Driving Back to ’85

The end of the day can be very chaotic for students trying to get out of the parking lot. The usual after school rush can take quite a while for students waiting for cars to move. You watch tons of cars go by as you wait to get in line.Then, all of a sudden, a bright flash of red catches your eye. You look and see a bright red Porsche go by. In the driver’s seat: Connor Drill.

When people hear that someone has the coolest/neatest car in the school, they generally think of a fancy, new car. Even though Connor’s car is fancy, it’s not brand new. This past May, Connor purchased a 1985 Porsche 944. This was his second car after purchasing a 2001 BMW 330 xi the May before his Porsche. He took me for a ride one day while I interviewed him and we drove back to 1985.

“Believe it or not, I found it on Craigslist up in Monticello I think,” said Connor when asked how he acquired the car, “He wanted $6,000, but uh I knocked him down to $4,500.” The day Connor made the final purchase on his Porsche was one he won’t forget. “It was May 22, 2017, about 5 pm. After I bought it I couldn’t believe it,” said Drill, “On the way home I was thinking I’ve only seen this on the internet and now I’m driving it like this is crazy.” Since this car is from 1985, I had to think about the gas mileage as well. Connor explained that in town he gets around 2-30 miles per gallon in town. Meanwhile, on the highway, he gets around 30-35 miles per gallon.

Connor wanted to get the car because his uncle was a Porsche guy and that kind of led him into it. Connor did his research and found that this car was affordable.

Next, I asked him to name a few of the things he likes about the car. “The pop up headlights, the manual transmission, how low it is. I don’t like high cars. It doesn’t lean in the corners. It’s pretty quick, not too fast, just quick. And it gets a lot of attention. You don’t see many of them around.” Connor certainly gets attention with his Porsche.

With Connor and his Porsche, I wondered about his parents and if they had any cool, exotic cars. “Nope, they are probably the blandest cars ever,” responded Drill, “they’re pretty boring.” I asked him about the kind of radio stations he gets with the car.

Drill explained that when the antenna is up, he gets some good stations. Every time he turns on the radio, the antenna goes up and then goes down when it’s turned off.

Connor hopes he won’t have to purchase another car next May as well. He got the Porsche because his BMW fell apart on him. Drill explained that the clutch is brutal when driving, but it’s nothing he can’t handle. Now you know what to think the next time you see that Porsche go by.