My 997.2 feels lonely and it now needs a companion in the garage. After much deliberation and discussions with a few forum members (detailjohn, Axeman) who have been extremely helpful, I've now narrowed my choice to a Carrera 3.2 w/ G50 transaxe and a late model 964. I want something that is very old school, fun to drive, somewhat archetypal, inexpensive (relatievely speaking) to maintain. The Carrera 3.2 looks like a classic feel all the way...no ABS, power steering and that is what I am leaning towards.

Need your thoughts on (1) Am I crazy to want another Porsche. (2) Is Carrera 3.2 a good choice and (3) Anyone who you know that is wanting to let their baby to go a new and caring home.

 

As you already have a 'modern' Porsche, the better choice would be a 3.2. The 964 is a great car, but it's big advantage is more creature comforts than the 3.2
My 87 coupe was purchased in 98 with 17K miles. Today I will turn 111K.
It has been a nice day daily driver, driven from the Chicago area to Florida, Canada, California, and Colorado for Porsche events. With a suspension upgrade and Recaros it has seen over 100 track days. And it still looks and drives great.
The 3.2 is old school; forget about good AC, the stock stereos are an absolute joke, no ABS, or traction control etc. They do make great heat though.
But the connected to the road, seat of the pants, responsive steering and throttle will put a smile on your face all the time. It is a car that you actively drive. They are fine stock, for reasonable dollars you can do mods to suspension to further improve road feel depnding on your use of the car. These are solid cars, the doors have a great thump when they are closed.
dhc3

 

wootPORSCHE,

Yes you're crazy.......very crazy. You really need your head examined.

I have a 2007 4S and two air cooled 911's.....so I guess I'm crazy too. Driving the air cooled's is quite and experience. You need to get the book written by Pete Zimmerman..........on how to buy a 911. There are many things to consider.

You'll also find a large debate on the cars with the 915 transmission vs. the G50 trans. Both my cars have the 915's. With that unit you essentially need to put the gearshift into the proper gear...it doens't just go there by itself. Once that's mastered you're fine. Just do your homework, drive many cars, get a PPI, and get what you like best. PelicanParts is a great site for aircooled info.

Good Luck

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I have ordered three guides, the Pete Zimmerman, Peter Morgan and Adrian Crawford. I am open to 915 or the G50 although it is my understanding that the G50's are more sought after. Boy there is so much of info available on rennlist/pelican. The were a couple of owners of 915 in those forums who vouch that the shift feel of a properly cared 915 is more visceral when compared to the more numb ‘like any other car’ feel of the much sought after Getrag-50. The learning curve is steeper for the 915. I guess a properly maintained, adjusted and correctly driven 915 run with the right fluid (? Swepco 201) should be as good (if not better in terms of the classic original 911 feel) than a G-50. I would have to drive both to really see which one I like but not sure how I can do that other than flying out to drive each and every seller's car. Well that will mess up the budget that I had in mind to get one of these. Do you like how your 915 drives ? Have you shifted a Getrag 50.

 

I'm very biased...have a 87 911 with 230K miles that I have put on the car myself. The 3.2 liter engine with the G50 transmission is a driving dream. Both the engine and the trans work great together. The 3.2 is responsive and the G50 is a smooth shifter...no hunting for gears, no double clutching to get into gear. I've rebuilt the engine once including the clutch but have never had a bolt out of the transmission. It's a very reliable combination....Pipes

 

I have both a 2006 X51 Carrera S and a 1987 Carrera Coupé as my daily driver. I've put 30k miles on the 997 and 34k on the 3.2 in the past 3 years. The 3.2 is a perfect daily driver for me and completely reliable. As soon as I bought it, I put a full Griffiths A/C upgrade system on it and, even in Florida's summer heat, it cools as well as my 997. Go for it!

 

Hi: Thank you for all the valuable input. I have narrowed down to choices to two cars

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-cars-sale/537897-1984-911-carera-coupe-guards-red.html

Pluses on this car include, low miles, recent prepurchase PPI (two years ago), very caringly maintained by a long term pelicanparts forum member for the past two years after he got it from a guy in his 70's who bought the car and put in 3.5K in preventative maintainance, nicer steering wheel compared to the '88 car, European import car hence more horsepower (thirty eight more due to higher compression pistons, different (and apparently more desirable) headlights, lower ride height with it goes the better look, 915 tranny (lower running costs, more visceral old school feel when treated with care and respect)...and the price of 18K.

