3/14/16 – 3/20/16
As the song lyric goes, The Waiting is the Hardest Part. And that is a fact. Too much time between the purchase and receipt of an item opens up too many opportunities for second guessing.
Mark coordinated the shipping details. The car left on a train coming to Los Angeles. Once here, it will be put on a flatbed and delivered to my house. I expect the car to arrive sometime next week. Meanwhile, I torture myself by reading about the litany of issues with the 2.7L engine. Mark continues to remind me not to believe everything I read on line. Intellectually, I agree with him. But that doesn’t stop me from reading more such posts. Of course, I also talk to a Porsche mechanic, who coincidently has a story about a guy who just purchased a 1977 911. Turns out, he needed an engine…..
Mark also is being very good about setting my expectations for this car. I have never bought anything like this. The closest I have come is buying a Certified Pre-Owned BMW or Porsche. While these cars are used, they come with WARRANTIES and only one previous owner. The 1977 Porsche is not a low mileage car. In fact, it has over 100,000 miles on it. So Mark reminds me of what I am getting, a raw, air-cooled Porsche that is nothing like my Cayman. I appreciate what he is doing. I am not sure if his motivation is make me feel better or to eliminate as much post purchase bitching as possible.
We talk about tools, some of which I have bought, and the improvements I need to make to my garage, which are numerous. We also talk about the differences between needs and wants. I may want to be restored to a 100 point concours specimen, but I do not need it. I may want a total engine rebuild, but I, hopefully, do not need it. And so on and so on.
On Saturday I have breakfast with several friends who are also Porsche owners. There was one guy who showed up and didn’t know any of us. It was fun to meet him and talk about his cars. He came in a magnificent air-cooled Turbo. That was a nice car to ogle, but what really endeared him to me was that he had a 1977 911 he used a daily driver, something I had never considered, but something that really boosted my morale.
The week ended with the hopes of the car arriving next Tuesday.