<story><title>A few things to know before stealing my 914</title><url>https://www.hagerty.com/media/advice/a-few-things-to-know-before-you-steal-my-914/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>KennyBlanken</author><text>On the actual flip side, there are plenty of people who properly maintain vintage sports cars instead of just talking about how much they know about them.&lt;p&gt;I get that door handles and lock cylinders are often made of easily-broken pot metal, but most owner communities have figured out solutions, or just live a little and recognize that a locksmith can easily get you into almost any vintage car if necessary.&lt;p&gt;The starting problems mean your engine is poorly tuned&amp;#x2F;maintained, battery issues are bad wiring or undiagnosed parasitic drain (or just buy a battery maintainer, dude), and thinking &amp;quot;my first gear syncro is worn or my shift linkage isn&amp;#x27;t properly adjusted, I should mash the shit out of it&amp;quot; are purely owner error &amp;#x2F; strongly counter-indicate &amp;quot;I know a ton about cars.&amp;quot;</text></item><item><author>theluketaylor</author><text>On the flip side, I know a ton about cars and actually own a german sports car of roughly this vintage and this rings incredibly true (and also hilarious). My car can&amp;#x27;t be locked due to fear of it never opening again, starting the engine requires a delicate balance of the right amount of throttle and prayers the battery has enough charge, and selecting first is a preposterous mixture of a delicate ballet and sledgehammering it home.&lt;p&gt;The fact this essay works for someone with limited domain knowledge and someone with lots is a testament to the quality of writing.</text></item><item><author>gkoberger</author><text>This is one of my favorite styles of writing. I have absolutely no clue what this person is talking about and have no interest in cars, yet I read every single word.&lt;p&gt;I love when people have such a deep knowledge of something that they can write an essay as unique and thoughtful as this. It reminds me of Kitchen Confidential, Surely You&amp;#x27;re Joking Mr Feynman!, or any rant about British politics by David Mitchell.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>theluketaylor</author><text>The locks are stupidly expensive, like $1000 a door. I&amp;#x27;d rather just not lock it. The starting issues are due to the carb needing a rebuild. It&amp;#x27;s on my list, but there are bigger fish to fry. The battery is due to it being a former race car with a tiny, super light battery. It&amp;#x27;s only designed to crank the engine a few times before it&amp;#x27;s dead to save weight. 1st gear in non-syncro, so it&amp;#x27;s for sure not that. It&amp;#x27;s likely the linkage, but that&amp;#x27;s a big job and won&amp;#x27;t be worth doing for a few years along with a few other things at the same time.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s a cheap vintage car that isn&amp;#x27;t worth spending any real money on. I could pour $40,000 into getting into concours shape, but it would only add 2-3 grand worth of value. Instead I drive and enjoy it.</text></comment>
<story><title>A few things to know before stealing my 914</title><url>https://www.hagerty.com/media/advice/a-few-things-to-know-before-you-steal-my-914/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>KennyBlanken</author><text>On the actual flip side, there are plenty of people who properly maintain vintage sports cars instead of just talking about how much they know about them.&lt;p&gt;I get that door handles and lock cylinders are often made of easily-broken pot metal, but most owner communities have figured out solutions, or just live a little and recognize that a locksmith can easily get you into almost any vintage car if necessary.&lt;p&gt;The starting problems mean your engine is poorly tuned&amp;#x2F;maintained, battery issues are bad wiring or undiagnosed parasitic drain (or just buy a battery maintainer, dude), and thinking &amp;quot;my first gear syncro is worn or my shift linkage isn&amp;#x27;t properly adjusted, I should mash the shit out of it&amp;quot; are purely owner error &amp;#x2F; strongly counter-indicate &amp;quot;I know a ton about cars.&amp;quot;</text></item><item><author>theluketaylor</author><text>On the flip side, I know a ton about cars and actually own a german sports car of roughly this vintage and this rings incredibly true (and also hilarious). My car can&amp;#x27;t be locked due to fear of it never opening again, starting the engine requires a delicate balance of the right amount of throttle and prayers the battery has enough charge, and selecting first is a preposterous mixture of a delicate ballet and sledgehammering it home.&lt;p&gt;The fact this essay works for someone with limited domain knowledge and someone with lots is a testament to the quality of writing.</text></item><item><author>gkoberger</author><text>This is one of my favorite styles of writing. I have absolutely no clue what this person is talking about and have no interest in cars, yet I read every single word.&lt;p&gt;I love when people have such a deep knowledge of something that they can write an essay as unique and thoughtful as this. It reminds me of Kitchen Confidential, Surely You&amp;#x27;re Joking Mr Feynman!, or any rant about British politics by David Mitchell.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>The-Bus</author><text>I think a faculty at a Motorsports Engineering School probably knows how to maintain vintage sports cars. Just because they own the car does not mean they need to maintain it.&lt;p&gt;This is also a humor article.</text></comment>