1975 Porsche 911S - Reader Ride

By: Owner with Guy Allen

Date: 30.06.2023

For this owner, buying one Porsche inevitably led to getting a second

The 911 S 2.7 is my latest acquisition and I use a 1978 3.0 lt SC Targa as my daily driver, unless it’s raining as the roof is not completely waterproof. I have a Benz A200 as a runabout for those days.

One reason the green car took my eye when it popped up online is it’s 1974, which is my birth year. It was built and delivered to Australia in 1974, though it’s a 1975 model year.

For me, the models before mine (F series and earlier), look very much like a classic car and, because of my age, I can relate a little bit more to the G series and later.

When I look at the 1974-75 car, I see a lot of its predecessors. The brightwork and bumpers make it look quite elegant and long.

There was only four years difference between buying the Targa and this car, over which time the prices had gone up a lot. Putting it on club plates meant I didn’t have to pay stamp duty and still get to drive it once a week.

Something I find strange is how some car people pride themselves on how few kilometres their cars have done. When I bought the Targa, it had 330,000km on it and it now has 370,000km. I’m a believer in putting miles on the car because it’s a reflection of the time you’ve spent in it and enjoyed it.

And my mechanic feels the cars drive better because they’re used so much.

When it first came to buying a classic car, I was close to buying a BMW 2002 – I love the look of them. But money was a bit tight.

Later on, when I again considered buying a classic, I had to narrow down the field and decided on the 911. It’s from a design perspective. My dad is an architect and my mum an art teacher, so I think there’s a lot of design DNA in what I appreciate.

When it came to buying, I liked the idea of the Sportomatic – you still have the stick but an auto clutch.

The metallic ice-green colour was new for 1974-75 and only ran for two years. It was a good decision to buy it.

If the car needs work and costs some money, I’m okay with that. These are old cars. For example one of them needed a new fuel pump – big deal! Who knows how old it was? My attitude is you need to drive it and you need to service and maintain it. One of those tasks means going around and replacing stuff that’s over 40 years old. So if the mechanic says hoses or driveshafts need replacing, that’s okay, that’s part of the cost of ownership.

I paid market price for the green car, which is fine. Six months down the track you’ve started to forget what it cost and, in the case of these cars, it’s probably worth more in appreciation than whatever it was you were haggling over.

I’m very happy with the Targa – my son and I have spent a lot of time driving in it together. That was one of the unexpected side effects of becoming a ‘car guy’. My eldest daughter meanwhile has taken to the green car.

The S is a car to play with and enjoy It’s been restored at some stage, in the original colour. Lately, I’ve swapped over the wheels from a Fuchs look to Minilite replicas, which I think suits it. It’s something to enjoy and I don’t need to worry about what other people think of it. It seems 99 per cent of air-cooled Porsches at a meeting have Fuchs on them and they look great. However, I’ve always liked Minilites.

It’s interesting that the ice-green car is the one that gets attention from non-car people as well. It’s lovely to be the custodian of something that’s so beautiful, so well designed and engineered.

I love it.

From Unique Cars #479, Jun 2023

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