By John LeBlanc
MONTEREY, Calif. – Cars as art? No problem. I can appreciate the past as rolling sculpture as well as anyone else. I never really understood the fascination with driving old cars, though, at least for the cars I’ve owned or driven in the past. They’ve always been more fragile, unreliable, slower, or handle like a bag of squirrels compared to any modern car. Beyond the nostalgia associated with Old Fart clunkers—“I first got (fill in the blank) in that car!”—the whole idea of driving something before I even breathed on this planet seems to go against the basic foundation of our race, the need to move forward, progress. I don’t wash my clothes on a rock in a stream, have woolly mammoth shirts in my wardrobe, or cook my dinner on an open fire. But hey, that’s just me…
So with an open mind, I accepted an invitation from Porsche Canada to drive two of its museum pieces it brought down here to sunny Carmel Valley, part of the weeklong car orgy that will culminate tomorrow with the Concours D’Elegance on the 18th hole at the famed Pebble Beach golf course.
Ho, fricken, hum. As you may know: I don’t do “old cars.” So the idea of driving a couple of “Before 911” Porsche 356s (when the keys of a brand new 911 GT3 were also on hand) was not high on my priority list. But with time to spare, why not? If only to prove that old cars are crap. After a 100 km round trip down and back to Big Sur along California’s Hwy 1, though, in both a 1962 356 convertible and coupe, allow me to edit my opinion to: “I hate driving Old Fart cars that aren’t from the Porsche Museum.”
The first old Porsche I drove was a silver
1960 356B 2000 GS Carrera GT (left). Like a modern 911 GT3 (which I did eventually get my seat time in), it was built to let customers go to the track.
In the context of its day, the 2000 GS Carrera GT was a Gemini space ship: i.e. cutting edge. With the latest in lightweight technology, circa 1960 (aluminum body panels, additional chassis welds for increased stiffness, plexi side windows, lightweight aluminum seat shells and a wooden steering wheel) this
Mad Men era sports car also has a race-tuned 2.0-litre flat-four sporting 175 hp. Yes. There are no seat belts, Bluetooth, or dual-zone climate control. But all of the car’s important “driving” parts (steering, handling, ride quality, tightness, build quality) were surprisingly modern.
Okay. The GS Carrera GT's fearsome blats from its racing exhaust would wake yours and the next-town-over’s neighbours. But the direct, tactile feel from all its oily bits makes a new Cayman S feel anodyne.
The second old Porsche I got the chance to pilot, a red
’62 356B Carrera 2 Cabriolet (left), was just as surprising, but in another way. The Carrera 2 was the most powerful 356 Cabriolet ever (the “2” indicated the displacement in litres of the 130 hp flat-four.) Naught to 100 km/h took 9.4 seconds, a number Porsche claims, “Before 1962, only cars with twice the engine displacement could accomplish the feat.”
Compared to the race bred 2000 GS Carrera GT, the Carrera 2 Cabriolet felt like a Cadillac. Or more accurately, a modern MX-5. Quiet, comfortable, yet with tons of feedback from all of its controls, I would have no problems driving this little red rocket on a daily summer basis. Heck, this Old Fart even had an AM/FM radio.
I still think old cars are crap. Just the ones without a Porsche badge on their hoods.
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By John LeBlanc
MONTEREY, Calif. – Cars as art? No problem. I can appreciate the past as rolling sculpture as well as anyone else. I never really understood the fascination with driving old cars, though, at least for the cars I’ve owned or driven in the past. They’ve always been more fragile, unreliable, slower, or handle like a bag of squirrels compared to any modern car. Beyond the nostalgia associated with Old Fart clunkers—“I first got (fill in the blank) in that car!”—the whole idea of driving something before I even breathed on this planet seems to go against the basic foundation of our race, the need to move forward, progress. I don’t wash my clothes on a rock in a stream, have woolly mammoth shirts in my wardrobe, or cook my dinner on an open fire. But hey, that’s just me…
So with an open mind, I accepted an invitation from Porsche Canada to drive two of its museum pieces it brought down here to sunny Carmel Valley, part of the weeklong car orgy that will culminate tomorrow with the Concours D’Elegance on the 18th hole at the famed Pebble Beach golf course.
Ho, fricken, hum. As you may know: I don’t do “old cars.” So the idea of driving a couple of “Before 911” Porsche 356s (when the keys of a brand new 911 GT3 were also on hand) was not high on my priority list. But with time to spare, why not? If only to prove that old cars are crap. After a 100 km round trip down and back to Big Sur along California’s Hwy 1, though, in both a 1962 356 convertible and coupe, allow me to edit my opinion to: “I hate driving Old Fart cars that aren’t from the Porsche Museum.”
The first old Porsche I drove was a silver 1960 356B 2000 GS Carrera GT (left). Like a modern 911 GT3 (which I did eventually get my seat time in), it was built to let customers go to the track.
In the context of its day, the 2000 GS Carrera GT was a Gemini space ship: i.e. cutting edge. With the latest in lightweight technology, circa 1960 (aluminum body panels, additional chassis welds for increased stiffness, plexi side windows, lightweight aluminum seat shells and a wooden steering wheel) this Mad Men era sports car also has a race-tuned 2.0-litre flat-four sporting 175 hp. Yes. There are no seat belts, Bluetooth, or dual-zone climate control. But all of the car’s important “driving” parts (steering, handling, ride quality, tightness, build quality) were surprisingly modern.
Okay. The GS Carrera GT's fearsome blats from its racing exhaust would wake yours and the next-town-over’s neighbours. But the direct, tactile feel from all its oily bits makes a new Cayman S feel anodyne.
The second old Porsche I got the chance to pilot, a red ’62 356B Carrera 2 Cabriolet (left), was just as surprising, but in another way. The Carrera 2 was the most powerful 356 Cabriolet ever (the “2” indicated the displacement in litres of the 130 hp flat-four.) Naught to 100 km/h took 9.4 seconds, a number Porsche claims, “Before 1962, only cars with twice the engine displacement could accomplish the feat.”
Compared to the race bred 2000 GS Carrera GT, the Carrera 2 Cabriolet felt like a Cadillac. Or more accurately, a modern MX-5. Quiet, comfortable, yet with tons of feedback from all of its controls, I would have no problems driving this little red rocket on a daily summer basis. Heck, this Old Fart even had an AM/FM radio.
I still think old cars are crap. Just the ones without a Porsche badge on their hoods.