Dan Crouch Blog » Porsche

Our Visit to the 2010 Portland Auto Show

Dan — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:45:21 +0000

Nearly two weeks ago now, Shana and I made a day of the Portland Auto Show. We used to go every year to fantasize about new cars, but have missed the event in recent years. It's fun to check out everything up close and personal without the hassle of a salesman crawling down you neck.

We started our day by hitting up the S2ki Forum Hillsboro Honda meetup for S2000 owners. I only got a couple of quick pictures but it was fun to finally meet some forum members I had met online numerous times but never connected with in person. Great job getting 30 cars to come out in the middle of winter Ira! Check out all the pictures on S2ki.

We were fairly rushed at the meet because we had an appointment after that to check out a used Infinity QX4 for the missus. Looked promising in the pictures, but was a little too rough for us. We're actually having a pretty tough time finding a suitable car for Shana because we're so used to enthusiast vehicle shopping, which usually results in clean and documented cars to shop for. We were thinking of going with a more dependable Japanese variant, but they're just not cared for like the European rides we're used to looking at. Now we're thinking of going back to European shopping in the form of a Land Rover Discovery. We're back in Portland this weekend, so we'll probably stop and look a few then.

Then it was on to check into our downtown Portland hotel, Hotel Lucia. What a beautiful place and fantastic service! Not to mention it was in the center of everything we had planned and easy Max trip to the Convention Center for the show. Can't wait to stay there again!

After freshening up, it was on to the Portland Auto Show. Tickets were reasonably priced at $10 and at the ticket window we were reminded that many major manufacturers were not there due to cutbacks and slow sales. This was a bummer as BMW, Saab, Mercedes, and many others were definitely cars we were looking forward to jumping into.

{warning: really crappy images ahead. I've been too busy to post-process these but wanted to put up what I had.}

Ron Tonkin brought out a few new cars and a couple older ones from his collection. These were all front and center outside the main conference areas:

MotoCorsa was also in attendance with the latest Lotus and Ducati offerings. The black Sport 1000 was exactly like the demo bike I rode a couple years back.

Then it was on to the Audi and Porsche areas. I have to admit, I wanted to check out the Panamera because it looks so bad in pictures. It didn't disappoint, it's ugly and HUGE! First the blasphemy that is the Cayenne and now this abomination. So sad that a more true to spirit business model couldn't have been used to get them into the 21st century.

The local SCCA chapter also had a nice area set up. There were several car corral areas that usually aren't present, likely due to so many manufacturers pulling out this year.

And here are few more random snaps. You'll notice how crowded Saturday afternoon was. I think every Dad in town got babysitting duty as there were lots of kids running around. Reminds me that we prefer going on Thursday mid-day when it's super quiet!

After the show we met up with our good friends Danno, his wife Angie, and our close friend Julie who also happened to be in Portland that day. We had a fantastic dinner at Mother's Bistro just a few blocks from the hotel. What a meal! Plan on leftovers no matter how big your appetite is!

And by chance, another friend of ours was in town for a whirlwind 48 hour tour, my close friend Ed. He lives in Atlanta now, but amazingly we've managed to meet up several times in the past few years. We met for a nightcap at Pazzo and then stumbled upstairs to crash after a very long day.

We're heading back up to Portland for a wedding at Edgefield this weekend. That makes about 4 trips up there in 5 weeks. Maybe we should get a condo!

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Day 2 in Scottsdale: Living the Dream!

Dan — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:47:17 +0000

I know that's a corny intro, but it just doesn't get much better for a car enthusiast and web guy like me. I get to hang out photographing beautiful cars, being involved in a wonderful event for a great cause, and enjoying the unreal hospitality of our hosts, Shane and Karen. My wife and I keep looking at each other in disbelief as each turn provides another unexpected surprise and opportunity to share.

Here are the pictures from today. Not as much hands on because we were busy helping setup. But we'll more than make up for after tomorrow, stay tuned!

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Gallery From Parts Obsolete Camp Out Car Show 2009

Dan — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:51:07 +0000

Just a quick gallery of pics from my visit to the Parts Obsolete Car Show and Camp Out this year. Check out my route and pics on theS2000blog.com And here's the link to last year's show post.

Here are my favs from this year:

And the gallery:

If you're a Porsche fan and in the Willamette Valley, you owe it to yourself to make sure this event is on your calendar for next year!

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Porsche Crest Wallpapers!

