Two sheds are better than one. Porsche 944 & BMW E30
Discussion
Sitting down to write this I realise most of the cars I have owned have been what this forum would call sheds. Apart from a Mazda MX-3 I had many moons ago and a more recent BMW E39 all of my cars have been bought for between £300 to £1500 each (I know, technically 1k is top shed money). So, having finally got my hands on a double garage this year I needed to fill it up with some interesting shed material for general barging, hooning, tinkering, trading and something nice to look at.
First up was the product of many hours scanning the classifieds/ebay looking for a Porsche 944. There was a lovely Manual 928 for sale nearby in Bristol which had dropped from 6k to 4.5k. Not shed money, but very tempting, however the V8 running costs on top of the sale price meant my head ruled my heart. Finally I spotted a 1988 944s 16v, a red S1 car but thankfully with the later oval dash. The pictures & advert were not great, which I guessed would put off other punters along with the side skirts, but it looked 90% straight, and had a new MOT. It also had some 17” OZ racing split rim wheels which I figured could be traded to off-set costs should the car in fact be a lemon. As the car was 4 hours away there was no question of looking first so I stuck in a bid of £1100 and sat tight.
On the evening of the auction end I watched the clock tick down, one other bidder joined the fun...now up to £1250. Not wanting to pay too much for a car I had not seen in the metal I decided £1500 would still be cheap for a 944 with a MOT even if I had to break into parts. After a few nail bites, it was finally mine at £1470.
A week later I set of with my sister to Kent to find the vehicle sat outside the owners place a few metres from the coast near Folkestone. The interior was looking rather abused (and funky smelling) thanks to the owners wife being a dog breeder. It was also badly misted up due to the extreme climate control settings and the heavy rain that day. Despite this it certainly did not deserve to be lurking near the white cliffs and still had plenty of life left in it. I ignored the previous owners general over enthusiasm for the car and his claim that “you’ll not find any rust!” (I had already spotted some) and I handed over the readies.
Despite the relentless rain and having to keep in touch with my sister who was following in my old Proton I really enjoyed the drive back to Somerset. The exhaust is non standard and particularly loud around 3-4000 rpm but after driving a Proton and a diesel Citroen XM this year it was nice to be enjoying something more involving again. The best bit for me was glancing in the door mirror each time and seeing that classic 944 wheel arch bulge. I really had just bought a Porsche! Even though I lust for an Italian classic one day I was happy to be taking on a Stuttgart rival. Thankfully the car did not overheat (as I half expected) in the summer traffic jams near Stonehenge on the A303 either so I decided I was winning already.
I then chose to christen her “Sabine”, after a certain female Germanic ringmeister.
Fist jobs... hoover, clean, polish, fit new wipers, remove crap window stickers, fit new pedal rubbers, replace gearstick gaiter, fix the courtesy lights, fix a leaky coolant hose and... that was it for starters. Lots of jobs still to look at though and parts to service but I will write about them one by one afterwards rather that put myself off by listing them all here!
The rear seats are completely useless for human beings, but I find one holds my camera bag perfectly, while the other holds my karting helmet secure....
I am also considering vinyl wrapping the main part of the alloys in black and keeping the polished rim to get that proper 80’s Porsche look. My only concern is the lack of rim dish at the front. Perhaps I should trade for some OEM black rims??
So far I have enjoyed driving and owning the 944. I am still surprised by how much interest people seem to have in her. When I were a lad 944s were pretty common and almost invisible, but since owning this I have yet to pass another on the road. My new “Porsche radar” only spots Boxsters & the newer style 911s. Must be all those PH’ers keepin them tucked away for the next trackday?? Edit: I refuse to consider Cayennes as real Porsches.
Next up, I needed something to keep Sabine the 944 company, and hopefully something to replace the crappy Proton as my daily commuter. Having had an E39 & E36 in the past I still had the BMW itch which needed scratching further. As the car needed to be a daily hack I resisted the urge of a classic 635i and decided I needed an E30 touring. For me the front of the E30 is just iconic and knowing these cars are quite light I was prepared to look/consider the sub 2 litre models (although of course I wanted a 325).
