1999 Porsche 911 - Gone, but not forgotten

[ben17484]

Cool car and cool story. Looking forward to more posts.

[rr69h]

Thanks!

Expect a proper update soon.

Cheers,
Felix

[rustydan]

Nice write up and a nicer car. What was the story with the dealership?

[rr69h]

Ah yes, the dealership.

The previous owner had the electronics of one ignition key replaced about a year ago. And it just so happened that it broke again. I thought it was a battery issue, so I've quickly replaced them - sadly with no luck. So the dealer took it upon itself to supply me with a new key, gave me a loaner for the day while they matched the keys' electronics to the car (no, not a turbo S, but a perfectly acceptable Tiguan) and made sure I was filled with Cappuccino and Croissants - all free of charge.

I must say I've never encountered such a nice visit to any main dealer. Well... except for the one mentioned on P.1 of this thread. Plus: the parts guy already knows me by name and is a genuine good guy. But more on that later on.

Cheers,
Felix

[rr69h]

The Porsche has just passed the TÜV-inspection. Happy days.


One advisory though: there's a small exhaust leak somewhere which occured on our way to the testing-facilities. I'll have to look into that and maybe even upgrade the exhaust if it's feasible. I'd love to install the original switchable system, but the silencers are about 2 grand each. Ouch.

My preparations were simple enaugh: clean the car, check fluids, brakes and lightbulbs and throw in a new one of these:


The old one had a split and was beyond repair, so a replacement was the only way to go. After taking the old splash guard out you can see how densely the packaging is. All very well thought through and beautiful in itself:


So all is well in our world and what's better to celebrate the beginning of spring than ging for a drive?




Next up are the spark plug tubes which started leaking on the driver's side and a bit of extended maintenance. Until then I'll leave you with a pic that shows you what happens if you leave a company and your dear colleagues know your spirits. My very first brand new car:


Felix

[rr69h]

The 911 is still up and running.

Other than fixing the spark plug tubes the car required only very little attention over the summer. Just maintenance and fuel.

After reading Magnus Walker's book and agreeing with many (if not all) of his points I decided to add a little decal to the 911. Not without custom touches of course:


Yes, my Urban Outlaw decals are probably the only ones with the blue parts of the Union Jack being in body-colour.



I think it looks quite nice actually. And it maybe represents that this 911 is one that gets driven. A lot. We've now done 50.000 Km together in roughly one and a half years and it still makes me tingle with excitement every time I sit in it. After all this is what they have been built for - and it feels quite at home on storming over the Autobahn at night at silly speeds collecting dirt and forming memories.

[thebaron]

Great to see this getting so much daily usage.

As you said that's the whole point of a 911.

[rr69h]

Definetely.

They are quite capable of the daily duties and at one point I even had four people inside the car - although they were very small people.

[misteralz]

Brilliant thread. I've got a 964 in a similar colour and I've been all over Europe in it, too. I totally 'get' pretty much everything you've written. Which I never would have expected in a thread about a 996. I think that's damning with faint praise, yeah?

[rr69h]

Hi everyone,

with the arrival of the winter beater the 911 hasn't seen much usage over the winter. But even so I've recently moved and my office is now within walking-distance which means that I can spend my petrol-money on more road trips.

So that's what I did:


You join us on a busy German Autobahn just after the dawn, heading south. Our target was the Retro Classics exhibition in Stuttgart, a very nice alternative to the always crowded TechnoClassica in Essen.
Each year my Dad and myself visit one of those shows as some sort of tradition. In fact 2018 marked the 30th anniversary of that very idea which makes me feel quite warm inside. When we started this I was a somewhat shy first-grader who clenched his fingers around my Dad's hand, constantly fearing to get lost... nowadays we share the driving, the laughter and the unfiltered excitement when we see something as obscure as this:


A 1912 John Fowler steam tractor. Just... wow. For a reference in size: the man standing next to it isn't even as tall as the front wheel. I want one!