Negatives: Passenger side resprayed but matching original paint by 95 % and to the untrained eye by 98%. Turbo tail mod (which should be an easy swap to the deck lid cover for the clean Carrera look) and a nonfuntional A/C.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=p&car_id=277928944&dealer_id=65195505&m odel=911&style_flag=2&start_year=1985&body_style=C OUPE&search_type=used&distance=0&advanced=y&end_ye ar=1989&transmission=Manual&address=98902&seller_t ype=p&make=POR&LNX=ESTAFSRCHUSDTEXT

Pluses include all original paint, low miles, newer car, decent interior, seller's willingness to accept my 22K offer (If PPI shows up something big I should be able to convince that person to bear the expenses by 50% atleast), G-50 (more desirable in the market)..not that I plan to sell it ever.

Negatives: Not a PCA or any forum member, no recent PPI or major $$ spent on repairs/preventative maintainance, some not so tasteful mods (exterior hoop over the rear deck, funky looking cupholder on the door that may leave permanent holes when removed, G-50 (buttery smooth gear change...? sorry it I hurt somepeople's sentiments if I put this as a negative).

So both these cars are being PPI'ed next week on my expense. Before I spend money on airtravel I really want a vote on 83 vs 88 from all of you who have so far been extremely helpful with your thoughtful reponses that has given me so much insight on these different cars. Trust me if I don't care for your opinion, I would not be wasting your time. Please bear in mind that I have owned cars in the past with trannies that have steep learning curves (so let that not figure into your verdict) and I already own a 997.2 C4S with PDK equipped car (that I got due to an astounding near 20% discount from MSRP) so if I need instant "newer feel" gear shifting I can always turn to this car and am now looking for something radically different. This has been a very difficult decision for me spending another 20K from a financial standpoint and want to get it right. Too bad I had to spend close to 100K to dip my toe into my first 911 ownership but I really would want to spend that 20 odd K to get the true 911. Ya for sure you will all tell just go drive it and then see which one you want. That's a given..but I want your opinion as it matters to me.
Hi: Thank you for all the valuable input. I have narrowed down to choices to two cars

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-cars-sale/537897-1984-911-carera-coupe-guards-red.html

Pluses on this car include, low miles, recent prepurchase PPI (two years ago), very caringly maintained by a long term pelicanparts forum member for the past two years after he got it from a guy in his 70's who bought the car and put in 3.5K in preventative maintainance, nicer steering wheel compared to the '88 car, European import car hence more horsepower (thirty eight more due to higher compression pistons, different (and apparently more desirable) headlights, lower ride height with it goes the better look, 915 tranny (lower running costs, more visceral old school feel when treated with care and respect)...and the price of 18K.

Negatives: Passenger side resprayed but matching original paint by 95 % and to the untrained eye by 98%. Turbo tail mod (which should be an easy swap to the deck lid cover for the clean Carrera look) and a nonfuntional A/C.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=p&car_id=277928944&dealer_id=65195505&m odel=911&style_flag=2&start_year=1985&body_style=C OUPE&search_type=used&distance=0&advanced=y&end_ye ar=1989&transmission=Manual&address=98902&seller_t ype=p&make=POR&LNX=ESTAFSRCHUSDTEXT

Pluses include all original paint, low miles, newer car, decent interior, seller's willingness to accept my 22K offer (If PPI shows up something big I should be able to convince that person to bear the expenses by 50% atleast), G-50 (more desirable in the market)..not that I plan to sell it ever.

Negatives: Not a PCA or any forum member, no recent PPI or major $$ spent on repairs/preventative maintainance, some not so tasteful mods (exterior hoop over the rear deck, funky looking cupholder on the door that may leave permanent holes when removed, G-50 (buttery smooth gear change...? sorry it I hurt somepeople's sentiments if I put this as a negative).

So both these cars are being PPI'ed next week on my expense. Before I spend money on airtravel I really want a vote on 83 vs 88 from all of you who have so far been extremely helpful with your thoughtful reponses that has given me so much insight on these different cars. Trust me if I don't care for your opinion, I would not be wasting your time. Please bear in mind that I have owned cars in the past with trannies that have steep learning curves (so let that not figure into your verdict) and I already own a 997.2 C4S with PDK equipped car (that I got due to an astounding near 20% discount from MSRP) so if I need instant "newer feel" gear shifting I can always turn to this car and am now looking for something radically different. This has been a very difficult decision for me spending another 20K from a financial standpoint and want to get it right. Too bad I had to spend close to 100K to dip my toe into my first 911 ownership but I really would want to spend that 20 odd K to get the true 911. Ya for sure you will all tell just go drive it and then see which one you want. That's a given..but I want your opinion as it matters to me. One thing is for sure, when I do buy this car, I certainly will enjoy and am looking forward to interacting now also with the "air-cooled guys"...to me that in itself is worth it.

 

So here's my two cents:

First I'm partial to the 915 trans. The ROW cars do have a noticeable performance increase over a non ROW car of the same year. Not sure how the 84 ROW would compare to the 88 performance wise perhaps it would be a wash.......it think it still might have a HP advantage...plus transmission oil cooler etc.

In my opinion the '88 is overpriced.
The PPI's may help you with your decision.