DAY 1

So I told my dad.

He was less than thrilled. He didn't say anything patently negative, but he certainly was not excited.

He had sent me the following email when I had first mentioned that I was considering this purchase:

The 1968 Porsche looked cool and had low miles. Same year as Porsche that stranded Sheilah last Saturday night and we consequently missed a concert. I think it would be fun but require lots of TLC. Cheaper, roomier and more reliable transportation is the Honda Civic I described earlier.

Yeah. So I took a pass on the Civic.

Then, not only did my dad have to face the fact that his son had an extremely poor sense of pragmatism, but then that same son admitted that he needed 1000 dollars to pay the deposit. Nice move! I drove him to the bank and he handed me 10 hundreds.

Then I went to the bank and they told me that I could apply for an auto loan online. I told them that the reason I had come to the bank is because I didn't want to do that. They told me to wait so I did for 20 minutes and then took off.

I called Jim, just to say hello and to let him know that I exist and that I was going to try and PayPal him that night. He was terrifically nice. Giving me shipping advice for the car and also telling me about a cheap way to get insurance (since it is so old it qualifies for collector's insurance or something which is really inexpensive). Plus I may qualify for California's low income insurance (a program that tries to keep so many uninsured people from driving around).

The other cool thing is that if you car is from before 1975 or something you do not have to pass the smog test. So I am home free on that count too.

Now I have just finished up some loan research - just found out that with a private buyer your APR jumps just over 2% with Bank of America. Rank. Will talk to them tomorrow and find out more.

DAY 0

Well. That happened.

I purchased a 1968 porsche 912 on ebay shortly before 1am in the morning.

I had been going back and forth on the decision, considering the following pros and cons:

CONS
-purchasing on ebay means I don't get to check it out first
-I don't really need a car
-I don't know how much time I will be spending in the future in LA
-This car is known for breaking down and I have no idea how to do any kind of repair
-I don't have the money
-I don't know if I have the credit to get a loan
-It seems like a slightly ridiculous thing to do

PROS
-Just look at the photo


















Finally, after going to a bar for a couple drinks I talked myself into looking at the car as I would a checking account. It is a place to store money. It won't really gain or lose value. And in the meantime I will have porsche 912. So I left the bar with about 45 minutes until the auction close and then clicked in my bid with 90 seconds remaining.

Then I got this:
I don't know why I can't make that bigger, but you get the idea. It basically is congratulating me for spending 11,000 dollars I don't have on a car that breaks down and is located in Spokane.

After buying it I received these two emails from the seller:

[1]

I never saw the car when it was damaged, but it appears that Maynard put a new fender on it. The car is really nice, nicest example I know of.

Maynard died two years ago, but owned a RSK, (550 Spyder), and a 4 cam Carrera 356 Speedster, and was truly a gifted mechanic. Only person qualified to assemble a 4cammer that I know of.

I have owned this car for 4 years, and have only driven it 5 miles. 4 around Spokane, and then moved it to the shop here at the farm. It is 1 mile to the paved road here, and I drove it to town once, hence the other mile. I pulled the tank and had it cleaned and resealed, blew out all the fuel lines, put new front pads on the brakes, rotors looked good, and put in a new battery about 2 years ago. It starts and runs fine, so I would think it would be alright. Problem is there is a nasty mountian pass in Oregon that is always filled with slush. It is on the California border. If it was mine, I would have a carrier or trailer take it there; as I said, it is a real puff. It started and ran so good this evening, that I told my wife, if it didn't sell, we were going to keep it. I did that once with a 190SL Mercedes once.

Home Phone is 509-xxx-xxxx, and cellular, 509-xxx-xxxx. E-mail is xxxxxxxxxxx@aol.com, or xxxxxxxxxx@aol.com I am a professor, semi retired.
Thanks again........Jim

[2]

Congratulations.....it is a really fine car. I just went out this evening after it had dried off, started it up and put it back in the shop and on the hoist. I keep the nice stuff on hoist and up in the air. Thanks, and you really got a good one......Jim

I spent the rest of the night with my mood swinging between joy and despair. I would yell at myself that I was a fool, and then be like, "no, it's okay, it's fine."

I decided to stick with fine and went to bed.