I have long been coveting a nice California "rust free" '73 2.0 with FI. After several weeks of waiting I am concluding the deal to buy Lew's 914. As you may remember from the classifieds ad, Lew (whom I never met, unfortunately) passed away last spring. With the help of Kent (and Ethan) I am now the proud new owner.

To top it off, I am planning a big adventure! In early January I plan to fly to California and drive the car back across the country. I have never driven across country before...let alone in a 40 year old car! I'll share more details as they get more defined and as time gets closer.

In the meantime, here is the picture of the car with Lew.

Nice! Glad to see it is going to a good home. Enjoy!

What's your route going to be Bill? In January you may have to deal with some snow.
We need to get your route down so we can get our spare bedrooms cleaned and have garage space for valve adjustments and such...

Will probably sell the black '73 1.7 in the spring to thin the herd!

That will take it down to three 914's!

Will be taking the southern route to avoid snow. I will work it out and see who is available for dinner and such as well as a life support system in case I encounter problems!

Hoarder!

- good idea. you might be able to make a few fun stops along the way!

truth is i am jealous !!!!!!

Well the cat's out of the bag so I will comment. I spent some time with this because I wanted to be sure it went to a good home/owner. I felt that Bill would keep this car in it's current condition. I will say that this is the quietest and smoothest driving 914 I have driven. I looked through Lew's receipts quickly and it appears that he invested north of 15K + sales price. I know that he owned the car since '02 and maybe longer. (receipts go back that far). I told Bill that the little in my head was trying to screw him out of this car but I relented and let him have it. Is there rust? Somewhere I'm sure but I took over 140 pic's and couldn't find a rust issue. There is some surface rust where the engine lid letters attach. The lines on this car are purely symmetrical. It reminds me of the old Lexus commercial with the marble rolling, rolling around the hood lines. Remember Bobby Vinton's "Take Good Care of my Baby"? Thx for taking her Bill. PM me your itinerary and we'll get you to your car when you get here. Kent

Ah we might have to schedule a Dawn Patrol run if possible when you come out to get it so you can exercise it in it's "native habitat" with a bunch of us local 914 idiots

Congratulations Bill, you wont be disappointed!

I was just about to post that ...this may be a good time to get as many teeners, as possible together

Would be a great way to honor Lew and welcome Bill to the west coast...I'm game if you all are...

Grats! 914's like to drive across country. I've done it more than once. Did a valve adjustment in Joe Sharp's driveway before I left in the last 914. You will want to stay south that time of year though. Which is a shame, because you won't be coming through town.

Ship some tools out before you go so you have them for the trip.

Take someone with Bill! Gosh, your butt is going to hurt! Please document trip, that will be some ride! We need to make a list of spares to bring with you.

I have driven my teener from Atlanta to Los Angeles and back three times. The last time was in 1982. In 1980 I drove from LA to Atl in less than 48 hours! It was August and I ran my heater the whole time to avoid vapor lock! Needless to say, I had my top off!

you need a co-pilot , i might know someone who could help out, you might find a few volunteers .(if your sons can't help out - that would be a great father-son trip!)

A teener get together would be great. I'll see about flying in on a Friday and maybe we can all meet Saturday before I start heading back East!

If anyone has a spare bedroom along the way that would be great!

A list of spares is a good idea. I can ship them to Kent to have ready before I leave.

Not sure I'll have anyone to take at this point. My youngest son reports for training on 1/8 and my oldest will be back in college. We'll have to see between now and then!

I have a new Go-Pro I'll take with me...that might be interesting to edit a minifilm of the trip.

That's a great Tee-shirt - you need one Bill.....desperately!!

Okay, you've got my contact info from before, so give a call & let me know if I can help you out.

I can also advise on the southern route alternatives for you, having driven them almost annually XC from both San Diego & OC since 1963 at 10, altho not as often in the dead of winter! In fact one of my college jobs in 71-74 was making out those trip maps at Texaco when folks filled out the post cards for their trips at the local Texaco station.....green lines on maps!

Also - if needed, there is an outside chance that I could right seat for you as far as Sallisaw or Tulsa OK is you decide on I40 & if it lines up with when I may need to go back there mid or late month for business.

