Must be getting old....

[katim]

I thought I'd found my dream car in January when I bought a very low mileage 993 Targa tip in silver and in lovely condition - virtually 'as new'. Six months on and I still think the car's wonderful.... but it's too good for the use it's getting from me!

I'd love to go hooning around the country, but I don't get any support from my other half on this - and I've been too long married to want to upset her. On the road, she's unhappy with the Targa's ability to pick up speed at the blink of an eye and the ride's very different from that in our previous 928, so I find myself poodling along at saloon car speeds. I might as well be driving her Honda Civic!

So, what now? There seems little point in holding onto a car as nice as this for the occasional short run. I know enough about Porsche depreciation (having owned a 928S4 for seven years) to want to avoid having a 'garage queen' that's simply pouring money down the drain.

Is there a market out there for Targas? Any advice gratefully accepted.

[katim]

Melv said:

katim said: Any advice gratefully accepted. Get a new wife........... Mel

Hmmmmm....

Tempting, but she owns half the house, so I'd have to find a rich wife, too. Bit too much like hard work at my age!

Thanks for your offer, Jamie, but that's 'frying pan..fire" stuff. Nice-looking car, though!

At the moment, my thoughts are revolving around "Sell the Targa and the Honda and buy something with some style and power that we both can drive" - her without scaring herself silly (I don't want to end up being a chauffeur for her every outing), and me for outings with some oomph. What's that Audi/Porsche like?

[katim]

Butzi said:

How about RELATE ?!? Seriously though, how about using the 993 as a Special occasion car like going out to parties/dinner, and occ track days for yourself, and drive the Civic the rest of the time.

Thanks Butzi - in effect, that's what happens now, and it's that that I'm querying. It just seems rather a waste of a superb car. I must admit that I dread the thought of parting with it because it's everything I'd hoped for, but it's a bit like owning a thoroughbred horse. If I owned one of those, I'd feel cruel keeping it shut in its stable. In a funny sort of way, I feel the same about the car!

I'll probably get over it - it's helpful to talk about it, and I'm grateful for the comments.

[katim]

Buffalo said:

What about flasher's massa..?

Another nice car! Worth thinking about if I go down the route of replacing both cars, though I know next to nothing about this marque. Thanks for the idea, though.

[katim]

dazren said:

Drive the car on your own just for the hell of it. DAZ

In effect, that's what I have to do at the moment. When Mrs K and I go out together in the Targa - and I bought it with a view to longish touring trips, exploring Britain - I just have to keep her anxieties in mind.

That's why I'm wondering whether I've got the balance right in our two cars. If I were swap the motoring 'investment' of around £40K to, say, a BMW 3 or 5 series saloon for touring and an older (964?) Porsche for my solo outings, I wonder whether that would that be a better balance for the investment? I've no experience of older 911s, though I read 911 & Porsche World avidly. I don't fancy buying something unreliable, but there ought to be something decent available in the £15-20K range - the trick is finding the right one.

Somehow, I intend to continue my Porsche motoring in a 911. I've read a lot about the 924/944/968 cars and I've owned a 928, and I'm not keen on that route. It's got to be an air-cooled 911, but which one!?

Thanks to everyone who has commented - it's good to talk (to quote BT). I shan't make any instant decisions because there's no immediate hurry, but it's proving a difficult question to think through!

Ken

[katim]

Melv said:

You could always try slowing down when she's in the car? Mel

"Ay, there's the rub..."

That's what I'm having to do now, and that's why I think I'm doing the car no favours - hence my wondering about whether I ought to think about changing.
Besides, it's not easy to drive a Porsche slowly, as I'm sure everyone who owns one will know! Even at motorway speeds - typically those of other press-on motorists - it feels as though I'm having to hold back all the time. I used to ride a big bike and the sensation of being able to simply think myself past any other traffic is very similar. I just have to control the urge!
However, the more I think about it, the more I realise that parting from the 993 would be very difficult, so I'll wait to see what our various plans for touring this summer bring about. Who knows, perhaps my other half will end up wanting to drive the car and getting as bitten by the bug as I am!

Butzi said:

Ever thought about a 356? not too fast for her and yet bags of character and tons of fun, esp the convertible.

Another interesting idea! I've never driven a 356 of any variety, so perhaps that needs some exploration, if only to broaden my knowledge. However, I'll be surprised if it turns me away from a 911 as the sportscar of choice.

[katim]

Los Angeles said:

.... does your wife not understand the quality of the car, or does she prefer something less obvious, mundane, like a Mondeo? Has she driven the Targa? Perhaps a few fun hours on a track might help her get used to and enjoy its charms, not necessarily racing it, but driving it without traffic hinderance ... or you beside her. Just a thought.

Sorry not to have commented before on this - missed it! Yes, she understands that the car's special and she knows me well enough to know that I wouldn't buy a 'dog'. I've given her a spell in the driving seat, but it's not her cup of tea - it reacts too fast to input and therefore needs a bit more experience than she has. And track days aren't an option in her book - total lack of interest in driving.
As I hinted at the beginning of this thread, perhaps we're both getting too old! I still enjoy fast cars and fast driving, but she has entirely different interests on that score. To her, a car is really only a convenient way of getting from A to B.
Thanks for taking the trouble to post a reply - I hope you find yourself a Targa to enjoy soon!

