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Document 1 - 9/3/2010
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"This isn't a book about Porsche restoration. It's about Wilkinson's colorful life. That, along with elegant writing, is what makes this book so endearing-the tales are told without ego. This is less a tale about a machine than a tale about a man enjoying a machine."--Car and Driver
Stephan Wilkinson was looking for something to do. So he bought an old, run-down Porsche and over the next two years tore it apart and rebuilt it in a garage behind his house. The project cost him a small fortune, and it started him thinking about many other things.
Quirky, cool, entertaining, and opinionated, The Gold-Plated Porsche captures Wilkinson's inspired digressions on his various other careers and misadventures.
As he recounts his own personal history, Wilkinson also waxes eloquent on the history of Porsche, American engineering and culture, status, and all things mechanical.
The story allows the author to wander in what ever direction strikes him. Reminds me of hanging out with a friend and "just talking about cars".
I finished this book a while ago and I enjoyed it, but given the author's knowledge level, I felt it could have been more in depth. This book is about half a recount of the authors experience in buying and building a Porsche 911, and the other half random tangents about his life experiences. While some of the stories are interesting, it dilutes the purpose of the book. If you are looking for an in depth guide filled with advice on how to buy and build your car, you will get some of that but not really enough to make it worth it. If you just want to read a book that has some car stuff in it with some other stories then its not all that bad. I just felt that the author with his vast mechanical background building planes and things could have imparted more really helpful information. I don't mean a technical manual, just more real experience stuff. I guess I just wasn't that interested in some of the non car stories. Also, the rebuild was supposed to take a couple years and cost many thousands of dollars, but I just didn't get that feeling - more details might have helped. I don't want to slam this effort and the details of the building experience that he does include are worth the read, just expect to read a bunch of extraneous stuff.
Outstanding book especially for porsche enthusiasts. Not too technical heavy. It is essentially an autobiography.
Having suffered a number of sports car ownership misadventures, I came to Wilkinson's tale predisposed to empathize. The narrative is compelling enough that I read it in a weekend, groaning at his missteps and cheering his successes as he tells tales of flying, driving, and most particularly the reconstruction of what began as a relatively nasty old 911. He does not bog down in technical details, but some sense of cars is most likely a prerequisite to enjoying this book. I gave a second copy to a friend as a gift; hopefully he'll enjoy it as I did. This might also be a good read for anyone who is about to embark on some kind of automotive restoration project; it is both cautionary and encouraging at the same time!
Author lived through some interesting times provided some insights about some of my favorite car magazine along the way. As a new owner of a used '82 Porsche 911, I especially enjoyed reading about his restoration project.
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