Congratz on the new acquisition!

English is not my first language, but i don't think there should be a ' between the 914 and the s.
Doesn't the s simply imply plural? If so, the ' seems misplaced.

Awesome Bill! That is going to be a LOOOONG drive. Keep us posted and maybe we can plan a get together in the Chicago area as well. At a minimum you can stop for a 914 health check. Garold and I are both pretty close to i80. You'll want to check your valve clearances for sure... bring some valve cover gaskets...

Your English is dead-on in this case Andy!

Although I've noticed that a lot of people do that when it's after a numberal(s), and I've been guilty of that "intentional error" myself at times.

Well that makes 4 of us because damned if I wasn't thinking the same thing. Lew, are you channeling? So bill, if you are reading this, try to plan leaving early some Saturday and we will send you off the proper way; a Dawn Patrol Run/Escort. If Bill is heading out the southern route then Idyllwilde or the Rice Cyn/Palomar run would be perfect. Weekends will have less traffic for you as you pass through different cities, also. The IH 8 might bore the living Hell out of you. Hell, I used to get bored flying over that country much less driving it. Is the northern route (IH 10) not cleared after snow? Because that car is so tight I can't imagine not being able to keep it toasty warm inside. Besides, the southern route is too desolate. Bill and I discussed him shipping some spare parts and tools out before the journey. He will be prepared. I will say this; If I were to consider buying and driving a 914 Xcountry this would be the one. It's 40yr's old and anything can happen but this car just feels "right" when driving down the road. If that one yr old engine were to blow up Bill would still be ahead after dropping another engine in her. It's that nice. If I'm this positive I can't wait to see 'ol Bill's face. Scotty B.; you might get to shoot some colour on this one but there won't be much else for ya, my friend. Sorry.

Tentative plan would be to take I-8 to I-10 and then catch I-20 to South Carolina.

I welcome anyone who wants to share a right seat!

For Andy:

Click to view attachment

Or to indicate possession. So English isn't your first language yet you use "then" & "than" correctly. I'm impressed.

I did not know this thread about Bill's new teener was going to become a punctuation lesson!

From: Ted's Punctuation Guide

http://www.tedmontgomery.com/punctuation/index.html

Click Apostrophe symbol, scroll down to Number 3.

Use the apostrophe with s to form the plural of numbers, letters, signs, and symbols.

• Carolyn has scored 100’s on all her math tests.
• Your written “o’s” look more like “a’s.”
• In Dar’s report, he used “$’s” to indicate money.
• Don’t forget to include “@’s” in all email addresses.

WOW I just learned grammar on this site. I always tell my fiancee I am "researching & learning" and not "goofing off" at 914world!

Congrats on your quest for owning a clean '73 914.

I'm stuck with a '72 1.7. Only a six conversion can help this old hunk of metal be worth much. I don't care, it's fun

I think in this case "914" would be considered a name, not a number. For example, you wouldn't write, "I'm not a hoarder, I just collect car's." Or, to use a non-auto related noun, "I'm not a hoarder, I just collect book's."

While Ted's Punctuation guide says it's okay, other guides say it's not okay. Here's the wiki entry for use of the apostrophe with plurals:

The apostrophe is sometimes used in forming the plural of numbers (for example, 1000's of years); however, as with groups of years, it is unnecessary because there is no possibility of misreading. Most sources are against this usage and advise the use of numerals instead of digits.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostrophe#Us...certain_plurals

That said, I'm sure I've used "914's" to signify plural more than once. English is hard even for native speakers .....

The English language is strange at times.

Actually its's an apostrophe ( ' )


Also, when describing the year of a vehicle, only the '80s would use 'an', as in "It's an '84 ...".

All other years use 'a' - "it's a '20", "it's a '90", etc.


In any event, enjoy the car and the trip, Bill

It's true I have been a hoarder in the past. Now I just have a menagerie of fine 914's for the intent of educating the masses on the benefits of mid engined cars with air cooled engines!

After buying my first 914 almost two years ago I have learned what I do (and do not) want and am tailoring my little medley of cars to meet that criteria.

