Got to drive the "icon" today...

And I think I'm in love. Yeah I giggled like a kid. A friend let me take his 911 out for a short spin today, oh man I'm in trouble. Never got it out of second with any aggression from the right foot, but dddddaaaayum, your ear and mind say shift but when you glance down I realized I had just short shifted 1500rpm before coming close to the redline. It just kept pulling, torque everywhere, and I thought a miata talked to you. Jeez... turned down a little road that went about 170* the opposite way, and gassed it a little coming around the corner, and the rear stepped out just a tiny bit. Quick counter steer and it was going right where I wanted it. I could really see that as a daily. Only issue I had was looking like a putz getting started, between the floor mounted clutch pedal and not being used to a mechanical clutch I found it very hard to be smooth on take off.

Oh and before I forget, thanks again man!

What year? We have a '91 that is unlike anything I've ever driven... and I mean that in a good way.

thought this thread was about those Land Rover replicas

LOL latest issue has an article on the 911 dubbing the icon.

I want to say it was an 83 SC Targa, sorry it took my brain awhile to wrap around the giddy overload. I failed to ask the exact year. I do know it was an 80's model.

Yep, 83.

Ohhh..........that car....

Woody wrote: Ohhh..........*that* car....

Yeah...........that one. 8)

Not sure if I ever mentioned this or not, but I actually bought that as a parts car...

Well let's just say I'm looking for one within the next year or so.

In reply to Woody:
I am VERY glad it turned out to be worthy of saving. If it wasn't available at that price I would never have been able to buy it.
The 80's 911 is at an interesting point where the great examples and savable examples of an Iconic sports car are available in the $8k-$20k range. The tricky part is throughout that range there are total money pits. I bought mine below the bottom of that price range due to a combination of lust and GRM trust. It makes me happy that it looks like I bought a savable example.

I was very close to grabbing the wrenches and taking that car in a different direction. I even had a rolling pallet for the engine. But then it snowed...

When the snow started to melt, I decided to fiddle around a bit and see what I could do. My wife was not happy about this, because she had visions of me getting it running and then keeping it. Things just kind of kept falling into place and it became obvious to me that the car's mechanical condition was much better than I had expected. It just had to overcome the effects of a little inactivity. It seemed like a ton of work, but in fact I only had the car for about a month.

I'm glad that it survived so other people can enjoy it. It even made me start liking Targas again...

Well needless to say I'm on the lookout for a 911 parts car. :D starting with something rough, and going from there won't hurt my feelings any. nor upset the purists if I choose to personalize it a bit.

I wasn't even looking for one. One morning, it showed up during my daily search of Craigslist for parts. I knew immediately that I had to buy it. I made a couple of phone calls to the seller, he sent a few more photos, I went to the bank to grab some cash and hauled it home. You just have the be ready, and a little lucky.

Incidentally, I hope it's still not wearing those tires. I suck at math, but they've got to be at least 20 years old.

Woody wrote: Incidentally, I hope it's still not wearing those tires. I suck at math, but they've got to be at least 20 years old.

Lol-I plead the fifth.

The car has actually spent most of it's time parked waiting on me to find time to fix the few things it needs to become a DD. Next up is the oil leak dripping on the passenger side exhaust.

MrJoshua said: Next up is the oil leak dripping on the passenger side exhaust.

Is it dripping from the valve covers? Or the "S" shaped rubber hose? If the hose go I'd go ahead and replace it now. That "S" hose is the main hose between the oil tank and the oil cooler. All of the oil to cool your motor goes through that hose and they can become brittle and split.

Spinout007-- let us know when you start looking, it's always fun to spend other peoples $$$$$.

I'm going to drive a couple of them next week. Can't wait 8)

octavious wrote:

MrJoshua said: Next up is the oil leak dripping on the passenger side exhaust.

Is it dripping from the valve covers? Or the "S" shaped rubber hose? If the hose go I'd go ahead and replace it now. That "S" hose is the main hose between the oil tank and the oil cooler. All of the oil to cool your motor goes through that hose and they can become brittle and split. Spinout007-- let us know when you start looking, it's always fun to spend other peoples $$$$$.

Neither unfortunately. It appears to be leaking from one of the possible places behind the fuel injection on top of the motor.

When I was around 21 I got the opportunity to drive a 79 911SC around the back roads of southwest Ohio and I absolutely fell in love with Porsches. The look, the smell, the wonky gear shifts and floor mounted pedals.... individually these things suck. But all together, these things make for an amazing drive. I will own one someday.

In reply to cxhb:

That was the only other issue I had with it, the 3 mile gear shift throws. Having dailied a miata for the last couple of years, I had forgotten that most other cars don't have lightswitch like gear selection. Still, like you said, all together, it was awesome.

I had a green Targa throw my inexperienced azz in the ditch once, been leery of them ever since.

I got to drive a fellow instructor's 993 prepped for NASA GTS3 at Grattan. I took it a bit easy, but still got to <4 seconds of his lap time first time out in a rear engine car on Hoosiers :) in 5 laps.

Pedal placement was odd and the shifter was quite low. The experience, however was awesome.

A student also let me drive his late '80's 911 Turbo at Waterford Hills. That was fun :) I was able to drop his lap times by 5 sec. that day after he could see and feel what the car could do.

I still fondly remember my 72... one of the few cars I really miss. I will have another

Spent a chunk of the morning looking and browsing. I guess I need to take Woody's advice and just be ready when the opportunity comes up, as there are lots of things to look at and lots to learn yet before jumping in with both feet. Still that exhaust note is gonna haunt me for awhile.

I am hot for an older 911 also. Seems like it's becoming a common desire on the board these days. I need to own one before it's all over.