Ian Harris

Shoreham, UK @harrisclassics

To keep me busy during these challenging times I bought a lovely 1980 911 SC Targa needing some TLC. This is my first SC and it’s been interesting learning more about the cars. I’ve always looked past them and this one might have converted me; I think I might just be keeping this one for the garage! Reason why: very good value at the moment, manufactured in smaller numbers than the 3.2, rarer in numbers than the 3.2 and just hitting 40 years old, so MOT and tax exempt here in the UK, and for me that’s an added appeal.

The SC was for sale on a local

Porsche forum for a very attractive price, so I took a gamble on the car and it seems to have paid off. The steering was very loose and the seller was concerned about this. It turned out to be a worn bearing that a column sleeve fixed for £26. A small amount of paint work to the bumper, a very good detail and polish and I’m left with a lovely usable car! It’s far from a show winner but I think that’s the appeal.

My 2.4 hasn’t even covered 1,000 miles since being fully restored, the

other cars are always perfectly polished waiting for the right day to drive them, so it’s been very refreshing to have something that doesn’t owe me a huge amount of money. It isn’t perfect but drives superbly and I’ve used it for all my weekly essential shopping and errands without the worry of everyday use and parking in public places.

I’m sure this is a common issue with classic Porsche owners of valuable cars,

being afraid to drive them and then them becoming garage queens. A recent podcast I listened to was very interesting, a collector had a superb collection of highly desirable classic Porsches and wasn’t afraid to drive them at any chance. I have really learnt something from that and have vowed not to be as precious with my own cars, and to enjoy them lots more once this madness is over…