We had a nice little session on Ferdinand’s Facebook page last night, where I opened the wall for a couple of hours to let Porsche friends post their answers to the question: “what shape does The Cult of Porsche take through your eyes?”
Holly Ragan Krueger shared this pic of her 912, before telling me the story of the car and making it a must-write blog post.
“My dad bought this 1968 912 in Florida in 1977,” said Holly. “I still have the two-line notarised bill of sale for $3,990. He drove it across the US and up the ALCAN highway with my brother, my mom and I following in a Ford pick up. My dad was a great old-school mechanic and he restored the car in Fairbanks, Arkansas next to his 356. He moved the cars to Georgia in 1987, then replaced the Solex with rebuilt Solex in ’89: he was such a purist.
“I drove her up to Minnesota in 1997. This ’68 912 is the only Porsche I’ve owned. I’ve paid mechanics a fortune to work on her, and spent many frustrating hours trying to work on her myself. 912 projects take me forever because I don’t know what I’m doing, but it’s worth it because I learn so much and then I’m that much closer to really understanding the car. I like to think what I lack in skill I make up for in determination.
“I replaced the fuel tank this past summer, which turned out to be a lot more than just sliding in a new tank. I had a shop replace the Solex with Webers this October, but I still need to balance the carbs and I think adjust the linkage too. I’m not sure how to do that, but I bribed my brother to send me some tools, so if I feel reasonably confident I’ll try to do the work myself. If I can’t I’ll have a shop do it.
“This coming spring I’d like to get some touch-up work done on the paint and replace my muffler. If everything goes well, I’d also like to clean up the engine, paint the fan cover, get new stickers, etc. I’m looking forward to this spring because I’ve met some local enthusiasts and found a few car events I can attend.
“All Porsches are special, but learning how to work on this old car is what makes this Porsche special to me.”
What a great story, perfect for Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving to Holly, her family and all our American Porsche friends and family around the world. Enjoy the holidays and share the love!
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