Rewrite: "Sure Beats Flying: Crossing the Country in a 1976 Porsche 912E"

 A few weeks ago, from the comfort of my living room sofa in Reno, I realized that I had to be in Atlanta for my little sister’s graduation. Now, most normal people would go online and buy a two-way ticket for a flight that leaves the day before, book a hotel in Atlanta, and make sure they get to the airport on time. But, I’m a car enthusiast, and car enthusiasts don’t think that way. “Cars are built to be driven,” I told myself. “They want to run themselves into the ground.” A little while ago, I bought a 1976 Porsche 912E that had been sitting in the back of a California warehouse. It had seen better days, and the years of abandonment, dead battery, and flat tires had not helped the restoration situation. But, within a week of the purchase, the little 912E received a new battery, a tank of fresh 87-octane, and a replacement fuel pump relay. Then, with an overhauled brake system and a new set of tires, the little neglected Porsche was back on the road for daily-driver duty. I road-tested the Porsche throughout the winter and spring with some short trips, each one venturing farther and farther from home. Finally, in March, I went big, entering the 912E in a 1,700-mile vintage rally. It managed the rally pretty well, and I knew it was ready for the full distance. My sister’s graduation seemed like the perfect excuse for an overly ambitious, 2,500-mile, cross country tour in my 40-year-old, 160,000-mile Porsche 912E. Hell, what could go wrong? So, how was the trip? Contrary to what many would think, the trip actually went pretty well. In the planning stages, I made sure to give myself enough time for something cool and interesting each day. Endless driving on the nation’s interstates is nice and all, with beautiful scenery surrounding you and not a car for miles ahead of you in the middle of nowhere, but I am talking about a road trip in the slowest car from a brand known for super speeders. I chose to visit a friend in Las Vegas, another good friend in Scottsdale. I had to check out the Petroleum Museum in Midland, Texas, with its Chaparral collection. I got to spectate a weekend of races at Circuit of the Americas in Austin. A worthy stop was definitely the collection of motorcycles at the museum at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. While in Alabama, I felt obligated to give the 912 a tour of Porsche’s headquarters. I also got to take a look at the Gilmore Car Museum in Michigan, the Shelby collection in Boulder, Colorado, BMW’s Zentrum in South Carolina, and even run the Tail of the Dragon in the trusty little 912E. Needless to say, it was a journey that was well-suited to a car enthusiast like me. And the car? How was it? I’ll admit that early on it was pretty amazing. The 912E was available from the factory with a 21-gallon fuel tank, and its lightweight stature and efficient, little four-banger allowed for an excellent 33 miles per gallon and with just 88 horsepower under my right foot, I had more than enough time to enjoy the nature around me as I headed to my next destination. In all honesty, I was nervous about some kind of catastrophic failure early on, but by the third day, my confidence was high and the little Porsche was pretty much faultless. Really? Ha! I wish! The drive through Louisiana claimed an exhaust tip, old wheel bearings chewed up the front tires, sea-level elevation disrupted the Bosch Jetronic engine tuning, and a vacuum leak precipitated a small engine compartment fireball when a spark plug boot jiggled loose while I was spraying starter fluid. (Oops.) Since the car is pretty simple to repair, I just cut the other three tips free from the muffler, sealed the vacuum leak, and installed two Yokohama S.Drive 205/50R15s from Tire Rack while up visiting family in Michigan. In addition to the mechanical issues, the Volkswagen Type 4 engine slung out back pounded out a baritone exhaust note through the broken muffler- a sound I thought I would never get tired of. And even on open, practically deserted, 80 mile-per-hour Texas and Nevada roads, the 912E only wanted to sustain 72 mph. Needless to say, it made those big, white “SPEED LIMIT 80” signs quite intimidating. Born in 1965, the 912 was one of the cheaper cars built by Porsche. The highly popular 911 body was used in conjunction with a 356-derived four-cylinder, creating a more efficient version of the 911 with a lower price tag. Hemmings even described it as “an affordable alternative to the 911.” On the downside, the 912 only produced 90 horsepower at 5800 rpm in 1965, and went from zero to 60 mph in just over eleven seconds and topped out at 116 mph. Not exactly fast, especially by Porsche standards. But on the highway, the low drag, low weight, large fuel tank, and efficient engine made for 30 miles per gallon and long stints at the wheel. On top of that, I had plenty of time to enjoy the many other aspects of the drive. Although it may sound like my car caused me a lot of problems throughout my journey cross country, the trip in its entirety was an experience to remember. When the car wasn’t broken (which was most of the trip) and when I wasn’t erecting a tent in cold-ass temperatures and wind in BFE Texas, the drive turned out to be refreshing. Many people describe the middle of the country as a flyover because there’s very little to see, but it’s really quite the opposite. There’s a special sensation in seeing the terrain change before your eyes, and the gray walls of an airport are no match for the vast, open roads of America’s interstate highway system. Over the three weeks on the road, temperatures ranged from an indicated 97 degrees in New Mexico to an overnight low of 15 in Colorado. With no sort of air conditioning and with minimal heating, the 912E didn’t protect me much from the exterior temperatures, but I figured that this was what it was like to drive the country back in 1976, when my Porsche and many others were built. It’s not always the cars that people have to preserve, but rather the feelings and atmosphere associated with them. Across the country, I encouraged friends and family to get behind the wheel of my 912E and take it for a drive of their own. Their wide smiles and the elation in their eyes when handing back the keys made the whole trip worthwhile. Someone who’d never driven an air-cooled Porsche commented that it was an “old-school visceral sports car experience that rewards smoothness.” Had my 912E been like all the other restored, preserved, and undriven classic Porsches in the world, they probably would never have felt the unique, smooth, sports car experience that my car rewards. Cars are built to be driven, their driving experience preserved and then shared with the world. In the end, yeah, the car made it to its many destinations. Yeah, it received a bunch of miles on the odometer. It broke down a little, but it was repaired. Every day, I’d walk out to the little yellow Porsche 912E and it would want to run. It demanded to be driven. And drive it I did, sampling life on the road in 1976 when hot days on the road were hot and cold days were cold. Was it the fastest way to get across the country? Hell no. But by far it was the most rewarding and definitely the most memorable. Instead of an 18-inch hole through which to view the world below, I could peer through the windshield and see thousands of miles of gorgeous countryside and watch a rose-tinted sun sink into the Gulf of Mexico. Instead of a two-ounce pack of pretzels, I got treated to proper Southern barbecue, some exquisite spicy Cajun bites, hearty Midwestern fare, and more than a few greasy-spoon breakfast spots with ads for local businesses printed on the coffee mugs. Instead of getting up, grabbing my carry-on from the overhead bin, and standing in a taxi line surrounded by strangers, I would climb out of my car after a day of driving and lose myself in conversation with friends, old and new.
Seriously, why doesn’t anyone else do this? Take the car out of the garage. Pack some things. Live a little. Go for a drive. A long one. What’s the worst that could happen?

Written Content:

Connor Sahs

This is a rewrite of Bradley Brownell’s “Sure Beats Flying: Crossing the Country in a 1976 Porsche 912E”, Autoweek Magazine, published July 27, 2017. All information and a little more came from the original article. I take credit for the rewrite, but not for the content this article is based upon.