Just Give Nathan Merz the Mic: 997 Turbo, Barn Finds, 928s, & upcoming PCA adventures
Porsche Club Insider
Just Give Nathan Merz the Mic: 997 Turbo, Barn Finds, 928s, & upcoming PCA adventures
Annotations will appear as you listen
0:00
61:22
Concept
Porsche Club of America (PCA)
The Porsche Club of America is a group where people who like Porsche cars get together to share their passion and go to events.
Term
clutch pedal delete
Some cars have a clutch pedal you press to change gears manually. A clutch pedal delete means the car doesn't have this pedal anymore, usually because it changes gears automatically.
Term
leather to sample
Leather to sample means you can pick any leather you want for the car's inside by giving the company a piece of leather you like, so your car's seats and trims can be special and different.
Term
option code CDP
CDP means the car doesn't have a clutch pedal because it has an automatic transmission, so you don't have to press a pedal to change gears.
Term
Tiptronic
Tiptronic is a kind of automatic transmission where you can also change gears yourself if you want, making driving more fun and flexible.
Car
Porsche 911 Turbo (997)
The Porsche 911 Turbo (997) is a fast sports car made by Porsche. It has a strong engine with a turbocharger that helps it go very fast easily, and it's designed to be comfortable to drive even at high speeds.
Term
CoPart
CoPart is a website where people can buy cars that might be damaged or used, often to get parts or fix them up.
Term
6-speed manual transmission
A 6-speed manual transmission means the driver changes gears by hand using a stick and pedal, and there are six different gears to choose from.
Concept
GT car
A GT car is a type of car made to go fast and be comfortable on long trips, so it's not too hard to drive but still very quick.
Term
boost
Boost is extra air pushed into the engine by a turbocharger to help the car make more power and go faster.
Term
PDK
PDK is a special type of transmission in some Porsches that changes gears very quickly and smoothly, making the car easier and faster to drive.
Brand
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a famous car company from Germany that makes luxury cars and parts, like the automatic transmission used in some Porsche cars.
Term
steering wheel paddle shifters
Paddle shifters are buttons behind the steering wheel that let you change gears yourself while driving, without using a clutch or gear stick.
Concept
original owner car
An original owner car means the first person who bought the car new still owns it. This usually means the car is taken care of better and might be in nicer shape.
Term
service history
Service history is a list of all the times the car was checked or fixed. If a car has a good service history, it means it was taken care of well.
Concept
full major service
A full major service means the car gets a big check-up where they change the oil and filters and make sure everything is working well.
Term
clear film
Clear film is a see-through cover put on the car's paint to stop it from getting scratched or damaged by the sun.
Term
PPF
PPF is a special clear sticker put on cars to protect the paint from getting scratched or chipped. It helps keep the car looking new, especially on the front where bugs and stones hit the car.
Car
Porsche 928
The Porsche 928 is a sporty and comfortable car made by Porsche. It has its engine in the front, unlike some other Porsche cars, and is good for long drives.
Term
R12
R12 is a special gas used to make car air conditioners cold. It was used a long time ago but now people use different gases that are better for the environment.
Company
Hagerty
Hagerty is a company that helps protect special cars like old or collectible ones with insurance, which is different from regular car insurance.
Car
Chrysler Pacifica
The Chrysler Pacifica is a big car that can carry lots of people and stuff, making it great for families or groups. It’s easy to drive and comfortable inside.
Brand
Pirelli
Pirelli is a company from Italy that makes tires, especially for fast and sporty cars.
Brand
Michelin
Michelin is a company that makes tires for cars. They are known for making good tires that help cars drive safely.
Term
all-wheel drive
All-wheel drive means the car sends power to all four wheels, which helps it grip the road better when it's slippery or rough.
Car
Porsche Cayenne
The Porsche Cayenne is a fancy SUV that can carry people and stuff comfortably while still being fun to drive. Damon drove it a long way, showing it’s good for trips and not just short drives.
Car
Porsche 911
The Porsche 911 is a famous sports car that looks special and drives really well. People often notice its unique wheels called Fuchs, which make it stand out.
Car
Byd Seal
The BYD Seal is a new electric car made in China that looks nice and can drive far on a charge. Sometimes people worry about how well it keeps water out because of its seals.
Car
Porsche 914
The Porsche 914 is an older sports car that’s fun to drive but can have problems with its rubber parts letting water inside if they aren’t taken care of.
Car
Porsche 944
The Porsche 944 is a sporty car from the 1980s that’s fun to drive and not too expensive for a Porsche. It’s better and stronger than the similar 924 model.
Car
Ford Excursion
The Ford Excursion is a very big SUV that can carry lots of people and things, making it good for trips like wine and chocolate tours. It’s roomy and comfortable for groups.
Term
PCCBs
PCCBs are special brakes made by Porsche that help cars stop better and stay cooler, especially when driving fast.
Term
center locks
Center locks are special wheel nuts that hold the wheel on with just one big bolt instead of many small ones, making it faster to change wheels.
Term
OEM center lock conversion kit
This is a special kit made by the car maker that lets you change your wheels so they attach with one big nut instead of many small ones.
Term
five bolt
Five bolt means the wheel is held on by five separate nuts or bolts, which is how most car wheels are attached.
Term
five lug
Five lug means the wheel is held on by five bolts. This is a normal and simple way to keep wheels on a car.
LIVE
Welcome to the Porsche Club Insider, your one stop for all things Porsche and PCA.
Here's your host, Vu Gwin, and the Insider crew.
Welcome everyone to Episode 209.
We are actually at the Porsche Training and Distribution Center in Eastern Pennsylvania
preparing for this weekend's festivities known as Tech Tactics East.
What happens if we talk during the intro?
I don't think our microphones are actually on just yet.
He keeps us on mic.
I kind of kept on telling a story about Farmville.
I can tell it's going to be one of those podcasts to keep these two squirrels attention.
The title says it all, what is on Nathan's MERS mind?
I don't think I've ever had a looser agenda, but I know people are going to tune in to listen to
the crazy thoughts that you have in your head.
My therapist was booked up this week.
Normally these thoughts that I would get out with her, I'm going to get out with the two of you
and the rest of the audience.
Well Manny, thank you for setting all this up in terms of the agenda.
Thank you to Damon for the setup of the controls.
You all can't see it, but there is a lot of wires and machines.
What he uses at the office has been transported here so that we could do it on location.
Of course, we have Nathan MERS, our dear friend, PCA valuation expert, tech committee,
Columbia Valley luxury cars owner, and just the Porsche extraordinaire.
Well, you forgot the most important title.
I am Vu's brother.
Yes, that's true.
That is true.
We are family.
We often do things separately, but when we come together, we find out we did the same thing at the same time.
It's a little embarrassing.
It's a little crazy.
All right, before we get into his crazy mind, let's thank our presenting sponsor, Pirelli,
which is actually kind of cool.
The T hybrid behind me has the P0 Pirelli's shot on them.
That's perfect.
Nice setup, Damon.
Some people, six foot four, run into the tire who will have a Pirelli imprint.
Exactly.
Not a problem with Manny.
Not a problem at all.
Pirelli tires have to achieve the highest levels of performance, safety, noiselessness, and grip on the road surface.
Innovative tires that can satisfy even the most specific mobility needs of the end consumer.
And thank you all for listening.
If you aren't currently a PCA member and own a Porsche, what are you waiting for?
Grab that VIN.
