Chris White

Hmmm…lots of 951 for sale and people looking at other cars. I thought it was about time to explain the 951 for those that were wondering.
The 951 is a car for people that like to ‘build’ things. There are no other Porsches that have anywhere as strong a following of people that like to modify their cars (and I mean modify – not just cosmetic crap!). With the 993 prices dropping they are becoming affordable to the same demographic that the 951 appeals to. While the 993 is a nice car there is not much in the way of affordable modification available for it. And 20hp is not cheap, 50hp is way expensive and 100hp is a couple of years in college!
Boxsters? Great handling cars but not much in the way of nice mods for it. I am not sure that market will ever develop.
Other cars? Newer BMW M3…nice car but don’t even think about modding it. I also find that the ‘modern’ sports car / sports sedan lacks a lot in driver feel. Sure they go fast as hell and can get the job done – but I don’t get the feeling that I am driving it, I am telling a bunch of computer chips what I want to do and they are making it happen. I have instructed / driven a lot of cars at Watkins Glen and I have found that just about any ‘idiot’ can drive an M3 fast (not necessarily well - just fast).
The 951 is out there is a class pretty much by itself – a car that is both a great platform for building whatever you want for power and a chassis that really delivers on the driving side. Its not common that you get both sides of that equation in one package.
I find it very rewarding to drive what I build and to build what I drive. I like both sides of the deal. I could have bought a much newer 911 years ago but it doesn’t really appeal to me (the RS America was the last 911 that I really liked – and you don’t mess with that engine!). I toyed around with a newer M3 as a daily driver, too heavy and it doesn’t have the feed back I like. The Mini Cooper S is a nice daily drive – lots of feedback and very little ‘gizmotronics’ – but it’s a daily driver/fuel economy type of ride.

So, for those folks that are asking the question ‘should I sell my 951’ I think the answer should be easy enough – if you like the ‘gizmotronics’ more than your wrenches then yes, maybe you are ready to move on. But if you get a big reward from the ‘I built that’ feeling then you won’t find a better platform to work with (plus passing a GT3 on the track is always a nice reward for your work in building the 951!)

Spidey944

AMEN!

Dougs951

So true!! I think these cars are both a labor of love and a love of labor sometimes.

Fluidplay

Chris, thanks for putting it all in perspective...you gotta enjoy the process to relish the rewards. There's nothing better than to ticker (modify) with your car and go out and push it to the limits (safely) These cars are incredible platforms to build your "DREAM" machine.

fbgh2o

This is a great point Chris... I am cutting myself (pun intended) on my 951 I think there are two factors at play with our cars

1. Skill - I suspect there are many of us who do not have the necessary wrenching skills (myself included) to do these cars justice. As they age, they become more maintenance intensive and those without a deep repertoire of skills decide to move on to other cars that are less maintenance intensive (and frustrating) and possess more creature comforts...
2. Economics - these cars are a luxury and those who need to create short-term liquidity (and long term too) are selling given the economy. Also there are a ton of "young" owners who now are moving onto university and into new phases of their lives and need to allocate both time and money differently.

Just my thoughts on what I see... I know I have thought of selling when my car is running to my satisfaction (given that it is sitting in the garage with the intake off and other things disassembled), but let's face I will drive it, be so enthralled and the though will wane...

Josh B

Well said!

gt37vgt

CHRIS WHITE for EL PRESIDENT E.....
very few of us have the options for cars the Americans do .
in this part of the word a 993 is at least 8 times the cost of a 951 a lotus elise is like 3 times the price of a 951 . an e 36 m3 is triple the price of a 951 ...

I think 951's are a good balance in terms of driver rewards , builder rewards .. cost effectiveness chasis stiffness. suspension type .power potential .
they are good in all thes areas not great just good but its alot of areas .....
It may not be a real Porsche but it real a real sports car ..

Darwantae951

Very well said Chris. I've toyed with the idea of selling my car due to money issues but have been fortunate enough to be put in situations that allow me to keep it. As long as I have the means to, I will keep it as long as I can.

V2Rocket

well put

but you could always buy an e46 M3 and strip it to bare necessities while still being comfy...


can i 944 my bimmer?

dand86951

Just to add some to Chris' comments I had a great chance this weekend to sample the extremes of what Chris is talking about on a long very fast AutoX event. In my 951 which is a true daily driver with suspension and mods to my taste I had fun trying to extract some good times. The track was wet in the morning and dry in the afternoon. I struggled with braking and grip trying to find the right balance, regretfully not with as much success as I would have liked, but it was good with times matched only by good drivers in some newer Porsches and beaten by only by one other 951(JusitnL on the list) and a prepped GT3 and a friend in a 2009 GT2.

