There's a guy who drives a 1980s Ferrari around the Rockies to go skiing. It's a questionable decision only because it's a Ferrari, but it made him an Instagram sensation.
If he drove a 1990s Porsche 911 instead, his decision wouldn't be questionable. It would be praiseworthy, fun, and in no way foolish. Porsches are made to be driven. They are rational vehicles. Even when they're 30 or more years old, they're designed to be part of your daily life.
Mine is 33 years old. It was driven off the factory floor on the day I finished college and was sold to a guy who lived about 10 miles from me. When I moved to Colorado, it must have felt the void and found a way to follow me a year later. In 2018, when I lusted after a Porsche, it was for sale in my town for exactly all of the money I had budgeted. And that was a bargain.
It's a cheesy love story, but it's true. My car is a 1992 Porsche 911 Carrera 2.
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The 964 happened as a result of customer protests
In 1992, Porsche was at a crossroads, a nearly bankrupt maker of sports cars during a global recession. The 911 was slated for retirement in the 1980s, but customers protested, so management came to their senses and got to work laying out the future of the 911.
The result was an interim car that combined new technology with old-school craftsmanship. It ended up as a mix of 80% new parts wrapped in a package that looked remarkably similar to its older siblings. The car was launched in 1989, and this generation of 911 is known by its internal project number, 964.
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The 964 served up a lot of firsts
This year, the 911 turned 60, making the 964 the mid-generation model and the first modern 911. It was the first to use active aerodynamics, raising the rear spoiler at 48 mph to provide enough downforce to keep the rear end moving where the driver wanted it to.
It was also the first 911 to use coilover suspension at all four corners, whereas prior generations used a torsion bar setup like the VW Beetle. You could even buy a Carrera 4 version, whose advanced all-wheel-drive system was based on the 959 supercars.
And the A/C finally worked.
Yet, it also retained the best of the prior generations. In addition to the early 911's mid-century good looks, the 964 kept the flat-six engine where it belonged, behind the rear axle, though it was enlarged to 3.6 liters with two spark plugs per cylinder.
Jerry Seinfeld says you don't know if a car was well-built until it's 30 years old. 964s were the last of the hand-built regular 911s, and mine has no squeaks or rattles. It's well-built.
No better way to test a car's mettle than a road trip
Back to the not-so-questionable decisions.
In 2023, I joined 100,000 other Porsche fans in Monterey, CA, for Porsche's Rennsport 7. It was three days of Porsche racing action and history, from the very first Porsche to their very latest race cars. I wasn't smart enough to fly there. I drove my 911 so that it could sit in a corral with other cars that looked just like it. My car even made it into one of Porsche's reels about the event. Don't blink, though; it's not on screen for long.
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And since I wasn't smart enough to fly, I turned the entire trip into a 4500-mile expedition to see all of the sights, from Colorado to California and up the coast to Canada. I even met Paul Bunyan and drove through a redwood. Driving beats flying.
My 964 is as good on the highway as it is on the canyons
Preparation consisted of an oil change because that's the lifeblood of an air-cooled 911.
It's the ultimate road-tripper. It's comfortable, fast, and has enough room in the rear seats to stash a road bike. Not to mention, it'll average about 26 mpg while being driven hard.
It's even great on the highway. This autobahn-bred tourer was built for driving 100 mph in 100-degree heat with the A/C on while leaving Las Vegas.
However, it really comes alive as a canyon carver. Ripping down the Angeles Crest Road outside of LA, my 911 corners with a sensation that reminds me of laying down high-speed turns on a freshly groomed ski slope. It literally feels like it's carving the canyon. The steering wheel is light in my hands, and I can feel what's happening at each wheel. The brakes require a good hard shove but stop the 3000-pound car quickly.
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I plan to drive mine until I no longer can
The only way to abuse a 911 is to leave it in storage. Jerry Seinfeld says that if you get to heaven and have the lowest-mileage Porsche, you lose. I don't like losing, so I plan to add some track days to the rallies, road trips, and mental health drives my car already sees.
Not everything about it is perfect, but a list of 911 weaknesses sounds like the type of thinly veiled positives a job interviewee might say. It doesn't have cup holders, which is tough on a road trip, but I make due by drinking out of bottles rather than cans. It's a small price to pay.
Maintenance isn't that bad; neither is depreciation
It's not cheap to maintain, and I budget about $2,000 a year for maintenance. Some years are free, but other years compensate for this. If $2,000 sounds like a lot, my 10-year-old Subaru has cost me $2,500 per year in depreciation, excluding maintenance.
My Porsche has also more than doubled in value since I bought it. Whatever Porsche wants, Porsche gets.
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Will values continue to rise? I think so. Good 964s will always cost around the same as a new base 911. In 1992, the base price of a Carrera 2 was $55,000, or around $120,000 in 2025 dollars. Today, a base Carrera starts at, you guessed it, $120,000. I doubt that the 2035 911 Carrera will cost any less. My car is insured for more than that, though, and will never be for sale.
I can't say 964s are good investments, but they're not bad ones. As they say, you won't remember the money, anyway, but the memories last a lifetime.
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This story was originally published January 4, 2025 at 7:30 AM