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Eric Stoddard Reunited with one of his favorite cars
Eric Stoddard was the designer of the Crossfire and he shared this story on Facebook yesterday..............
Every so often a second chance comes along!
25 years ago I bought a 1971 Porsche 911, at a time when they could be had quite cheap.
During the summer of 2000 I drove about 10,000 miles in this car through the mountain roads, deserts, and coast of San Diego County.
It was the best time I’ve ever had in any car up to that point, and I’ve compared every car I’ve had since to that 911.
A year later, I sold it, because it needed some mechanical work that a poor kid from college couldn’t afford.
I regretted selling it ever since, especially as the values shot up and seemingly out of reach.
A few months ago I discovered the person who bought my 911 still owned it!
Thanks to a mutual connection, he agreed to sell it back to me at a very reasonable price.
Last week the 911 came home and I was able to give my girls their first ride!
The car is in almost the exact same condition as it was 25 years ago, with only 4000 miles added since I last owned it.
And many of the mechanical issues were resolved under previous ownership, although there is some carb tuning to be done.
The experience of driving it again after 25 years has been absolutely surreal.
Rediscovering how to handle the rear weight bias in the turns, the dog leg shift pattern, and all the little quirks of starting it, warming it up, and revving it out.
I’m so very thankful to be the caretaker of this very special car once again.
3 photos below.......
1) Yes, that’s me in a Hawaiian shirt with hair in the picture below in 2000
2) With me today with the 911 again
3) My girls with the 911
Re: Eric Stoddard Reunited with one of his favorite cars
Eric and I chatted a bit more on Facebook since he got the 911 back
He shared this with me this evening
There’s more to the 9/11 story.
I was in the middle of designing the Crossfire when I had that 911.
I was working under Audi TT designer, Freeman Thomas.
He took the picture of me standing next to the car when I bought it 25 years ago.
I worked with Freeman again at Ford on the mustang program, and I am working with him again today at Myers Manx, the original dune buggy from 1964.
The person who bought the 9/11 from me, was a relative of Freeman’s, and Freeman negotiated the whole deal for me to buy it back.
A lot of the inspiration of the 911 design went into the Crossfire as you can probably tell!
So if you think about it, the Crossfire is part 911, part Audi TT, with a bit of art deco thrown in
Eric Stoddard Reunited with one of his favorite cars