Head over to PCA.org and make yourself a member.
And those of you that are looking for your Porsche, check out our test drive program.
Again, you can sign up for that by heading over to PCA.org.
All right, so Mr. Merz, I see that there's three categories.
Actually two.
Is it two?
The bottom two on the list.
The bottom two on the list.
I thought I might just go two insane if we start with that first bullet point.
So how you been, actually?
I've been really good.
Really, really good.
I'm here in beautiful Eastern Pennsylvania.
I spent the last night in the city with my wife Susie, so we went and caught Hamilton on Broadway, which was awesome.
So it's not snowing here.
What could be better?
In the city, meaning New York City.
New York City is.
Not Easton.
Not Easton, no.
Can I share a bit of information about a recent, I think it's a recent vehicle purchase, but probably the surprising thing that if I share this, most people wouldn't guess that you chose this car that happens to be tiptronic.
It's actually a Porsche exclusive clutch pedal delete package.
Option code.
Man, he's rolling his eyes over.
He did a what?
CPD.
He did a what?
He's the option code for those nerds.
CPD is the option.
Yes.
Sticker, but yes.
No, funny enough, 997 Turbo Coupe, and I got a call from a good friend of mine, and he said, hey, I got a car that's right up your alley.
He knows I like interesting built configurations.
And I said, well, what do you got?
And he says, well, it's a 997 Turbo Coupe.
997.
Yes.
Okay.
2008.
So I'm like, okay, I'm interested.
S or just a turbo.
Just a turbo.
They didn't have an S on the gen one.
And so I said, well, what color is it?
Because paint a sample.
And he says, color I know you like.
Zanzibar.
Zanzibar.
Technically Porsche calls it a red, but it's really a metallic orange.
So now you have my attention.
So I said, okay, my ears are perked.
And he says, not only that, it's leather to sample.
And I was like, leather to sample, what color is the interior?
He says ivory.
Oh.
And not only that, literally every inch of the car is in leather.
Black carpets, black deviate stitch, either black painted trims or leather.
Every inch of this car is leather.
And he says, it gets even better.
And I said, what's that?
2100 miles.
2100 miles.
And I was like.
That's insane.
Just tell me where to send the money.
And he says, well, there is one pause.
And I said, what's that?
He says it has option code CDP under the hood.
R-C-P-D.
You know, I said, oh, clutch pedal delete.
It's a Tiptronic.
So my first initial reaction I'll admit was like, ooh, I'm not sure about that.
But then I saw the pictures and I was like, you know what, I'm in it to win it.
And I'm going to have to apologize to all my 997 Turbo Tiptronic fans.
I, even before it arrived to me, I literally called my tack and I said, hey, there's a
997 Turbo 6-speed on co-part.
We can buy it.
We can steal the parts.
We can swap it.
You're thinking of swapping it?
I was thinking about swapping it.
Then I went and drove it.
It's super compelling as a tip.
Oh.
Who are you?
Who are you?
I know you're going to disown me, but no, here's the weird thing is, again, some 997
Turbo owners may not want to hear this.
But in my opinion, a 997 Turbo is very much a GT car.
It's a fast but kind of lazy car.
It's effortless.
Ooh.
He just called the car lazy.
It is.
It's lazy fast.
You don't have to work the car.
It just makes big power everywhere.
Yeah, it's okay.
They're already going to hate me.
It's a chiptronic.
But somehow that melds well with the power delivery on the tip.
It doesn't lose boost between gears.
It's super smooth.
And unlike the next gen, you know, 997.2 got the first gen PDK.
And I remember when that came out, I was in love with it.
But now when I drive those first gen PDKs, they're a little bit clunky, particularly
at slow speeds and parking lots.
And this tip, it's a Mercedes-Benz unit.
Maybe they're engagement.
It's really smooth.
It's really easy.
You know, what I want is my only Porsche, probably not.
But it's now my only two-pedal Porsche sports car.
But as a touring car, it's got to be fantastic.
I remember.
It's great.
It's really great.
Porsche had a commercial with Hurley Haywood at Daytona driving the 997 Turbo with tiptronic.
Because I remember in my head, I'm going, wow, Porsche is really pushing tiptronic
if they got Hurley at Daytona.
But he was demonstrating how easy it was to drive and how smooth.
And he was, of course, shifting with the, I don't know.
Do you have the steering wheel?
I will say that's definitely a miss.
They've got the little buttons on the steering wheel, and they're really slow.
Like, you click it, and then maybe next week it'll shift.
It gives you a chance to change your mind.
But the good news is, actually, the car, in a little bit of driving I've done,
seems to kind of find the right gear at the right time.
It also doesn't do that Mercedes-Benz trick.
The old ones would always start in second gear, like the 96493 tips.
I still don't care for those cars.
It starts in first gear?
It starts in first gear.
Really?
And the tuning is quite good.
So I'm not just saying that because I'm trying to hype my own car.
I'm as shocked as our listeners are going to be about this.
So you can shame me if you want.
No, this is why I brought it up, because I think people should know.
All of a sudden, they have some pictures to throw in here.
People can see what this car looks like.
Are you saying the only testable tiptronic is a turbo?
I think it suits the character of the car.
The way it builds power.
If you're a lazy...
It's a lazy, fast car.
I know that sounds really crazy, but it's like, take a regular 997.
It's still very much a rev car.
You've got to keep the revs up if you want to be going at an appreciable clip.
Whereas the turbo, whether it's 2,000 RPM or 6,000 RPM, it powers there.
And so as a turbo, kind of a point-and-squirt car,
just fast two-lane touring, it's kind of compelling.
Now, back up to the interior.
It's pretty much white.
It is. It sounds like the craziest combo, and I know not everyone's going to like it,
but yeah, it's like out.
That's why you like it, because it is a crazy car.
Kind of a yellowy white.
The steering wheel, black at least.
Really white.
Even better, the dashboard is white.
Can you imagine the glare?
Oh, it's brutal.
But it is so good. It is so sexy.
I'll put photos up. You can see this thing.
And I'll admit, I'm going to add even more leather,
because when some leather is good, more is even better.
But yeah, it's got the leather visors, all the pillars are leather,
all the little seatbelt holders are leather, the dash ends are leather.
And then they did a nice job, because they spec the carpet in black,
and then all the stitching is in black.
And then they did the center stack, all in gloss black.
Do you know what that car is stickered at?
155.
Back in the day.
Wow.
How much of that was exclusive options?
About 30 grand.
That's not bad, because 30 grand won't get you a whole lot now.
No.
Back in the day, though.
It's a very unusual car, and I've loved Zanzibar.
I just, one of my favorite colors, very rarely chosen.
Believe it or not, it was standard.
Well, it wasn't standard.
It was a $3,200 option in 2002 and 2000.
Is this car going to go on tour?
Are we going to see this car anywhere?
Are we going to see it in Lake Placid?
No.
I've got new other plans.
We'll talk about that in a moment.
Oh, okay.
Lake Placid, but maybe works this year in Monterey.
Maybe I'll drive it.
Oh, okay.
That'd be cool.
It'd be a good car for that.
Or maybe parade Boise.
Assuming you can't wear jeans in this car?
This would be a no-jean zone.
You got to dress like Mr. Ork, all white.
Can you please be in an all-white outfit?
It's got to.
You know me, because people always accuse me
of being all about my fashion and my expensive past.
And not a painter's outfit.
No, no, no.
