“Where horsepower meets conversation”
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🦃 The Best Car for Getting the Family to Thanksgiving
(When Grandma Lives Up a Rally Stage)
By Paul Kramer · December 1, 2025
Thanksgiving is easy.
Getting to Thanksgiving?
That’s the adventure.
Here’s the short list of vehicles that turn the drive to Grandma’s into the best part of the day.
1. The Wagon — The Correct Answer
AMG E63, RS6, whatever—just pick a fast wagon.
It holds:
Family
Pies
Emotional baggage
Your guilty desire to apex every turn
Looks responsible. Drives irresponsible.
Perfect!
2. The Cayenne — Because Physics is Optional
A Cayenne on a twisty road is a 5,000-lb magic trick.
Family comfort + Porsche handling = nobody complains… until they do.
3. The Macan GTS — The Backroad Ninja
It’s basically a GT3 with cupholders.
Sharp, quick, fun, and nobody questions your life choices.
4. The Minivan — Pure Comedy
Leans like a cruise ship.
Squeals like a toddler.
Traumatizes the family.
Memorable, but legally questionable.
5. The Air-Cooled 911 — The Spiritually Correct Answer
But:
No room.
No heat.
No pies survive.
Save it for the escape route after dinner.
The Winner: The Wagon
It’s fast, practical, sneaky, and fun—just like Thanksgiving should be.
— Paul Kramer
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🏁 Tim’s “Live-With-It” Garage — Two Porsches, ≤ $150K Each, Zero Regrets
By Tim Harris · December 1, 2025
Everyone loves the fantasy spec: “Money no object, what two air-cooled Porsches would you buy?”
Cool story. Completely useless.
Today’s Full Throttle Talk version is real-life painful:
Two air-cooled Porsches
Each under $150,000 based on real recent sales
Cars you could happily live with for 5–10 years
They actually have to fit your life, not just your wallpaper
And because I’m the one playing, I gave myself some rules.
Tim’s Non-Negotiable Rules (a.k.a. How to Keep Me Out of Porsche Jail)
Has to have room for “stuff,” including Zoe
Rear seats or usable luggage. I’m not spec’ing a museum piece or a single-seat track toy.Can’t be a crazy hot rod
I already have enough “decisions” in the garage. These need to run, not threaten.Can’t be too needy
Occasional tinkering? Fine. Monthly engine-out therapy? No thanks.Must have fizz
That alive, mechanical, slightly nervous feeling even at 35 mph.95% OEM
So parts are findable, the car feels cohesive, and I’m not sorting someone else’s half-baked “vision.”Julie has to actually want to drive it
If she looks at it and says, “Hard pass,” it’s not making the cut.High-end driver, not a #1 concours queen
I want to drive these, not polish them while screaming at dust.
With that in mind, here’s my official This or That two-car, 5–10 year, real-life air-cooled garage.
Car #1: 1970 Porsche 911S in Conda Green 🎨💚
First up: the OG fizz machine.
The 1970 911S is a 2.2-liter F-model car, about 180 hp, high-revving flat-six, dogleg 5-speed, and peak “small, light, and slightly unhinged” 911 energy.
The one I’m mentally backing into the Dorado garage is a Conda Green / black coupe — matching numbers, fully restored, big-money work already done, originally sold in the U.S. and brought back to gorgeous factory spec by top shops.
Recent high-end driver examples have traded in the $140K–$160K neighborhood, but if you’re looking at legit “driver-grade” vs ultra-museum pieces, you can reasonably land one in the $150K or under zone with patience.
Why it nails the rules
Room for Zoe (80lb 12 year old) & real-world life
Rear jump seats + frunk = school runs, grocery runs, “I accidentally bought more Porsche parts” runs.Not a hot rod, still spicy
OEM S-spec, mechanical injection, no weird coilovers, no “outlaw” experiments. Just a sorted early S that does exactly what Porsche intended… only better than it did in 1970 thanks to all the money someone else already spent.Fizz for days
Light steering, telepathic front end, engine that wakes up around 4,500 rpm and keeps going. This is the car that makes you take the long way home from the pharmacy.Julie-compatible
No giant wing, no roll cage, no “sorry, you have to double-clutch it or it hates you.” Just a pretty, classic 911 in a hero color that normal humans actually think is beautiful.Long-term keeper
Early S, killer color, matching numbers, heavy restoration history. You don’t “age out” of a Conda Green 911S — you just grow more attached.
Lifestyle snapshot
Early morning: coffee run with Julie, no traffic, Conda Green glowing in the Puerto Rico sun.
Midday: Zoe in the back with a backpack and a comment about how the car “smells like old race track.”
Weekend: casual cars & coffee where everyone else is in silver and black, and you’re the rolling highlighter pen.
Car #2: 1992 Porsche 911 America Roadster (BaT Car) 💪
Now the one you called out — and you’re right, so let’s fix the record:
That America Roadster from Bring a Trailer?
