Finally got the new black steed into the barn! (actually in my garage/shop). Certainly it’s minus any hay bales, etc. but definitely needing some Man Cave redecorating).

My last favorite black steed (of the real four-legged variety)was indeed an Arabian horse. Also had a pair of guiding/outfitting beasts (Quarter Horse &Tennessee Walker/Quarter Horse half brothers) that were the SUV’s of the horse realm. The last version of the Pcar breed was sold nine years ago and was an SC in zinc metallic. That air-cooled go-cart was lots of fun but there’s obviously no serious comparison to the modern GT3's. Fortunatley, there are still lots of sensory reminders of the heritage, especially the older versions’ connectedness-to-the-road and that Porsche pure driving experience that I wanted in this new-to-me 3.

Today was a great day. Lost a bit of sleep last night anticipating the new arrival this morning, not to mention a bit of anxious moments anticipating the export/import process. You just never know if you’ve done all of your homework when it actually comes down actually doing it (not to mention there’s a lot of dollars at stake…)
Reliable Carriers picked the car up in Carrollton Texas on Saturday and here it is delivered to the Idaho/British Columbia border this morning. Great service and great care taken with the car. So the weather was a bit soggy, but at least it wasn’t the falling white stuff that came down two days ago (whew!). Nice husband and wife team too k great care in delivering the black beauty. Coming off of the truck, Das Hotrod looked just like it did when I last saw it at RAC Performance in Carrollton TX. Well, it was detailed back then...





Add a good dose of rain and some road grime over the 10 miles through the border and to my home and she’s surely baptized to the elements. The guys at both border crossings were friendly and efficient. The fellas were obviously intrigued with this new arrival. Of course not too many of these breeds come through these last outposts…

About an hour and a half later and we’re already home! Took a bit of time afterwards to do a short run up our local twisty road to the lake with the Mrs. and then into town to catch some lunch. The Super Sports did mighty well in puddle hopping (certainly no misbehavin’ attempts of course). Boy that exhaust is NICE! Some hints of the old air-cooled car’s bare bones ride and handling thrown in. Even in Sport mode, the ride was completely tolerable. I totally love Das Hotrod.

Back at the barn (garage/shop), add a rinse with the garden hose and a brief careful wipe down and we’re set to go tomorrow for the federal and provincial inspections. (Hmm… wondering what’s going to happen with the child safety seat tether bolt fiasco that is supposed to be added). A couple more hoops and it’ll be finally registered in the Great White (more like Wet right now) North.

 

Congratulations Lee and welcome to the club! Hope all goes smoothly with the inspections.

 

Congrats! Great car.

 

That's awesome !! Glad everything went smoothly and hope everything goes smoothly with the inspections. You'll have to take a few pictures of your scenic terrain when you go out for one of those spirited drives. Love the 959 poster you have up.

 

Thanks! Today will be interesting, but I don't expect anything too dramatic. Besides, I get an excuse to drive the car when it's actually not raining!

Wow, I just noticed your list of past cars. You've certainly had the Pcar and Fcar experience!

 

Thanks! I agree. This is fun.

 

Thanks again. The wifey took a bit of video yesterday on our rain excursion. When I have some free time soon I'll see how to edit it and post. We have some awesome drives that I plan on recording by pics or video in the future.
I always vicariously enjoyed others' posts of their local drives and roadtrips and looked forward to them a lot. My turn...

 

sweet, glw her..

 

Thanks. It's been a really great ride so far. It took a couple of years of serious exploring to sew what was out there, narrowing the search criteria, and finally finding this just-right car. The purchase from fellow 6speeder was outstanding. Then came the anticipation and anxiousness of shipping and importing. A bunch of that ended yesterday. Just a couple more hoops and then it's getting set for some spring road trips!

 

Congrats, my car didn't get the child seat tie downs added when it went through the inspection. Don't worry about it.

 

It's an addiction I hope I'll never shake! And here's my 3 soon to get replaced by a 997.2 GT3.

 

Way to go and welcome to the club!

 

Welcome.... nice ride!

 

Yes, I've read a few items on the net about people's experiences regarding the tie down bolt and the French/English airbag stickers,etc.. I know the fellow fairly well at the inspection shop and he pretty much laughed these items off. He is a Porsche fan as well, so we spent most of the time just talking cars.

 

Thanks for the congrats and kind welcome backs fellas. So I'm having so much fun with all of this, I have a short tale to share:
I had both the federal and provincial inspections for importing and licencing the new toy done yesterday at two different local shops. I'm chuckling to myself while I write this as I am guessing that my experience was not like those of you in the cities have with Pcar dealerships, and high end performance shops readily available. I know what the city mechanic/dealership experience is like with a Pcar as I used to take my old 911 to the Calgary Alberta for specialized work at both the dealership and an independent performance shop there. This is surely different.

