Reader Submissions: The Porsche 911 Arrived, Then Refused to Go

The Porsche 911 Arrived, Then Refused to Go

By Petrolicious Productions
November 17, 2014
18 comments

Photography by Enrico Renaldini

It was supposed to be a simple drive from Brescia to Saint Tropez, five hundred kilometers in two days, no big deal. My friend Giovanni and I were headed to the Paradis Porsche event, hosted by the Porsche Club Méditerranée.

We headed out in this unrestored 1967 Porsche 911 2.0 Series 0 (equipped with air conditioning from the factory!) and it was like a time-machine, like traveling in the sixties. The first night we drove from Brescia to Monaco, stopping at the Sass Café to unwind. The drive along the Bord de Mer (seaside) was beautiful. Just a bit further down the road we finally stopped in Beaulieu-sur-Mer at a typical, little French hotel to rest for the night.

The second day, we discovered a much less compliant Porsche. It had developed electrical problems and we took the car to two or three mechanics for help. They were very, very kind people who tried their best to fix the problem but ultimately couldn’t. The poor 911 wasn’t running well and we were so close!

Well, we finally made it to St. Tropez late that night, but with a lot of difficulty. And just as we arrived the Porsche died and refused to start again. Paradis Porsche was a great event and along the way we enjoyed many fun stops (Moncao, Nice, and St. Tropez of course). When it was time to go home the Porsche still wouldn’t budge. We had to park it at a local hotel and await rescue.

Fortunately, Giovanni’s father was able to help. With a Jeep and trailer, Giovanni and his father got the Porsche back home to Brescia. It’s great to have such good, long-time friends who are as crazy for historic cars as you. The fact that Giovanni is a Porsche lover too doesn’t hurt, either!

Want to see your road trip on Petrolicious? Click here for more information.

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Richard Jones
Richard Jones
9 years ago

What exactly was the problem in the end? One of the benefits of the old technology is generally its easy diagnosis – I`m surprised the mechanics consulted were unable to assist but then again the industry has gone the way of the replacer, rather than a repairer/engineer sadly. The old basics still apply though. Lovely to see an unadulterated early 911, most have been bastardised.

TJ Martin
TJ Martin
9 years ago

Some times my envy is grater then my sexdrive… So i diffuse my aggression on this site….

Giovanni Uberti
Giovanni Uberti
9 years ago

The garage shown on the photos is the small garage of the hotel that made my 911 safe from hail damages! It seems to be lonely… in reality it’s located in the plenty center of the village of Saint Tropez!

Alexander Shaghoury
Alexander Shaghoury
9 years ago

It makes me wonder that TJ Martin have never faced ‘specialists’ and mechanics who are incompetent, to say the least. I once had an oil pump problem on my MB, which couldn’t be nor diagnosed nor fixed by a number of mechanics and I was recommended to call the guy who was said to be an expert in 70’s Mercedes. So I get to call him, we started talking about different models and it turns out the guy even didn’t know at all that there was 2.5 liter engine in the range. So I do quite believe that St. Tropez might be not the best place for vintage Porsche fixing.
Great car for preserved class! I would enjoy more pics of your interior!
P.s. but your garage looks so lonely and epmty! How did this come?

Bill
Bill
9 years ago

Every TJ Martin post confirms more and more how much of a douche he/you really are/is.

Jason Ross
Jason Ross
9 years ago

Perhaps a petition could be passed around for a moratorium on TJ Martin comments for the next, i dunno, forever?

Clayton Merchant
Clayton Merchant
9 years ago
Reply to  Jason Ross

It must have been Lucas electrics………….oh wait.;)

Jason Ross
Jason Ross
9 years ago
Reply to  Jason Ross

Wow. The internet is a weird place. My name is Jason Ross and I live in Australia….I drive a Fiat 124 coupe hence my interest in this site linked to turbo124.com in Australia. Pretty freaked out right now….

Bjorn
Bjorn
9 years ago

Greate Car and it sounds like an adventful journey.

B.

