914 or '81 911 SC targa?, First world problems Options

[rjames]

I may have the option to acquire a silver '81 911 SC Targa at no cost. The catch is that if I ever sold it, the $ would go back to the original owner's estate.

Seems like a no brainer, but I only have one garage space and the 914 is in it. The 911 is in good condition and worth about $20k more than the 914, but I'm not sure I will like driving the 911 as much as I do the 914 (despite the 914s shortcomings in comparison).

I could potentially keep both, but that would mean storing one of the cars off site in a storage facility ($100?+ per month) and paying insurance on 2 cars. Money I'd rather not spend. It would also be a huge PITA when I wanted to drive the car that lived in storage. So it doesn't seem very realistic or practical to keep both vehicles, but I'm having hard time with the thought of selling the 914.

Would love to hear from those that chose one model over the other after having owned both.

[flyer86d]

In 1988 I bought a 1983 911SC Targa as a daily driver. I bought it right, it was a little rough but I cleaned it up. I was restoring my 58 coupe at the time, I had the 6, the 73 911 was being repainted and we had the SC track car to use on weekends. The whole intent was to drive the Targa everyday commuting 53 miles each way to work all four seasons of the year. Hell, it was galvanized, ziebarted, had great heat and lousy A/C. It was the Porsche that I drove the most in my 43 years of Porsche ownership putting 90K on it in the 5 years I owned it but I never really loved the car. We drove it at Lime Rock and Pocano DEs when it was too cold to take a car without heat. I drove it in snow storms but we lived in New Jersey at the time not Vermont.

It was by far, the cheapest car that I have ever owned. Other than tires and brake pads, I had to replace the clutch because the throw out bearing failed because the PO had it adjusted wrong. While the engine was out , I installed Carrera chain tensioners and a new oil pressure switch. Later I had to change the alternator. That's it. I sold it for $1,500 less than I paid for it. I do all my own work so my expense was parts.

SCs are perhaps the best that Porsche has made. The engine is bulletproof and the bodies don't rust. As I said, I am not a Targa fan, but they are great, dependable and still simple drivers.

Charlie