Another early 996.1 C2 Manual Coupe
Discussion
I always wanted a 911.
I grew up with them as my dream car, and the opening scene with the 996 in gone in 60 seconds didn't help quell that.
Life always throws a few curveballs, our priorities change, and I was starting to think in my late 30s that I might not manage to get one. However, one things led to another and I found myself in a position where I could get one.
I spent a lot of time trying to work out what I wanted, and after reading the brilliant what is an 'early' 3.4 996? thread I knew that was where I was heading.
I spent probably 6-12 months casually searching for a car, getting a feel for the market, but not finding what I was looking for. Then a friend mentioned he was going to sell his 996, and it ticked all the boxes I wanted:
Early lightweight car
Low options
Manual
Coupe
Not Silver
He'd taken great care of it, and mechanically it was brilliant - Its history was amazing. All the things you'd want done like AC condensers, brake pipes, wheel refurb and shod in Pilot Sport 4 tyres.
So, I ended up with a great 996.1, Zenith Blue, Turbo wheels, Sunroof. It came with a huge stack of history - including a service at a Porsche Garage in Germany during its early life - and importantly had a rebuilt engine courtesy of Autofarm. It had just under 134,000 miles, which for me was perfect, as the car was going to be used.
Cosmetically, it looks great from about 6-8 feet, but up close the paint isn't mirror finish. I'll come back to that later in another post.
These pictures are not long after I got the car in ~May 2022.
You'll note I take pride in showing just how practical it is. On several occasions I've had people stop and be in awe of how much you can fit from the weekly shop in the under bonnet storage. A weeks shop for a family of 4 is no bother at all.
It does however have another side to it. The car has Top Gear 200 Cell sports cats and Sports Exhaust... That means it sounds absolutely glorious... but is quite intrusive if you're sat at 60-70 on the motorway.
I've ended up joining PCGB, and notably region 31 (Cotswolds). This was off the back of meeting a member of that region at a Pistonheads meet - I've never seen so many GT3s, and several CGTs came too.
The region has a wide array of cars, probably my favourite photo of my car at an event is this one:
I'll do another post shortly with what my costs have been over the last 18 or so months....
I grew up with them as my dream car, and the opening scene with the 996 in gone in 60 seconds didn't help quell that.
Life always throws a few curveballs, our priorities change, and I was starting to think in my late 30s that I might not manage to get one. However, one things led to another and I found myself in a position where I could get one.
I spent a lot of time trying to work out what I wanted, and after reading the brilliant what is an 'early' 3.4 996? thread I knew that was where I was heading.
I spent probably 6-12 months casually searching for a car, getting a feel for the market, but not finding what I was looking for. Then a friend mentioned he was going to sell his 996, and it ticked all the boxes I wanted:
Early lightweight car
Low options
Manual
Coupe
Not Silver
He'd taken great care of it, and mechanically it was brilliant - Its history was amazing. All the things you'd want done like AC condensers, brake pipes, wheel refurb and shod in Pilot Sport 4 tyres.
So, I ended up with a great 996.1, Zenith Blue, Turbo wheels, Sunroof. It came with a huge stack of history - including a service at a Porsche Garage in Germany during its early life - and importantly had a rebuilt engine courtesy of Autofarm. It had just under 134,000 miles, which for me was perfect, as the car was going to be used.
Cosmetically, it looks great from about 6-8 feet, but up close the paint isn't mirror finish. I'll come back to that later in another post.
These pictures are not long after I got the car in ~May 2022.
You'll note I take pride in showing just how practical it is. On several occasions I've had people stop and be in awe of how much you can fit from the weekly shop in the under bonnet storage. A weeks shop for a family of 4 is no bother at all.
It does however have another side to it. The car has Top Gear 200 Cell sports cats and Sports Exhaust... That means it sounds absolutely glorious... but is quite intrusive if you're sat at 60-70 on the motorway.
I've ended up joining PCGB, and notably region 31 (Cotswolds). This was off the back of meeting a member of that region at a Pistonheads meet - I've never seen so many GT3s, and several CGTs came too.
The region has a wide array of cars, probably my favourite photo of my car at an event is this one:
I'll do another post shortly with what my costs have been over the last 18 or so months....
