Popular Post Snoozin Posted August 14, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted August 14, 2017 I missed my old white 944. I really, reeeeaaaally missed that car. The cash from that helped us into our first Auckland home. But I always said I'd get into another once we got comfortable with the mortgage and sorted a few things out, and I squirrelled together a few bucks on the side where I could, helped out by my photojournalism moonlighting. Even though the last car was an 8 valve NA base spec car, I'd always wanted an S2. For those playing at home, the basic differences are a 2.5l SOHC vs 3.0l DOHC, slider calipers vs 4pot Brembos, better suspension and bigger ARB's on the S2 and a bunch of cosmetic differences. I'd been eyeing this particular car up for a few weeks on Trademe. It was priced high and I always thought, "I'll wait until it comes down a bit." I waited. It came down slightly, but not really enough. And there the price stayed. And stayed. And remained. In the end I thought, "bugger it I'll have a crack," so called the number on the listing and named my budget, asking if I was in the ball park. The answer came back affirmative. So from then I enlisted the help of a Porsche-savvy mate, Tony, to scoot down and check the car over for me. At this stage, it's worth mentioning the Carjam report came back fairly positive. The current owner, (in his 70's) had owned the car for 11 years travelling around 250km per year in it over that period. Yeah, 250km. So the car's km sat at a pretty-low-for-a-944 127,000km. Great start. When Tony first queried an inspection, he was denied on the grounds that it was raining, and the car never goes out in the rain. A positive, sort of I guess. The sign of a fastidious owner. Anyway, after an excruciating week followed by a weekend of waiting to have this thing inspected, Tony flicks me a text with "call me now, seen the car" after lunch on a Monday. The assessment was brief but positive. I'd sent through this massive Barry-spec checklist of things that commonly turn to custard on 944's, after the rollercoaster ride I'd experienced trying to sort the wheat from the chaff while buying the white one. Most of it passed muster - a few minor problems, but the car checked out soundly - well, more than soundly - and the summary was, "it's a fuckin' sweet car, you'll be hard pressed to find another one this good." Decision made. So I called up, negotiated a price and a deposit to hold the car for a few weeks while I awaited a quiet weekend to pick up was sent through the ether. Now - the car had some pretty gaudy stripes on it. Orange, with a PORSCHE font in the negative space as a cut vinyl stripe down each flank. Furthermore, it had a bright orange window strip across the top of the screen. This was never going to do, but I was assured it didn't appear to be too old, and the vinyl wasn't of great quality so confidence was high that it'd peel off easily. In fact, I'd already decided that it would be resigned to the bin before I'd breached the Christchurch city limits. So the pick-up weekend rolled around, George (@Esprit) and I boarded a plane and set off bound for the shaky city. The flight itself was pleasant, smooth and some great sights of the setting sun over the Canterbury plains as we descended - but it wasn't without trepidation, as I was about to commit the most money I have ever laid down on a car by some margin. Spending big sums of money isn't something that sits well with me, but hey, this was one of the dream machines so I probably shouldn't let the opportunity slip by. But believe me, I agonised, tried to rationalise my decision beyond "I want it because I have wanted one for years" and even suffered cold feet over the whole deal. Tony picked us up in his Mini Cooper something hatchwagon thing with one rear door that opens backwards and a supercharged whatsit in the front. Either way, it was quite compact and made cool whizzy-doorty noises from the front bit and went hard for what it was. We ended up at the doorstep of John, the then-owner of the 944 and his son Simon, who I dealt with through the Trademe classified. John was one of those super nice older blokes, with the utmost passion for his car. I made some cursory checks in the dim light with the aid of an LED torch, just to make sure I was going to go ahead with the sale as John proudly pointed out the hard-to-find bits that were still intact on the car, as well as detailing his maintenance schedule, and aversion to driving the car in the rain for the last 11 years of ownership. As I said, a guy with a legitimate infatuation for his pride and joy. As an added bonus, a wee zipped-up bag full of 944 specific books and memorabilia came as part of the deal, how cool is that?! Stepping inside to sign the paperwork the discussion turned to motorsport, and Porsches in general. I started to feel a little bad, as John's eyes were definitely tearing up at the prospect of his pride and joy being driven away, but then the excitement of finally being able to own what I deem the best of the 944 bunch finally had us saying our goodbyes, and soon enough we were crawling down the driveway in the dark. Then we had to turn back as I left my sunglasses behind. Because you know, it was dark and I'm a Corey Hart kinda guy. 15 minutes later, we drove into another internet-acquaintances shed (we will call him Terry the Italian car tragic) where a heat gun was supplied and the decals came off with minimal persuasion and zero damage to the underlying paint. Bonus. Dinner was served, yarns were had, beers were downed and before you know it, it was 