I got to drive the GT2 and it is a superb example of what the factory can do with the electronics and mega hours of research time. I didn't work as hard nor have to think about how to get the GT2 around the track quickly. It was stable, quick, stopped unbelievably and turned in by just thinking about it. Oh yea, the electronic Nanny light was on most of the time, but was very subtle. On this track with no time in the GT2 I went 1.3 secs, on a 97 second run, quicker than in my 951. I am a lot prouder of my time in my 951 than in the GT2. However, if the bank account permitted it would sure be nice to have one. Just an amazing car.

badcoupe

I love my 951 I've been through alot of other cars during my tenure with my 951 and recently just bought another. They require some "love" The one I just picked up had obviuosly by someone who couldn't give it a little time It has taken only a few small things, about an hours worth of work time to make it make it a great car again, a few vac leaks etc. I have considered selling the modded 951 and buying a 968 cab just to drive, but if I did that then I get bored and start modding the stock 951 I just got!

Techno Duck

I talked with Fergus a little about this and even posted on the 'other forum' () about it. I fall into the category of one of those considering selling the car in favor of a 993.

Dont get me wrong.. i absolutely love this car and its been a dream to own one since high school for me. I have had a 944 series car since i started driving about 8 years ago and just love the platform.

Thats not to say this car is a major pain in the butt sometimes. I do love to work on my cars and 'build' them which is a great way to put it. But sometimes i just wonder how life would be if i had a car that put a smile on my face without me needing to plan out the next round of modifications / repairs / preemptive maitenance.

The 993 has always been one of those 'on my list' cars for me also. I have driven them and feel like its one of those cars that could potentially put a smile on my face like the 951 does without some of those reliability issues. Its 10 years newer (thats not saying much though!), is n/a.. so no problems that are compounded by running boost and they are very solid engines with the exception of some quirks like soft valve guides and the SAI pump check engine light problems on the OBDII cars. The downside is it would probably feel downright anemic compared to a nicely setup 951 at even just 15psi..but the thought of a quick reving, all motor 3.8 are nice.. .

I honestly dont think i would ever sell my 951. In a little over a year and a half of owning it i have put a pretty insane amount of work into it and dont think i could just let it all go. I know right now i would regret it. But thats not to say, sometimes this car just pisses me off!

A friend of mine with a 951 put it perfectly in his blog when trying to explain that grip the 951 has on you..

There is no denying it. After you've tasted the best, you don't care about the rest. I drove my 944 turbo as my daily driver for the past two days and every doubt about the ferocity of this car has been eliminated with every push of the right pedal, with every twist of the steering wheel, and with the whisp of every turbo whine into the wind. It is old, it is cranky, and it has seen better days, but **** it's a good car! (pardon my language!)

Not everybody will get it. Not everyone would been willing to put up with a temper. It's like, I wouldn't date/marry a nice girl just because she was easy to handle and low maintenance. There's gotta be personality, there's gotta be the looks, and there's gotta be passion! Give me the best and let me put up with the rest!

It's been a love hate relationship. Yet I wouldn't have had it any other way. This car exposed me to what was possible. The possibilities. The possibilty of engineering frontier excellence and cutting edge technology. The possibility of opulent refinement and reserved luxury. The possibilty of an iron fist and ballerina shoes. I don't look at an ubiquitous 911 and ignore its significance or revel in the badge's mystique. I know first hand what it is like to own and drive a Porsche. And I totally understand why Porschephiles and their often snobbiness exist. And you can't judge until you have experienced owning one yourself.

TheRealLefty

The 944, despite humble beginnings as a corporate parts car, essentially saved Porsche, bringing a high sales volume performance car to their line at a critical time in the company's history.

Had they stopped there, the 944's place in sports car history, even more so than in it's own company's history, would be secure. It paved the way for the Japanese GT and had styling that was virtually cloned by the GenII RX7. Tony Lapine personally penned the fender lines

It was up to the 951, however, to put the 944 in the Hall of Fame. This car was so potent that the SCCA threw it out of Showroom Stock before it ever hit the showroom floor. Freddy Baker won the 24 Hours of Nelsons by an entire lunch break. The Turbo Cup was the first of the modern factory supported spec series and is a tradition that Porsche continues today. By the time the 951S ended it's production run, it was a car that rivaled the legendary 930's numbers to the point of potentially cannibalizing sales of the revered tail dragger.

The robust aftermarket which has followed the 951 and the seemingly growing proliferation of killer track cars now campaigning the platform, leads me to think that Chris has this exactly right. Garage fabricators and tuners all over the US are still turning out 951's that rival cars valued at literally five times our investment.

It's the one car to have if you're having more than one.

DrZ1

Well, I have had mine about 4 years, and had thought I would someday grab a 911 turbo. But I tell you the longer I have it and continue to make improvements, the more I cant see me going to another car. Not to mention at almost 6-2, I have never been in a car with so much leg room, the car fits me like a glove.

Every one has the vision of how they want to have their 951, in both performance and apperance. Unfortunately I feel most people sell their cars before having accomplishing their vision.

Oh, but if you decide the 951 is not for you,I would be happy to take some parts off your hands.

Steve

Lorax

The 951 is great... and on top of that it is amazing bang for your buck.

A few thousand bucks will get you a friggen monster, and if you blow it up? It's like 1500 bucks for a new motor. Try doing THAT in a 928 or 911.