What a nice overview. Honorable mention should have gone to the 996 Turbo--my wife drove ours (actually a Ruf R Turbo) for the first time in our 7 years of owning it last week. Nothing about it being a manual, as she routinely drives our 993 4S (as well as being track experienced 20 years ago in a 964 C4). Her take was that she couldn't believe how much better it is than the 993. But I'd keep that one, or my '73 "RS" over any of the water cooleds. Too much history with old 911s for me. Ultimately, in this price run-up, I'm sad when I talk to the younger people at meets, and I can't tell them how rewarding it is to get an affordable, solid old 911 and learn, modify, whatever. Just get into the community. I was probably merely tolerated when I showed up with a 12 year old 1968 911 at 18, but what a fun ride. There's more to the hobby than parading out a 911R, or posting pictures of yet another Singer. ... View more

Funnyism on 993 Mania from yesterday--wife drove our '03 996 Turbo (a Ruf R Turbo conversion) for the first time yesterday, after seven years of ownership. Circumstances required it, there was no bailing out this time. She drives our '97 993 4S often; and drove both a 964 C4 on track ~20 years ago, and a track rat, heavily modified '74 3.6L widebody for autocross. So it's nothing about not being able to shift. Just that riding in the Turbo, she somehow thought the car would get away from her. Ugh. So she gets back home, I ask her how she tolerated it.......and she couldn't believe how much better a car it is than the 993. (We also have a PDK '13 Boxster S that she drives the most.) I don't get Air Cooled Mania, and I've got four of them. But I soldier along with them because I got them when everyone was tripping over themselves to get 996s, so they were cheap. And I can work on them. ... View more

Well, there's always just towing the car with basically your whole shop full of gear in an enclosed trailer. Totally overkill is my stacker that contains a lift. ... View more

Most challenging car in my fleet is a Spec Miata. Most boring? The 550HP 996 Turbo that's a Ruf R Turbo conversion. And that's on the track. Meaningless on the street. ... View more

I've always had commercial space attached to a business, pretty much going back to the mid-'80s when I opened my first Porsche shop. (Detour was back with mom and dad to go to law school, but I managed.) Then, retirement was looming, and we had a nice golf course home in an Old People Community around the corner from where mom now lived, and I'd need to care for her. Solution? Found a free standing commercial building. Not huge at 2500 sq ft on a 6000 sq ft lot, but it works for me. ... View more

Hilarious to think that at 19-20, nearly 40 years ago, I was tasked to occasionally work on a couple (the shop owner had a junk 330, and his friend had similar) to get them running decent and through smog. My "expertise?" I had a 911, with its dual 40IDAs, and fiddled my way around keeping it running. Who knew where things would go. ... View more

Yeah, pretty easy to do, if tedious.  But don't underestimate finding the centerline of the car, even with solid axle vehicles--rear thrust angle is your enemy.  Fresh out of college, I went big with a Hunter C111 in 1985 for my first Porsche shop.  Worth it for production, but wholly unnecessary to do the (mainly) 911s I've always had.  So today it's the typical--Smart Strings, camber gauge, scales (yeah, corner weighting it important) with roll off pads, and hubstands.  Oh, and a kinematic toe gauge for the Rube Goldberg device that is the 993 rear suspension...... ... View more

Mild Northern California weather for me, but when I needed a "winter" car to get to the Sierras for skiing and snowboarding, it was an AWD 911--'92 964 C4, '97 993 4S, and '03 996 Ruf R Turbo.  (And really the only "need" for AWD was to get past the chain controls.  Proper snow tires work just fine.) ... View more

Likely what I would have been searching for, if I were 16 in today's world.  But in 1978 my dad bought me a new Scirocco, though a $1K Datsun 510 would have thrilled me.  But beware where things can lead.  Two years later I scrounged up a then 12 year old 911, ended up with a broken engine due to my bothering to tune it to factory specs, which propelled me into the SCCA racing scene and running two Porsche shops in/around college and law school.  Now, I just screw around at a warehouse where I have way too much Porsche stuff stashed.  Oh, and a Spec Miata race car....... ... View more

Quick check for the Northern California tracks shows they run about the same as Spec Miata.  Driving which I've had to muscle my way through expensive, underdriven car more often than not.  Unfortunately, there are more out there showing up thinking they need the Big Spec car.  Where on earth could THAT idea come from???? ... View more

That was bypass.  (Big picture, what's with the obsession of the last decade or so about chasing "speed" in overweight, stock cars?  Once upon a time, we went racing.  I suppose we can thank that racer, the Go Pro guy.) ... View more

Define "pretty easy meat."  From what I see out here, if we're moving to a 991 GT3, potential is 1:52-53 on the full 3.0 mile Thunderhill.  Acquaintance has a ZL1 LE, and he can't even sniff 1:55.  Yeah, massive difference in buy-in.  And driving experience--I'd play more golf if I had to muscle around a 4K lb. car.  Or just go slow in the Spec Miata.  More of a challenge to drive fast anyway. ... View more

40 years of Porsches now, since 18.  Thousands of miles on track--DE, Time Trial, Wheel-To-Wheel.  Yeah, kept me in the poor house to the extent I could retire at 55.  (Two stints owning Porsche repair shops.)  Kind of guessing here, but a minimally prepped 986 is probably a 2:12 Thunderhill (full)/1:50 Laguna car, with decent tires and not much else--Spec Boxster is down to around 2:01 (bypass).  What, exactly, is the prep level of the Neon????  Ultimately, I'll side with your ex-car's owner--sounds like she is having fun with the car.  And that what it's all about.  (Finally, there's always anecdotal observations of slow exotic/fast nothing car.  Out here, a GT3 or C6 Z06 is a ~1:35 car at Laguna--but in either case you find them being lapped in the 1:45+ range, passed by a Neon/whatever.) ... View more