Anyone who knows me knows I'm a car person. I always have been, and it's not something I try to hide. My Mom has joked for decades that my first word was car. I daydream about cars. I use car metaphors all the time. I love to drive, it's really one of my favorite things to do.
The car is always the perfect place to be, as it blends the lovely feeling of operating a machine with going on a journey. The temperature is always right, the music is always right, it's just wonderful.
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| My friend Jim knows me well |
I've had the absolute privilege of being the custodian of a 1993 911 for 29 years. It's a marvelous car. I've put well over 100,000 miles on it, doing everything from road trips to road rallies to autocross events to track days. It's a really wonderful machine, compact, tiny, and visceral. The only real electronic thing in the car is ABS. It's small, simple, and wonderful. It's reliable, sounds good to me, and still makes me happy 29 years later.
But...it is 33 years old. The air conditioning has left the building. I mean, even when it was perfect, it was weak. I remember sitting in Chicago traffic. As the engine heated up, the AC switched from blowing cold to blowing hot, because the AC lines are routed through the hot engine compartment. I've had it recharged multiple times. The charge lasts about a month, then it's quickly back to blowing hot. And remember, the car is super old. The gaskets, O-rings, all of the components, well, they're old. The only real "fix" is to replace the entire system with something that actually works. Doing so would easily hit five figures by the time it's installed and ready to go.
And, I've always fantasized about driving a 911 in the winter. My brother did with his 996 and 997S, and they were remarkable in the snow. So I've been fantasizing for years now about a 991.2 Carrera 4S. It's what I'd call a "modern classic," built between 2017 and 2019. New enough to be thoroughly modern with AC that works, CarPlay, and a good stereo. Old enough not to be overburdened with technology. Old enough to have analog gauges. Old enough not to have the gasoline particulate filter that came in as part of the Euro 6 emissions standard. And to my eyes, one of the most beautiful interpretations of the 911 shape.
So, I started to kick the idea around with Allison, first as kind of a joke, then with increasing clarity and purpose. I miss driving the older kids around! I am acutely aware that I only have 5 years left before Enzo is driving himself. And yes, every car I get to drive is absolutely amazing. The GLI is truly an incredible car. But there are few cars that compare to a 911.
How crazy is it to daily drive a 911 in northwest Indiana? Plenty of heat, and plenty of snow. Last year, we did something fun now that Enzo is the only child we're habitually driving around. Let's see, Luca is graduating from college this year. The AC on the 911 is broken. "What if," I thought half-aloud, "The GLI migrated towards Luca and a C4S took its place?"
And so from this seed, the idea germinated. Allison was on board. We could wait to do a European delivery of a new car when I retire, but...why wait? The best part about cars is driving them and sharing them with people.
So I started searching. There was a gorgeous Guards Red C4S at The Exchange that I missed by about 30 minutes. There was a beautiful sapphire blue C4S in Denver that I actually put a deposit on. Fortunately, a friend was heading through Denver and got a closer look at the car. Being a Colorado car, the paint was in horrible shape. The windshield looked like it had been hit with a sandblaster. The paint, especially on the rocker panels and wheel wells, looked like they were in worse shape than my 1993 car.
So the hunt continued. And ultimately resulted in finding a gorgeous black beauty in Pittsburgh:
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| I love the rear |
It is equipped with great options, including all of the driving-specific goodies like rear axle steering, sport exhaust, sport chrono, and PASM sport suspension. It's a PDK car, which means anyone can drive it. It has the fantastic LED headlights, a beautiful glass sunroof, and even little delighters like illuminated door-sill guards. It also has some tasteful modifications: a full-body XPEL paint protection film (PPF), Soul sport catalytic converters, and an IPD plenum.
Now I know some people argue that a glass sunroof adds weight to the top of the car, which is the worst place to add weight. My thinking is it the weight difference is inconsequential to how this car will be used. It will never see a race track, and I love the additional light in the cabin that comes from a glass roof.
Even better, the car has a certified pre-owned 2 year warranty. To get it ready for sale, the dealership changed the brake fluid, mounted 4 new tires, performed an alignment, replaced the hood prop, changed the oil, replaced the serpentine belt, and replaced the spark plugs. The car was ready to rock.
I talked about it with Allison, I talked about it with Faris. I got in touch with the dealership on a Monday morning to say I was very interested and had some questions. I didn't hear back at all and finally called around 6 pm, only to discover that the car had already been sold.
"Ah well, it wasn't meant to be," I thought to myself.
I got home, and Allison said, "I'm sorry you didn't get the car." "No worries at all, my life is amazing, it wasn't meant to be. The hunt continues."
The next day I was at the gym when I saw a call form the dealership, which I let roll to voicemail:
"Hey, this is XXX from Porsche, Pittsburgh. Uh, I just got in the office this morning and the customer that was buying that 17 911 4S uh, texted me and said that his wife is not permitting him to proceed forward with the deal. So it looks like that car is available. So if you want to give me a shout to review, I'm in the office all day. Thanks."
Well, now that was interesting news. I texted him to let him know I was at the gym and would call him when I was done.
To make a long story short, the car was available. I got a bunch of walk-around videos, and fell in love with it. The cold start video sold me on the sound:
And another video showed that every panel was covered in PPF.
The fact that the entire car was covered in PPF means that it was owned by a clean-freak maniac, which is just my style. The perfect person to buy a car from!
I said I'd take it, the dealer said let me confirm the other guy is 1000% out, and so I waited. To continue to shorten the story, the other party backed out. When I got on the phone to take complete the deal, I asked to see if I could get help on the rear brakes (they measured CPO minimum) and PDK service. The dealer could do brakes by not the PDK service, and I said done.
Gulp!!!!
Allison and I plotted and planned, booked a one-way rental car so Enzo could come with us and the three of us could come home in the C4S. We pulled Enzo out of school a little early, loaded up the rental with a duffle bag, a backpack, and some snacks, and pointed the car towards Pittsburgh.
The entire time I felt a raging swirl of emotions. I didn't sleep the entire week. I was thinking about how growing up, these cars were just things you read about in magazines. I never saw these cars in person. Once, there was a collaboration between Alpine and Lamborghini, and I'm not sure how, but our hometown was on the Countach tour, where a Countach visited our local car audio store that stocked Alpine stereos. My Dad took Faris and me, and we looked at that spaceship car and fantasized and came home with posters.
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| Nothing screams 1980s like a Countach! |
I reflect on my life quite a bit - an incredible wife, four wonderful children, lovingly sweet and faithful animals, a lovely home, a great job, access to better food than the kings of old, toilets with heated seats, basically a series of winning lottery tickets. I feel deeply, incredibly lucky.
