Joe Engineer

Porsche 911: Achieved

After owning and modifying a few new and old vehicles, I have come to realize I have the most fun working on the older ones.

One reason is probably nostalgia but I also find greater joy in taking a car with problems, fixing each problem and feeling the immediate improvement in the car, until finally you have an old car that runs as good as new. I also enjoy hunting for good used parts at swap meets, car shows, and online through the usual Craigslist, eBay, and online used parts vendors. The parts hunt is part of the adventure. So when it came time to shop for my childhood hero car, the air-cooled Porsche 911, I was ok with buying a fixer-upper to get my foot in the door of Porsche ownership and also to enjoy returning it to its former glory. So I put the 911 on my wish list and on the backburner while life went on at an ever increasing pace.

Well at some point everyone decided they wanted an air-cooled 911 too and when I went to check prices I was shocked to see they had skyrocketed in price. I was going to get priced out of 911 ownership very quickly if I didn’t act soon. In a panic I started saving car money as prices kept climbing.

I sure picked a great time to start shopping for a 911. In early 2015 a good deal disappeared as soon as it hit the classifieds. Cars sold in 1 week, several days, even same day. It was going to be difficult to get a good deal on a good car. I went through a few failed attempts at previous cars including spending money on pre-purchase inspections that resulted in more issues than I wanted to deal with. I then stumbled upon a local Craigslist ad for a black 1983 911 SC coupe on a Friday night. After a CarFax report revealed a clean title, I proceeded to bombard the seller’s email and phone number. I was able to secure an appointment to see the car the next morning.

The next morning I was introduced to a very tired SC with over 200,000 miles that had track rat written all over it.

Only major mods were a bolt-in rollbar, a 5-point driver harness, 17” aftermarket wheels, and lots of yellow accents to obviously make it go faster.

I went through all the items that were checked during a previous PPI on another car. Front end paint was thoroughly sandblasted but completely original and no signs of crash damage.

Checked the body and engine numbers and they seemed to match. Engine was very dirty but started easily and felt strong enough during the test drive. Interior was all there, with cracked dash, missing door pockets, and beat headliner. Didn’t have time to dig into the engine to check compression, leak down, and open valve covers, but felt it ran well enough and I could fix the small stuff at my own pace as I had done before with previous vehicles.

I fell instantly and madly in love. It had good bones, was a good price, and was just rough enough for me to enjoy restoring it to its former glory. I was afraid of letting another one slip through my fingers so I decided to pull the trigger. Left a deposit and went back a week later to pay the balance and drive it home. I had just achieved a childhood dream and became a Porsche owner.