Friends on my Facebook page will know that I was recently lamenting last year’s sale of my 1972 Porsche 911 RS replica. I swore I was going to keep it forever—or at least a couple of years, which is about the longest a car can keep my attention. But I succumbed to my auto ADHD. A few of my industry buddies registered their surprise at its quick departure from my Garage.
But there was a good reason. You see I’d been on track with it a few times–unusual for a classic, I hear you say. The ’72 was very well set up for track use with killer suspension, fuel cell, roll bar, big brakes etc. It was actually a complete blast to drive on the limit. Using the 911’s inherent and legendary throttle-off oversteer to get it to rotate at the top of the hill around Turn Four of Willow Springs big track and drifting down the hill into Five made me feel like a hero. The first time I did that I fell in auto-love and swore I’d never let her go. But that soon changed.
Sure the 911 could hold its own in the turns. With only 2300 pounds and a track tuned suspension, it would get every available ounce of traction from its Kumhos. The long sweeping Turn Two at Willow really let me put time on most of the modern metal I ran with. I got a kick out of pulling a car length on a Viper then carrying enough speed on exit that the big Dodge with three times my power wouldn’t catch me before the next turn. The Porsche’s lack of mass was a whole new thing for me on track. My track experience to date had been in souped-up street cars that no matter how powerful the motors or sticky the tires still had the dynamic challenges dealt them by the physics of mass.
But during those recent outings one model of car kept making its presence known in my mirror on those long sweepers where I could hold off 400 horsepower plus supercars and rally replicas—Lotus Elises! I became smitten, again–I’ve had a crush on the Elise since it came to US shores. Pre 2004, I coveted the Elise through the pages of EVO and Car the same way I had lusted for the rally-rep Subies and Mitsus. My then obsession with old Porsches put the Elise as a car I had to have on the back burner. But my renewed interest in track outings and on-course Elise encounters put it to the front of the queue again.
So I sold the Porsche, which wasn’t hard as eBay Motors US is currently more popular than porn sites for Germans due to the exchange rate. It seemed like a good decision at the time, and aside from press cars, I’ve owned a couple of other personal vehicles since, but no Elise! I just haven’t been able to bring myself to pull the trigger on one, for some reason.
I’m missing that Porsche. Should never have sold it…