So, I could have driven an hour and a half to the next small city to get the customary Canadian Tire federal and provincial inspections done at one stop. They are Canada's one stop outlet across the country to do both inspections, but you can still get these done by independent shops that are certified. However, at Canadian Tire you get the privilege of have a pimply youngster tinker with your prized car and then the store can sell you stuff that you maybe don't want (in order to pass). Plus the drive would entail the possibility of three hours exposure to some flying rocks and debris from transports,etc. as there is still a bit of gravel a lot of the roads here just coming out of our winter, etc..
So with that as option one, I decided on option two (two local shops in one day, with minimal exposure to the road hazards,etc.) Plus, I wanted to get things done right away and why not with locals I know and want to support.

The fellow who takes care of the federal inspections locally is semi-retired. So I presume he's tired of the bureaucracy so he no longer does the provincial inspections. He's in his mid to late 60's and sold his previous large shop when his wife passed away a couple of years ago. He eventually set up in another small shop with one hired mechanic just to continue to be involved with people and cars. Right now I am realizing that I should have taken some pics of the place. Old wood frame dilapidated shop that used to be part of a concrete batch plant (still has the old conveyor belt etc. poking through the side wall up near the ceiling). A short drive down a gravel side road with some nice sized potholes (actually could better described as small craters half the size of a Pcar). When I get my camera back into service, I think I'll go back and show off some of our sophisticated shops for "exotic" cars with low lips! So I am sure that I have now introduced my GT3 to yet another new experience. First the first encounter with rain in Texas when I bought it, then the road grime an rain when I imported it two days ago. Now experience number three- rural potholes/ car swallowers.

Anyways, I know the shop owner fairly well from previous business dealings and we were both in the local Rotary club. I knew he had built and owned a lot of muscle cars for years. However I didn't know he loved Porsches as well. He said he recently tried out the exotic car track experience in Vegas with a few track laps in a Turbo (around $ 450 for 6 laps!) I also found out he had taken his mechanic apprenticeship program in the same small city that I grew up in. He also didn't know that my dad had an autobody business, (so cars are definitely in my blood). After this one encounter yesterday we knew a lot more about each other-things we would not have known, had we not had this shared car meeting. While I vicariously shared the car hobby with other guys, without my own car in hand I realized there was I lot of the experience that I have been missing that last few years. So, as far as the inspection itself went, we just talked cars for most of the time, while he went about checking off the boxes on the form. We shared a lot and shared a laugh or two about some of the fed's inspection "requirements".

From there I went to on two phase two of "inspection day". I drove a few miles to one of the local shops that takes care of the provincial inspections. It involved a bit of a run on a secondary road and then out on a long straight section of one of the main highways. And now with dry roads I had a chance to let the GT3 exercise a bit. Wow! Much better than previously advertised on these boards,etc..!

So, I had checked this shop out last week prior to the car's delivery. The owner/mechanic was out somewhere, so I talked with a young fellow with a ring in his lip to see about a time slot. He was excited to hear a Porsche might be coming in. I was a bit concerned looking at their two lifts (would have to block the car up,etc. to get it on the lowest of the two) along with his insistence that they had to put the car on the lift for the inspection. The next day I talked with the shop owner on the phone, who also seemed pretty keen on seeing the car. I had never met him in person but heard good things about him personality-wise so I thought he'd be a good candidate to not make a fuss about things). He's an older (like me) and friendly (like me) Finnish fellow (not like me) who specializes in imports of various breeds.
Well, I arrive at the shop (another one worthy of a pic or two for entertainment purposes) and he's waiting with the garage bay door open. There's that not-so-inviting lift waiting for us too...
So he comes out smiling (a lot) and scopes the car from a couple of angles, and in between smiles and semi-drooling takes a glance at the lift a time or two. While this is going on, I'm explaining that I had a complete PPI at RAC Performance in Texas and their credentials,etc. Also explaining that I know you have a job to do, but it seemed pretty redundant. So he smiles some more, and says that he's certainly not going to bother risking any damage to the car by trying out the lift experiment, so let's just get the paperwork done. But then he wryly says " But you know I probably should take it for a road test to be sure it's ok..." (with a good laugh added here). So we talk cars and he completes the form. The young fellow with ring in lip comes to drool and ogle the car. Can't stop saying things like "Wow. Sweet. I love Porsches (even said it right). I need to get one of those someday,etc.etc. (add more gushing here)" So, once again I had a great time with some great people talking Pcars, other cars, and life in general.
The experiences outside of driving this fabulous machine just keep getting better and better...