Trying to find this Porsche 996..

[Black_JPN]

The last car my father owned was a Silver 1998 996 3.6 Carrera manual convertible with a matching silver hardtop. It had blue leather, an aftermarket double DIN stereo and the reg plate was 'L7 WRE' which was his own private plate (his name was Laurie). It was his dream motor and he bought knowing full well it would be the last car he'd own.
He passed in 2011 the same year my son was born. His wife sold the car shortly after including the private plate.
Looking on various sites I can see it's still going with valid Tax and MOT. I'd love to be able to track down the current owner and who knows now my son is old enough show him the last 'cool car' the grandad he never knew used to own.

We were both Porsche fans and in the early 2000's I had a couple of 944's (S2 and a turbo) whilst my Dad had a 968. We even travelled to Le Mans together in 2004. Cars, particularly Porsche bonded us together, it was a passion we both shared.

Thanks for any help and please feel free to share:

..

 

[philippe]

Good luck with this, I hope you find the car and plate, it would be great to own it again.

let us know if you are successful.

Cheers Phil

 

[NickCWebb]

Looking at the DVLA vehicle enquiry service, the car is taxed and MOTd so is out there somewhere:

https://www.vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/

At the last MoT the car had recorded 74,991 miles:

https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/

 

[andywill]

Hi Damon
Sorry but it's not on the 996 register.

 

[Black_JPN]

Well by a complete, total and utter bizarre twist of fate.. writing the post above prompted me to have a search in the classifieds for this car. I've been doing this every so often for the last 4 years on the off chance it found it's way back on to the market place.

Anyway, unbelievably I found it for sale near to when my Father used to live. It was a weird moment and I couldn't quite believe it. My heart was pounding. I kept checking the pictures and spec to see if they matched how I remembered it. They did. It felt like winning the lottery!

Unfortunately its miles away from where I now live (Stanways in Lytham), so not exactly easy for me to go and see. I've spoken to the dealer a couple of times today and he's been busy getting me lots of info on the car as a prospective interested buyer. The car still has the plate on that it had when my Father had it. It has been tinkered with a bit too.. the wheels are now black and it has an awful decal on the side.
I eventually told the dealer the story only after I'd tried my hardest to see if I could get him down on price. So it looks like I'm about to overpay massively on a car I don't need at all, that I can't really afford (I run an E93 M3 these days) and that is flipping miles away! The deal isn't done yet but all being well its very likely in a short space of time not only will I be able to drive the last car my Father ever owned but I'll be the new keeper. This just days after I made the post above. I still can't believe it.

As you can probably imagine there's a lot more to this story than meets the eye and without going into too much background detail the prospect of owning this car is more important to me than the cost and will give me some closure on part of my life. Still can't quite believe it.

 

[JagdHamster]

Fantastic job.

Cars like Porsches are usually emotional purchases and yours will be so more than most. Worth paying a bit extra for, I'd say.

Really nice to hear you got your wish.

 

[DavidL]

Great story to hear. A friend of mine bought his Dad's car back from the chap he sold it to about 25 years previously.
I don't think its massively overpriced, a little maybe but not enough to stop a deal like that.
Best of luck and yes get rid of awful decal!

 

[Pieman7]

What a great story so glad you found it my father had an 911 targa many years ago. Iam sure I have a pic of it will check the number on it. Will give me something to do seeing as the car might be staying in due to this terrible weather.

 

[Black_JPN]

Quick update. I paid the deposit this morning. The car is no longer for sale. It's been a busy day so the reality of this is only just starting to sink in. I'm very excited. The guy at the garage has been great, really understanding and was even looking to see if he could find anything of my Dad's still in it!
The decal is definitely going. I'd have got it off myself but the garage (without me prompting) said they would do it! They even offered to put the wheels back to silver but I'm not too fussed about that right now. It's getting a new ticket, some tyres and pads sorted then all being well in a weeks time it should be mine! Then the fun really starts! Thanks for the messages. I still can't believe it.

 

[Richard_Hamilton]

An extraordinary bit of luck, and a great outcome. Well done!

 

[philippe]

What a great story, do you know if the last owner was the one that your dad sold the car to?

Would be be good to hear how you get on.

cheers Phil

 

[Stuart Mackay]

Hi Damon
Sorry but it's not on the 996 register.

Fantastic news and hopefully this time around, it will now become a register member?

 

[wibble]

Would be a good story for Porsche Post - great to know you found it.

 

[Boxstercol]

Great result!

 

[Black_JPN]

I don't know too much about the previous owner. My Dad had passed before he sold the car. He had wanted to me to have it but it wasn't to be. Until now. Long story.

 

[DavidL]

Any news on this? Is it home yet?

 

[Black_JPN]

Hi, yes it's home and it's certainly brightened up our lives on these dark, dreary nights. After a busy weekend including a visit to the out laws and the classic car show at the NEC I ventured up to Blackpool on 3 x trains to collect it. It was great to see the car again. I didn't hang around at the dealer long as I wanted to crack on with the 4.5hr drive back so sadly don't have any pictures of me with the car yet. The long nights aren't helping either.
I've added a picture shortly after I picked it up, parked up near the dealer. It wasn't as emotional as I thought it would be, more poignant than anything. It felt like a journey that needed to be taken.

There are a few niggles with the car which is to be expected and none of them took away from the enjoyment of driving a Porsche again. It's been a long time and I must admit I'm really enjoying stirring the cogs with a weighty clutch and solid gear change. It was also great knowing I was sat where my Dad had once sat no doubt having a similar amount of fun. I've been so used to semi-autos (knee issues) and I do miss a proper manual from time to time. For a 3.4 even compared to my current M3 the car picks up surprisingly well with a reassuring shove from the back. It sounds nice too although a bit muted for my taste when comparing it to the M3 it's still throaty enough just in a slightly different more Porsche way. The handling is typical Porsche, precise, pin sharp, sublime and again I had forgotten just what great driver's cars these things are. The car just seems to pivot around you rather than having to steer it. I've used it nearly every day for work so far this week and I'm enjoying it immensely.

What the future holds I'm not entirely sure. This was a must buy purchase for obvious reasons but ordinarily if I'd been in the market for a 911 I probably would have gone for a slightly different spec (not a cab). I'm glad I bought it though. It was the right thing to do and I'm so pleased to have the number plate as it was one my Dad and I chose together. It matches different parts of our names too.

There are a few minor niggles too which I'm mulling over at the moment. I think what is clear though is that my love of Porsches has been rekindled and when it comes time for this 911 to find another new owner I'll definitely be replacing with something else from the Porsche stable.

Happy days. I'll be pulling together a video to retell the story, when it's ready I'll be sure to post the link. Thanks

 

[JuliusF]

A really great story - look forward to the vid!

 

[GeoffB]

Superb, sometimes in life what you do is more important than the finance side of things. Enjoy the car and what must be very emotional memories

 

[Pieman7]

I've kept an eye on your story,glad you found it must bring back great memories very pleased for you. ENJOY??