Good article I thought

https://www.automobilemag.com/news/1956 ... tt-hummel/

Don't let the value of these old cars make you stop enjoying them.

Great article Jay, although I find myself torn between both sides of this cars ownership. He loves the car as is and enjoys the heck out of driving it the way he does. Kudos to him! Then there is our (maybe my ) natural desire to fix up this little beauty and enjoy it in perhaps a more "civilized" way to ensure it is driven and enjoyed for many more years.

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John Kish
1971 240Z - original owner

Hrmmm. This site won't let me open it. I see something about a classic 356 Porsche but then I get a white 500 screen about "Houston, we've had a problem".

Just tell me what year it was please? Does it have a single grille or dual?

When I was a teen I briefly owned a '59 single-grille cabriolet with a detachable hardtop (ragtop was missing). The super 90 engine had been replaced with something a LOT weaker, which leaked oil constantly. The car came to me and left me in consideration of about $200-$250. I didn't know it then, but they had only made about 1,000 of that exact model.
Today, that same car, in that same condition, would be worth nearly $90,000.

Thnx
Frank

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1970 240Z

Thanks John. I'm with you, I find myself in the same state.....I tend to like to fix mine up and keep them as nice as I can. I also wouldn't have the urge to go bombing down bumpy dirt roads....I like my fun runs on windy, paved roads.

I do like the enjoyment aspect a of the article though. The fact that he is having a ball with his car despite it's high value and rarity. I also really wish I'd have driven my Z more. I didn't spend enough time behind the wheel as I was always trying to fix it up more, and preserve what I had. I drove her some but really could have had a lot more adventures with her, that's a lesson I won't forget.

Frank, it's a 1956 Porsche 356. His is a hardtop with dual grilles. He bought in rough shape for $6000. He then essentially addressed the mechanical issues...at least enough to get in on the road, and has been driving the wheels off it since. No concerns about aesthetics from what I can tell, he's just enjoying it the way it sits.

I believe in the story it mentions that he had one in the past that he really just kept it in the garage and after years he sold it. After selling he realized he missed out on the fun of the ownership experience by not ever driving it. This time around he's taking a different approach.

And you should have kept that car.

Jay

Thnx.
When you think about it quietly, selling our old cars sort of parallels that special girlfriend we never should have let go, but weren't wiZe enough to realize it yet.

As a kid I was a big Moody Blues fan. 40 years later they were still recording and released two songs which bemoaned the loss of an old girlfriend, "I know you're out there Somewhere" and "In your Wildest Dreams". Missing my old Healeys and that Porsche and my '69 Dodge Charger and my '67 Buick Wildcat and a few motorcycles is the same spirit in which I finally tracked-down my actual 240Z after more than 20 years and bought it back. The price wouldn't have mattered at all; I had to have "my" car back. It brought tears to my eyes the moment I saw it again and I cried shamelessly alone in some strangers driveway.

Some cars (and some girls) simply become indelible parts of our lives, help us form our self-identity and somehow serve as the lenses thru which we view the world and understand life. I am so grateful to have been given the chance to reunite with my old friend for the final chapters of my life. True love never dies.

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1970 240Z

That's a great way of describing it Frank.

I was lucky enough to marry that special girl though, thank goodness I didn't screw that up haha.

My 260z is definitely that car for me, I never felt that way about any of my other cars. It might make me sound like I belong in a padded room, but that car almost had a spirit of sorts. It was more than a machine to me, and every trip or minute I spent working on it was special. To me that was "my" car, not just "a" car, and I've had other neat ones like a big block dodge dart, but they never got into my heart like that. I don't miss them.

I do miss the Z, it's my old friend.

When I got her she was in need of a lot of work, and I was a teenager who really didn't know much about working on cars. As time went by I grew up, and learned a lot about troubleshooting and repairing my Z along the way. In turn, my Z "grew up" too, getting better and better as time went. It's like we grew up together or something.

Que the men in white coats...

Jay

Well said. It has been confessed here in these forums that we don't own our Zs, they own us. They do indeed have separate "spirits"; identical cars can feel and behave quite differently. Its like long-term stewardship of a dog; identical dogs, even from the same litter, have individual personalities. Some of us have even experienced jealousy from our Zs.

I will not be surpriZed if you end up with your same 260 again in the future. Delighted, but not surpriZed. Z fever is forever; once bitten, there is no cure, and recovery is not expected. If the car ever does find its way back to you, love is better the second time around. We're far more appreciative and perceptive given a second chance.

BTW, I notice we just passed your 4th anniversary join-date of the Club! Happy birthday and thanks for being a positive contribution to our family and to the Z society in general.

Frank

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1970 240Z

Thanks Frank. It is honestly a privilege to be here, this is a great club.

Jay