I think you need like a, how about a white,
no, no, a white tracksuit.
Oh.
A white tracksuit with like a can-go hat.
Oh, I think you're onto something.
I'm onto something.
You know, if I have a friend of mine who I work out with,
so if he's out here listening to this, he'll be mad,
but he showed up at a workout.
You know, I work out with a bunch of guys every week,
and he showed up with a full, gold-on-gold tracksuit.
No, no, not that.
And I kind of made him mad, because I said,
hey, somewhere in New Jersey a mobster is missing his tracksuit.
I'm not going to lie, but literally last night
I was trying on a tracksuit for an event that I'm going to.
Did I say we were brothers?
We're distant cousins.
See, look at this.
We were doing tracksuit things, and we didn't even know it,
and we were doing the same thing.
Where are you wearing said tracksuit?
It's my niece's first birthday,
and I forget the theme of it,
but it's kind of like hip-hop.
It's not a serious thing.
It's not about her.
It's her birthday, but it's not about her.
It's about the parents and the relatives having fun and partying.
That's what it's all about.
The hilarious part is someone will blow that picture up,
but it'll be on someone's mantle 25 years from now,
and they'll be like, who's the uncle without taste?
You're like, no, no, no.
You'll get to see it.
You're going to look like a living Oscar.
No, no, no. It's a pattern.
It's a pattern. It's a very lively pattern.
And of course, when I tried it on, my wife rolled her eyes.
And then when I told her there's a second one,
because it's not good enough to buy one.
You should have two.
It's not like the Louis Vuitton.
Oh, yeah, it's outrageous.
I mean, if you're going to do it, you're going to be outrageous.
Just like your car.
If you're going to have Zanzibar,
you might go have some crazy interior to go with it.
You're going to play my favorites and mix a lot of songs.
Swap, meet, Louis. It'd be perfect for that.
Did your wife see this car yet?
She has seen the car.
And she approves?
She is the best neutral face ever.
I'm always like, hey, I got a new car.
She's like, okay.
She's, what do you call it?
She sees this all the time.
It's like nothing new.
She's used to it.
If you tell her you have to approve her wardrobe before she gets in.
No, I do not.
You know what? Maybe you should get those service covers.
Oh, that would go over well.
I'm sheepskins.
No, no, not sheepskins.
Pretend it's the 70s.
Actually, that would be pretty funny.
I remember reading about a guy who had a 930
for setting up for the Manhattan Award.
He was running with in Manhattan.
And he made all his dates
get into step into a trash bag
inside the car
before they
couldn't put their feet on the carpet.
This individual, you notice he said girlfriends.
You didn't say like long-term.
He's still single, probably, yeah.
So this car was owned
by this, it's an original owner car.
Original owner car.
Several years. Only 20-some-hundred miles.
21-hundred miles.
So they didn't drive it.
Did you have to go through a lot?
No, actually, the car had a really good
service history from its local,
the originating selling dealer.
So it had been serviced on a regular basis.
So actually, I haven't even done it yet,
but I got all the service parts.
So I'm gonna give it a full major service
and just do all that.
Couple cans of white out.
Yeah, I did have to remove it.
It had original, clear film on it from 2008.
So we pulled that off.
How fun was that?
Actually, it came right off, because the car
hadn't really sat outside.
So it hasn't hardened.
So that came off pretty easily, although...
Were you nervous?
Well, I was a little nervous, because you never know.
Sometimes they'll cut on the car
or things like that.
So we didn't have any...
The car, it's got like two little chips,
and that's about the whole thing.
For our listeners, some of you out there
have these old PPF
in the front of your car
and probably have been debating
whether or not to take it off.
What was the process for you to take that off?
So do not go on any of the guides
online that basically tell you to use a heat gun.
We use steam in our show.
Steam is the trick.
I have to give credit where credit is due.
I did not do it.
A guy in my shop did, who's really, really, really good
with this.
Shout out to Jamar, did an amazing job.
Using steam, and then it's kind of
the right amount of pressure,
because what you're attempting to do is
loosen the adhesive on the back of the film,
but still keep it attached to the film
and not to the car.
So you get it up to the right temperature
and then you start a slow and even pull
and you kind of watch.
Because if you get it too hot,
then the adhesive kind of falls off the film
and sticks to the car, and if it's not
loose enough, you've got to apply too much pressure.
So there's kind of just a sweet spot.
So we're using kind of steam as we go.
And the key is getting it off early.
If your film is heavily yellowed
or heaven forbid it started to check,
you're in for a world of hurt.
Because it comes off in little pieces.
And tiny pieces, and you will want to commit
hairy carry, it is brutal.
So if you have film on there that's
going to get it off the car.
It's a service life factor.
Alright, so that was a little bit of a
left field. Sorry about that.
What was on your mind?
What are we going to talk about?
Well, we were actually going to talk about another one
of my cars, which I did ship out this week
with a seat cover on it.
So we talked seat cover with my white interior car.
This car does not have white interior,
but I shipped it with a seat cover.
To go to Amelia?
So one of the things about the PC ad I love
is I love our events that focus on driving
and being out there with people.
And so I know we try to be inclusive
and say you can come with a rental car.
And you certainly can, but it's way more fun
with your Porsche. And so I've never
been to works with my own Porsche.
And so I said, well, I'd really like to have
one of my Porsches at works.
And then I'm also signed up for the
Treffen event in South Carolina.
And so I thought, well,
I can kill two, maybe three birds with one stone.
So I thought, why don't I ship a car
to Charleston?
I found a really nice
kind of high end storage facility.
They're going to accept my car.
Susie and I are going to fly out end of the month.
And then we're going to drive the car down to Amelia.
We have it entered in works.
I'm going to use the car there.
And then we'll bring it back to Charleston.
We'll fly home for a few weeks. Then we'll fly back out.
We'll use it for Treffen.
We'll fly back home.
And then we'll fly out sometime in mid-June,
early June, and we'll drive it up
from Charleston up to Lake Placid.
This is the 928.
This is my 928.
Who I love this car.
Like, kind of like
I had a confessional about falling in low
with this Tiptronic 997 Turbo.
I'm so in low with my 920 yet I can't stand it.
Your video that you did with us on that car, people,
can you remind us what year is it?
It's a 79.
So it's an early car. It's hell-blow metallic.
Five-speed manual.
No spoilers.
But AC.
It has AC that works really, really well.
It's important if you're going to go to the Carolina
as you go to Florida.
Can you bring your wife along?
My wife likes riding in it. She feels safe and comfortable.
Because it reminds me, I thought about
taking my 356, shipping it out
for the Treffen at Mount Washington
we did last year.
And all was going along, swimming in the cars
ready to go. And Susie asked me
one important question. She says,
if we get in a car accident
in this car, are we
going to die?
She did not. She did.
And I said, well,
in marriage, honesty is important.
So I said, yes.
Yes.
And she goes, I don't feel so good
about that.
Especially the miles that you'd be covering in it, right?
Exactly. So we
took a 718 Boxter, you recall.
We had that at Mount Washington.
So the 928, she feels safe.
That's reasonable.
Very safe car.
And I got to tell you about the thing
I'm most excited about though.
So if you recall at Parade in Oklahoma
I think I may have told you
I brought a special package in the back of my truck.
I used my truck and trailer
to bring a car to Parade.
And I done a little research
and there was a gentleman that's in
just outside Oklahoma City
who's well known for doing 928 interiors.
