Bringing it Home

Fast forward a couple Fridays from my initial visit to Richmond.  I was on the train back to Richmond where Tom would pick me up to take ownership of the 911.  If you're familiar with Amtrak you know they often run late.  Today was no exception.  3 hours from Washington DC to Richmond is an unacceptably long stretch of time, but I'm used to this as I often take the trains to New York to go home, thus I've learned to always bring work to do.  And in some ways the train beats flying commercial airlines these days.  After an eternity the train finally arrived Richmond and I texted Tom.  He was there at the passenger pick up lane in 10 minutes driving my car, or more precisely what would be my car after we completed the title transfer.   
 

Everybody on the platform stared at us as I jumped in and we whisked out of the parking lot.  “You don’t mind my driving it one last time?” he asked with a laugh.  “No of course not. I would have done the same.”  He then proceeded to tell me a great story as we drove to his house:  his wife had long wanted a convertible to replace this 911, and he told me how he had bid for one on e-bay during the past week but neither he nor the one other bidder had reached the reserve the seller in Rhode Island had set.  Tom immediately called the seller, worked out an agreeable price, flew up there, and purchased and drove a 2012 911 convertible home just 2 days ago.  It was waiting in his garage when we arrived to complete the title exchange for my car. 

While I’m not a fan of black auto paint these days- I had 1989 black Honda CRX in graduate school (more on that in a later posting)- Tom’s new 911 cabriolet was still absolutely beautiful.  Not a scratch on it.  After he signed the title of the 2010 over to me we ended up sitting in the 2012 and he showed me all its features.  This is the redesigned 991 model.  It had some extra fine detailing, with the ability to drop the top at up to 31 mph, a 7-speed manual, a 96.5 inch wheel base, and a custom clear-bra on the front end to prevent excessive dings and scratches.  It was longer and had a wider rear wheel base than mine.  We started it up and had a great time discussing it.  This one even featured the Porsche push-button exhaust sound enhancement, formally called the Porsche Sport Exhaust or PSE feature.  It doesn’t actually create more exhaust and does not provide any power gain but works sort of like this:

Porsche 911 mufflers normally have 3 chambers in them. When you purchase PSE, you get an extra exhaust pipe from each muffler, which exits from the first chamber.  So with the push of a button you can direct the exhaust to bypass 2 of the 3 mufflers.  When activated it does crank up the exhaust sound considerably.  This is not something I would go for, but I can see where some people would really enjoy it.   It was soooo bad sounding as I described to Tom. 

We went through a few final details of my new purchase and synced up my phone with my new vehicle's bluetooth, and I programmed my home address into the navigation.

“You nervous?” he asked me laughingly as I got in and sorted my paperwork and backpack.   "A little, like a nervous bride in a way," I joked back but there was a hint of truth.  It was so different from anything else I had ever driven.  It was nearly a 200 HP increase over my last car.  And I kept reaching for the ignition switch with the key in my right hand.  911's are on the left, a holdover from racing design and now a tradition, dating from the early LeMans races where the  driver would start the car with their left hand and put it in gear with the right, saving critical time. 

I started it up-- on the left side of the steering column-- and began to head out the driveway, waving goodbye to Tom.  It was great working with him.  He had even filled the gas tank for me and let me drive back with one of his plates with the understanding that I'd mail it back to him.   It was not going to be LeMans during the 2 hour drive up I-95 in rush hour Friday afternoon Eastern Seaboard traffic, but I'd make the most of it.  It was fun driving home except for the backup near Springfield, Virginia, due to massive construction, and the challenge of avoiding potholes created last winter.  I-95 was full of them.  I got a chance to open it up north of Richmond, push it into 6th gear, and enjoy a hint of what it could do. 

When I got home, my husband was waiting for me in the driveway, and the twenty-something kid next door and his buddy came running over to look.  I switched it off and the engine cooling fan came on to do its after-run to cool the radiator following a long ride like that.  It was nice to be home.  Now to get it titled and plated, and study up on the manuals and learn how this remarkable piece of technology really works. 

The 911 and the BMW 323is right before it was listed on Ebay