what car: fantasy edition

After a very lucrative month at work, the sale of my street miata and the sale of my racing stuff, I have decided to go back to my roots(prior to racing) and purchase a Porsche. My budget is $20k. I find that the budget will cover a wide variety of models including late 80's Carrera's, Carrera 2's, Boxster S's and early 993's. My tendancy is for a convertible since I am used to having a miata around but from there I am flexible. A Boxster S has the performance edge on the aircooled cars and the water cooled cars are purportedly maintenance free. Ideas and suggestions?

Boxter. Best option for the money, period.

Aircooled 911. Coolest option for the money.

914-6. Best of both.

Porsche 930 turbo. GET IT..

Actually let me change that, anything with the engine hanging off the rear. So anything that doesnt end in 44,68 or 24. (might have left out a few but you get it...)

I always like'd the 964 911, but thats me.

EvanB wrote: Aircooled 911. Coolest option for the money.

This.

More specifically, an '80s Stockbroker-style Carerra cab. in white on white Fuchs .

I drove the Boxster S today and I just dont know about it. Reasonably fast and good handling but not much soul in the car. I may go back to it but I am thinking "air cooled" at the moment.

You may be surprised by the 968 Cabriolet. It is the surprisingly attractive option, and quite fun as well.

If you must stick with a rear engined car, the only one for me is a 1989 930 turbo... The best year, the best car, the best Porsche...period!

I would choose this

Well that was the wrong picture

This is the one I meant to link, either one I would be happy with though

I'm going to own an '89 930 Turbo. Birth year car.

unevolved wrote: I'm going to own an '89 930 Turbo. Birth year car.

'84 Targa, brown/stainless hoop

My birth year car

Junkyard_Dog wrote: 914-6. Worst of all.

Fixed that for you!

My birth year car!

I agree that the Boxster seems to lack a soul. And I fully expected to buy one before I decided to pull the trigger on my 911. I will still probably own a Boxster or Cayman some day.

Another thing to consider is the fact that, in a few years, your $20k Boxster will be worth $11k. A $20k 911 will still be worth $20k if you take care of it.

Am I the only one that likes the older 911's with the horn grilles? (Think thats what the two little grilles were for...?)

My birth year car! (912 BTW)

The Boxter may lack some soul, but for $20K you are getting something that took a huge depreciation hit, but is new enough to be dead-nuts reliable. Good luck buying a $20K 911 of any year and running it for a year without putting another dime into it. (See the GRM story.)

If you are set on a 911 though, then nothing else is going to scratch that itch so go for it!

V6 Cayennes are available under $20,000.

In all seriousness, I think a lot of the fun of buying a Porsche would be test driving as many different varieties as I could find to find what suits me best. Some people insist that an air-cooled car has that quintessential Porsche feeling that a water-cooled car could never have, others swear that air-cooled owners only say that because they're jealous of the performance and low maintenance of the water-cooled cars. 944 drivers gladly point out that it was the "best handling car in the world" according to many journalists, 968 owners enjoy owning something unique that has excellent performance. I say just drive as many different cars as you can and decide what works for you.

Have fun with your shopping, I'm jealous.

Bob

It's a tough game right now primarily because there is just so much available for the money. I took the Boxster back because it had a wind whistle over 60mph that was terribly distracting. The owner didnt believe me so he sent a tech to ride with me and the tech agreed that it was "real". They were going to work on it and call me if they fixed it. I havent heard back from them.
I have refined my search to look for 911's from 1988 to 2000.

My call is for an 88 or 89 911. Get the G50 gear box and all the "rawness" experience that most cars lack today.

I would suggest looking in the PCA classifieds as well. They might be priced high in the ad, but I am sure you can work them down. From my experience (not saying for everyone) most of the 911's that are in the PCA classifieds are in pretty good shape.

There is a lot of research needed if you are looking at 996-911's. IMS failures are an expensive fix.

pinchvalve wrote: The Boxter may lack some soul, but for $20K you are getting something that took a huge depreciation hit, but is new enough to be dead-nuts reliable. Good luck buying a $20K 911 of any year and running it for a year without putting another dime into it. (See the GRM story.) If you are set on a 911 though, then nothing else is going to scratch that itch so go for it!

With the horror stories I've heard with boxsters (perhaps over blown), I'll take my chances with a well maintained 80's or early 90's era 911. Boxster prices are still falling, and I firmly believe that the Aircooled Porsches are going to maintain their values for a LONG time, if not start appreciating as the economy settles.

How about $21k?