During a Rainy Day Drive

The other day, we attended a relative’s wedding as a family of four, but unfortunately, it was pouring rain on the day. Of course… ( -_- ) The day before was sunny, and since my mother-in-law is a super lucky charm for good weather, everyone in the family was saying, “It’ll definitely be sunny because so-and-so will be there.” But sadly, it seems my rain-woman powers won out.

The wedding went smoothly, but by the time we headed home in the evening, the rain had only gotten heavier. While driving, my husband suddenly said this:

You know, on rainy days like this, I just get this urge to drive the air-cooled (964 C2). The other day, when I was driving home from work in the rain in the air-cooled, I actually thought, “Maybe I should just keep going all the way to Miyazaki instead of going home,” haha.

As usual, I thought he was saying something weird again and asked, “Really? Why’s that? ( -_- )” He replied,

With air-cooled cars, unlike modern cars, you can hear the rain directly. The sound of raindrops hitting and bouncing off the roof is oddly comforting, and the little wipers struggling to wipe away the rain somehow make me feel attached to the car. Also, the cabin is small and cozy, so the whole rainy drive vibe is just something I really like. It’s kind of like being in a tea room on a rainy day… or something like that, haha.

(Come to think of it, it was raining the day we took delivery of the air-cooled.)

Oh, really? ( -_- )

I said, “But don’t most people avoid driving air-cooled Porsches on rainy days? I’ve heard some even keep them in roofed garages with dehumidifiers to control moisture.” He answered,

Yeah, I think most people don’t drive their air-cooled cars in the rain to keep them in better condition. But to me, a Porsche is a car meant to be driven, and there’s no other car that feels as much like a partner and is this much fun. Rain or shine, I want to drive it all the time. And if it breaks, I’ll just fix it. Every repair brings it closer to new, so that’s part of the fun.

He really loves his air-cooled… haha. That said, since it’s rear-engine and air-cooled, the (see photo below) black section is where rain can get in, so it’s probably not great for the car.

Especially on Rainy Days

So, I looked up a bunch of info online about “driving an air-cooled 911 in the rain,” and found that “even on rainy days, the oil filler area doesn’t get wet at all, and the top of the air-cooled fan housing is well covered, so there’s no need to worry.” (Though obviously, parking it out in the rain all the time isn’t ideal…)

There was also a note quoting someone from Mitsuwa Motors:

They said that Porsches are originally meant to be driven like that (even on rainy days). If you drive at highway speeds so that air flows over the engine and heats it properly, even engines with over 100,000 km remain clean inside without carbon buildup.
＊Minkara: “Driving a Porsche on a Rainy Day…”

Ah, I see.

There’s even a proverb called “Seikou-Udoku” (literally “farming in fair weather, reading in rainy weather”), so while I tend to think, “Why bother driving on a rainy day?,” for my driving-enthusiast husband, it’s a different story.

I remember once when I saw a book titled “Polishing Your Car on Rainy Days,” I said, “What’s the point of polishing a car on a rainy day? It’ll just get wet and dirty again, haha.” My husband enthusiastically replied,

“No, that’s not it. You get it, right? This feeling!”

(laughs)

Thinking about it, for driving enthusiasts and air-cooled Porsche fans, the wet mode on the new 911 (992) must feel like an unnecessary feature. It’s quite a world. And recently, my husband said,

Lately, I’ve been really interested in the 930 and even older 911s. Some air-cooled fans say, “The 964 isn’t really air-cooled anymore,” so I want to experience what a true air-cooled Porsche is like. Before you know it, I might even end up going for a 356, haha.

He only stepped into the air-cooled world last November, but in less than six months, he’s already gone deep into the rabbit hole… I wonder if soon he’ll become a full-fledged air-cooled fanatic and say, “I’m going to overhaul the 911!”

Wow, air-cooled Porsches are truly something else.