Dan — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:42:02 +0000

I was doing some photo editing for Sports Car Shop tonight on a new piece of inventory, a 2000 Porsche 996 Carrera 2 with only 33k miles! I shot a quick pic of the crest and decided to make an wallpaper out of it. Not a perfect image, but the red is really striking.

Porsche 996 Carrera 2 Wallpaper Widescreen 1680

Porsche 996 Carrera 2 Wallpaper 1280

Photographing a 2006 Ford GT for Sports Car Shop in Eugene I'm a pretty lucky guy to have landed the webmaster...

2009 Portland Rose Cup Races Recap

Dan — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 06:05:03 +0000

Got a chance to hang out at PIR for an afternoon with Paul, Ed, Bob, and Brenda for the Rose Cup races, featuring the Trans Am series. The weather was a perfect high 70's and cleared up nice by the time the main event was on. Congratulations to Tommy Drissi for his authoritative win in that Jaguar!

Here's my quick pics from the event {yep, they're over Photoshop'd, sue me!}:

A Mazda RX-2 Custom

An exceptional Porsche 951

Congratulations to Tommy Drissi!

The Chicane at Portland International Raceway:

The Sports Car Shop support rig with the race cars:

Check out the entire gallery, unedited:

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Small Gallery from the Euros in the Valley Car Show 2009

Dan — Sun, 10 May 2009 04:35:33 +0000

Paul was one of the organizers behind this year's Euros in the Valley car show. Naturally I had to attend and I was really surprised with the great turnout. Here are my personal favs from the show:

Scirocco MK2 owned by Josh from Sports Car Shop:

Check out the uber rare Zender fan covers! I'm going to have to go back to the VW&Porsche archive to see if I can find an original ad for these. I hear the rims underneath are just as impressive.

Darren's sweet e30 325ic, which has been brought back from the dead, literally! Great job man!

This BMW 3.0CS was in fantastic shape:

I finally got to see Richard's e21 320i that I posted on German Cars For Sale Blog. The first real e21 buyer that comes along is going to buy this car. No negotiation required as $3200 is more than fair!

Paul's Porsche 911SC looks like one of the standouts at this years show:

My personal pick for best of show was this bus. Totally perfect in every way:

Though a close second would be this Sahara BMW 2002:

Here's a gallery of all the cars I took pics of:

Nice event! Looking forward to participating more in the coming year,

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Catching up with RareSportBikesForSale.com and GermanCarsForSaleBlog.com

Dan — Sat, 02 May 2009 02:50:55 +0000

Forgive me: I'm guilty of cheating on this blog with a number of other blogs. But before we get too far ahead, let's get caught up on some great looking German Cars and Rare Sport Bikes that have been listed for sale over the past several weeks.

Beautiful 1983 BMW e21 320i For Sale in Oregon - Paul went so far as to say he was almost considering buying this car himself, but was instead inspired to continue the work on his own classic BMW after seeing Richard’s car! Considering he’s only asking $3200, someone should snap this up cheap!

1983 Alpina B9 #312 For Sale in Florida - The $14.5k buy-it-now option seems like a pretty good deal. There are very few real Alpina’s in this country anyway, and this one still has almost all of it’s original details. While I’m not an experienced collector, I have to imagine that 5-10 years from now, this car will have appreciated considerably. Then again, with over 100k miles and an approachable entry price, maybe it would be better to enjoy immediately. Can you imagine the response at your next BMW club day when you roll up in this?!

1985 Honda VFR400 NC24 - First things first, this is not an 85. According to this Wikipedia article, the NC24 wasn’t introduced until 1987, and this bike definitely sports all the important features of the later NC24 model. But when I first saw the listing as an 85, it made me wonder if the 25 year rule works the same way it does for classic cars in the U.S. - no import or registration issues with models not previously imported. Anyone know for sure? Also, was there a Rothmans edition of the NC24? It’s a cool bike for $3500 either way though!

Irish Green Porsches for St. Patrick's Day - As you can probably gather by now, I think the 912 is definitely the better value; especially at $15k! Of course a 912 is not a substitute for a 911. But it’s also not to be dismissed as anything less than a fantastic sports car. Add the fact that this one has an expensive rebuilt motor assembled with such focus and dedication, you can tell that this car is at least 85% of the experience of a 911 of the same era.

Two Very Low Mileage M3’s, $60,000 Each! - Not to play that overused ‘economy’ angle yet again, but these seem like high prices to me in today’s market. On the other hand the owners clearly know the rarity of their cars and are counting on educated and wealthy buyers. Who knows when we’ll see examples like these for sale again.

