My riviera blue 1994 993 C2

[tob_today]

I thought I'd introduce myself, and a car some of you have known in the past. My name is Toby & I bought this lovely manual riviera blue 1994 993 C2 from fellow DDK owner Mike in May 2020.

Here is Mike's DDK thread on this car: viewtopic.php?t=58975

As 993's don't seem to be popular on DDK, I've been more active in other communities. I've also made a foray into water-cooled 911s with a 996 and 997. Symptoms of my age with these cars being around during majority of my driving life. I really enjoy all 3 of my 911's for different reasons, however I appreciate the water-cooled cars will be of minimal interest here.

The 993 will always be the special one, as this was the Porsche I always promised myself ever since they were released back when I started driving. After staring at a 930 Turbo on my wall for many teenage years, I totally fell in love with the 993 design & engineering (also being majorly into VW's during my early driving years). I always looked out for 993's, watching them in the classifieds for many years, but always being just out of reach, or not the right time due to growing family. Until I found this one (or maybe it found me).

Then recently I borrowed a 1970 911 T for a weekend road-trip around Kent & Sussex with my wife (who normally has absolutely zero interest in my passion for cars). In a word: WOW (even my wife liked it, and I had trouble getting the keys from her!). It was a little tatty & rough around the edges, but what a car. There's something magical about these older cars that I hadn't appreciated until I drove one. It was probably a big mistake, as it left me wanting (a lot) more.

So I figured I'd sign up to DDK membership and continue sharing the story of this 993, join the community around these older cars, and see where this journey takes me.

[Lightweight_911]

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Welcome to DDK - lovely car that 993 (as would any other car that's been through Mike's ownership !) .

You do realise that saying out loud that you (& your wife) were both smitten by your recent experience with an early car means you're on a slippery slope ? ...

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[Bootsy]

Welcome. Lovely car - had a lift in it when it went to CLM - love the interior

[yoda]

Not a surprise you liked the early car, they are the best of the lot and get under your skin. Welcome to DDK!

[KS]

Having had the pleasure of a brief drive in that car, all I can say is you're a lucky man! Enjoy.

[RobFrost]

That's a lovely looking 993. Is that the original colour?

Sent from my SM-G988B using Tapatalk

[tob_today]

Thanks for the warm welcome. Yes, I'm slightly concerned this new journey might tempt me into an older 911 - however I like to look after my cars, then I get very attached and can't bring myself to sell them, so the number of my cars just grows over time. Could be dangerous territory

RobFrost - yes this is one of only two known original riviera blue UK 993's (excluding RS's and one known Turbo). The other one was written off a few years ago I believe. There's a couple of others around with resprays to riviera. Both original ones came with light grey interiors which was bit of an odd colour combo with riviera, and looks so much better with the black interior it has now. Potentially both were launch press cars as riviera was only offered at start of 993 production run between 94-95, and seems majority of buyers were very conservative with their colour preferences in the mid-90's. There might be others that have been quietly tucked away all these years, although they are not easy to hide in this colour. It's a wonderful bright colour, and it's my favourite on a 993 by a long way.

[tob_today]

I've spent a decent amount of time researching the fascinating history of this car, helped as it came with a big documentation file from Mike.

In summary:

- it was originally purchased in the midlands & spent it's early life in north of England
- it's been well looked after by 4 OPCs, then Redline Racing, Strasse then BS Motorsport (Neil Bainbridge) in Mike's care
- in 2013 it was up for sale at Redline Racing wearing a non-original body kit, various RS modifications & looking a bit tired
- it was purchased by a collector in south of England via Porsche Swindon for a back-to-original mechanical restoration at major expense, including full respray in its original riviera colour & new Fuchs wheels
- then Southbound did a full interior retrim (having also retrimmed several of his other cars)
- the collector owned the car for 3 years, and it travelled 670 miles during this time
- then it was picked up by Mike in late-2016

Mike's purchase & ownership story is a great read, see his thread.

I will continue this car's story from start of my ownership in May 2020 (although my photos will not be anywhere near as good as Mike's!)

[tob_today]

I like to think carefully about which specialist to use with each of my cars. After discussing with Mike I decided to use Steve Winter at JAZ for this car.

As I always do when I get a new car, I drive it round for a while and create a list of things, then hand it over to the decided-specialist and tell them to go over the whole car very thoroughly to co-create a long term plan. My philosophy with all my cars is to make sure they are in great condition mechanically and body wise, so they are a solid long term foundation for whatever they become. Some cars I keep very original, some I like to play with. This is one of the reason's I love 911's, so many options & like-minded owners.

With this car, it's absolutely great as I bought it & it deserves to be preserved. Mike and the previous owner seemed to have exactly the same taste & mindset as me, and everything they did was exactly what I would have done. So it was just about continuing to maintain it to the same high standard.

So I dropped it off with Steve at JAZ in July 2020...

[tob_today]

While the car was at JAZ for servicing and a few minor bits & pieces we noticed a couple of minor areas of corrosion inside the rear wheel arches where stones had chipped the paint, so it was sent to the bodyshop who identified a few more areas around the famous chassis legs, so we decided to get it all fixed to be 100%.

One of the things I asked Steve if we can improve was the clutch and gear change. The clutch was relatively stiff and had a very tricky bite point that made driving the car quite challenging at lower speeds, especially from standing on any incline and reversing up my uphill driveway.

I also asked about a more direct short-shift style gear change. I heard about Goldenrod, MPL and other well known 993 modifications, however Steve highly recommended to try the 964 RS shifter as the car already had the Goldenrod: "This is a longer gear lever with a shorter throw. You have to change the gear lever gaiter too. I would be careful with aftermarket as we remove as many as we fit as clients just don’t get on with them." The only downside is the raised gear shifter knob would now only show 5 gears not 6, which wasn't a problem for me. So we went with that. For the clutch operation he "replaced the actuating lever inside the pedal box which is a Porsche upgrade/supersession", and made some other tweaks.

[KS]

If you don't already have it, look out for a copy of the November 2017 issue of 911 & Porsche World magazine...

[tob_today]

If you don't already have it, look out for a copy of the November 2017 issue of 911 & Porsche World magazine...

Thanks very much for the tip Keith - I back-ordered my own copy, great article & content

[tob_today]

Three months later in Oct 2020 and it was time to pick up the 993 from JAZ. The car rides so amazingly well on it's M033 chassis, 18" Fuchs and updated clutch and gearshift set-up. The level of control and compliance is perfect for me, it's the best riding car I've owned & pleasure to drive. Not to mention the amazing sound from the engine and Mike's custom exhaust set-up, all whilst surrounded by such a lovely interior & exterior.

[tob_today]

And just because I love this photo for some reason, sitting on my driveway one cold winter's morning...

[tob_today]

The new 964 RS gearshift is very different to the previous. Very direct & brings a different character which like.

Although I might still play with this a little in future, I feel there's middle ground perfection still to be found. All part of ownership fun