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RAMBLE ALERT... This has been a rather interesting thread given the cross section through that which may be the past, and more importantly recent baby boomer experience in things automotive, as well as perceptions of altering values as we make our way through life with ever ageing bodies..
As ever a blue collar type, my earnings were so related. Fortunately for me, I was mechanically minded and machines ever fascinated me from my earliest days.
My first car was a frog eye Sprite and a steep lesson in the way corrosion can affect structural integrity.. As the years passed I came to own an old 60`s Lotus Elan, a Europa, all be it with a Renault engine, for sure MGB and Miget along with Soitfire, hot Mini`s, Ford Escorts and more, all mostly dragged out of scrap yards or saved from a slow death rotting quietly in back gardens and the like, all of which equated to a reasonably wide range of automotive experience gained in time.
I had ever considered the Porsche 911 to be no more than a souped up Beetle, which I suppose was pretty close to the truth..?
I guess my Porsche appreciation eventually came about as the result of reading many articles in the classic press which reported Porsche winning in sporting events as diverse as the Paris Dakar and 24hrs at Le Mans. Thus during the 70`s fuel crisis I swapped my Mk1 Jensen Interceptor (7672cc Chrysler V8..!) for a well rotted 60`s Porsche 912, which I nailed together over the period of a year or so. During that year I came to appreciate just how well engineered the Porsche was, and once on the road the hook was set, thus over the next decade and more, followed the ownership of a 77 911 and then an 82, 911 SC.. Compared to all else I had worked on before these air cooled Porsches felt as if carved out of the solid and ready to go anywhere any time... Corrosion issues...? Porsche had started galvanising the bodies circa 1977 on, though in the 90`s at ten years old I was repairing some corrosion on my SC.... and that was circa 30 years ago, what that car or any of it`s type might be like today...Buyer beware...?
Porsche has been around and ever evolving over baby boomer lifetimes, and as such it would seem nostalgia may play a part in creating our Porsche ideals relative to a particular model year or type..if we have any such,,?
As for the 993, I had the opportunity to test one such and over my favourite roads at it`s UK launch and thought it a wonderfully competent machine, though on climbing back into my then 100k mile SC, I had driven no more than a mile before I came to think that the 993 had evolved to become a GT compared to the sports car which my 911 SC was, and that the 993 required to be driven at a much higher rate of knots to provide the a similar sense of driver involvement as that of my old SC. The 993 was smoother, more comfortable, easier to drive fast, with it`s servo brakes, power steering and new front and rear suspension design, thus gone was the degree of nervousness', effort and degree of skill required to keep my old Porsche out of the hedges, all of which made the 911 a somewhat involving driving experience, more so than the 993. Who was it said relativity plays a part..? Each to their own.
I have oft typed of searching for a more involved driving experience, and ended up owning my rebuilt 85/6 +8, bought in 2002 to enjoy driving around the loch-side roads and through the glens hereabouts, though my good lady had ideas of a visit to Le Mans, then a year later driving down to Andalusia, and home via Portugal. Our next European adventure was down to Sorrento, thus in those early years of Morgan ownership I experienced quite a bit of .. err.. "driver involvement," and perhaps more importantly also learned just how reliable a pre digital Morgan can be, even on such lengthy trips, I suspect even today it could match it`s previous performance, now having owned it for circa 21years..
After those early Morgan adventures I then set about a self build home extension project, which doubled the volume of our house the major part of which took me circa 7 years, and during that time the old Mog lived in the garage surrounded by building materials of all types, and as the project eased off the effect of the works on my 60 + stiffening body, which also around that time had enjoyed the addition of a couple of stents in my heart.... Thus on blood thinners and feeling the cold more than before, the thought of trying to access and egress the +8 caused me to consider selling it and replacing it with a tin top sports car. I did half heartedly mention on here that I was interested in selling the old Mog, which never came to anything, but my tin top thinking came to a head during Covid lockdown when I bought a rather nice Porsche Carrera 4S as opposed to my initial idea of buying another 911 SC or perhaps 3.2 Carrera....
Why the C4S..? My good lady had become used to driving her automatic cars for a few years and as part of the excuse to buy a PDK equipped Porsche was that it could double up as transport for her if/when her car might be off the road... Sandra had driven my SC in the 90`s and enjoyed it, but on arriving home having spent her day with the 991, she proclaimed "this car really suits me, the seat fits perfectly and is very comfortable, I have good all round vision, even in the mirrors, and I like the performance too......RESULT..?
In time we had issues with her car, which on the first occasion took LR three weeks before they could look at it, a similar fault a month or two later and the estimate was seven weeks before they could book it in... Enough was enough. By this time My good lady had become unwell, but still determined to enjoy life, she decided that a Tesla might just be the way to go.... She put a lot of time into researching everything related to all things Tesla, unfortunately she never ever got to drive her Tesla, though we did have one run in it together.
Today I have through accident more than design come to own three cars, both the Morgan and now Porsche have varying degrees of sentimental value attached, and the Tesla suits the old man I have become... Hmm..!
The 991 is far more of a GT than the 993 ever was, and like the 993 is likely to be in comparison, in that back in the 90`s while the 993 was so much easier during braking, handling corners, and accelerating than my old SC ever could be, thus times for the 993 from A to B, even when sticking to speed limits on A and B roads would have been quite a bit less than that of my SC , however in that regard even more than the in the 993, the 991 would again be quite a bit faster A to B at road legal speeds though the 991 is also likely to be even less involved as a driver experience than my old SC as best I remember it.
If you might think the four wheel drive of the 991C4S might make it impossible to enjoy in any way, other than at the very high speeds it`s circa 400 HP can take it to.... think again (-: Should you care to beam up this vid, you might find it interesting...?
While the C4S is a wonderful machine, given the amount of sensors and wiring in it`s makeup, it is unlikely to match the reliability or build quality in some areas of my then 10 year old SC, or for that matter even my old Morgan, given the Morgan had the benefit of a nut and bolt strip down and rebuild by a renown Morgan expert, who was the chap I bought it from..
I would not have bought any water cooled 911 derivative Porsche pre 997.2, given the possible engine issues.
On the other hand, the Tesla fits well into my required usage as a "daily" and used irregularly, only ever charged at home given it`s circa 270 mile Summer usage range, and thus likely to be in use until I may no longer drive as it is so simple to use.
During more recent years the old Mog was hardly made use of from Covid on, and for obvious other reasons, however I did tax it at the start of Sept and had it out for a run on a nice warm day.... Boy did it make me feel alive again, whether driving reasonably quickly with it`s exhaust roaring, or just bumbling along narrow lanes soaking in all that was around me...If your Morgan Porsche or whatever car was once thought of as special, by you, can no longer can provide enough pleasure and sense of well being on each occasion you fire it up.... Then perhaps it is time to look elsewhere to find some sense of engagement that might better fit one`s evolving circumstances.
