James Mcgrath

Minneapolis, USA

Model 996.2 CARRERA Year 2002 Acquired 2020

Driving season is (almost) in full swing here in the American Midwest. Despite a few random snow showers into as far as May(!), the weather has been warm enough for even the most anti-cold weather drivers to swap out their winter tyres for summers and take their ‘fun’ cars out for a spin.

Myself, I’ve put over 500 miles on my 996 over the past two weekends by simply picking a direction and looking for adventure. Completely out of character, I’ve also had the pressure washer out to foam wash, wax and detail both my 911 and my new (to me) 958 Cayenne S on the driveway while the kids have played around me.

My local car friends often comment on how dirty my vehicles are. As much as I love a pristine-looking 911, I’ve never cared too much about mud or dust during my ownership of them. I try to keep my interior looking factory fresh – tidy, clean, fresh-smelling – but I don’t worry about the exterior unless I’m going to one of the bigger car shows.

The jobs are starting to stack up for my 996 though, as the summer approaches. Having got the car functional and back on the road a year ago, I took the decision to enjoy driving it as much as possible versus having it on the lift to work on it. With Rennsport Reunion taking place in September and another tour of the Smoky Mountains coming shortly before that, I have a couple of months to tinker and toy some more.

On the list is a full respray of my front bumper to take care of some rather large rock chips that I’ve collected over the 5,000 miles I put on the car last year between the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and Montana, to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina. At the same time as the respray I’m going to have the screw holes and licence plate mounts removed so I can have a completely clean front-end finish. Then I’m also going to get the whole front of the car covered in paint protection film so I don’t have to get yet another respray in a few years’ time.

Now far be it for me to discuss my new Cayenne in a magazine dedicated to 911s. That’s it sitting alongside my 996 in this month’s photo. All I’ll say is that every 911 driver needs a daily like this.