Which brings me to my question for all of you, what normal car would you own if you did not have your Z?  Why do you want the car or what is special about it to you?

 

I used to own a 1996 Maxima SE, some Nissan 720 trucks, a couple Datsun 620 trucks and BMW 2002s. I guess those are "normal". But I've always owned at least one Z. I still have my first car - a 1975 Datsun 280Z that I bought in 1986. My current normal car is a 2006 Dodge Rame Hemi that I use to haul the race car - a 1972 Datsun 240Z. My next normal car will probably be a Ram EcoDiesel. I'm just not into "normal". I'm thinking of getting a beater car but I wouldn't call a Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V a normal car.

 

Here are my abnormal cars:

72 BMW 2002 tii

74 BMW 2002 turbo

70 Plymouth AAR 'cuda

70 Plymouth Road Runner 440+6

05 Lotus Elise supercharged

74 DeTomaso Pantera

69 240Z

71 Fairlady Z

71 240Z

72 240Z race car

72 240Z turbo

74 260Z turbo

75 280Z turbo

75 280Z (my first car)

78 620 king cab

 

Chuck

Nice list Chuck!  I dig the Pantera and would love the opportunity to drive one some day.  I have never seen any that were affordable given my financial state but given an influx of cash it would certainly be on my "to-have" list.

I would love a Porsche of just about any sort.  I've always liked the 944, and considered one for a while, but I read enough horror stories to scare me off.  Maybe one day when I can afford to pay someone to keep it out of the shop, I'll be able to get one.

I am like Hardway in some ways. I love some of the old land yachts. I would like to have a 69 Cadillac convertible and I have a project 66 Thunderbird in the back yard, I can't image keeping fuel in it at 5-6 mpg. I have also always loved the Countach, 308 Ferrari's, 246 Dinos, mid 80's Porsches, the Pantera is near the top of the list. I have ruled out pretty much all of these for various reasons which is why I love my Z cars. The older Ferraris are too small for me, as I am 6'5". The other problem many of these share is where are you gonna drive them? You can't park them anywhere because some jealous soul will just drag their keys down the paint out of spite. I have a good friend that has a 308 and he almost never drives it. The other exotic problem is parts and maintenance. The timing belt replacement on a 308 is a multi thousand dollar job. The parts for the Countach are just as bad. The Pantera is pretty good motor wise because it's a Ford but the transaxle is expensive. The Porsche is the most doable because it is not so rare as to be unuseable but a clutch kit is something like $1000. That just seems silly when you look at what you can buy a good 240Z clutch for. I almost bought a Pantera 4-5 years ago. It was about $26k and was in decent shape. It would have been money well spent as they have gotten expensive since then. C'est la vie. I still love my use to be cheap Z's

I would love a Porsche of just about any sort.  I've always liked the 944, and considered one for a while, but I read enough horror stories to scare me off.  Maybe one day when I can afford to pay someone to keep it out of the shop, I'll be able to get one.

You'll never make enough money to afford to pay someone to keep it out of the shop. You just have to suck it up and realize you're working for Porsche while you own a 944. Great car, fun to drive, quite expensive to maintain. Had one for about 20 years until I could no longer justify the upkeep and repair costs. On the other hand, I've owned several 914s during the last 30 years and find them to be much more user friendly - even my current 914-6 which I've owned for over 20 years.

Dennis

You'll never make enough money to afford to pay someone to keep it out of the shop. You just have to suck it up and realize you're working for Porsche while you own a 944. Great car, fun to drive, quite expensive to maintain. Had one for about 20 years until I could no longer justify the upkeep and repair costs. On the other hand, I've owned several 914s during the last 30 years and find them to be much more user friendly - even my current 914-6 which I've owned for over 20 years.

Dennis

 

They are not that bad surely? Especially if working on it yourself. They are quite reliable as far as I've heard. A friend recently got 1 (non turbo) and I can't see it being anymore expensive than my Mazda RX-7 (FD) which some say stands for 'financial destruction'.

