A Trip Down Memory Lane – Cross Country in a 911 - June ‘73

[DOUGS73E]

For the “Adventures” part of this Forum:

I recently came across some old photos of a trip I took as co-driver in a friend’s ’72 911T Targa at the end of my first year of college away from home; from Southern California to the East Coast. For me, I was heading back to my parent’s house in New Jersey for the summer. It was a seminal driving event in that it cemented in my memory banks that the 911 was the ultimate GT/sports car. In high school back in New Jersey, used British sports cars were popular and affordable. My first car was a 1964 Triumph TR4 quickly followed by a 1967 MGB-GT.

Tomosaburo Saito and I were students at CalArts in Valencia. He was from Japan. For his stay in the U.S., as his transportation, he was fortunate to have a late model Signal Yellow 911T Targa. Tomo said a Porsche 911 was way too expensive to own in Japan. Before he had to return back to Japan (to help with the family’s business because of the first energy crisis) he wanted to drive across country to ‘See the U.S.A.’ (but not in a Chevrolet).

The car was nearly new, but not heavily loaded with options – as you can see from the photos. It had standard black vinyl leatherette seats and a single band AM radio. I think the car had about 10k miles on it as we started our two week trip. The throttle response of that stock 2.4 liter MFI still impressed the hell out of me comparing to the OHV 4 banger Brit cars I had in NJ. Traveling 60 mph seemed like we were standing still. The sweet spot for cruising in that car was between 90-110 mph (when we were able). The old federal 55 mph speed limit restrictions were not implemented yet.

1-4: Before the trip; at the CalArts dorm parking lot.
5: First night was in Vegas; the 'Strip' was a bit less grandiose that today.

[DOUGS73E]

On our way through Arizona.
1. Hoover Dam
2. Hwy 93 somewhere between Hoover Dam and Kingman.
3-4. South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
5. Even though we had the luxury of a 911, we still on a budget; cheap motels (remember when Motel 6s were $6/night?) and PB&J sandwiches at rest stops along the way.

[Reza]

Awesome Doug.

[DOUGS73E]

On our way to the North Rim:
1-2. Navajo Bridge (Alt US Hwy 89) at Marble Canyon.
3. Cold and snow on Hwy 67 through the Kaibab Plateau.
4-5. Warm and sunny at the North Rim; stayed in one of the tiny cabins overnight.

[DOUGS73E]

Arizona to Utah:
1-2. Arizona Hwy 64; somewhere before or after the South Rim.
3-4. Zion
5. Bryce

[Flieger]

Wow, jealous. I really need to get out there and explore the national parks.

[DOUGS73E]

On the way to Salt Lake and into Wyoming. (Sometimes these picture don't view in the order that I load them)
1. Approaching the Tetons.
2. North of Bryce/south of Salt Lake.
3. Salt Lake.
4. Bear Lake.
5. Gourmet lunch at the Tetons. (PB&Js again!)

[LongRanger]

Westwood Porsche | Audi license frame . . . .

. . . never seen one before


Any contact w/ Tomosaburo? --- w/ Facebook + everything . . .

And what happened w/ that car? Did it go back to Japan?

[DOUGS73E]

I lost contact with Tomo after a couple of years. His car landed up in Seattle. His family's business had a U.S. office there that is brother worked at. He gained possession of the car. I don't know what happened after that.

I'll continue posting more pic's tomorrow.

[Chuck Miller]

Fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!