[cmbaus]

I have a vintage 911. It is fun as hell when the thing is running right, but it is never running right. Even the years they call "bullet proof" don't hold a candle to the reliability of a modern Japanese sports car (which I've also owned).

When you start to pull the car apart you see all the hacks that had to be done to modernize the car to keep the original chassis design alive. My favorite is the air conditioning. It is obvious that air conditioning was not part of the original design. Another favorite is the oil cooler under the front fender. There are oil lines that go all the way from the back of the car to the front just for cooling. The original car didn't have them because the engines were much smaller and ran cooler.

If anyone is considering buying an air cooled 911, I'd say unless you've cashed out a bunch of stock that is blowing a hole in your pocket, stay away. With the current cost of parts any common problem with the cars could easily be a $10k fix. Ask me how I know.

[itbeho]

Similar experiences here. I liked my 911 quite a bit, but absolutely loved my Honda S2000.

[cmbaus]

For me it was a Subaru STI. I enjoyed it more in almost every way than the Porsche, other than how it looked. My father has a nice 90s Miyata. I've driven it quite a bit and for the money it is a pretty well thought out and fun vehicle. He's got less into the whole car than I have in my Porsche engine and trans.

[nextos]

Honda S2000 is the modern 911, I think. So silly they discontinued such a masterpiece. It can be had for peanuts in EU.

[kunai]

They discontinued it for the most basic reason any company stops producing a low-volume product: the demand just wasn't there. And it still isn't as much as predicted, as is evident by the slightly underwhelming sales of the Subaru BRZ and Toyota FR-S/86.

[dingaling]

During development of the S2000 Honda bought many 911s under pseudonyms as benchmarks for track-testing. I think it paid off!

[OldSchool]

Thanks for commenting. Yes, the A/C is useless (pre-1984) then almost useless until the 964 and the 993 got it right.

As for a $10K repair bill, it's certainly possible, especially if you recently bought the car and/or get hit with some internal engine/trans problems.

These air-cooled 911's seem to be worth keeping on the road at least. There are many examples of other still high-end cars that just depreciate relentlessly until the last owner gets hit with a repair bill that's more than the car is worth and it goes to the junkyard.

[brc]

What year/miles was your 911?

Bit of hyperbole to say any common problem is a $10k fix.