5-speed manual
Sold for $110,000
Still very comfortably under our $150K cap.
This is one of roughly 250 America Roadsters built — widebody 964 cabriolet, Turbo-look, Turbo brakes and suspension, but with the naturally aspirated 3.6 and a proper manual box. Bring a Trailer+1
The specific recent BaT sale you’re referring to: a manual America Roadster that closed at $110K on November 3, 2025, making it the sweet spot between “collectible” and “you can actually drive this without needing a sedative.” Classic.com
Why this one works in actual life
Seats people, not just vibes
It’s still a 911: rear “seats” for Zoe or bags, plus a frunk that will happily swallow luggage, backpacks, and whatever new detailing product you’re experimenting with.Manual, as God and Ferry intended
G50 5-speed, clutch you can live with, and proper control over the 3.6. No Tiptronic, no slush, no “yeah but it was ahead of its time.” Just a manual America Roadster doing exactly what you want it to do. Bring a TrailerTurbo looks, NA bills
You get the wide hips, the stance, the big brakes, and the presence of a 964 Turbo… without the lag, the expense, or the constant fear of boost-related invoices.Julie-friendly, Tim-approved
It’s cool without being shouty. Top down, nice interior, real weather protection, usable HVAC, and that 964 sound bouncing off buildings. Easy “let’s go to dinner” car.Market-sane
A $110K manual America Roadster in 2025, with comps often running $120K–$150K depending on miles and condition, feels like a smart place to park money and miles for the next 5–10 years. Classic.com
Lifestyle snapshot
Evening: top down, coastal road, sunset, flat-six doing that hollow 964 bark behind you.
Day to day: “grab the America Roadster” becomes the default answer when nobody wants to think too hard.
Weekend: Julie drives it to breakfast; you drive it home harder than you should.
This or That: Which One Would You Live With?
If you forced me to pick only one for the next decade, the Conda Green 911S gets the emotional win. It’s the car you still think about while brushing your teeth at night.
But as an actual two-car air-cooled garage that:
Fits a family
Stays under $150K per car
Won’t destroy your life with projects
Still gives you that “I can’t believe this is my garage” feeling…
I’m absolutely taking both:
1970 911S in Conda Green — the analog, high-rev, jewel-like classic
1992 911 America Roadster (manual, $110K BaT car) — the widebody, top-down, everyday event
Your Turn: Build Your Two-Car Air-Cooled Garage
Same rules for you:
Air-cooled Porsches only
Each ≤ $150,000 based on real recent sales (auction, dealer, private-party reality — not fantasy asks)
Has to work for 5–10 years in your actual life
Bonus points if your spouse / partner would actually want to drive at least one of them
Hit reply to this newsletter or DM us on Instagram @fullthrottletalk with:
Your two air-cooled picks (year, model, spec)
Why they work in your real life (kids? luggage? rallies?)
Whether you’re Team Conda S or Team America Roadster
We’ll feature the best (and most unhinged-but-still-logical) combos in a future Full Throttle Talk episode and a follow-up newsletter.
This or That: you’re on the clock.
— Tim Harris
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🏁 Unfiltered: The Truth About Air-Cooled 911s PART II: The Iceberg Car: What’s Hiding Beneath the Surface
By Tom Brookhart · December 1, 2025
FROM OUR COMMUNITY
There’s a problem in the air-cooled Porsche world that almost nobody talks about publicly, but every seasoned mechanic knows by heart:
Most of what matters on a 911 can’t be seen.
From twenty feet away, almost any air-cooled 911 looks great.
From ten feet away, it still looks good.
Even from two feet away, the paint can shine, the Fuchs can sparkle, the gaps can look “good enough,” and the interior can smell like leather conditioner and optimism.
But underneath?
That’s where the real car lives. And usually, where the real trouble is hiding. This is what I call the Iceberg Car — An air-cooled 911 that looks solid above the waterline while the majority of its problems are lurking out of sight, waiting to surface the moment you take ownership.
Why the Iceberg Problem Exists
These cars are now 40 to 50 years old, and very few have received the kind of maintenance Porsche originally intended. In the years when they were cheap — $12K $15K— the owners who could afford them often could not afford proper factory-level care. Nobody’s fault. Just reality.
And now?
Those same cars are being cleaned up, photographed beautifully, marketed with confidence, and sold for many times what someone paid 15-20 years ago.
But the underlying issues? …….Still sitting right there, below the surface.
Time does that.
Deferred maintenance does that.
Corners cut 15-20 years ago do that.
Budget rebuilds do that.
YouTube and forum fixing do that.
Home-garage “it’s fine for now” fixes do that.
The iceberg grows slowly — but it always grows.
— Tom Brookhart
🧠 Got an article or market take? Send it in—we’ll feature our favorites in an upcoming issue.
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🏁 The Full Throttle Talk Team
