SoCal 914 where are you

[Ignatzcatz]

A while back I flew out to Los Angeles with a bit of cash hoping to find a nice 911. I saw a few, and don't believe that all 911s in California are rust free, I did see some horrors although I was at rather the lower end of the purchasing scale. I did miss a Sunbeam Tiger by 2 hours, it was $2800, it still grieves me, but one of my missions whilst in the vicinity was to buy some stuff for a pal who was running a '55 Chevy and the only place to get parts for those tri 5 chevys was and still is Danchuks down in Santa Ana. I checked times and saw that they opened at 7 am so I put the alarm on and early next day hacked off down the 405 to be there when they opened. Whilst I was parked up this really cherry little 914 putted round the premises and parked at the back. Very nice I thought, I was intrigued as 914's hadn't really been on my radar at all. So inside the store I enquired and it turned out to be owned by one of Danchuk's engineers. A test drive, a bit of negotiation and I owned a red 914.
It was pretty cool driving around L A in your own Porsche but I had to get home and so did my car. Initial enquiries about transportation were difficult and figures were all over the place. The very cheapest way back to blighty would have been to drive it to New York and seafreight it from there, so I flew it from LA direct into Gatwick on a 747. Back home I gave all the papers to a local freight clearance agent and I was driving the car in 48 hours. Nice. Bit pricey but nice.
At the time I was punting around in a 944 and having recently moved house was slightly down in the finance department especially as I'd just done a load of dosh cruising around the other side of the pond. So unfortunately I had to sell the 914. As far as I can recall the gentleman who bought the car was from the Hemel Hempstead area but I'm not sure of this fact. Anyway the UK reg was JYJ 131N, a red slightly darker than the Porsche guards red, on, I think, 15" turbo-vec style alloy wheels. Just like to know if it's still kicking around.

[KS]

Not been taxed since April this year (but not on SORN) and no MOT details available (presumably due to historic status).

You air freighted the car to the UK? Wow!

[Sam]

My first 914 was JYJ234N, so I guess was imported around the same time. Knowing what the prices were then I’d say you must have paid more to bring it home than you paid for the car.

[Ignatzcatz]

Actually Sam old buddy, it's not what you know it's who you know.

[Sam]

Yeah. All the people I know are useful only for reciting Ferris Bueller quotes and scoring solid. I should change my friendship group.

[rhd racer]

'Have you got a kiss for daddy?'

'Ah, so that's how it is in their family..'

And of course the classic

'Ferris is a righteous dude!'

[Ignatzcatz]

Hey Sam, you got a friend.

[914 KEV]

I worked on JYJ 131N a couple of time back in 2015 doing mechanical work to help to get the 914 back on the road for the elderly owner who lived in Ashley Green which is near Hemel Hempstead.
Once the 914 had a MOT the owner was then going to sell the 914 on as his son had no interest in owning the car.
The 914 hadn’t been used since 2010, once I finished the mechanical work it just needed a bit of welding!
While stored on his drive he accidently reversed the daily car into the front near side wing one wet dark winter evening!
JYJ 131N got sold on in 2016 after it passed the MOT in March 2016 and by the time it came up for sale again a short time later, it had been repainted and the wheels had been changed to repro 2.0 fuchs.
Since then I haven't seen JYJ 131N or heard from the current owner.
Here is a photo of JYJ 131N on one of my visits in June 2015.