And talking to him,
I said, hey, any chance
you could build me a Pasha interior?
I said, I don't want to give up my original interior
because I have a perfect all original interior.
Could you do that?
And he says, yes.
So I went out and actually brought him
my original seats to have him restitch them a little bit.
I could see his work in person.
So I commissioned him to build me a brand new set of
Pasha front seats, rear seats,
and interior panels.
Oh, so you can take your original,
out-store them, put this interior in,
enjoy it. Bingo.
Not be so worried about it.
So now I have blue-black Pasha interior
in my 928.
Did they offer that originally?
Yes, that was available.
Very rare in blue-black.
Most of them are the white-black.
Brown-white,
whatever you want to call it.
Blue-black.
And that material is still available.
You counted out of Germany.
Brian Wassinger's his name.
I'll give him a shout out. He did amazing work.
The quality of the work is stellar.
And the most important part, he had all the core parts.
Because again, I know that's silly,
but I just didn't want to give up my original parts.
Oh, that makes sense.
And so if I ever want to change it back,
there's a few hours of labor to do.
And so another shout out to one of our other vendors.
I actually shipped it with a reliable.
Bob Sellers, John Golumbowski,
if you're listening, thank you very much.
John was actually the one who booked it for us.
And he isn't inexpensive,
but the quality's good and I love this color.
White glove.
I love.
In fact, as you know,
my real other brother,
our other brother,
worked for me. Our brother.
And he's a little cheaper than I am.
So when he got the bid for how much it was going to cost,
yes, he said,
wow, that's a lot of money to spend to ship that car.
And I said, brother,
I love this car.
If it gets damaged or injured in some way,
I will literally die.
So what's my life worth?
Yes, I'm going to pay this amount.
No, I'm not.
You know what's so funny?
In all my years of being in a car business,
how many times have I ever shipped one of my personal cars?
Usually you're towing it somewhere.
Never. I'm a control freak.
Notice when I come to parade, I bring my own truck and trailer.
I drove to Oklahoma with my own truck and trailer
because I didn't want to trust someone to handle my car.
So this is the first time I
turned over one of my children to somebody else.
You're maturing, sir. You're maturing.
It's the years of therapy.
And realizing I really
don't want a trailer all the way to Florida.
Exactly. Brutal.
And it's in good hands.
It's in great hands, so I can't wait.
Wow. Look at that.
So what else did you have to do to that car to get it ready?
You know, not a whole lot.
I've had that car now about five years.
And so when I first got the car,
we did quite a bit of service work.
What kind of mileage is on the car?
It's actually, you know, it's going to be fun.
On the drive to works, it will turn 100,000 miles.
Mmm, okay.
So it's got like 99,600 miles.
And obviously,
I bought on this for a long time,
so again, it's all me father for I've sinned.
I literally always thought 928s
were super maintenance intensive.
It hadn't been used much
when I got the car, so we had to do
quite a bit of service initially.
But for the last five years, it's been
pretty dead nuts, reliable.
Very, very typical things.
I would almost argue it's probably been
my most reliable Porsche.
Really?
Oh, wow.
You better knock on the table.
We'll allow you to knock on the table
even though we usually don't say don't do it.
This is not real wood.
Yeah.
Although, if you ask Susie,
we took it on a PCA driving event, a wine tour
this past summer, and the temperatures
were just over 100 degrees.
And I wanted to bring a classic,
and I thought, okay, of my classics,
I really bluffed at
one of my transaxle cars.
So 944 Turbo, my 968
or the 928.
And we just used the 968 on the
Heatherwine tour in Napa, and so that
we'll do the 928.
And it worked good the first day,
and when it got north of about 100 degrees,
my AC definitely
still worked, but was getting a little...
There's a lot of glass area in 928.
Yeah.
But when I got it back to my shop,
we checked the charge on the AC
and we topped off with the R12
and it went back to working as it should.
And the whole time I've had it,
I've never even so much as recharged it.
It's still its original R12 system.
Yeah.
R12 is cold.
Yeah.
So if you see me pulling, it works,
and I'm not sweating, it's a good sign.
So as R12, consumers can't get it, right?
You have to be in the business or something?
No, nobody...
A shop can get it.
A shop can get it?
They stopped selling it in 1999.
So if you have it, it's because you...
So I bought...
It looks like a big barbecue canister.
I bought a canister in about 2002.
Uh-huh.
And I've been recharging my cars
from that same 35-pound canister
for 20-some odd years.
And it's still probably half-full.
Oh.
Because you only take up just a little bit.
Right.
A few ounces at a time.
So, yeah, if you can keep them R12,
they work way better.
Yeah.
Yeah, our Project 964 was R12
and it wasn't working,
so when I gave it to Bob Miller,
he said, let me just charge it and see what happens.
Charge it and cold air.
I'm like, awesome.
Yeah, keep it.
Mmm.
So, anyway,
but it's year of the trans-axle.
I think we're celebrating the trans-axle.
We're celebrating the trans-axle
at Workshare Union Amelia.
The other great thing about going...
the path that you're going from
Amelia and then up kind of northeast
and then into New York,
there's a lot of 928 folks
along that path.
Yes.
So you will have resources available, obviously.
I won't need them.
I'm just saying...
Dead nuts for viable intelligence.
It's nice to have that...
You are like giving the middle finger to fate.
Because, like I said, I...
Wait till we have the next podcast with him.
I only had the basic AAA,
not the premium.
No, I got fired by AAA.
Did I tell you this?
No.
What?
Did you abuse the 200-mile rule?
No, this is the craziest story.
Huge no shout-out to AAA Washington.
They actually fired me as a customer.
Really?
They sent me a form letter.
Not used.
AAA, if you're listening,
don't let it affect mine
because I like my gold membership.
You guys take great care of me.
He's AAA Maryland.
AAA Washington,
I don't know what they're thinking,
but I got this just random form letter.
It says, you know,
we were getting to inform you
we were canceling your membership
due to a violation of our terms of use
or whatever, you know.
And I thought, well, that's weird.
Because I've been a member for like 20 years.
And I thought, okay.
And I had used it like three times that year,
which was unusual,
but I'd gone many years where I hadn't used it.
It was just kind of a run of goofy luck.
Like my truck broke down in Montana.
And it was actually running with a friend
and his car broke down.
I said we could use it.
And it gave one of my kids a jump start.
Because it follows you.
It doesn't follow just one car.
Exactly.
And so when I called,
I said, you know, hey,
maybe someone fraudulently used my account
because I just can't think of anything I did
that would have been egregious.
And the customer service agent said to me,
well, if you don't know,
then you must have done something.
And I go, really?
That's what they said.
That's actually why I'm calling.
I'm a pretty reasonable person.
I said, here's the service uses I think I've had.
And I said, maybe you can confirm
if there's something outside of that.
And they wouldn't.
And the worst, most insulting part was,
it'd be one thing if they would have done it
at the end of the year.
They did it like 15 days after
they'd renewed my membership.
So it was auto-renew.
So they charged me for my membership
and then canceled me and wouldn't offer a refund.
Wow.
Yeah.
Shame on you.
Yes.
So I'm going straight commando.
Although that's not true.
I have Hagerty.
Yeah, Hagerty.
You don't command new beans.
Yes, I do.
Just let's, I'm sure our listeners know
there's no need to go into detail.
I want to keep my new pasta seats clean.
But they didn't give you a reason?
No.