1986 GSX-R 750R Limited (GSXR750 RG) - Don’t you just love homologation specials?! The very best of everything and no expense spared. And when they’re nearly 25 years old and never raced, AND hardly even ridden, they’re truly a rare find. This one is currently at $12k (appears reserve has been met) with about 4 days to go.

1988 BMW e30 M3 in Diamondschwartz - The owner even has a picture of him doing a compression test on the motor. Assuming the car needs a few things here and there and you had to drop two or three grand into it right away; could be a a really nice car in a pretty desirable color.

Lovely and Original Alpine White 1991 BMW e30 M3 For Sale with 64k miles - You know me, I’m a sucker for low miles. Make sure the maintenance has been tended to with a thorough pre-purchase inspection by a qualified BMW technician. This car is already over $17k, reserve not met. With 3 days to go, make your predictions!

1993 Honda CBR400RR For Sale in San Fran Area - It has the all important title, but with that kind of mileage is $5k too high? Leave a comment with your experience.

Porsche 996 Prices are Dropping - It’s no secret the 996 is not one of my favorite Porsche 911’s. That said, I’m a big fan of the Boxster of the same generation; and when the the 996 and Boxster suddenly share the same price point, well let’s be serious, which would you really rather have? My thoughts exactly.

1985 Yamaha RZ500 with Clean U.S. Title - Wouldn’t hurt to have a description on this listing, especially with the high opening bid of $12,500. This one is a bit higher than other RZ500’s listed on this blog, but the pictures sure do look good! 4 days left, bid now!

Not 1, Not 2, But 3 Wes Cooley Replica GS1000S Suzuki’s For Sale! - $4900 doesn’t really seem that bad for such a cool and historic bike. I got up close and personal with a GS1000S at the Barber Motorsports Park Museum earlier this year, and it was a standout for sure!

Stay tune for some more sweet news about where I've been hanging out other than on dancrouchblog.com...

It’s Been Quiet Around Here, But It’s Been Going Off Over at RareSportBikesForSale.com I know my personal blog has really been neglected this...

Rod Emory’s 1953 Outlaw Coupe is For Sale!

Dan — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:38:59 +0000

Porsche 356 "Outlaw" customs were practically invented by the Emory's, and here's a chance to own the real deal! Check out Rod Emory's 1953 Porsche 356 on The Samba:

quote from the listing on The Samba:

This is a unique opportunity to own a piece of history and a very cool car. Rod Emory's 1953 Coupe has been set up as both a Street Outlaw and a Vintage Race Car. Currently Rod is freshening the car up for the new owner. It is not yet determined if the new owner will want it with the 1300 cc Hot rod motor or a bigger 912 engine. Another option is if the new owner will want disc brakes drum brakes. The Paint has some patina and ships in the nose. If you buy it you have the option of a fresh paint or the patina.

Fuel Cell
Plastic pull up windows
Removable Roll Bar
Grey German Square Weave Carpet
Grey interior
741 transmission

This car will be available and set up for street or as a vintage racecar. It will be ready and completely freshened up for May Delivery. I require a 50% deposit and then the balance due at delivery. Call Rod with details 971-241-7017 Shipping will be extra. $85,000.00

I was already a fan of Emory Motorsports from reading articles in magazines and seeing their cars at work at PIR. And after a visit to the Parts Obsolete show last summer, I'm a total believer in the quality and history of their work. One lucky buyer is going to snag a serious piece of history!

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German Cars and Rare Sport Bikes Round Up: Better Late Than Never Edition!

Dan — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:12:54 +0000

Back from the dead, I'm wrapping up a little vacation to Georgia to see my buddy FastEddieGTi for his birthday. Having just ate an enormous steakhouse burger from the Vortex in Atlanta (kick ass burgers!), I have some downtime to catch up on some blogging chores while my food digests!

Without further ado, here are the catch up links to GermanCarsForSaleBlog and RareSportBikesForSale:

1993 Honda NSR250 MC21 SE For Sale - At only $5500, this would be a cool addition for the track or the weekend backroads!

Low Miles 1988 BMW M6 For Sale in Montana - $22.5k sounds like a pretty good deal with this kind of mileage, and documented maintenance and upgrades. And the blue on gray with the M5 rims… Yum!

1985 Yamaha RZ500 For Sale in San Diego - At $7900, this falls right in line with other RZ500’s listed previously.

2001 Porsche Carrera Cabrio - Too Cheap to be True? - So why the skeptism? 996’s of any variation start in the high teens, and those have at least twice the mileage of this car. But heaven forbid this is the real deal… well I just can’t believe it is, but it’s fun to imagine.

