Another beautiful spring season is with us and summer is right around the corner. As always, I encourage you to get out there and enjoy your great and unique 968s. I’m always amazed at how often I’m approached at events by car enthusiasts who love the 968 and are not familiar with the model. I’ll give them the “tour” of all things 968 and it is great how well the 968 has aged. Spectators are always impressed. So make sure you try and do the same.
My big event this year will be the 2015 Porsche Parade to be held in French Lick Indiana. I’ll be leaving in less than two weeks for the 824 mile journey. The Parade should be quite an event as it is completely sold out for both of the host hotels and there will be Porsche club members traveling from the North, South, East, and West.
On top of all that, Minty was selected for their special “60 4 60” display. Here the PCA organizers looked for a Porschemodel to represent every year that the Porsche club has been in existence. The 968 was only in consideration for four years but Minty was selected for model year 1992 so we’ll have a 968 to represent us. I’ll go out on a limp here and guess I’ll be the only representative in Mint Green as well! If you plan to attend the Parade drop me a note and we’ll look for you. Maybe we can get together for a group photo.
Have a great summer and enjoy your 968!
“Telephone Game” 968
Remember that game you used to play when you were a kid called “Telephone”? The way it worked was you lined up a bunch of kids, whispered something into the ear of the first child who then was to whisper the same message into the ear of the second child and the process would repeat down the line until the child at the end of the line would announce to everyone the resulting message. The problem, or the funny part of the game, was that the message ALWAYS changed by the time it got to the end. As we grew into adults we learned that this type of occurrence happened regularly with messages changing along the path of communication. As adults we strive to keep the message correct but it often changes along the way. This same thing happened in the 968 world recently.
I had the opportunity to be speaking with Jim who is the current owner of a special 968. You see, it is SS820318 which is the second to the last North American 968 produced. On top of that, it is a rare color to sample car. As I have written about previously, color to sample cars are rare with just 18 produced, and the original owners paid an extra $2500 to get the car painted in their special color. Color to sample cars have a special code 98 or 99 in place of their paint code. The only way to determine their true color is to find the little silver paint code sticker next to the fuse box which has the paint color name listed (in German) and the paint code. Now this special 968 has been in the eyes of the 968 fans for years and most know that it is Summer Yellow in color. Well, while speaking to Jim I asked him to get me a photo of that little silver paint code sticker and guess what? The car is not Summer Yellow! The paint sticker revealed SONNENGELB and that translates into Sun Yellow!!! Sun Yellow, code B3, was a color used on the 914 during 1974 – 1976. So, where did the rumored Summer Yellow paint name come from? Who knows! I know that the previous owners of the car thought it was indeed Summer Yellow but the paint code sticker doesn’t lie and I can only guess this is another example of that game of the infamous “Telephone” with the results being what they always are, different from what they started with.
Speed Yellow 968 market heats up
We’ve had a few changes in the Speed Yellow 968 market in 2015. First off, Peggy in VT, a great 968 fan and an even bigger fan of the color Yellow decided it was time for a change of scenery in her garage. A new Racing Yellow 991 caught her eye which resulted in her putting Speed Yellow cab #3 up for sale. A line quickly formed to purchase the car but the guy in front got it for $29,000 and it now resides in NY. Then Speed Yellow coupe #5, a car that had remained under the radar since new, emerged on eBay. The car had only 27K miles on it. The bidding was heated with 49 bids placed against this special car but when it was over it had sold for $30,100. It will also reside in NY. Strong market figures for these special and rare cars. I’m happy to report that both owners are thrilled with their new acquisitions and will be a part of the PCA 968 register in the future so keep an eye out for them.
Car shows, Car shows, Car shows!!!
There is no shortage of events for you and your 968 in 2015. Hershey and Zone 1 are behind us. I attended the Zone 1 event and we had a very light showing considering that we were located in Northern NJ but I did get to see Dean’s cool Canadian 968 as well as Bill’s great white coupe.
If you know of any other events that you think would be of interest to our group be sure and let me know and I will publish the information in a future E-newsletter.
2015 Porsche Parade in French Lick IN – June 21-27, 2015
There is nothing like a Porsche Parade. I’ve attended three of them in the past and they are quite spectacular. Start with an amazing location, add in thousands of Porsches, and even more fans and the result is an event to remember. This year’s Parade promises to be right up there with the best of them largely due to the central location. We’ll see great Porsches from all four corners of the lower 48. I’m planning to attend for the beginning of the week. Let me know if you are thinking of going and we’ll be sure to get the 968ers together for a photo. You can follow along on the progress of this event using the link below. There was also a great article in the February issue of Panorama that outlines many details of the event:
https://www.pca.org/event/2014-11-05/2015-porsche-parade-french-lick-indiana
2015 Concour on the Avenue in Carmel CA – August 11th, 2015
Here’s a California event for the 968ers on the west coast. I was contacted by long time PCAer and current 944 owner Jim Borowske who is working on an event to be held in conjunction with Monterey car week. He is working to add a new category of Porsches to this world class event which would include the 924/944/968/928 series and is looking for some show worthy examples of 968s. Details on the event can be found in the link below. It sounds like a great charity event and a great time for any car enthusiast. If you are interested please feel free to reach out to Jim directly at jim@fredd.info
http://www.carmelconcours.com/home.html
968Register.org update
Adam continues to work on the new register website. As soon as I get the “all clear” from him I’ll let you know via email that the site is ready. In order to help you fully understand all the great 968 stuff you can find there we’ll be having a “scavenger hunt” to launch the site with a prize going to the winner. There won’t be any better source for 968 production data site on the net. I promise you that.
