911s
I had an '82 911SC for eight years (just sold it due to job uncertainty). Mine was a targa with a tail. With the targa top off, it felt like an open car. SCs are fabulous cars, basically a 911 with the bugs worked out of them, CIS injection with Lambda sensor. They are, by modern standards, primitive cars -- no power steering. With the air-cooled engine (meaning air and oil-cooled), they always smell a little bit like exhaust and oil. If you've had Beetles, you'll feel right at home. The heater box levers between the seats -- just like a Beetle. Some folks are turned off by this but I found it absolutely intoxicating. The 915 gearbox in the pre-87 cars also has a notchy feel like a Beetle -- not at all the jewel-like BMW gearbox feel.
Driving Briskly -- Despite all the press about trailing throttle oversteer (which by the time they got fat rubber and big sway bars on the 'SC isn't quite as bad as you've read, but don't ever drive one drunk, don't ever chicken out in the middle of a corner, and don't do anything stupid if the rubber is old (ask me how I know)), the dominant handling characteristic (as compared to BMWs) is that the steering wheel fights you. The struts on the 911 have a lot of castor (like rake on a motorcycle) that creates a lot of centering force. So when you push it around an entrance ramp, it fights you. Coming from a BMW background (BMWs are pretty point and squirt by comparison), this is a VERY odd sensation, and your reaction is to grip the wheel so tightly the blood flows out of your knuckles, but it becomes addictive.
Obviously it is a completely different car from the E9, which obviously is a big touring car.
Driving it fast -- the SC has, I believe, around 190 HP, so while it's considerably less scoot than even an E36 M3, it's enough that it whispers to you to get on it.
Comfort -- I'm a little guy (5' 8") and I found the seating and steering wheel position in the 911 absolutely perfect. The gearing was also just perfect.
Working on the car -- Again, if you've owned Beetles, you'll feel right at home. One consequence of having a body that didn't change from '68 through '88 is that, as emissions and performance requirements increased and real estate didn't, components got crammed absolutely everywhere, including up under the fenders. I liked owning and working on the 'SC, but at times it was not an easy or a comfortable car to work on.
If I had the chance to do it over again, I'd buy a late Carrera, like an '88, to get the benefit of the 3.2 and the Motronics, and the smoother-shifting G50 gearbox.
If you've always wanted a 911, indulge yourself. I don't think you'll be disappointed. I wasn't.
--Rob
