It is not good to tempt an old man: Part I | Eastern North Carolina Now

    I received this card recently asking for an update on my old 914 Porsche. I sold the car in 1978. I never responded but was surprised that they would still have me in the files since 1974 when I bought the car. I suspect that they acquired the files from Chris Motors in Decatur on Church Street which is where I think I bought the car.
    I doubt that Andrew was even born in 1973. The description and VIN number: 1973 914 2.0 Porsche Roadster Vin: 4732917641    After I sold my 1970 Datsun 240Z,  (see that post here)  I bought this car. Back then I changed cars about as often as I did girlfriends. I had some great times in that car. I even drove it around Road Atlanta in one of our club's Autocross events. I had not way of know then that I would be living less than a mile and half from Road Atlanta. Braselton was pure country back then. We raced against the clock and not side by side. Many would say it was a glorified VW and that is what made it so unique. I upgraded the engine and suspension to almost race status but still street able. I always liked to stick it to the other snobs. Here are a few pictures of that car from back in the day.

I was pretty full of myself back then (nothing has changed)
    It brought back quite a few memories of those years and caused me to think that maybe I would look into buying an old 914 that had either been restored or well maintained. One of the main things you have to watch with this type of body construction is the rust factor. Porsche described the body as a "Self-supporting steel body," as opposed to "Body on Frame" construction. The emphasis should be on Self-supporting. Since there is not a ladder frame the body and frame are an integral part. Rust in the body affects the strength of the entire vehicle. Too much rust in the wrong place will greatly increase the flexibility (read flimsiness) of the car.

    Add to that the fact that the battery was located in the mid-engine compartment and any leakage of battery acid would eventually destroy the strength of the car. It was so critical that today the first restoration question to ask is "What does the Hell-Hole look like?" Below is a sample of damage from a leaking battery and time. Road salts also took their toll in northern climates.

    Well after searching around I found a suitable car which matched the year and 2.0 Engine like mine. Considering that I paid about $6000 for my original 914 in 1974, the $22,500 did not seem like a bad deal. My excel spreadsheet tells me that $6K in 1974 would be worth $22,412.91 today if I had invested the $6K at 3% compounded interets rate.
I particularly like the Survivor label
    Armed with that information I set about writing my purchase presentation for the boss. I rehearsed it several times and prepared rebuttal for what I knew would be the objections. You see the boss made me sell the old Porsche in 1978 three years after we married. I don't remember much about the conversation except that it had something to do with "growing up."

    My rebuttal now of course would be "An old man deserves to have a second childhood."

    After all was said and done I have decided not to pursue this particular bargain. I don't remember much about the conversation except that it had something to do with "growing up, you probably can't get in and out of that thing, do you remember how to use a clutch, you have two grand-kids to help put through college, and the coup de grâce: "it's not even RED."

    I have to agree, I was always partial to RED.

Grandpa's Diary Chapter Autos