Ken

[katim]

Los Angeles said:

..... a tamer vehicle is the order of the day. It just doesn't have to be anodyne, without personality.You have lots to choose from. (And I'll look after the 911 Targa until you want it back.)

You're right, of course - there are lots of very nice 'tamer vehicles' about: I've owned quite a few of them in the past and enjoyed them, too. But the Porsche bug was lurking in my psyche and had been ever since I saw my first one back in the sixties, in Germany. While bringing up a family, I couldn't afford the luxury. It wasn't until the kids were off my hands that we could start looking at two cars, with one of them a sportscar. Once that was agreed, it had to be a Porsche!
In a line-up of desirables, including Ferrari, Aston Martin, Lamborghini etc, I'd go for the Porsche every time. (Actually, I'd probably go for the most expensive car there so that I could trade it for the Porsche I wanted, leaving money to spend on enjoying it!)
BTW thanks for the offer to look after mine - I'll bear it in mind when the time comes!

Harris_I said:

.....My wife has never been a car person (to her a 3 pointed star meant you had arrived), but over the years she has come round to at least accepting she is married to an anorak who can quote power to weight ratios verbatim. She hates being thrown around, but loves the idea of sitting (and turning up) in a Porsche. As would most non-car people.... Better still, take a long weekend away, again with friends and their wives, and every evening duck out of the hotel in a convoy over Snake Pass (or wherever), and leave the wives to natter indoors. Sorted.

Thanks for that - good to know I'm not alone in this problem! And the suggestions are helpful - I'll be trying them out over these summer months and hoping to offset my concern about under-using the car!
I suppose one of my hang-ups is the constant carping on various of the Pistonheads forums about sportscars in the hands of the elderly! There's obviously a certain amount of jealousy in such remarks and I can remember feeling the same way when I was a young driver, but we all have to grow old and it's usually only the lucky - or highly talented - younger people who can afford the luxury of a sportscar. Now that I can afford the car of my dreams, I'd like to enjoy it - even if I don't want to thrash it to bits on a track.
I wonder how many other Porsche owners are in the same boat or feel the same way?

[katim]

Los Angeles said:

Paul Newman is 78 and ....could show many a boy racer a thing or two. It is not the getting in the car that is a problem, he says, it is getting out.

Thanks for the offer of your video, but I won't put you to the trouble: I don't need convincing about Newman's abilities - I'm a fan!
However, I know what he means about the getting out - my garage is very narrow and, if I put the car well over to the passenger's side, I still have only a very small gap to get out. It's an ungainly manoeuvre at the best of times, but it's not as bad as when I had my 928. Its doors were much longer and the gap even narrower - eight inches if I'd taken the car in with no more than an inch clearance on the nearside!

I'm not in as good shape as Newman despite being several years younger, but I'm not yet into 'pipe and slippers'. I still enjoy driving and I find speed restrictions as irritating as the next man, so I probably bend them as often as not. However, I suspect that my years give me a more mature reaction to being carved up by boy-racers - I know I can return the compliment easily, but I seldom take the bait. Being a bit more mature has its compensations, at least in terms of safe driving!

[katim]

Thanks Steve - I'll have a good look into that. I suppose I've been a bit put off in the past by watching racing and seeing the damage done. However, following the various threads on the PH forums suggests that there are others like me who seem to be able to enjoy the days without feeling the need to compete!

Have you seen Targas on these trackdays? And what about Tiptronics?

[katim]

Steve,
I've now had a look at your website and tips, so I'm much better informed - thanks! I take the point about the aim of the exercise and will give it much thought. I'll look out for you when I make my first booking!
Incidentally, I much enjoyed your Highland tour advice - I've never driven in the Highlands, but that's really tempting! I'll have to see if I can tempt my other half to do that tour - it looks like glorious driving country. Perhaps in late August.....

[katim]

will_t said:

....... I think you should keep the Targa and have fun when you can. An occasional track day will be all you need Will

Thanks Will - I'm coming around to that point of view, thanks to all the helpful comments on this thread. There's a certain sense of relief in realising that I shouldn't be hasty about this and I should make time to enjoy the car! I'll do that before taking any further decisions - I've some quality time planned for it over the summer, part of which includes a run down to Cornwall and then into Wales. I might even manage to do that Highland tour, too. If all that fails to convince my better half of the joys of Porsche motoring, only then will it be time to put my thinking cap on again.

Ken

[katim]

Probably - it's certainly a factor in the thinking. I'd like to think I was mature enough not to let it affect the decision, but I guess we're all human! I'd wince every time I saw a Porsche, thinking "That could have been me."

Anyway, I've put the question on the back burner for the time being, hoping to enjoy the summer's motoring and, in the process, to have convinced my other half that she's better off with a happy husband!
I must emphasise, though, that she's not been trying to get rid of the car - she's just not happy in it at speed, which limits the enjoyment of outings in it together. The way round that is to do my speeding solo, as various of the replies on this thread have recommended.

Enough said on this topic, I think - you've all been very helpful and I now have a clear way ahead - right foot hard down!

Ken