I recently wrote about my experience with the Vantage, and now it is time for its competitor of sorts, my old 911. This post could go on for a lot longer than the one about the Vantage, just because I’ve had it for longer and its a bit more of a story rather than just be being convinced by a shiny yellow thing on a forecourt, but I’ll do my best to keep myself from rambling.
I’ve owned the 911 for nearly three years now, though originally it was purchased in as stock at the H&H Chateau Impney Auction in December 2015. It was at the same auction that we bought the little 944 S2 Cabrio, which I then drove home (after someone told the old man that the roof was electric rather than manual, rather than let him struggle to figure it out like I did). That 944 was the first Porsche I had driven, and I was impressed. It felt incredibly quick going down the M40 late in the evening and I fell in love with the pop up lights. It is a fantastic little car and an affordable classic that I can wholeheartedly recommend.
I didn’t get to drive the 911 until the end of January next year, in the middle of rush hour traffic at junction 29 of the M25. It’s safe to say my first experience driving a 911 didn’t overly endear the car to me, though that is to do with the driver and driving situation rather than the car. The next month the car officially became mine, and on the very same day a we undertook a trip to the H&H Auction at Donington Park, where there was a rather special little Hillman Imp that I didn’t end up buying because of the Porsche. A 250 mile round trip in the first day of my ownership certainly helped to teach me about the car and I’ve never looked back. It is one of those cars that you can place a lot of trust in, which can be a struggle with some classics (in terms of reliability). It is a car that doesn’t overheat and doesn’t make me uncomfortable (which is fairly rare), and I have no qualms about taking it anywhere, so it is easy for me to see why so many people choose Porsche.
Three years isn’t really a long time in terms of car ownership, but it is the longest I’ve owned a car for. I can’t say that the whole time has been spent completely enamoured with the car, as there was a point where the car lost some of its shine and I didn’t drive it quite so much. Getting past that was easy enough though, I went for a drive and it reminded me just how much the car meant to me, and how much it makes me love driving. The car felt angry at having been left sat up for so long and I had forgotten just how ferocious and alive it can feel, it truly is one of those cars that has huge character. For me, this is one of very few cars that I can’t consider selling, as it feels like an old friend (and yes, I do talk to it).