A Pair of Ducati 900SS Superlight’s For Sale - These are pretty rare bikes and I think it’s an interesting opportunity for a prospective buyer to consider a well worn example or the museum piece.

1993 Ducati 888 SPO: Yep Another One!! - With a $10888 asking (clever), this is one of the more expensive triple eights to be listed on this blog. While most Ducatisti will agree this where they should be, I think this seller may have a long wait before finding a buyer considering what other examples here in the states have been going for.

Two More Titled MC 21 NSR250 Honda’s For Sale in California - Judging from the pictures alone, I like the Rothmans replica better from the point of aesthetics alone. For around five grand, neither one seems like that bad a deal considering they both have titles!

Is This The Cheapest Alpina For Sale in the U.S.? 1984 BMW Alpina 2.8 B6 For Sale - Now I’m sure “Big Ron” is a reputable guy and all, but I don’t expect this car to be a real B6 considering it’s condition and thorough listing on Craigslist. But if it is a Euro car, and it looks like it could be, and it has Alpina pieces, it’s probably worth that much in parts anyway. Could actually be a really cool basis for a project car. And heaven forbid it’s a real Alpina… It’s probably the cheapest Alpina for sale in the country.

1994 Honda CB400 Super Four - Now granted that’s 47,845 miles and no title. But with all the 2 strokes that have been showing up with titles, surely it can’t be that hard to pull off. This would be such a cool in-town commuter bike!

1990 Ducati 851 Loaded With Expensive Upgrades - It’s sacrilege to even suggest it, but parting this bike could probably turn a tidy profit. Of course that would be a shame because this bike looks so well sorted, and for $5k it’d be a real pleasure to the ride balls off of it!

1991 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 For Sale in New Mexico - I’m having a tough time trying to decide between a Boxster and a 964. My thinking lately is that there are far more Boxsters than 964’s, and that 964 prices might be more stable over the next couple years as a result.

4 Special Edition Ducati Race Replicas For Sale Right Now - I’m really not knowledgable about the values of these bikes. But they are obviously collector examples that will command some premium in the market. Which one would you pick as best value?

1991 Honda NSR250 MC21 For Sale in Vegas Baby - These are getting cheap enough that it’s getting harder and harder to make excuses about why there isn’t one in my garage. Obviously with the sheer numbers of 2 strokes listed on this site, you know I’m a fan. Talk me out of a gray market 2 stroke… or can you at these prices?

2001 M Coupe For Sale in Virginia - 27k miles and an asking of $24k? What could possibly be wrong with this car? I like all the modifications, but they do tend to devalue a car in the eyes of enthusiast buyers. And it also has that terrible two tone interior, red and black leather. But at this price, I’d consider it a bargain purchase and have the leather dyed!

1991 Suzuki RGV 250 VJ22 For Sale in California - $6k doesn’t sound too bad, especially considering it’s plated. And are those Arrow pipes? Yum!

BMW 2002 with Dual Webers, 5 speed, LSD, and Genuine Alpina Wheels - For the asking price, and the pile of rare parts that come with it, this could be a great little driver, a potential fixer-upper, or maybe even a weekend racer project. In any case, it’ll be a load of fun!

1984 Volkswagen GTI For Sale: Clean, Original, and Affordable - As a long time MK1 and MK2 VW fan, I’d have to say it’s been since high school since I saw a Rabbit GTi this clean and original. While $4500 may seem like a lot to some, good luck finding one this nice for less.

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Zeintop + Early Boxster = Budget Cayman

Dan — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 20:15:37 +0000

I had never heard of this hardtop option before, but check out this really cool aftermarket option from Zeintec. It's called the Zeintop and by removing a couple panels from your early first generation Boxster, it fits in place like a hard top but also incorporates a hatchback design that utilizes the stock trunk area. The result is remarkably similar in design and look of the much newer Porsche Cayman.

And according to this thread on Pelican Parts, there is a promotion offer right now that prices the top at around $3k! Mix in a low miles, second hand Boxster like this one, and viola, a budget Cayman for around $20k:

quote from seller's Craigslist posting in San Francisco:

1998 Porsche Boxster-17,500mi-Original Owner-Very Clean - $15500 (saratoga)

[...]

This white, 1998 Porsche Boxster is offered with less than 17,500 miles. I’m the original Owner of this beauty and kept the Boxster in the garage. It is an instant classic. Its extremely clean. Enjoy the thrill and excitement of your new Boxster.

As most readers have noticed, I'm watching used Boxsters and this sure looks like a really interesting option!

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