The SCM 1975 Porsche 911S is just about a usable car.
On Thanksgiving Day, my son Bradley and I drove 18 miles to SCM Contributing Editor John Draneas’ house in Wilsonville, OR.
This was the first outing in the car since a mid-week tour that revealed deficiencies in the wipers, heat, sun visors and headlights. Besides having those issues remedied, we also had a passenger-side mirror installed.
We thankfully arrived without incident.
John had promised us a ride in his new Lotus Emira. He also wanted to drive the Sportomatic, as like most Porsche owners, he had never experienced one.
John hopped behind the wheel of the 911. After a few false starts looking for reverse and nearly causing a car-to-garage special moment, we were off.
He has a favorite ten-mile route full of twists and turns that he drives every day. The last time I drove it at speed, he was in his Lotus Elise and I was behind the wheel of our Porsche 996 Twin Turbo. He was faster than I was.
This was the first time the 911 had been driven by a race-trained driver at a high velocity.
The car has been set up to European handling specs and performed admirably. It stayed flat through the corners without being harsh. It only took John a few minutes to get acclimated to the Sportomatic transmission, and he liked it.
Overall, he said the car felt good, handled well and had plenty of power. I was pleased to hear that.
Then there was the Emira.
I bought my Elise after driving John’s car, and it is still my favorite sports car.
But this new Lotus is a completely different animal. While the Elise could have been scratch-built in a garage, the Emira verges on being a supercar. It’s beautifully finished inside, accelerates as if propelled by an aircraft carrier catapult, and handles like it is on rails. I loved every minute of being in it.
After a fabulous dinner, we headed home. First, we tried out the Hella H4 headlights and enjoyed actually being able to see down the road. Then we fiddled around with the complex heating controls and finally got warmth to our feet. A little rain fell and the wipers did their job without smashing into one another.
Once the passenger side mirror was adjusted, Bradley said it made a big difference in his feeling of safety on the freeway.
My goal with all my cars is that everything works the way it should, and the cars are as safe as they can be. With heat, mirrors, headlights and wipers our narrow-body 911 is becoming a fully usable classic.
If you enjoyed this, consider subscribing to Sports Car Market with this special offer. Save $56 over newsstand prices, get all the bonus guides and never miss an issue.
Read my previous blogs here.
Hi Keith
Lovely article as always. Your comment on the Hella H4’s made me smile and reflect on how much simpler many headlights and their interchangeability were in bygone days. I can recall installing those exact same 7″ H4 Hella’s in cars from my past. Notably, a 1968 Triumph TR 250, 2005 BMW 2002, 1977 Datsun 280Z and a 1990 Mazda Miata. EZ to do and a huge difference in lighting performance compared to the old factory sealed beam units. I embrace most modern technology but the old days were pretty great for ease and simplicity of the machines we drove, owned or simply coveted compared to today.
Mike