PH Carpool: Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2
How much can you love an 80s 911? Quite a lot, going by our next Porsche-loving Carpooler
Car: 1988 Porsche 911 Carrera
Owned since: 2008
Previously owned: Porsche 944 S2 Cab
It started with a Martini liveried Scalextric car...
My original Porsche passion was sparked by a Scalextric Porsche when I was about eight. It had wide arches and was covered in the Martini sponsorship livery. I also had the Escort Mexico but could never see myself aspiring to owning a Ford! I found my car at eporsch in Surrey and part ex'd my 944 for it.
What I wish I'd known
The one overwhelming aspect of what to look for when buying an old 911 is the condition of the body, closely followed by the mechanicals and then the service history. Mechanically they are almost bulletproof, but it's the bodywork that suffers on a car this age and can cost large amounts of cash to put right.
I test drove about eight cars ranging from £12,000 to £16,000 and ended up spending £14,500. I spent £250 early on to get a report done on a £12K car and walked away from it when the report came back. This, however, gave me loads of information on stuff to look for on other cars. I use my 3.2 as a daily driver and in nearly four years it has left me stranded four times. Once because the DME relay gave out, the other three because I left the lights on all day!
Thank you Downton Abbey for the nice paintwork
EVERY time I open the garage door in the morning I feel like a pilot about to board a sleeping fighter jet that's been sitting in the hanger overnight. If I'm sitting on the M4 at 70 I'll put the stereo on but sometimes I'll just listen to the flat-six humming as I watch all the Euro boxes around me fighting for individuality. A special treat for me is to have an A- or B-road as part of my journey to work. Down come the windows, back goes the sunroof and there's no other car on the planet I'd rather be driving.
Things I hate:
Downsides of owning a late-80s 911 are few. My biggest hurdle is having the time to fix things when they wear out. Over time I've fixed a slightly sticking throttle cable, an indicator stalk, a ratting glove box and a noisy blower motor. Other more serious issues have been to get the rear anti-roll bar re-welded and one of the sills needed attention. I recently had a glass-out respray which left the car leaking in heavy rain. However, I have new seals to fit at some point soon.
I suppose the biggest difficulty I have is people who see a Porsche and think 'boy racer' or 'yuppie' (I know, I didn't think they existed any more!). I usually point out they could be driving one for less than the price of the Golf of Mondeo they're sat in. Then there's the folk who just say it's a squashed Beetle. I'm still working on a short reply for that one.
Costs
I can squeeeeeze 450 miles out of a tank, which costs about 100 quid these days but happily average 400. That includes some motorway cruising with a few B-road blats thrown in. Parts are generally cheap enough as there are loads of these cars about and some terrific forums (like impactbumpers.com) can show you where to go for them. I recently needed to get some new window strips to replace the ones that had been bent by a rubbish windscreen replacement company in Cardiff. New they're about £50 a side for the front and about the same for the back. RS911 in mid-Wales, however, were £40 quid for the lot secondhand but you'd be hard pushed to say they weren't straight from the packet. Mark, who runs it, couldn't have been more helpful.
Research paid dividends when choosing his 911
My favourite trips so far are when it's a crisp early morning with nothing else on the road, windows down and the tunes of the engine bouncing of the hedgerows as I blat down the B-roads to work.
What next?
I thought briefly about a Cayman but decided the practicality and the personality of my car are too much to part with, so I'm not selling it! I've got loads of plans for tuning the engine, getting it corner-balanced and tidying the interior. I'd like to get some brighter bulbs for the headlights and a posh Bluetooth iPod stereo. Upgraded suspension and poly bushes are all on the cards too but, when you think about it, an awful lot of very talented people ate, slept and breathed this design for a very long time so I don't think I'll be fiddling with it too much!
On a practical note what you must be conscious of are:
1) When you buy a car such as this make sure that it is one that there is evidence of the owner looking after it. Lots of receipts for regular maintenance and keeping the car in good condition are essential. If maintenance is not kept up to date then you could be facing big bills.
2) The need for top end rebuilds are common, these can cost thousands, so maybe look for one that has had one already - from a respected independent.
3) Use it regularly - if you do it keeps everything working and in good nick. If you use it very occasionally it seems to "stiffen up" and things stop working.
4) Budget for £2k - £2.5 per year (on average) to keep it in tip top condition. This is why I had to sell mine in the end, because I could not afford to look after it properly any more.
I too used mine as a daily driver and still miss them today, I'd get another one in a heartbeat!
And the reason I got rid of them - guilt! No garage space and I just couldn't cope with the worry of them rotting on the drive in winter time!
Still, lovely cars, glad to see them used as daily drivers
If you try and buy cheaply, a world of potential pain awaits.
MTR
What actually happened was all of the above apart from the effort of actually trying to sell it, which was restricted to asking the people I knew who were the least likely to want an 80s 911 (my Mum, her geriatric neighbour, my 14 year old cousin) and then passing it off as a difficult market.
When it eventually went, it went for £900 less than we'd paid for it 5 years earlier (and had been depreciated as an asset during that time, so effectively gave us back a cash lump) so everyone was happy. Except for me. I still miss it when I read articles like these.
Still, that's only a minor niggle with a car that has become a great friend over the years I've owned it. After walking up Plynlimon a couple of years ago, I had a absolutely magical early evening run from there to the English border... every time I saw something in the distance, it turned off before I reached it. I've never quite managed to see an indicated 150 mph during long distance runs in Germany but I've managed to touch 145 mph several times, although I can't deny that things get a little twitchy at that speed in my non-spoilered (yet in all other ways sport specced) car. The car is mainly for B-road fun, so the missing spoilers don't make a big difference overall - just don't attempt any tighter curves on older autobahns when flat out.
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