When you own a special car, taking it on a special road trip is probably something that keeps you dreaming. In many cases, you end up doing Sunday afternoon trips, which is fine but maybe not the fulfillment of your dreams. Others may take it out for a long weekend, which is better but still leaves room for imagination.
Fantasize about more than that? Well, meet Anthony Coyne, a London-based business owner, and his partner, Californian ex-pat Renée Logsdon.
First things first: Let’s talk cars. Anthony is a Porsche lover whose Porsche journey began 12 years ago, with a 986 Boxster S. This made way for a rare non-metallic dark blue 964 Carrera 2, a car he regrets selling to this day.
It was followed by a Boxster Spyder, which was ultimately succeeded by another air-cooled 911, his current 993 Carrera S.
The 993 Carrera S as such happens to be a rare 911: It was produced only in 1997 and 1998, the last 2 years of the 993 lifecycle. Like the Carrera 4S, it has the Turbo model’s wider bodyshell. The wide bodywork is widely acclaimed for its rear look, and the wider tyres result in excellent roadholding.
However, unlike the 4S, the Carrera S didn’t get all-wheel drive, nor the Turbo’s suspension or its brake system. It also came „only“ in 17 inch wheels, unlike the 18 inch wheels of the Carrera 4S. What made the appearance of the Carrera S unique, though, was the optically divided rear spoiler. Also, its indicators were classic yellow, unlike the darker ones from the 4S. During its 2 years of production, 3,714 units of the Carrera S were built, making it an even rarer 911 than the 993 Turbo!
It is this car that Anthony and Renée have taken on what may well be one of the most epic road trip a Porsche 911 has ever been taken on!
Anthony’s idea is simple: Take his UK registered Porsche 993 Carrera S across the Atlantic, then fly out to Tennessee, meet his car there and begin an adventure across more than 20 States, covering more miles in a period of six weeks than many Porsches do in a year.
Among other places, their road trip took them through (in chronological order): Knoxville, Tennessee; Kansas City, Missouri; Denver, Colorado; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Palm Springs, California; Tucson, Arizona; Big Bend National Park, Texas; Austin, Texas; New Orleans, Louisiana; Smokey Mountains, Tennessee. From coast to coast, and back again. You get the picture.
It’s an incredible transcontinental journey that Anthony and Renée have done in this 22-year-old Porsche. Their trip started in early June 2019 and made them drive over 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers) in about six weeks.
The joy of actually driving the 993 wasn’t limited by the large amount of miles. The trip even included a Sunday evening tour on America’s number one motorcycle and sports car road, the Tail of the Dragon in Tennessee.
318 curves in 11 miles, bordered by the Great Smoky Mountains and the Cherokee National Forest with no intersecting roads or driveways to hamper your travel 🙂
911s understeer as they are light at the front, and they have phenomenal grip at the rear thanks to the weight sitting over big rear tyres. (…) Trail braking plays to the 911s advantage, braking late into corners and getting fast onto the power once the anchor pedal is lifted. (…) This technique was a joy to execute on my lonesome early Sunday evening drive across America’s most challenging of roads.
Anthony Coyne on driving the Tail of the Dragon, www.aircooledbug.co.uk
All in all, this trip was so special that Anthony has created an excellent website about all experiences they made. I highly recommend reading it if you like dreaming of taking your „tomorrow’s classic“ on a road trip through the US:
Find Anthony’s travel experiences at: Air Cooled Bug (aircooledbug.co.uk)
So, where did the trip end? Well, just where it started:
The car made one more trip the last day into Downtown Knoxville and by the afternoon was on a trailer to Charleston, where it would be loaded into a container and shipped back to the UK. I was doing my best not to shed tears watching it drive off without us.
Anthony Coyne, www.aircooledbug.co.uk
All pictures in this post are courtesy of Anthony Coyne at AircooledBug.