6am the next morning and we'd crawled out of bed and poured ourselves into the 944's confines for the journey north. The trip was swift, but ultimately uneventful. Stops were limited to food and/or tea and coffee, aside from an overnight stay with @Bullitt in which George and I both managed to empty the fridge of any thirst quenching, fermented grain, hopped, fizzy beverages and I built a gigantor feed of nacho's for all present. More sharns followed and then we departed early in the morning, making a servo rendezvous with another couple of far north friends who were making the same journey back in a just-purchased EF8 Honda CR-X. How rad! Anyway, the rest of the trip was fairly unremarkable. You know. Standard North Island scenery. Farms. Mountain and tussock. More farms. Large body of fresh water. More farms. Even more farms. The odd passing lane. Some more farms and then traffic jams and rain. But hey, what a way to get to know a car, and also find out all of the little foibles that are going to make life an OCD hell for the next short while. For now, here's some shots of the car as we departed Christchurch in the early hours. I'll outlay some plans and discuss the experience, as well as all of the flaws this particular car has that I have already started to rectify. Thanks for reading my massive sharn! 1991 Porsche 944 S2-5 by Richard Opie, on Flickr 1991 Porsche 944 S2-7 by Richard Opie, on Flickr 1991 Porsche 944 S2-13 by Richard Opie, on Flickr TL;DR - bought a poor-man's Porsche and drove it from Christchurch to Auckland. 56 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyteler Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 I was just about to hound you for more pictures and now I don't need to. Choice. Good work, me ol' mukka. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldrx7 Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 That blue is nice! any pics with the decals on it? I'm trying to picture what they'd look like 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneo Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 Very nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.H. Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 Looks nice, the first porsche I went in was a 944 turbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kws Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 That is a lovely color, and a cool sharn. Look forward to seeing more of it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 Wow that is suuuuper nice! For some reason i was expecting any color but that beautiful blue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajg193 Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 Looks like the number plate is a 'fluke', not technically being personalized. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoozin Posted August 15, 2017 Author Share Posted August 15, 2017 Yip it's a standard issue plate, not listed as a p/plate 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bistro Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 strewth Richy, she looks like a beaut! Nice score. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esprit Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 George likes this! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DB8-TypeR Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 Swoon, I have an internal battle with myself once in a while regarding selling a ITR and purchasing a 944. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pelo. Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 That's rad! What a lovely colour too. How much better is it than the 2.5l? Track day plans I hope? Peeling off old stickers is very satisfying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
63Ragtop Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 need more photos please, engine&insides, you must know someone with a camera?? I'm not all that fussed on the blue, but man it looks mint! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cletus Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 Nice color, good sharn, a++ would read again Do you still have those work?? wheels to go on it? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rusty360 Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 Great Sharn I had white in my head for some reason. love the colour!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Snoozin Posted August 15, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 15, 2017 Cheers team. I haven't had it out of the shed again since I got back to Auckland on Sunday night, it's still rocking a film of filth from front to back... Here's a couple of photos from the journey. The only ones I took. Was having way too much fun driving it! 1991 Porsche 944 S2-20 by Richard Opie, on Flickr 1991 Porsche 944 S2-22 by Richard Opie, on Flickr 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mof Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 Wow that blue really pops on the curves even with the grime, gives it a satin look Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toucan Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 Sweet find. Let's see the orange decals please 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Snoozin Posted August 15, 2017 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 15, 2017 I took 2x garbage phone photos before I pulled them off. As below 2017-08-16 08.27.30 by Richard Opie, on Flickr 2017-08-16 08.28.47 by Richard Opie, on Flickr 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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