Story time: First car

"My bird IS the word" (mybirdistheword)
10/06/2017 at 12:08 • Filed to: 944, First car

In celebration of me finding what happened to the pictures (found my old Ipod) here is the story of my first car: a 1986 Porsche 944 NA

I had been working since I was 14 as a caddie, and saved some money, but the real kicker was when I got a job the summer of junior year of highschool at this local realty company doing.... things (maybe a good story for another time) and I got some cash in the bank. I saw that I could get a porsche for $3000 and all reasoning went out the window. I drove about an hour to buy this thing. It had some minor crash damage and bad repaint (which should tell you something about my decision making) but I pressed on because I was 18. Went out, test drove it, decided I liked it, no major issues. Driving out to buy it, my dad crashed his car literally out in front of the place.(bad traffic, sun in his eyes) I should have known then it was trouble.

Went out a second time and bought the car. Dad drove it home in the middle of winter, no problems. That spring my dad taught me to drive stick on it. We found it had an overheating problem that wasn’t present in the winter, due to a fan relay that we replaced. During the time I owned it, nothing major would break, although it had a leaky sunroof due to a chip out of it and somebody painting over the seal. Oh well. Usual stuff, I can’t fault it for that.

There was alot of weirdness with the ‘86 and ‘87 and reoccurring numbers in my life. Between the plate, the car, and other things, it got kinda spooky.

That summer and subsequent fall was a blast. I got all 160 horses out of that engine.

I also drove it all winter no problems.

That next spring, I was going to work at something like 6:00 in the morning. There had been a drought, and it was just drizzling. I was in no hurry, nor was I hooning the car (which I did plenty of times). I was, however, doing 35 in a 25 (like I had done on this road a thousand times).

Coming to a left hand turn which gets progressively sharper as it goes on, the car lost traction to the right side. I over compensated to the left, lost it again, and went full lock , almost saving it. Thankfully there was no oncoming traffic. I only left the road by about two feet.

Straight into a pine tree. They were about a foot off the end of the road.

Obviously, the car was totaled. I don’t have any pictures because it depressed the shit out of me. The tree was fine, lady was nice (literally every single tree had scars on it from accidents. She initially thought I had hit her mailbox, which happens often enough for her to expect it.)

Fortunately, the cop was also nice. He believed me when I told him I was just driving to work, and could have written me a ticket or reported it. however, there was no report since I didn’t hit another car. I ate the loss to save money on insurance. got 800$ in scrap value.

My tax return that year was $196.86

To this day, I don’t know whether it was my tiredness (and shitty driving skills) that contributed, the cheap sam’s club tires, the bad corner, or something on the car breaking. All I know is that it was sudden, and it’s gone. It certainly scared me off from RWD. I miss that car. The accident did save me from having to do the timing belt. Regardless, I still blame myself and it almost scared me away from cars.

Almost.

DISCUSSION (11)

Meatcoma > My bird IS the word
10/06/2017 at 12:18

My son got rear ended by a guy not paying attention on a 65 mph highway while he was stopped behind about 6 cars waiting for one to turn into his driveway. Totalled it out. He got 5500 for it. Bought a cheap pathfinder to get him through winter and somehow spent the remainder and never got to replace it. It was ours for the longest time and we gave it to him. We were all sad to see it totalled.

My bird IS the word > Meatcoma
10/06/2017 at 12:20

It was a hell of a car, but to be honest, I should have bought something else.

Meatcoma > My bird IS the word
10/06/2017 at 12:23

Yea, I told him when he was looking to replace it that he realistically couldn’t afford the upkeep on another one. He was lucky in the fact that we had owned it for 10 years prior to him getting it and had taken good care of it.

Jonee > My bird IS the word
10/06/2017 at 13:15

Great stuff. I think that’s an excellent first car, actually. Fun, not too powerful, you learned how to drive stick, wrench a little, and how to wreck. Perfect first car experience.

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > My bird IS the word
10/06/2017 at 13:41

I expected this to be another “ Young kid gets big eyes for used Porsche - ends up heartbroken over maintenance cost ” kinda stories. Although the heartbreak was due to another reason, which sucks.

syaieya > Meatcoma
10/06/2017 at 14:36

My little sister got hit like that in her E300 by a little integra. Bent the floor of the Merc but she walked out of it

Chariotoflove > My bird IS the word
10/06/2017 at 15:34

I envy you that you had that experience at that time in your life when you could afford to enjoy it. And glad that you were unhurt by your crash.

My bird IS the word > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom
10/06/2017 at 22:44

I was actually making decent money back then (relatively). Still should have bought a 80s trans am or z instead. Minus the whole timing belt nightmare the 944 was pretty solid, just needed a tuneup and a cv joint which I was able to redneck.

My bird IS the word > Chariotoflove
10/06/2017 at 22:55

I was really lucky to get such good jobs at a young age.

Chariotoflove > My bird IS the word
10/06/2017 at 23:00

I’ll say.

Meatcoma > syaieya
10/09/2017 at 09:11

Yea, it buckled the rear panel above the rear wheels to the rear side windows, accordion’d the exhaust and somehow spit the radio out. I’m sure there was even more damage unseen. I thought about buying it back from the insurance company and stripping it down for parts but didn’t have the shop space to house all the parts until sold.