Porsche parts are crazy. I was looking at buying a 944s a while back. The convertibles are notorious for leaking above the side windows. The fix is to replace the weatherstrip there. They are close to $900 a side from the dealer. They are not available any where else for reasonable money. So you pay $6-7k for a car that takes almost $2000 to make it not leak? Insanity! Look at Pelican parts some time and look through what some of the parts cost. It's eye opening. 914-6 is a fun car. I rode with a friend from high school once. Her dad was a mechanic and she had been racing for a while. She took that 914-4 up through traffic like it was sitting still! She is probably the best driver I have ever ridden with, and beautiful too.

Some years ago I was lurking in some of the Porsche forums and I remember there was one guy who bought a 944.  It was, by all accounts, the right car: one owner, low-ish miles, meticulously maintained with all the maintenance records and ran great.  Guy flew out, picked it up, and almost made it home.  Threw a rod.  Now, I'm pretty sure that's not a common problem, but the rest of the thread that went in to the details on the engine work...that scared me off right good  I'm sticking with my Nissans for now.

I had a 1984 944.  Loved it too, had an Audi 4 cylinder but was very quick.  Great braking, seats were low like the Z's.  Drove under my buddies Camaro leaving a parking lot.  $2,000 to fix the headlights and paint the front.  The lights were the kind that roll over and up, connected together with a bar.  A few months later a guy turned in front of me and I couldn't stop in time.  T boned his van.  Went to court over fault, he was in his 70s going to the mall to walk at 7am.  I was 21 and supposed to be at work at 7am so I ended up eating that one, paid $5,500 for it with a cracked windshield.  Paid $800 for the new glass then $2,000 for the rear ending accident.  Over 8 grand I spent and drove it for a little over a year. 

 

Great car though!  Traded the totaled 944 for a ZX straight up.  8 years later I bought a 911SC, that was a mechanics car for sure.  Took me half a day to change 6 spark plugs and held 13 quarts of high dollar Kendall oil.

 

I'll stick with these Zs until minimum wage goes up. 

Some years ago I was lurking in some of the Porsche forums and I remember there was one guy who bought a 944.  It was, by all accounts, the right car: one owner, low-ish miles, meticulously maintained with all the maintenance records and ran great.  Guy flew out, picked it up, and almost made it home.  Threw a rod.  Now, I'm pretty sure that's not a common problem, but the rest of the thread that went in to the details on the engine work...that scared me off right good  I'm sticking with my Nissans for now.

 

Two of the more expensive repair/maintenance items on a 944 are replacing a bad water pump and periodic replacement of the timing belts.  The water pump must be the first part in the assembly process because every other part on the car is either attached to it or covers it (only a slight exaggeration).  Replacing the pump is so labor intensive that it used to be a $1,000 job 20 years ago.  Not sure what it costs now.  Timing belts are changed at mileage service intervals.  If you don't change them in a timely manner, they have a tendency to break.  And then all the valves tap dance on the tops of the pistons.  Often, owners will sell a 944 just before that service is due, to avoid the cost.  If you do buy one, ask for service records and check the mileage at the last timing belt change.

 

That said, the 944 was a very fun car to drive for many years and everyone should have a chance to own one for a while.  It was my wife's daily driver and she loved it.  I often drove my then three year old son to day care in it and he would call out shift points based on engine sound.  My wife now enjoys her Infiniti G37 convertible and I enjoy its reliability.

Dennis

I have a 2002 Subaru WRX (bought new) that I love and a 1991 BRG Miata (awesome car).  However, the dream car that is keeping me from working on getting one of my Series 1's on the road is a 1977 International Scout SSII.  I bought it last year and am in the process of rebuilding the original engine.  It you do not know what a Scout is, well, it is a large departure from a 240Z!

The more cars I work on, the more I realize that what I have is just fine.