They can do that?
No.
I mean, yes, they're a business like anything else.
Oh, they saw too many claims and therefore
they kicked you off.
So they limit you to a certain amount of miles, right?
Or four toes or the four toes.
There's a defined number of services that I hadn't exceeded
but somehow they felt that...
Wow.
Interesting.
And the funny thing is, like I said,
I'd go years at a time where you wouldn't use it at all.
Right.
Because it's just how life works.
That's how they figure percentage of people aren't going to do it.
Oh, yeah.
It's like a gym membership.
They count on the non-users to pay for the people
that they do have to toe or whatever.
But I know my friends at Hagerty are going to treat me right.
Hagerty Drivers Club will take over you.
Wow.
See?
I love the confidence.
You guys are...
Look at that smirk on his face.
It's like he's testing fate for it.
I can't say at the board.
My friends felt the same way when I drove my 914 down the Luft.
Yeah.
They were just in shock that I was driving this car
because they were all towing their cars.
Oh.
And I had the premium plus or whatever,
the 200-mile AAA.
But I told them, I said, you know,
this car's pretty simple to work on, so I'm not...
Mad respect to both of you.
Mad respect to Mr. Sass as well.
He'll get into a car of questionable quality
and drive across.
Very questionable quality.
God bless, Rob.
I love you, man.
I can be in a 97-mile...
What is it that we have?
The rental van that we have today?
The Pacifica?
Pacifica.
And I'm still kind of worried because it's not my car,
but I know it's like...
I've talked to him on the phone and he'll be driving somewhere
and he's like, it's 30 below outside
and the wind's blowing sideways
and I'm driving my 99996 for 280,000 miles.
And I'm like, no part of that seems like a bad idea to you.
And he's like, no, I'm great.
I got my podcast on.
I'm just coming along.
But you also fell into his little world
by climbing into his fairly unknown 996 turbo
and went north in the snow.
And I believe he was on summer tires.
That was confidential information.
We actually lied to people and we told them
we had winter tires because remember...
But did you have...
You had summer, not all season?
Well...
It's after so many years, I think it doesn't...
They made me nodding his head in agreement.
I think it was either Michelin or Pirelli.
Someone was going to send us some winter tires
and then they couldn't come up with the correct fitment.
And so we thought, well...
This is sponsored by Pirelli,
so it must have been the other way.
Yes, it would have been the unknown person, but...
I do remember, because those tires came in,
but they were the wrong size or something like that.
And you guys were planning to leave and...
It was lumping snow.
What could possibly go wrong with summer tires?
You have all-wheel drive, you'll be fine.
You know, it goes okay.
It's a stopping and steering that's problematic.
So just keep going forward.
You and Sass, you're daring.
That was one of the most fun trips I've ever had.
I think we did like 3,000 miles in like three days or something.
But Sass does not...
He doesn't hesitate at all.
It's pretty admirable.
I cannot do that.
I'm too nervous of a person.
He is a risk taker.
And now he transferred his risk to our good friend Damon over there.
Yeah.
And Damon loves his Cayenne.
He drove to Oklahoma. I mean, I saw it.
I proof of life.
He bought it. Damon had three spark plugs and new.
Was it three, Damon?
I mean, why do you own all of them?
I had a bunch of work to make sure it got better.
Oh.
But when you got it, it only had three spark plugs.
That is six, right?
Three new spark plugs.
You've done half the spark plugs in oil packs,
but didn't finish it.
Can they hear you when you're talking or no?
Maybe, probably a little bit.
Oh, okay. Sorry about that.
We don't have Damon mic'd up,
but what Damon was saying when he went to service
the Cayenne that there were
obviously three newer spark plugs
then on one side that...
I'm assuming the newer spark plugs
were the ones that were easily accessible.
No, he got a phone call and he forgot about it.
Hey, now we're dogging my friend Rob out.
Rob, we love you.
What he was probably doing, he was pouring
his heart and soul into Panorama for our members.
He was.
And he gave so much of his personal time,
he couldn't finish his job.
The printer called or something.
That's what I swear.
Wow, I didn't realize.
I remember you guys took the trip.
I didn't realize it was summer tires.
We didn't tell anyone that because people would have been so mad.
It wasn't the best strategy.
Let me tell you, we had some hairy mouths.
The car survived and you guys survived.
It survived. We had a great time.
You went all the way through Quebec.
Oh, yeah.
So great.
Tertiary roads through the state of Maine
and dumping snow at
higher rates of speed.
Oh, God, no.
We were pushing snow with that front splitter.
I thought we were going to get out
and the whole front bumper would be missing
a couple of times when we hit some wows in the road.
And Rob, another comment I'll pay Rob.
Rob doesn't ever sweat it.
I'm driving.
I said, what's your car?
He's like, no, you're a great driver.
I said, well, are you worried about that?
He's like, nope.
Here's the story.
This was when Rob
came on fairly early.
We were down at Amelia.
I forget the color yellow.
The car yellow.
The car yellow.
Convertible.
We're going back to the hotel.
Were you in the car at the time?
No, I think Roxanne and maybe Luann were.
Yeah.
Or maybe it was Cindy.
I know Roxanne was in the car.
We're making a beeline from the
Concord back to the hotel.
I'm not kidding you.
It must have been, I don't know if it was a beaver
or a raccoon.
Or a raccoon.
But it went kato kato.
And it was
It didn't sound like we just grazed it
because the car was high.
I'm pretty sure there's no radio.
The big chunk out of the splitter.
He was like, huh.
I hit beavers all the time.
We were still like 40 minutes
away from the hotel.
He was like, you don't think that damage anything.
I'm like, well, I don't see any lights coming on your dash.
That line of coolant behind it should be just fine.
He did not skip a beat.
And we get to the hotel
and he gets out
a big chunk of the spoiler
and the fog light
was missing or something like that.
He's like, oh, I'm sure I can find a replacement.
No big deal.
I love that about him.
It's kind of nice.
It takes all kinds.
Are you looking forward
to any of the auctions at Amelia?
Are you buying anything?
Or you're always buying something.
I am bought out.
What?
Who is this person?
I just bought that turbo.
I wasn't planning to buy.
And then I just bought another portion this week.
Do you tell?
Another rant, but this is what's on my mind.
One of my pet peeves,
I was just talking to Ralph,
the trainer here about this.
One of my life pet peeves is people say,
oh, Targas.
And they say it with a Targa.
And they go, oh, they weak,
they squeak, they rattle,
they this, they that.
I'm like, no, they don't.
Now, most of them do.
No, they don't, both of them do.
Not because it's a fault
that they haven't been maintained.
I said, do you really think
back in the day, Porsche would have put this car out?
How concerned Porsche was
with quality control and engineering?
They would have made a car that had
horrific wind noise and rattles
and leaked like a sieve.
No, they didn't.
Now, fast forward 30, 40, 50 years later,
most of them do.
But every so often, you come across
a car that is
an excellent example of whatever
that given car is.
So, long story short,
some clients brought to me a 73 and a half
911T Targa
that they had bought when it was one year old
from our local Porsche dealer
that's just a couple miles from my store
called Interlake Porsche at the time.
They call me,
he's not doing well
and they want to move the car to the next owner.
They've been sitting for a while, so I went over
saw the car in the garage
and the car needed some
work to get it back up to speed, but the car was
100% original.
Like original, original, original, original.
How many miles?
70,000.
