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Ed Barnett’s Chronic Porsche Syndrome

 

The summer of 1960 found me and my high school buddy Jim rolling thru the glorious hilly back roads of Contra Costa County in a 1955 Porsche Speedster on our way to the Laguna Seca Sports Car Races.  I was smitten with Chronic Porsche Syndrome (CPS) that weekend.

The disease was seemingly in remission during my stint in the Marine Corp in the mid-sixties and I learned to hill climb old SCCA water pumpers in the mountains of Montana, but I wanted a Porsche.

The 70’s found me with a beautiful blond and a green 69-911T.  Rural Virginia was our play ground and the Porsche was our favorite toy. We tried a 356 A for awhile but were spoiled by the 911, nothing else would do.

Try as I might I couldn’t shake the CPS.  Airplanes, motorcycles, monster trucks, brunettes, jet boats…nothing worked and after 20 years of trying I finally gave in to the disorder and bought a one owner red 69-911T.  Five years later the sweet stock 2 liter had a become a loud hard riding  street and track hot rod in which no one but me wanted to ride.

The turn of the century brought me great luck in the form of a fellow racer who wanted my hot rod.  The deal was done and I needed a replacement Porsche.  A 1973 E Targa was found wrapped under a few tarps under a walnut tree in a Chico farmer’s field.  The motor was bad but the car was excellent.  A nice 3 liter motor was located and my illness is under control at last… for now.