Good E30’s are top money, bad ones are cheap but some bad E30’s are over-priced also. Sticking to my theory that honest but not flashy ads were the ones to go for I was drawn to a 1991 “J”, white non-sunroof 318i Touring with ABS & Air-Con. The ad was honest about some surface rust and one rotten scuttle corner, and also about the lumpy idle. It did have spotless BBS alloys and a clean cloth interior so again I figured £500 would see me keep in pocket should it be the lemon lurking round the corner.
Plenty of recent history..
Got the train up to South London, met Terry the vendor, lovely chap who has a passion for all things E30. Terry went through the extensive service history with me. It even had a new cylinder head as a good will gesture by the garage that cocked something up! It was raining heavily, which seems to be a common theme of my car purchases (it snowed when I bought my Alfa 156), but despite rain and the noisy old Panasonic cassette player the little 318 hummed back to Somerset along the M25/M4/M5 without issue.
The boot always makes me chuckle, suppose BMW wanted to save a few quid by keeping the saloon lamps...
Only a small crack lets the dash down...
The interior cleaned up really well. I am considering fitting a BMW business CD unit but on the other hand it gives me an excuse to play some old cassettes and maintain that retro vibe. The car has yet to be named, so any suitable suggestions? Get in quick before my trusty sister comes up with some suitably cringe worthy moniker as she likes to do.
Speaking of retro vibe, I had always liked the way European 70’s & 80’s (particularly French) cars had that yellow headlamp tint. After seeing a few E30 pictures with that look I decided to follow suit. I really like the result. It may be a bit marmite for some but it really does increase the contrast when on full beam, just like adding a yellow or red filter does with black & white photographs.
I have even applied it to the Porsche (awaits frowns & generally mocking).
So my retro car adventure starts. Will they survive the winter months?
First up was the product of many hours scanning the classifieds/ebay looking for a Porsche 944. There was a lovely Manual 928 for sale nearby in Bristol which had dropped from 6k to 4.5k. Not shed money, but very tempting, however the V8 running costs on top of the sale price meant my head ruled my heart. Finally I spotted a 1988 944s 16v, a red S1 car but thankfully with the later oval dash. The pictures & advert were not great, which I guessed would put off other punters along with the side skirts, but it looked 90% straight, and had a new MOT. It also had some 17” OZ racing split rim wheels which I figured could be traded to off-set costs should the car in fact be a lemon. As the car was 4 hours away there was no question of looking first so I stuck in a bid of £1100 and sat tight.
On the evening of the auction end I watched the clock tick down, one other bidder joined the fun...now up to £1250. Not wanting to pay too much for a car I had not seen in the metal I decided £1500 would still be cheap for a 944 with a MOT even if I had to break into parts. After a few nail bites, it was finally mine at £1470.
A week later I set of with my sister to Kent to find the vehicle sat outside the owners place a few metres from the coast near Folkestone. The interior was looking rather abused (and funky smelling) thanks to the owners wife being a dog breeder. It was also badly misted up due to the extreme climate control settings and the heavy rain that day. Despite this it certainly did not deserve to be lurking near the white cliffs and still had plenty of life left in it. I ignored the previous owners general over enthusiasm for the car and his claim that “you’ll not find any rust!” (I had already spotted some) and I handed over the readies.
Despite the relentless rain and having to keep in touch with my sister who was following in my old Proton I really enjoyed the drive back to Somerset. The exhaust is non standard and particularly loud around 3-4000 rpm but after driving a Proton and a diesel Citroen XM this year it was nice to be enjoying something more involving again. The best bit for me was glancing in the door mirror each time and seeing that classic 944 wheel arch bulge. I really had just bought a Porsche! Even though I lust for an Italian classic one day I was happy to be taking on a Stuttgart rival. Thankfully the car did not overheat (as I half expected) in the summer traffic jams near Stonehenge on the A303 either so I decided I was winning already.