And just, oh,
so we bring it to the shop,
we spend a few weeks kind of getting it
up and running and I thought, well,
I'm going to try to put a couple hundred miles on it
just to kind of sort through it.
And the first time I drive this car,
I was like, oh no,
I'm in trouble.
This car,
it's as if the hand of God.
Like, it is so good and so correct,
like it was like tears to drive this car.
I thought,
I so badly wish I could offer a service
where I allow people to come drive this car.
Because how to drive a right one, a correct one, right?
From every input of that car,
the way it shifts,
the way the door sounds when you close it,
the brake feel, the clutch take up,
the way the motor revs,
and on this case,
the target top, you can go 100 miles an hour
and it's dead quiet.
I mean, it's dead quiet.
With the top on.
And I thought,
now, the car's not perfect.
It's silver metallic, so as you know,
the silver's failed.
So it's got some clear quote failure
and it had some seat covers on it starting
in day one and the seat covers, I think,
did more damage than protection.
Because it held the moisture?
No, it's got Papita seat centers
and I think there's the rubbing the fabric on the fabric,
so they're a little bit threadbare.
But it has just a really nice,
warm patina to it
and the target bar, you know,
the brushed target bar.
And the car originally was
a cookie cutter car,
which I like cookies.
And they looked pretty...
Explain some people might not know what you're talking about.
What is a cookie cutter?
So most people associate early 9-11s
having Fuchs, which are the forged,
you know, five-pedal brushed aluminum wheel.
Great wheel.
But they don't realize on a 9-11T
the standard wheel was actually a steel wheel
with a bright hubcap
and then the middle option was a cast wheel.
Maybe I had a company called ATS
and they were called a cookie cutter.
They're 15 by 6 inch
and they actually are kind of a painted silver
but they have kind of a rough finish to them.
And they're just a charming wheel.
Not very commonly seen.
But anyway, when I was looking at the car,
the wheels looked just heavily stained.
But the more I looked at them, I could tell
they'd never been really cleaned up.
So when I cleaned them up,
I realized actually they still have factory cosmoline
on the front of them.
Really? Wow.
And so I sent them to my dry ice vendor
and we dry ice the original wheels
and they look new.
And so I put some Pirelli.
CN36 is on there.
Shout out, awesome tire.
And yeah, so I started driving this car
and as you know,
that's a half-year-only car only sold here
in the US, the CIS injection.
And it's just a lovely car.
Oh, nice.
So kind of a good but sad story.
So the family,
he was great.
He knew the whole story on the car.
I didn't know exactly what the extent of his illness was
but I could tell he was relatively sick.
So as we were progressing to the shop,
his wife would stop by
and check on progress.
And he'd stop by when we were about
95% done and I said,
hey, when we get done, let's get photos
and maybe make a video of you talking about
your experience owning the car.
I said, yeah, sounds good.
And unfortunately, he passed away before
that happened.
And so that maybe, I don't know,
I'm a story person about cars.
And so between how much I love driving the car,
the fact it was sold at my local dealer,
and the connection with this lovely family,
I thought.
So I
somewhat have a conflict of interest.
So I presented to the family, I said,
hey, let me give you a few options.
And so I said, here's what I think the car is worth.
I would like to keep it,
but I also recognize that
I want to make sure I'm serving you well.
And so here are your options
and if you want to sell it to me, that's okay.
If you want me to sell it and put it in the open market,
I can do that as well.
They said, no, we'd like you to have it.
So I'm actually going to take the car to his service,
which was like on April 11th.
So we're going to take it.
Yeah, because they said, yeah, everyone remembered him having this car.
So I said, yeah.
So it's a long story, but
that's actually one of the things I love about the car.
I love that, yeah, exactly.
I love all that.
In fact, interesting that you bring up Target,
because your name came up.
Our brother in DC,
Gregory,
was looking at
on Bring a Trailer,
I think it was a 73E Target.
And I think it was yellow
or orange
or something like that.
He texted it to me.
And basically what I said was,
if you're seriously interested in a long-hood Target,
before we start looking around,
call Nathan.
Nathan will tell you what to look for,
what's out there, kind of the range.
And so that's how we ended the conversation.
But yeah, I was like, if you're serious about this,
buying the right car is so important
because he saw all the pictures
and I was like, yeah,
it might be a great car.
But someone needs to tell you that.
Someone that's a specialist needs to tell you
that is a good car,
because you and I don't know that
and just going off the pictures.
Everything looks good in pictures.
And if you're going to spend that kind of money,
how disappointed would you be
that you're bidding and you win it
and then you get it and the next thing you know
you have to spend another 30 grand
or whatever it is to get it
to the level that you want.
Find someone like yourself
or an expert that you know
to guide you along that process.
Because again, a good Target is really good
and a bad Target is really bad.
Like if you drive one,
I get it, like I've driven the ones
where 40 miles an hour,
the wind roar over the top,
you can't even have a conversation.
I mean the thought of going 60 miles an hour,
it just seems painful.
I would think they would be more prone to rust
because of the fact that people didn't take care of the seals
and water would get in more so than a coupe.
I mean possibly
914's are that way.
They don't take care of seals
and water starts getting in
and you don't see it because it gets between the pad
and the sound insulation
until it starts rusting from the inside out.
So if you've
been on say Facebook
or Instagram
there's a dealership in Monterey
they've been very active
in finding cars in garages
and barns and stuff like that.
And your story
that you were just telling me,
are there really that many cars still out there
that are kind of undiscovered?
You know, you think
every time I find a car I think
this is the last one that I'll find.
And the answer to that is that's not true.
I mean that individual
he proves that wrong
I prove it wrong all the time
I'm going to find cars.
They are out there.
Although in theory it has to be a finite number
and there has to be less with each passing year.
But
again every time I find a car
I think well even my 928
take that 928 I was searching all over the nation
for a good color
early all original
manual 928 all over the country
I'd flown back east to look at a car
and I bought that car
literally two miles from my house
I've never seen it
did not know the people and I actually
the referral how I found the car
came through a friend of mine
outside of the Porsche world
he used to be a tenant of mine
in one of my rental houses
so it was just like fate.
I know this car it's a Porsche
I think because I saw the crest
do you think you might be interested
is that how it comes out?