Giovanni Uberti
Giovanni Uberti
9 years ago

The fact is that there were many details of the adventure that could be better shown around a table, drinking a bottle of good wine and smoking a cigar! I show you some one.
I’m in love with Porsches starting from when I was child, may be three years old! And I’m use to drive Porsches starting from my license drive whithout any trouble….may be there was an open bill….
During the road trip to Saint Tropez, the vehicle start to sob and crackle and then stop on the sea side at 3,30 a.m. between Monte Carlo and Beaulieu sur Mer.
Small detail: Enrico and I, we are not mechanics! I’m an accountant!
We dissasembled the distributor without any tool, on the dark of the night, trying to clean the ignition points by a piece of sand paper taken off the box matchbox! No cigar before sleepping!
Then the Porsche re-start and we gain the bed!
The day after, with the support of 6 different mechanics and my dear friend Dario on the phone, we have disassembled spark plugs, ignition coil, ignition points, condenser, distributor, carburetors, fuel pump…everything on the road….due to the fact that all shops were closed for the week-end!
Then the Porsche re-start and we gain Saint Tropez!
We were very tired and we decided to put the car in the small garage of the hotel instead of the parking of Paradis Porsche in front of the sea of Saint Tropez.
After such a day even only 100 additional meter by feet were the death!
And finally relax!
Shower – one of the best of my life – a glass of Pastis on the balcony of Sube Hotel in front of the harbour of Saint Tropez and a bottle of Bordeaux wine and tartare beef in Cafe des Arts on Place des Lices. That’s life!
The day after: wake up with stranges terribles noises! NOO! The HAIL! Pieces of ice like tennis balls has covered Saint Tropez in few minutes! Around 50 Porsches highly damaged or destroyed! What a big disaster!
Fortunately, my little Porsche was sleeping on the old garage of the hotel. And it was safe, thanks to the mechanical trouble! When you say the destiny!
After that we join the Paradis Porsche and won the trophy for the best classic Porsche of the meeting, between almost 500 cars.
In the closed park we met other three mechanics, “specialists” of classic Porsche in France; they inspected my car with no result.
So, after parking “by hand” the 911 in a hotel next to the event, we came back to Brescia with the car of another friend of us.
After 550 km, just arrived in Brescia, with the support of my dear father, passionate like me, we immediatly came back to Saint Tropez to pick-up the 911 during the night.
1650 km no stop in a day! Not bad! That’s amore!
After one hour of sleeping in Brescia i bring the car to Dario, my friend and mechanic, the Professor!
And after half an hour, during the trip from his shop to my office, I’ve received a call from Dario: “Hey, you car if fix; you can pick-it up”.
And want you know what the problem was?!
A small clip in the distributor pin! It was still there but not working properly. And nobody has found the problem!
I ask Dario for the bill.
His answer: “on the house”!
Thanks to Dario! Thanks to Enrico! Thanks to the 911! Great adventure Giovanni!

Doug
Doug
9 years ago

Now THAT was interesting!

Doug
Doug
9 years ago
Reply to  Doug

Just to be clear “Now THAT was interesting” was referring to the follow up by Giovanni

TJ Martin
TJ Martin
9 years ago

…… at the end of this ‘ tale ‘ comes the reality of how easily the problem was rectified . Heck … any reasonably competent mechanic should of been able to sort that out in a country second . And yet three so called Porsche ‘ specialists ‘ at the event couldn’t even diagnose the problem … never mind fix it ? Pazzo I say [ family is from Italy so no insult intended ]

Ehhh … Nope ! The more I read … the more I’m not buying any of it …

Vincent
Vincent
9 years ago

That might be the worst ending to a story I have read in some time. Im really hoping there is a part 2 to this if not its kind of pointless. We have all had our old cars poop out at some point but the part of the tale that makes it worth telling was how we got them back home on 3 cylinders and some chewing gum.

Greg Deschodt
Greg Deschodt
9 years ago

Pretty car ! But “I drove to St Tropez and the car wouldn’t restart” isn’t much of a story by petrolicious standards…

TJ Martin
TJ Martin
9 years ago

A 911 that couldn’t be easily diagnosed and repaired ? Errrr …. there’s something seriously not right about that . Somebody … somewhere .. but especially at the event should of had the problem sussed out and fixed before you could say Jack Sprat [ or Giuseppe Spratinelli if you prefer ] So whats the real backstory behind this ?

Christopher Gay
Christopher Gay
9 years ago
Reply to  TJ Martin

This is a great looking car and seems like an owner with a good attitude. Thumbs up and thanks for sharing!

…but nobody could get that thing fired up?! Really?! I mean, like TJ says, “Jack Sprat”. It is discouraging to me that two or three “mechanics” and a whole gaggle of Porsche Club people couldn’t (or wouldn’t) help you solve, or at least diagnose, your problem. Times, they are a changin’… 🙁

TJ Martin
TJ Martin
9 years ago

…. it does kind of make one wonder both what kind of Porsche people go to that event [ more ‘ trendy wendy ‘ automotive jewelry hobbyist types than serious Porsche owners/drivers/venders etc perhaps ? ] not to mention what quality and level of mechanics Enrico sought out when the problems began . Because lets face it … classic Porsche 911’s are about as basic and repairable … not to mention logically laid out from nose to tail .. as any classic sports car/GT has ever been

So … nahhhh …. regardless of the owners claims and his passengers attempt to validate the journey/experience on a previous post ….. Nothing about this is ringing true when it comes to dealing with classic 911’s … even the most difficult of them .

So again .. to both the owner and the passenger … not to be rude or insulting mind you … but … What is the REAL story behind all this ? Cause anyway you cut it … this aint it … 😉

But to end on a positive … it is a nice looking Porsche

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