This would be your view over the 'bonnet':


Or how about this:


I've no idea what it is or what it was made for, but there's something very charming about these machines... I love how you can understand each component's function just by looking at it. Beautiful!

And in case something does go wrong... we've got you covered:


But of course, RetroClassics is more about cars than bizarre vintage farm equipment. Your typical views are more like these:








It was interesting to see that these start to crop up on here, too:


An early 996 convertible, not too heavily equipped, manual, low mileage. There were a number of 996 GT3s around for reasonable prices and even 996 parts... including the suspension parts I had just ordered a few days ago, never expecting to see these for sale here.

All in all a very nice day out.


As the day was coming slowly to an end I remembered a street sign I had seen en route. Namely this one:


And yes, this one had me giggling in excitement. So we took a quick detour to Porscheplatz 1, where - after asking nicely - this happened:






Taking the 996 back to where it was built was very special indeed. Being allowed to park infront of the museum for a couple of snaps was the icing on the cake though. A very memorable trip which the 911 handled quite gracefully. It included a great variety of traffic jams in the morning as well as one very fast drive back through the night at speeds I'd never mention. 900 Km in a single day... you've got to love these Autobahns.

[misteralz]

Are you supposed to ask nicely? I just did it since there were a few others milling about at the time... :lol:

Great update. You could easily lose an entire weekend in Stuttgart, between Porsche, Mercedes, and Motorworld.

[rr69h]

Apr 5, 2018 7:53:20 GMT misteralz said:

Are you supposed to ask nicely? I just did it since there were a few others milling about at the time... :lol:

I did, and the guys there were great.

Apr 5, 2018 7:53:20 GMT misteralz said:

Great update. You could easily lose an entire weekend in Stuttgart, between Porsche, Mercedes, and Motorworld.

Thanks! Stuttgart is always worth the trip, I'll soon be back there I suppose.

[rr69h]

Summer has come to mainland Europe

and with it came a certain urge to spend some time outdoors. I've tried my hand at surfing which was awesome. Up to the point where I've had a bit of an accident and twisted my knee in a very spectacular manner. As I was recovering there was no point in even trying to drive the 911. I could get in and out producing all matters of old-man-noises while doing so, but operating the clutch? Nope. Not a chance, mate.

But things are smoothing out with time and I can happily report that these days I'm not only able to drive a manual car again, but do some light spanner work as well. I've taken the opportunity to address a fair number of small niggles that were bugging me a bit ever since I'd got the car. A lose trim panel here, a little rattle there... the kind of jobs you never get around to, because there are much more important issues in the fleet.

I've started with the most nerve wrecking issue of finally replacing the blown bulb in the instrument cluster. The unit is quite delicate: where on a Mercedes you can me ham-fisted and just yank it to and immediately get access to all bulbs you have to open the cluster itself on the 911.



This is where you see all kinds of tiny plastic clips, open circuit boards and just wonder how much a new one of these would cost should you break something in here. I'm happy to report that all went well though:



Take a now fully lit instrument cluster and combine it with a now almost rattle free interior, a now working hands-free microphone and fine-adjusted windows which got rid of any kind of wind noise and you'll end up with what feels like a totally different car. A great mojo boost, too.

So we're now officially back on the road. The car is more capable than ever, highlighting the physical weaknesses of the driver even more.

[Clement]

Excuse, why were these hated on again? Stunning car, it hurts to think I won't be able to afford one while they're reasonably priced.

[rr69h]

Jul 10, 2018 12:12:18 GMT Clement said:

Excuse, why were these hated on again? Stunning car, it hurts to think I won't be able to afford one while they're reasonably priced.

Ah well. The internet is full of theories as to why nobody should even consider to just like these. Porsche is always having a hard time when they dare to change anything on the 911 as Mr. Goy correctly pointed out:



And now one just needs to look at what the 996 replaced: the fabled 993.



