My years as a Porsche driver: (Episode S Two)
By Richardd Adams: August 2012
Spending some 30 hectic years in the construction industry nationally, did not allow me a lot of time off to go motor racing, or to even go on breakfast runs. However, as our construction sites were spread all over the country, there were motoring advantages to the situation.
While travelling to work (sometimes 600 km away), I never had the early morning traffic congestion and while other slaves were getting up to join the daily grind, I was often on my way out of the city. Yes, many a sunrise or sunsets was viewed from the driver's seat.
Even thou the daily distance I traveled was greater, the
time spent on the road was more engaging, as the vehicles I used were
handpicked from the company fleet, to suit each planned trip.
Or I would be in the throatier 4 choke twin cam Alfa Giuliette. This was used inland through semi desert, as it had the sunroof, air con and more supple suspension. To meet appointment deadlines these sporty cars were hammered often, but remained comfortable in the sub 160 km/hr (100 mph) highway speeds.
For the one day trips, I preferred the 1977 Alfa GTV, a wobbly sports car that ran noisily, but steadily, at 180 km/hr plus. However, prior to exiting this car, I spent 5 minutes switching off all the switches (as these were not connected through the ignition). But this 4 choke twin cam 2 litre seemed to require a tune up after each trip, maybe because the regular driver never "exercised" her often.
Another one day trip car was the 1983 model Porsche 944 2.5 litre twin cam. This car felt fundamentally like a Golf GTi, but with harder suspension. She seemed to lack the agility, but remained a good cruiser. The many trips in her accumulated around 100 000 trouble free km and a few years later it was traded in against a 1990 model 944 S2, a modern high speed machine, even by today’s standards.
The S2 had the 3 litre twin cam 16 valve 4 cylinder engine and she was happy cruising around 200 km/hr. I could leave home at 4 am in the morning, travel 550 km in under 4 hours, spend a full day on site and arrive back home before 9 pm, having just covered 1100 km on the same day. She appreciated the longer distances, but the smooth highway became very bumpy around 230 km/hr. I could never understand why it had white seats and white carpets thou!
When you first read this, you may ponder on how I could mention the other cars alongside the Porsches, but the reasoning is simple. Each car did the job well, with sporty fun, in reasonable comfort and safely (except when hot cigarette ash was blown into my eye in the Nissan).
The difference is that, with the Porsche (even the older one), the drive was
almost separated from the journey. It was like experiencing two different days at
the same time. I did my daily office job today but I also took a stimulating
drive on country roads too …. as with the Porsche, the roads often became a
make-believe twisty race track. It always delivered entertaining non taxing
handling and on request, exhilarating all round performance, before arriving at
work.
The Porsche 944 was built during the period 1982 to 1991 on the same platform as the 924, However 924 production still continued to 1987. The 944 was intended to last into the 1990s, but major revisions planned for a 944 "S3" model were eventually sold as the 968 instead. T
See the 944 TV advert:
and just for fun, watch her first Porsche drive:
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