . letter + 2 X pics, international w/tracking = $67.41 The delivery includes the addressee’s phone number --- the Swiss address is strange, looks incomplete . . . so they can call when they come

casa al Calabrone = home of the bumblebee . . .

[LongRanger]

. . . . and a miss . . .


Grancia, Switzerland 06/26/2012 9:01 A.M.

A correct company or receiver name is needed for delivery. UPS is attempting to obtain this information. / UPS will contact the sender and/or receiver regarding the status or disposition of this package.


Turns out the address wasn't complete enough, after all . . . and no one picked-up at the phone number that I provided. What's killing me is that, given the really small lake-side location of this place ---- there couldn't be more than 50 doors to knock on in the whole town!

Looks like I'm gonna have to go there, myself . . .

Meanwhile, although I've been using my SMMtaG's digi-cam . . . I can't seem to down-load any of my pics, right now. I purchased Phillip's (thatcarpart) MOMO Le Mans and would like to post some pics/details, plus some other steering wheel stuff that's come up, but --- grrr. I think I've found a replacement compact digital --- a nifty little SONY-cum-Leica --- but it's not available for a few weeks, yet . . . . and . . . . it costs, like --- $800 bucks

Gulp

Also been doing some more putt-putting around. Weather's getting warm, again . . . . and 1059 loves it hot. I have an appointment @TLG 20-Jul . . . start knocking down some of the items on Marco's punch-list from the last service, just before RRIV. Budgeting ~$2k

Double-gulp

So. Before she gets laid-up, and while it's still prime driving season here in sunny SoCal . . . . 1059's taking me and my SMMtaG up to San Luis Obispo for a little low-key car show . . .

http://ccc.pca.org/events_upcoming.html
(see Gathering of Friends VI)

Never been to this event before --- never even heard of it --- but, it's something new/different --- and I love the area, so . . . . hope I can down-load my pics by then . . .

[LongRanger]

Took SMMTaG and 1059 up to San Luis Obispo . . . went to that Gathering of Friends Car Show. More comments/pics here . . .

http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...of-Friends-SLO

Really nice/fun show, highly recommended. Lotsa fun/different cars, my kinda weather (warm sun + cool breeze). Not all that close --- but not far, either --- about a 2.5 hr drive up The 101 going North, from The Valley. Maybe 80 cars + 200 peeps showed --- kid + dog friendly, nice grounds + parking, clean facilities . . . worth it

Got to bed ~11/woke-up ~12 --- Girls Night Out (Grease at the H-Bowl), so . . . ~5:00 rise-and-scream, breakfast, shower, loaded-up --- tanked the night before, hit the ATM, then? . . . ~6:00? away we go. SMMTaG’s a very light packer --- maybe a little too . . . I always forget that SLO gets a bit breezy, even in the summers, so she was kinda cold, at first . . . next time? --- sweater/jacket

Uneventful drive up. Overcast out from Thousand Oaks to Cachuma Lake, then clear + cool w/ warm sun. Topped-off in Los Alamos, gave 1059 a pint o’ Penn, arrived at the venue ~8:15 - 8:30. Not much CHP . . . just one Cruiser roadside, coming up on Santa Maria

Car ran great. With little traffic, easy to move right along, no disturbing the occupants. Different story on the way back

Left around 1:00 . . . early, I thought. Goal was to get back home by 5. Traffic was light until Hwy 154 --- week-enders using the cut-off tend to slow things down. And not many places to pass. Expected

Santa Barbara? More traffic

Ventura? Ditto

Camarillo-to-Thousan ---- ENOUGH, already!!!

‘Fraid the horns came out . . . and any prisoners that got taken? . . . shot --- on the spot

When people slow down ---- to 20-miles-per? ---- to rubber-neck a camper getting towed on the other side of the highway? . . . I AM DONE

We arrived ~4:30. Quietly

Per Mapquest, 497.3 mi for the week-end. Good driving

Car goes in to TLG on 20-Jul for some stuff. Marco cataloged some leaks at the last service, the most serious of which involves the injection pump, so this’ll be a motor-out deal. Tending to any ancillaries while he’s at it . . . like the clutch. The leaks don’t really bug me, although there was one coming from up around the sump tank that needs eyeballing. Plus? --- I expect Marco to do his due-diligence, while he’s in there

Car’s running wonderfully, otherwise. Just under 20 MPG since the last service --- Oct. Some window trim is coming adrift, and the RR bumper reflector is loose, but everything works/fits/feels good. No squeaks. Instruments are a bit more problematic. Oil level gauge is dead-on . . . but the rest are tired/suspect/due for resto. I can live with them . . . for now

The one thing that is bugging me is a tingling/vibration from the front, feels like. Wheel balance + alignment doesn’t seem to be the issue . . . but something’s been going on since I brought the car back from NC. Now that 1059’s general engine behavior’s settled --- and I can cruise . . . this petulant vibe is the last bad manner that needs polishing. Shocks, tires, bushings, ball-joints, tie-rods, partridges-in-pear-trees --- whatever . . . . it’s time

Expect the car'll be down a coupla weeks

Curious what Marco thinks/finds/does . . .


1) The 101 NB, coming down to Camarillo

2) Looking out over Lake Cachuma, Hwy 154 NB

3) Hood-up at Los Alamos . . . choco milk + banana for me --- pint o' Penn for 1059 --- caught piddling, here

4) Hood-up at The Show

5) Southbound . . . and 1059 poised/crouched . . . in all her lithe narrow-tired pounciness

[Reza]

Rick, these shots n locations really suit 1059!