The last air cooled flat six. The last one to share its windscreen with the very first 911. The last 911 with a fixed door glas that resembles the quarter light window of old. Maybe it was all a bit much for the world to take in? Who knows. I'm glad we have a car to agree on and the world is a better place for it.

[rr69h]

Just a quick heads up, the 911 is still going strong.



This summer was rather uneventful. I've removed the window tint after being kindly asked to do by a local policeman, I honestly didn't know that I was driving around with illegal tints! I had planned to remove them anyway and do prefer the look without them:



Furthermore I had the A/C recharged since the system started to make funny noises (all is quiet now), oh - and this happened:



The suspension needed a bit of love. New droplinks all round plus strut mounts and shocks in the front made the car handle a bit sharper and got rid of my suspension noises alltogether.



I think this was the main culprit with its rusty bearings. But everything seems to be fine now.

[rr69h]

I'm a bit heartbroken

since I've just sold the 911.


The car performed fantastically after the suspension rebuild and passed TÜV without any advisories. And I haven't sold it because of any potential trouble arising or the fear of IMS-bearing failure finally getting the better of me, it's just that I felt it's time to move on and allow myself to grow. As silly as this may sound: after selling the 911 I now know that I want a 911. Although one a bit different...

Since these cars are particularly good in keeping their value I think I want to work myself into being able to afford one of two options. May I ask the Ladies and Gentlemen for a bit of advice here?

So what's currently in my mind is
a) the practical choice
or
b) the popular choice
.

Let me explain.

Option a) would be a newer 997-model.

These are fairly modern (according to my standards) and come with many niceties that make living with one really pleasant. After all the whole idea of the 911 is that it's a sportscar you can use every day and the 40.000 Km I put on my old 996 was a testament to that. I've testdriven a few already and was very impressed with the overall quality and the whole competence of the thing. Plus after being skeptical about PDK I'm now a fan. No really - its shifts are lightening-fast and give you a completely different thrill - all while not having to put up with heavy legwork in stop-and-go traffic.
The biggest difference though is that I can sit comfortably in a 997 whereas the 996 was less than ideal in that area. And I want to drive that thing. Hard, as often as I can and whenever the mood takes me.

Option b) would be an older 993-model.

A proper air-cooled Porsche which ticks all the purists' boxes. Not that I care about that though. Where this older car lacks in daily usability it probably is a bit more thrilling to drive. It's as simple as that.

So while this marks the end of one chapter I feel the next one will be quite interesting as well. For the time being I leave you with the last picture I've taken of a car that pushed me out of my comfort-zone. And I must say: what a great time it has been.



Cheers,
Felix

[jjeffries]

Felix, viel gluck as you find your next 911....or it finds you. Whomever bought your 996 was lucky to get one so properly sorted. I'm guessing a 997.2 would best suit your needs. Please keep us all posted. John/Connecticut/USA

[piguin]

Sad to see such a stunning example leaving, but really looking forward to see what you'll get next.
Hope whatever generation you go for, it will prove at least as exciting and eye opening as your 996.

[rr69h]

Thank you for your kind words,

and yes - I'll keep you posted. It still feels a bit odd to not have that car in the garage anymore, but I've started saying "mhhh" and "ah!" everytime I see a 997.2 in public these days hinting that I've made a decision without really trying.

The hunt for a proper example proves to be quite a task as these things were only built for a bit over three years - and these three years were perfectly matched to a recession in Europe (=less people buying sportscars). Combine that with the fact that I'd much prefer one in a proper color as apposed to a black or silver example and you have quite a task infront of you. As of today there are only two (!) cars on the market across Europe that are at least interesting. One I have testdriven already and found some evidence of unrecorded accident damage and the other one is lacking a few vital options and thus isn't what I'm really looking for to be honest.

So if you by any chance come across a dark green example with a tan interior, please forward the owner directly to me.

Cheers,
Felix