On Dec 13, 2003, I embarked upon a journey to buy a 1979 911SC that I had only seen in pictures from a friend's friend. The car was located in Mineapolis, Minnesota and I live in St. Louis, with about 530 miles of road in between.
Normally, that would not have been a big problem, except that the forecast called for snow in Eastern Missouri for Dec 13. I did not want to wait any longer to buy the car though. I had already sent in a deposit to hold the car and the weather was only likely to get worse, not better, as we got deeper into winter. As such, I got in the rental car and off I went to Minnesota.
The trip conditions were not very good as there was snow on the road, the car did not have ABS and the windshield washers were frozen, forcing frequent stops to clear the windshield. However, listening to "The Sigma Protocol" on an audio book, I drove on and reached Mineapolis around 7:00pm. The owner had the car in a well-lit indoor area, so after the formalities, we went to see the car.
I knew I was not paying much for the car, but I did not expect some of the paint flaws I found. The paint has several cracks that I will have to fix. And yet, I was not too terribly disappointed as the owner had warned me that the paint had imperfections. The body seemed "clean" and free of any major rust. The only rust spots I could see were around the headlights, an area my 911-owning friends say is very prone to develop rust, despite the galvanized-steel body.
We fired up the engine, letting the oil warm up, while I was looking the interior and exterior over. With the car, I was getting an installed 930S steering wheel, updated shift boot with a Sparco shift knob, a H4 headlight update kit (with paintable trim rings, not chrome trim rings) in boxes, the Bentley service manual for the car, a car cover and all sorts of front-end covers. There was also a JVC CD player installed in the car, but the passenger-side speaker did not work well.
The tires were pretty much bald (wear-bars showing), so when we went for a drive, I had to be extra careful as there was snow on the ground. I did manage to kill the engine the first time I tried to release the clutch, but then I remembered these 911s need plenty of throttle input when releasing the clutch, so on the next attempt, I got the car moving successfully.
The owner could tell the snow was starting to turn into ice, so we very carefully drove the car for about 5 miles. The turn signals flash very rapidly, so they are useless and the lack of heat made me glad I was wearing my gloves. I was amazed by how good the shift action was. Though the throws are long and wide and there is no return spring for gears 1 and 2, I thought it was a shifter I could live with. Very much unlike some of the 911s I had test driven, a pleasant surprise. I only managed to "knick" the reverse gear twice, while getting used to downshifting to 4th from 5th.
When we returned the car to the parking spot, I admit I was definitely conflicted. I knew I had not expected much from this car, but the lack of heat, bad tires and paint cracks made me wonder if I should walk away from the car. I just did not look forward to driving this car back home through questionable weather. It had been a 10 hour trip and I had not had dinner, so the combination of tiredness and the mild dissapointment with the car were apparently evident on my face and body language. The owner offered to give me back the deposit on the car without any verbal prompt from me. I did consider taking it back more than once, so I asked for a moment alone while I went to wash my hands.
In the restroom, I thought about the uniqueness of a 911, the fact I was not paying much for the car, so I should not get financially hurt and how it would feel to drive a Porsche on a daily basis. Especially on a nice day, revving the engine to 6000rpm with the windows down and the sunroof open. I called my wife and discussed the car a bit. Her response was: "You have been wanting a Porsche to drive around, buy it if it mechanically solid".
So, I signed on the title (not without hesitation) and made arrangements to spend the night at the seller's house, who graciously hosted me. We dropped off the rental car and went for dinner.
After I got some food in my system, I felt a bit better, but I was still apprehensive about what I was getting myself into.
The next morning, I put all my gear in the 911 and bid the seller farewell. Right as I was pulling away from the parking spot, my wife ringed my mobile phone. "Do you know what time it is?", she asked? The clock in the car was not set correctly, so I had no idea. "It is 9:11!" Now, I do not necessarily believe in fate, but THAT was a sign. I zipped up my jacket to my chin (remember, no heat). turned on the CD player (the passenger side speaker worked fine once I put a CD case against it ) and started the journey back home. This trek had adventure written all over it.
Before too long, I realized that there was SOME heat being produced. Not much, but enough to keep all the windows clear and me from freezing.
The tires had some grip, but not too much so I had to be very careful when the road curved. The direct (non-power-assisted) steering felt pretty good, even at low speeds, and I was beginning to appreciate the 930S steering wheel on this car. It does wonders to update the looks of the car's interior (as I do not care too much for the original 3-spoke steering wheel these cars came with).
The engine?
Ah, the engine... In other cars, one may have to turn down the stereo in order to be able to listen to the engine. Not in this car though. ;-) Once it started getting close to 3500rpm, the engine note was very serious. Even though it is a 3.0L engine, there is a definite change in engine response once the engine hits about 3500rpm, the torque curve is certainly not flat. The car does not complaint when driving in 5th gear at 1800rpm, but to get acceleration worth of a sports car, one must have over 3000rpm on the tachometer.
I must admit I was concerned about getting a headache, so I put on some foam ear-plugs, turned up the stereo so I could hear it and drove on. I could and feel the engine and settled into a good pace. The roads were occassionally wet, but free of snow. The suspension did not feel very stiff, but I could detect very little body roll and weight transfer. Maybe the lower ride height of this European-specification model aids that. Overall, it was not a punishing ride.
I stopped in a couple of places to re-fuel and took some pictures as the car was getting more and more covered with mud and salt spray, but the trip was uneventful.
And yet, the best was yet to come...