It all started with a friend requesting that I go have a look at a car for him, this wasn’t just any car though. It was a car that I dream about owning one day, it took me all of 2 seconds to reply with yes of course. The car in question, a wide-body 1984 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2. So up north I went to have a look at this car, it was about two and a half hours away, but it seemed to all go quite quickly as the Audi (’99 – 2.5tdi) is quite comfy and just eats up miles, although I think it was because we were excited to see this car.
Anyway as we approached closer, we slowly drove down the street looking for the guys house, and there it was in sat on the driveway with this red aura around it, it looked absolutely stunning at a glance.
A closer look revealed that it was almost completely immaculate in every way, we asked the owner to start the car, the 3.2 litre aircooled engine sprung to life, and it just sounded amazing even on tick over. A friend who had come down to view with me was lucky enough to take it for a spin, as he had a motor trade insurance policy. As he drove off the aircooled engine left the street with an amazing soundtrack lingering in my ear and all I could think of is I can’t believe my friend is actually potentially buying this car. A quick chat to my friend over the phone to which I explained every small detail about the car and the deal was done and a deposit was left.
The drive back meant thinking about owning a car like that in the future one day for the best part of two hours on the journey back. My friend was in a similar state of mind.
As I had got back quite late in the night, it meant me waking up as slowly as possibly even though I had to get to work. On my phone though I had a message from my friend saying that I would have to drive the car down to London for him as he won’t get the chance. I was instantly fully awake to reply, I was ecstatic, I couldn’t believe it, I would have the chance to drive a Porsche I used to dream about as a kid for about 300 miles!
There was a wait though of just over a week due to technicalities, luckily I tried not to think about it too much and kept it at the back of my mind. As I knew if I thought about it constantly it could have been the longest week of my life.
Finally the phone call to say that the car is ready. I couldn’t believe it, it’s actually happening.
A three hour train journey didn’t sound an awful lot appealing, but it only involved one change over and it was actually a quite relaxing way to travel as there was nothing to worry about. The last time I had been on a train was when I was 17 I think, it was only for a short 20 minute trip. Anyway I digress, the seller was kind enough to pick me up from the train station. We turned up back at the house, it was a bit cloudy but the vibrant red just stood out glowing.
I now had a 300 mile journey ahead of me, which would have seemed daunting if I wasn’t doing it in a classic Porsche!
The clutch and gear shift took a bit of getting used to as the clutch pedal was from the floor up, and the gear shift was a bit vague, obviously with it not being my car I had to drive it as carefully as possible. First thing I noticed was how stable the car was doing any sort of speed, it felt firmly planted to the road. Which isn’t really surprising with the wide track the car has, and the wide tyres it has to fill those arches.
The sound of the aircooled engine behind you never sounded like it was under any stress and just effortlessly and smoothly propelled you forward. In terms of acceleration and speed the closest thing I’ve driven was my VW Corrado VR6 running around 210-215bhp, But it just did not compare in any way or form, in terms of build quality, stability and refinement.
The only other car which I could say was close that I’ve driven in terms of being air-cooled, rear engine, rear wheel drive car was a VW Karmann Ghia, and the gear change of the Porsche instantly reminded me of my experience in a Karmann Ghia.
The 300 mile journey meant I was stuck in traffic at points and this gave me the chance to get a bit more accustomed to the interior. Finished in black leather, the seats were amazingly comfy and kept you seated in the correct position, and over the almost 6hrs I spent in the car I never felt fatigued due to driving. Pretty much everything was finished in black, apart from the five white dials to tell you everything you need to know about what’s happening in the back with the powerhouse.
The car felt more like GT car at times because at 70mph the car was sat at around 2000rpm and at 90mph around 3000rpm.
A quick break in Leicester, and I was on my way again towards London. This leg of the journey was around two hours long, but it did involve a bit more city driving as opposed to mostly motorway which I had covered so far. Through corners the car stayed planted firmly, but I obviously didn’t push it too much with me being nervous enough driving a car which didn’t belong to me.
We finally arrived at our destination, it had been a long day and the car was absolutely flawless throughout the whole trip, leaving it behind was hard to do though as I didn’t know when I would have the chance to drive anything like this again!