I then chose to christen her “Sabine”, after a certain female Germanic ringmeister.
Fist jobs... hoover, clean, polish, fit new wipers, remove crap window stickers, fit new pedal rubbers, replace gearstick gaiter, fix the courtesy lights, fix a leaky coolant hose and... that was it for starters. Lots of jobs still to look at though and parts to service but I will write about them one by one afterwards rather that put myself off by listing them all here!
The rear seats are completely useless for human beings, but I find one holds my camera bag perfectly, while the other holds my karting helmet secure....
I am also considering vinyl wrapping the main part of the alloys in black and keeping the polished rim to get that proper 80’s Porsche look. My only concern is the lack of rim dish at the front. Perhaps I should trade for some OEM black rims??
So far I have enjoyed driving and owning the 944. I am still surprised by how much interest people seem to have in her. When I were a lad 944s were pretty common and almost invisible, but since owning this I have yet to pass another on the road. My new “Porsche radar” only spots Boxsters & the newer style 911s. Must be all those PH’ers keepin them tucked away for the next trackday?? Edit: I refuse to consider Cayennes as real Porsches.
Next up, I needed something to keep Sabine the 944 company, and hopefully something to replace the crappy Proton as my daily commuter. Having had an E39 & E36 in the past I still had the BMW itch which needed scratching further. As the car needed to be a daily hack I resisted the urge of a classic 635i and decided I needed an E30 touring. For me the front of the E30 is just iconic and knowing these cars are quite light I was prepared to look/consider the sub 2 litre models (although of course I wanted a 325).
Good E30’s are top money, bad ones are cheap but some bad E30’s are over-priced also. Sticking to my theory that honest but not flashy ads were the ones to go for I was drawn to a 1991 “J”, white non-sunroof 318i Touring with ABS & Air-Con. The ad was honest about some surface rust and one rotten scuttle corner, and also about the lumpy idle. It did have spotless BBS alloys and a clean cloth interior so again I figured £500 would see me keep in pocket should it be the lemon lurking round the corner.
Plenty of recent history..
Got the train up to South London, met Terry the vendor, lovely chap who has a passion for all things E30. Terry went through the extensive service history with me. It even had a new cylinder head as a good will gesture by the garage that cocked something up! It was raining heavily, which seems to be a common theme of my car purchases (it snowed when I bought my Alfa 156), but despite rain and the noisy old Panasonic cassette player the little 318 hummed back to Somerset along the M25/M4/M5 without issue.
The boot always makes me chuckle, suppose BMW wanted to save a few quid by keeping the saloon lamps...
Only a small crack lets the dash down...
The interior cleaned up really well. I am considering fitting a BMW business CD unit but on the other hand it gives me an excuse to play some old cassettes and maintain that retro vibe. The car has yet to be named, so any suitable suggestions? Get in quick before my trusty sister comes up with some suitably cringe worthy moniker as she likes to do.
Speaking of retro vibe, I had always liked the way European 70’s & 80’s (particularly French) cars had that yellow headlamp tint. After seeing a few E30 pictures with that look I decided to follow suit. I really like the result. It may be a bit marmite for some but it really does increase the contrast when on full beam, just like adding a yellow or red filter does with black & white photographs.
I have even applied it to the Porsche (awaits frowns & generally mocking).
So my retro car adventure starts. Will they survive the winter months?
_Batty_ said:
Couple of pics in Cheddar gorge I see. Where in somerset are you? Plenty of action to get involved with around here, would really like to see the 944 
Well spotted. I am based on the A39 between Glastonbury & Bridgwater. In the past I have attended a few Cheddar gatherings, and look forward to a few more to come. I see you run an Alfa AND a VX220, now that is a nice pair!
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