In 2014-15, many years after a divorce and putting 2 kids through college, and the youngest about 1/2 way through, I started thinking about rewarding myself with a sports car. I had always loved the funky little mid-engined 914 and did a lot of internet browsing, but just couldn't pull the trigger on a 40 year old car. I began looking at Miatas and S2000's. Great and fun little cars, but no room for baggage for a long weekend trip for my wife and me. Around this time my wife's cousin called to say he had sold the 914 he had owned since the 70's and had purchased a 2008 Cayman Base - would I like to come up and take it for a spin that day? Would I??? Of course I would. Well, that's all it took for me. One drive of this mid-engined beauty - the balance, the sound, the looks, the build quality - I had to have a Porsche, but I wanted the ragtop version. I established a budget, and determined the 986 was my best bet. I began my research and read everything I could. Wait, what is this IMSB thing that could sink my dreams at any time? Oh, there are some fixes for it - great. I decided to limit my search to cars with one of these fixes and determined I would be willing to pay a premium for such a car. Further research led me to the 986.2 version (03-04) for the glass rear window, glove box and few more ponies. I found a great research site was Pedro's Garage, and the well regarded Mr. Bonilla had a 03 Base for sale in Florida. It was Midnight Blue Metallic with the Savanna Beige (really more of a caramel color) and a Metropol Blue top. He had bought it as a roller, sourced and rebuilt an engine with new clutch and many other new parts, plus added his IMSB fix - a Direct Oil Feed. I loved it and the best thing was that my wife did as well - and it had two trunks! Unfortunately, the price was a bit too high for me. I emailed a Pedro and let him know that was the car I was looking for, but couldn't go that high now - maybe after several more months of saving. He was very nice, and said he would keep me in mind. Several weeks went by when he let me know he had reduced the price and was I still interested? I was indeed, and we agreed on terms. He was going away over Labor Day weekend to Road America (he is a PCA tech scrutineer) and we'd finalize plans when he got back. One day he called me and I could tell by the tone of his voice the news wasn't good. Unbeknownst to him, his partner had already verbally agreed to sell the car to someone else and they were coming to look at it on Monday. Ok, don't worry about it I said, just find me another similar car. On Monday, Pedro called me back to say the other buyer had fallen through and it seemed the little blue car wanted me to have it. Cue the Hallelujah music! We were on a plane from Boston three days later, Pedro picked us up at the airport, we bought the car and drove it 1,500 miles home with huge smiles on our faces the whole way.
We've had it about a year and a half now and it continues to bring smiles every day. Fun runs, tours, Autocross, cars and coffees, BRBS, car shows, etc are all things to look forward to and cherish. I've done quite a few what I call tasteful or OEM style mods to put my personal touch on it, and it has been nearly flawless (it's water pump had a bearing that was failing has been the only real issue). It has brought us a lot of fun and I love it. By the way, I hold Pedro in high regard. He's a man of his word and always willing to answer a phone call or email and offer free advice at any time. Here's our car:
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Blue Box
Hybrid Mode