OK, so a breakdown of costs so far.
The background - I use this car daily. I have two disabled children so making time to get the work done myself is a tricky balance of 'how good will today go' followed by 'if the car is on axle stands still at 10pm I have to somehow keep going and get it ready for tomorrow' !
Because of that, yes, I have had a lot done at my local specialist. Could I have done it myself? sure, but we make our choices in life, and this is how I've managed to balance having the car.
I'm probably a bit mental as whenever I'm told 'it needs this doing' I've take a peek, done a quick bit of research into it.... and then simply got it done. The car has a clear MOT history in recent years and I intend to keep it that way.
Right, here we go.
I've intentionally made the images thumbnails to avoid seeing the costs again.... !
Could I have done this cheaper? Sure. I could have ignored many of the 'issues' or 'advisories' from my local specialist. I could have bought cheaper parts. However, I now feel I've got a 996 thats really up together and is a fantastic experience.
I think when I see how this has occurred over the last 18 months, I am in total awe that some people will straight faced feel a 10-12k 996 will be an 'all up and together' car.
So will the usage now change ?
In a word, yes. You will possibly have seen I've got myself a Mk5 Golf GTI as a winter hack
However, the reality is I also need surgery on my left knee, and I could be left unable to drive a manual car for some time. With winter use last year not being kind to the bodywork on the car, I'll probably back off the use in winter a bit, and just cycle it in during summer. It won't become a fair weather car though.
What does the future hold? Driving the car now alongside the Mk5 GTI has really cemented just how special these older cars are. It feels absolutely alive whenever you drive it, and the driver feedback is superb. My plan is to keep this forever, all things being equal, so....
- Full suspension refresh - almost certainly the Center Gravity GT kit along with Eibach anti roll bars. I'm waiting for these to become available.
- A full respray dealing with all of the little spots of corrosion its got here and there. Thats likely now going to be a Winter 24 project.
- lots more use. Next year I'm 40 and I'd love to give it a jaunt into Europe... I might have to invest in a switchable exhaust though !
The background - I use this car daily. I have two disabled children so making time to get the work done myself is a tricky balance of 'how good will today go' followed by 'if the car is on axle stands still at 10pm I have to somehow keep going and get it ready for tomorrow' !
Because of that, yes, I have had a lot done at my local specialist. Could I have done it myself? sure, but we make our choices in life, and this is how I've managed to balance having the car.
I'm probably a bit mental as whenever I'm told 'it needs this doing' I've take a peek, done a quick bit of research into it.... and then simply got it done. The car has a clear MOT history in recent years and I intend to keep it that way.
Right, here we go.
I've intentionally made the images thumbnails to avoid seeing the costs again.... !
Could I have done this cheaper? Sure. I could have ignored many of the 'issues' or 'advisories' from my local specialist. I could have bought cheaper parts. However, I now feel I've got a 996 thats really up together and is a fantastic experience.
I think when I see how this has occurred over the last 18 months, I am in total awe that some people will straight faced feel a 10-12k 996 will be an 'all up and together' car.
So will the usage now change ?
In a word, yes. You will possibly have seen I've got myself a Mk5 Golf GTI as a winter hack
However, the reality is I also need surgery on my left knee, and I could be left unable to drive a manual car for some time. With winter use last year not being kind to the bodywork on the car, I'll probably back off the use in winter a bit, and just cycle it in during summer. It won't become a fair weather car though.
What does the future hold? Driving the car now alongside the Mk5 GTI has really cemented just how special these older cars are. It feels absolutely alive whenever you drive it, and the driver feedback is superb. My plan is to keep this forever, all things being equal, so....
- Full suspension refresh - almost certainly the Center Gravity GT kit along with Eibach anti roll bars. I'm waiting for these to become available.
- A full respray dealing with all of the little spots of corrosion its got here and there. Thats likely now going to be a Winter 24 project.
- lots more use. Next year I'm 40 and I'd love to give it a jaunt into Europe... I might have to invest in a switchable exhaust though !
And then... it was gone... !
I decided it was time for a change, so I replaced it with this .... https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I decided it was time for a change, so I replaced it with this .... https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
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