[LongRanger]

. . . these shots n locations really suit 1059! . . .

Hey, Reza --- thank you . . .

. . . it was one really nice/fun event --- and we enjoyed taking the car out . . .


I need some 'bug shots,' though . . . . but the car just doesn't/won't get dirty . . .

[LongRanger]

Took the car to Tony and Marco, @TLG, up in North Hollywood, last week.

1059’s stored in South OC --- ~75 mi trip, one way. I drop the car off, then take the train back, bumming rides in-between/while I’m there/etc --- the reverse when I pick-up. Always an adventure

Bit complicated, maybe . . . but --- and I can’t stress this enough . . . w/o Tony and Marco taking care of my car? . . . . I wouldn’t be in any Early 911 --- much less an S, and definitely not 1059. I would advise anyone contemplating buying/driving one of these cars to ask themselves One Question . . .

Who’s gonna take care of the car?

I am NOT a mechanic. I don’t ‘collect.’ Ditto ‘restore.’ I DO operate/use/destroy stuff, then repair + re-cycle it . . . carefully, thoughtfully, gleefully --- but thoroughly. Always been that way. And being how I use my stuff? . . . I look for a Partner for my crimes, someone to keep my Nasty + Kooky Cars running. All the M3s, the Land Rover, the AUDIs and Subies, all the VWs and the 356 --- all had a Partner to back me up

So. Before I went looking for a 911S? . . . I found Tony first, depend on him and Marco, to keep the car running/happy, and I tell ‘em --- every time I stop by their store . . . ‘my car is your car --- for as long as you Guys wanna work on her.’ I trust these Guys . . . like ‘em, too

Anyway, made an appointment to drop the car off, on a Friday --- my convenience. Left work early, swapped/picked ‘er up, headed out ~3:00. Started not-so-bad, but still . . . . bit o' traffic

And activity . . .

. . . two accidents, a few stalled cars, even an ambulance taking up a coupla lanes of Sherman Way

The usual . . .


1) OK-OK --- its Friday . . . I expect some slowing

2) Nice start

3) Everything you've heard about LA traffic is not true. The Reality is so-much-more . . . surreal

4) Friday afternoon? Brutal commute? Tons o' cars, anyway? I know, I know --- let's take our Really Stupid Boat out --- and play in traffic! (This is why LA is the birthplace of the Drive-by Shooting)

[TeeItUp]

Rick,

You left me hanging. What did they do to 1059???

[LongRanger]

. . . left me hanging. What did they do to 1059??? . . .

Hang-on, hang-on . . . gettin' there

(For as long as this little trip took? . . . I'm counting this as a drive!)

1) Slowing down

2) Wuhp?

3) Kinda extreme for a 'routine traffic stop,' ya think? . . . motors, cruisers, 6- maybe 8 cops, takin' up a coupla lanes of the 405 during rush-hour

4) Back to it

5) Dead Range Rover (when they're this old --- are there any other kind?) In the no. 1. On the 405 @ the Santa Monica inter-change, heading North through the Cahuenga Pass, then on to The Valley. Think of a 7-mile-long 'salmon run' --- in steel. Now . . . . . . park your beater truck out where the Tow-trucks can't get to it!!!

Genius

Prolly the only thing stupider than driving a Old-a$$ Range Rover --- after buying one . . . is trying to take a picture of a dead one . . . . while navigating in Friday afternoon traffic . . . . humpin' a 901-boxed 911S

[LongRanger]

After charging up through the Sepulveda, stampeding (w/ the rest o' The Herd) down into The Valley . . . finally escaping onto Sherman Way provided more --- what else? . . . . . traffic!

I don’t know how Regular Commuters do it . . . . 75 mi in 2 hours? --- and I was working, believe me . . . and it wasn’t even peak hours? That’s nuts!

Fortunately --- I'm just a Tourist

I actually enjoyed myself

Yeah-yeah . . . 1059’s not exactly the handiest little beastie for this stuff . . . but we sure had fun playing in it. Seeing some of the distracted/un-skilled/brain-dead drivers come oooooooh-so-close to my/our tiny little back-side still takes some getting-used-to --- but? . . . what are you gonna do? Besides, as soon as we got some/any room + movement? . . . make sure she's in 2nd, dial-up 3500+, aim for the targe--- er, open-space . . . then? ---- punch it! ----- vaaaaaaaaaahhhhh-VOOOOOOM!

. . . a Total Blast

No kidding . . . Sometimes? --- I wish I had one o’ those WW2 ‘gun-cameras’ aboard so I could play back some o’ the action

Anyway, managed to touch down @TLG a bit before 5. Tony hung around w/ me for a while --- Marco was off goofin’ around somewhere, again . . . just like last time . . . while I waited for my ride. We chatted some, took a quick tour o’ the shop, saw some stuff . . . . John was out

Turns out TLG has a Customer w/ another ’70 S (w/alu deck) --- in for a full re-do . . . and originally the same color as 1059


1) One more little delay . . . coupla ambulances. After what I just drove through, I'm amazed they weren't out on the 405

2) Ahhh --- Southern California . . . warm weather, blue skies, palm-tree-lined streets . . . . wrecks, cops, ambulances . . . . traffic

3) and 4) Got green? A Customer's '70 S car . . . . in for a re-do

5) Thanks for waiting, Partner . . . as 1059 sneaks in another coupla piddles


Marco tells me that Tony hates green

[Jens]

Subscribed....