1986 Porsche 944: My First Race Car

This is the story of how I turned a deer into a Porsche race car.

First, I should tell you about the other Porsche--a 1987 Porsche 944 that was my daily driver. It replaced a 1991 Volkswagen Jetta with at least 169K on it (the odometer wasn't working when I got the car).

I had purchased the Porsche (undrivable) with money I had earned working a minimum wage job after the school day. Slowly, I swapped out bad parts for good parts, eventually replacing the unfunctional engine with a functional one. The entire project--car included--cost me $2,500.00.  Not a bad ride for a high schooler--if I couldn't be cool, at least I could have a cool car.

Now, onto the deer. It was autumn 2005. It was dark, and I was driving home. People always say the backroads of North Carolina are scenic--which is true, but sometimes the scenery attacks. In this case, it was a deer with poor judgement.

​It went something like this: Deer jumps fence, lands on Porsche, launches off windshield into air, lands back on hood, slides off car, dies. My car also died that night. I was fine.

The insurance money allowed me to buy another undrivable Porsche--a 1986 Porsche 944 Turbo. Like its predecessor, I slowly swapped purchased parts until it drove, then kept on working on it to improve the suspension, power, and performance. Finally, I had a race car--a real race car--and thanks to a stroke of luck, free PCA track days. 

By the way, I had enough spare parts around to resurrect the other Porsche, too. Thanks, Mr. Deer.