Apparently the couple that had my car
were selling their house
and his mom was their real estate agent
and she they were talking
he says oh I think this guy I know
I think is in the Porsche business
and so he called me and said hey
can I have these people call
and I literally thought they would be a 924
944
and when I got the lady on the phone
and she wasn't actually sure what model it was
but I did say well it was the engine
in the front of the back
and she said the front
and so I said well
okay do you remember
when you got the car
it's funny how people's brains work
she's like well my daughter was born in 1984
and we had it before then
so it's time for time after that
but we got married in 77 and we didn't have it
so I'm thinking okay
it's somewhere in that range
and so I said well
does 928 sound familiar
she goes well maybe
she goes I know it's got a V8
oh
I was like okay
and I said well does it have a clutch
what's a clutch
no she was like yes because
I know how to drive a manual but I don't like driving it
that's why I've never really driven it
so now I know it's a 928 manual
somewhere between a 78 and an 84
and so sure enough I go there
and they open the garage
and here's this all original
79,928
and were there like boxes sitting on top of it
no he was very particular about it
it's interesting how people that are
so close to their car
but yet once it's time to
how it leaves
how it departs it's amazing to me
that stories like that still exist
or can happen
it is funny
I bought a 356 years ago
from a guy who had bought the car when it was a year old
so it was a 64C and he bought the car
in 1965 when he was in college
and I bought the car from
his original owner car
and it was not running at that point
but all complete like a good car
and so we agreed on a price
and I said I'll call my flatbed
guy and he'll come get the car
so I told it was about an hour
wait and I said hey the tow truck driver
is going to be here shortly do you want to be here
to take any pictures or anything
and he said no
I don't want to be here for that
and he walked in the house and did not
come back
he said I've decided
I'm done with it and I'm just
so maybe that was his way of
you know
watching it go down the road would have been too painful
I'm not sure but he was pretty funny
he was like nope
not interested
I'm like do you want a picture with the car
chapter closed
man do you have specific
instructions for your family
I think
earlier I thought
the good topic would be what car
would you want driven to your memorial service
you just went really dark
why are we going that way
you just said
that you were going to drive it to
the guy's memorial service and I said
wouldn't you want all of your friends
to show up in their Porsches
I would want everybody to bring out
their cars and just
make some noise
at the party
the last party that would be awesome
I'm going to have to go a little off-porsche
topic here because I'll make my kids watch this podcast
because we've actually had this discussion
I kid you not
in the pickup let me guess it's the pickup
well that
do you want to be in the back of the pickup
oh that'd be even
oh I know a handmade wooden box
in the back
oh we forgot to latch it
he put that in the instructions
we forgot
no I actually told my kids a hard and fast rule
I said so help me God at my funeral
if people get up and talk about Porsche
I failed as a human being
you know that's going to happen
replay this podcast
the first sentence
in everybody's speech
I want people to say
it would be such an awkward service because
what else are you going to talk about
you'd have your running buddies
I think I'm a pretty damn good dad
I'm a good brother
I'm a good husband
you know I'm involved in my church
you don't want it to be the ultimate defining
you could be like number 7
on the list
I get that
I know you too
okay fine
we'll say all that fluffy stuff first
but then we'll go but you really are all here
because we met through the Porsche
club network
because you know the funeral home will be spread into
like your running buddies
your family
the Porsche people
you'd walk in and immediately say
oh there's a Porsche guy
you see all the fit guys and you'd be like
yeah we're not walking in
any of your fitness guys cross
into the Porsche world
there's a few
I definitely have
different world friends
I have my car friends
I have others
do you have other friends besides car world
so on the spot
family
family and car friends
you're focused
I just don't have time to
I don't have time to be any other friends
I'm so busy
well it reminds me years ago
I was up at one of our local mountains
and I was skiing
we had a big dump
and I get on the lift
and I push up my goggles
and the guy looks at me and he kind of doubles
he's like Nathan
and it's a customer
and it struck me so funny because he looks at me
he's like you ski
and I was like
yeah I'm in Seattle like 92%
of us too
but I just had no idea
and I was like you know I do things
other than Porsche I know it's like a shocking
concept
that happens when people know you
for one side of your life
and they're like I hear you're in the cars
kind of
and then they go oh I didn't realize
you were that deep into it
a little bit
yeah so
hopefully we're all interesting people
outside of Porsche as well right
we are
but I will also say the club
has brought us together
because of the car
but the things that we enjoy in life
there's a lot of commonalities too
yeah that's true
and that's how we are able to hang out each other
when it comes either to food
or travel
and that kind of stuff we
we're tripping at sea we don't even have our cars
and we still you know this one
we pulled along who didn't even think he could
ever possibly like a cruise
and guess what he goes every year now
but he will only go
I believe you would only go to
tripping at sea because of
all the PCA friends that are on
I have no interest in becoming friends with cruise people
such a
stereotype for many
yes I do enjoy
being on a boat with Porsche
people and you know
you have a lot of friends you meet a lot of people
I tell everyone that it's a
very cool experience
that you don't need a car
I mean parade you don't need a car
and parade you can have a great time if you fly to the parade
any of our events really works reunion
parade
traffin
just being around the people
and there's always
always a seat available
that if you wanted to ride with someone
and there's always someone
willing to take you
I found that to be true absolutely
before we get into next thing
let me make sure we remind you
to head over to pca.org
to sign up for PCA's newsletters
performance news e-brake news
and marked fresh all free
and I'll just go ahead
and knock off the events as well
we talked about Workshare Union
Amelia Island March 6th
we are sold out and I don't think can you still
register I think we're closed
let me even put scroll up again
this airs March 9th
so this will be over
but you can listen to our podcast where we talk all about
exactly
and of course traffin at sea
we are going to be September 19th
this year Nathan will be on board
as well as some other great guest speakers
and we're really going to start sending out
the information on traffin at sea
to everyone we've been quite focused
on Porsche Parade
and of course as you know
Parade and Lake Placid registration
is open
the event itself is June 14th through 20th
and it's going to be a record
setting Porsche Parade
for the most part
the hotels are sold out
of course if you can find your own accommodations
you can still register
and come to the event
but it's going to be bonkers in Lake Placid
and so with that
kind of done
we are really going to start turning
the marketing machine
for traffin at sea
because that also is going to be a fantastic event
the pricing
to go from Vancouver
San Francisco
Santa Barbara
then down to LA doing stuff with
regions at the beginning
and at the end
it's going to be a wine cruise
one of the excursions is a wine
and chocolate excursion
so if you're looking for
that kind of event
and once we publish
or actually you can see the prices
they have a sommelier telling us what kind of wine
exactly
with her she select
and her she gives
they'll be much much higher level
chocolate
I prefer Berlo with Reese's Pieces
I don't think they're going to have Manny doing that session
yeah
and also
for parade episode
213
this is 219 you're listening to
213 will be the
phase 2
since we did the phase 1 parade
episode we got a lot of great feedback
a lot of people listen to it actually
we have so many new people coming to parades
so if you'll be able to learn all about phase 2
and the phase 2
is where you sign up like just at 40 events
it's going to take a little longer
to register it in phase 1
but we're going to give you some
some tips some suggestions
how to get through it and what happens
if something is sold out
yeah phase 2 is going to be very important for
those attending especially those of you that are
new to it it's going to be
a bit overwhelming because
PCA and the parade
organizers are going to ask
a lot of details of how you want
to spend your time with us
and I've never been through
any other registration system
that has to
accommodate your meal preferences
to which kid you're bringing to
are you autocrossing on Wednesday
are you going to TSC
we ask all of that
and it's to make sure that you have a great
experience and because of the volume
this year typically things
don't quote quote sell out
but I have a feeling with this year's
volume certain events
will sell out so if you have
certain events that you
absolutely must want to do
you need to
one know that that's
what you're going to register for very quickly
and then kind of check out
and you know we'll walk you through all of that