What is interesting is that some friends of mine commented on the cost of such a collection. I pointed out to them the cost of my 914's and two TR6's is still less than the selling price of my 997. Now I have several cars that I am not afraid to work on and I'm not scared to death of having an IMS failure!

I always have issues when someone abbreviates the year incorrectly (e.g. 74').

So, you really have a 914 that is 74 feet long?

I-10 to the back way through Wickenburg AZ to I-17 (avoids the Phoenix mess & is a better 2-laner with some twisties near I-17), up to Flagstaff & I-40 from there has always been my favorites - with some Classic Rte 66 side-trips has always been my favorite.

But the Flagstaff area, NM around the Continental Divide to N.TX, OK & NE.AR, & further east at the TN/NC Smokies portion north of Asheville etc. can be snowy in January, depending on how the winter weather works out this winter. I've done it before in Jan/Feb when it was dead dry, & when snowy.

Hah! So I guess I was doing it right half the time - just the other half afterall!
....to go along with my "Half-zymers" - when I remember half the "stuff," half the time!

how do you punctuate if you only hoard 914 S's ??

914 Esses!

As much as I'd hate to discourage ya from passing right through my town Bill, I would only take I-40 through New Mexico in January if I had lots of time and several places to stay and/or a hotel budget as well as a very trusted weather prediction/information system. Especially true of the area just east of Albuquerque on I-40.

I've lived in New Mexico since 1984, and that time of year the storms are just too unpredictable when it comes to severity. I mean, you can tell they're coming, but how bad? That's only known to any accuracy on the day it actually happens. I bet the same is true of the Smokies, and I know it is in Flagstaff! Ohhhh, how I know!

Maybe wait til April/May to pick it up & then really enjoy the Spring drive on Rte 66/I-40 etc.!

I mean, it's not like you don't have another 914 to drive in the meantime!

I don't think I can wait until the Spring...plus, Ethan probably wants it moved at some point.

I plan to take a week to drive back. Google is showing around 2500 miles; so, if I spread it out over 6 days (assuming no UNPLANNED stops) it shouldn't be too bad.

If I could meet some teeners for dinner on some of my stops that would be awesome.

2500 miles isn't really that bad. Many teeners drive many more miles than that in a year...they just don't drive it all at once!

I'll get the car throughly checked out before I go and have some spares. That should help. Of course, with a 40 year old car anything can happen!

Only half joking about delaying Bill!

Bill Brewster's shop in South OC or Otto's in Venice (LA) can check it over for you, unless the IE folks have other shop recco's out there! Unfortunately my guy in OC won't take anything but old long time customers on the 914's & other vintage VW & P-cars, etc., otherwise I'd recco him.

I'd driven my 914 2000+/- miles up to WA/OR & as far as TX back in the day - but she was only 10 years old then. And I drove my son's 88 Honda Civic HB - which we had restored/refurb'ed together in `08-09 - back east last July `11 for 3200 miles to Ft Drum NY with no problems - not to mention some other cars over the years, including our `88 Westy & `85 325e.

I've always had a blast & so will you!
.... nothing like a good road trip to shake you & your car's cob webs loose!

As long as only cob webs are getting shook loose and nothing else!

It would be:
So, you really have a 914 that is 74 foot long?
or
So, you really have a 914 that is 74 feet in length?

Don't let it sit. These cars like to be driven. Mine always runs better after a long haul.

Take whatever route is best for you. Take as much time as you need to be safe. But you damn well better take care of Lews' car.

Maybe I should drive you out there in Betsy and follow you back just to make sure the car makes it alright. Don't worry about the snow. I drove Christine to Kansas and back in February on an untested motor and it was a small blizzard when I left. However, that was only 1628 miles and not 2500. I did do LA and back in one weekend when I went and picked up my LE and dropped one off that I had sold. Made for a very tiring weekend.

You should buy a car out in California and we can drive back together! Then, you can put the engine from Christine in it and sell it as an awesome 2056!

I'm not buying any more teeners. I have 2 rust free '73s and a rusty '74LE and a very rusty '73 named Christine. Hopefully my next Porsche purchase will be an '87 or '88 911. I have already bought 3 from California and Christine was one of them.

Well there is that BMW...

Working on that.

Didn't you a buy a black Boxster?