but yeah it's
going to be a little bit different just with such high
demand and also I think it's going
to be fantastic to see all the cars
that are coming with this kind of
volume
get to see Nathan's 928
get to see Nathan's 928
well if Manny has his way
it might not be but
it'll get there somehow
either you driving it or on a flat bed
I mean either way it's going to get there
it'll be fine my friend Manny
he's just going to rent a suburb
you don't have a Virgin Mary on a dashboard
or anything like that I'm a good Catholic boy
that's one of my other things about me
so I have my little Catholic medals
there you are
so I think we still have a little bit more time
what else is going on
in the mind of yours
well one thing
I'm always being self-centered here
so I'm seeing these beautiful PCCB
calipers and discs here
so if there's anyone out there who's taken off
a PCCB setup on a 997
and put it on the shelf and forgot about it
please reach out to me I need those
for my new 997 turbo
I mean you can buy them new
Mr. Frugal
yes you can
I know you've priced them how much are they new
you know
a front set is 20
I didn't see what the original
just buy 40
for the setup
so yeah
so I actually installed PCCBs on my 996
turbo the one I took to parade last year
and they look so good
I got kind of a deal on those
so I'm looking for something similar
so what I might do
is I'm probably going to do some gyro discs
and then I'm probably going to refinish the brake calipers
in Zanzibar because I don't like the fact I have
red brake calipers on an orange car
kind of clashes a bit
but if I had PCCBs
and I
it's a safety thing someone should be concerned
about my safety the car would stop better
this is important
we have a great listener out there
alongside
PCCBs I have a question for you
we had a lively discussion
in my region about this
do you own
any Porsches that have center locks
oh man you're going to go there
live you're going to go there
I do not I have owned them in the past
what are your thoughts on them
I'm talking about the street car
not the race car
well funny enough I just had this debate on my new car
so one thing I do hate about 997
turbos I hate the factory wheels
I think they're hideous
I just can't stand them
but you have five bolts on that car
because they're the bright work with the painted triple spokes
they're just really busy
they're a little busy I agree
they're not that bad
they're forged they're a beautiful wheel
in terms of quality but they don't look good to me
ten years from now you'll be like where did I put those factory wheels
so funny enough
in my world in the shop we seem to mate
center lock wheels
I mean I must have ten sets of
used center lock wheels that people don't even
just say just take them I don't even want them
because they're switching to five bolts
they're spares for like
track cars or things and then
there's just not a big secondary market for center lock wheels
like there are in five bolt wheels
so I have two
like new in the box
997.2 GT3 RS
center lock wheels
and I thought to myself huh
I could convert my new 997 turbo
to center locks and I already have a free
pair of wheels for it
and I like that look so believe it or not from
Suncoast right now you can buy the OEM
center lock conversion kit for that car
for $2,300
because I thought about buying
997.1 GT3 wheels
but they're $10,000
for a set of new ones
and I'm OCD I only want original and new so
I'm like ten grand or
I could do a center lock conversion for $2,300
and take my free wheels
and marry them
so
I might but I did just buy a set of forged
lines I found on the PCA
customers yeah
popped up a beautiful set of forged lines that are kind of a
repop of the
style looks very similar to the 997.2
turbo S wheels but non center locks
so they look original
you want to live with center locks?
the maintenance doesn't bother you?
no have you done maintenance on it?
yes
but if it were my only portion
I drove it a lot
his usage
is different
none of my cars get a ton of miles
other than I have a few cars that are a lot
but that car is not going to be one of them
but I ultimately decided
that I'm going to do these forged lines
I'm going to refinish them in a shade
to sort of match
the interior because the next thing I want to do
is I want to put graphics
that are homage to the .2
GTPRS graphics
they did the gold foil graphics on the fenders
I'm going to do that but take the turbo script
and do some sort of homage
just my own take on something fun
you know me I like to mess with stuff
so back to
your discussion on your
chat
I don't think Nathan has a lot of experience
with something to be able to
really
we have them in the shop all the time
so we take them on and off and do service on cars
here's my theory on them
to me this is the one thing
Porsche disappointed me in
was putting center locks on their street cars
because it's the
amount of maintenance
versus a five bolt that you have to do to take care of it
I went to a seminar or a tech session
and had a dealer about
care and feeding of center locks
and I couldn't believe how much work it was
to get these things
I mean it seemed like we were going backwards
for really no advantage
whatsoever and every engineer from
Porsche I went into I asked him the question
why do we have center locks
and the answer is always pretty much
cosmetics yeah I agree with that
I mean theoretically they can give you the perfect
torque because it's centered
but you can come pretty darn close with the torque wrench
and five bolts
maybe if they had used
motorsport parts
which also require a lot of maintenance
but that's a race car
maybe I have more respect for it
but it's not even that it's just
I like the simplicity of a five lug
and not knowing that
I don't have to service my lug nuts
well I mean I don't know if you've seen it
but they do have that new 914
center lock update kit I was going to get it for you
for Christmas but if you don't want it I
just putting one lug nut on the wheel that's it
that's kind of the rob sassiness
he only uses three of the lug nuts
what could possibly go wrong
what is a service schedule for center locks
did you learn how often
I can't remember the model but it's
somebody on our
local region chat found that thread
on Reddit about it
and it was pretty hilarious from the people who owned them
just really despised them
and somebody called the grease
that you have to use as spawn of satan
because it gets everywhere
oh it's like anti-seize you put
like a little dot here and you ended up all in your face
so anyways and one member of our region
he loves them
and so he's
he's
someone who would love to
tell you the benefits of them when we get the chance
you know and I can't argue they look great
I will not argue that
let's be honest like 90% of the center lock GT cars
I'm just going to call like I see it
their whole use case is going to cars and coffee
so the time in which they're going to have
the service interval is
yeah that's not their worries
alright folks if you
want to race others
check out pcsimracing.com
if you're looking for some insider swag
you can look for
pcawebstore.org
we've got bottles, mugs
t-shirts and if you
would like a pcainsider decal
send us your address
your physical address information to
podcast at pca.org
and we'll send you a set
anything else before we wrap up gentlemen
no I think it's been a blast
it's been fun it's always good to have you Nathan
thank you very much for joining us
thank you for coming to tech tactics
Eason it's kind of cool that we're going to spend
a lot of time with you back Eason
maybe we'll try to set you up as you come through
DC or we'll do something
every time we
have you on the channel
yeah it's very well received so thank you
all the time that you put into it
as being part of the tech
committee and such it's one of the
fun things that we get to do
but it's a big value for our members
and keep on checking on our
pca youtube channel because we'll have Nathan's
presentation up there so
oh no I gotta be on my best
presentation you're gonna do
I gotta go back tonight and do it
because I was gonna be on a rant
let me remind you
watch what you say
because we'll be recording
but he knows that dame is doing it two days
so if you mess this up
it can go to the second day
there you go again thank you everyone for listening
be sure to like comment and subscribe
consider sharing our show with fellow portion
enthusiasts until next time stay safe
and we'll catch you down the road
About this episode
Nathan Merz shares his unexpected enthusiasm for a rare 997 Turbo Coupe with a Tiptronic transmission and an all-leather Zanzibar interior, highlighting its smooth driving experience and unique styling. The conversation touches on Porsche's performance nuances, including the lazy-fast character of the 997 Turbo and the appeal of Tiptronic for touring. Alongside car talk, Nathan and Vu discuss personal stories, upcoming PCA events, and the fun of embracing bold fashion choices like tracksuits. The episode blends technical insights with lighthearted banter and insider Porsche culture.
Original notes
We recorded this episode at the Porsche Training Facility in Easton, PA with Nathan Merz. Like the title of this episode, Nathan had plenty to talk about and we gave him the platform. From his latest Porsche purchase to the 928 he’s bringing to Werks and Treffen and Parade. He reminisces about the trip he took in a 996 Turbo in the middle of winter to Canada as well as the barn find 911 Targa he found. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to hang with Nathan talking Porsche, this is the episode for you.
Be sure to check out the sponsor of this podcast, Pirelli Tire
Porsche Club Insider
Porsche Club of America
0:00
61:22