LEARNING ON THE JOB

Learning on the Job

Jeff Stockwell’s story of bringing a long dormant early 911 back to life.

“This car became my education. I realised pretty quickly that if I wanted things done to my standards, I needed to understand how to do them myself. That led me to take a job at a vintage Porsche shop where I spend three years immersed in 356s and early 911s. While I worked, the car slowly got better and better.”

Photographer Jeff Stockwell took the ambitious route to 911 ownership. Keeping up with a nearly 60 year old car is a handful no matter the condition, but Jeff’s car had been sitting untouched in an upstate New York barn since 1995, hardly making for the easiest of starting points.

It began life in Montana back in 1968, delivered new with a ski rack, a set of fog lights and a wooden steering wheel. “Details that paint such a specific picture of its first life” says Jeff, though the hard life it probably lived makes it all the more surprising that it’s still here, thanks of course to Jeff’s many interventions over the years.

“The engine was rebuilt by a local shop to a short stroke 2.5 with Weber 40s. Once I got the shell home, I handled the suspension, brakes, fuel system and interior myself. The goal was to create a hot rod with original patina that still felt as solid and engaging as these cars are supposed to. I was drawn in by the era. The 64-73 long-hood cars have always felt like the purest expression of the 911 to me. Light, simple, and directly tied to the rally and racing culture of the 60s and 70s.

"The goal was to create a hot rod with original patina that still felt as solid and engaging as these cars are supposed to."

"The car hobby is financially stressful and emotionally exhausting at times, but it also reshaped my adult life. It pushed me deeper into the mechanical world and gave me skills I didn’t have before."

By the time I finished the car four years in, I told myself I’d never take on something that intense again. A couple of years later however, I brought home a ’66 912 and started the whole process over. The car hobby is financially stressful and emotionally exhausting at times, but it also reshaped my adult life. It pushed me deeper into the mechanical world and gave me skills I didn’t have before, ultimately making me better at my craft, which is photography.

Now I’m back to shooting full time, but I still build cars in my garage on the weekends. This 911 isn’t just a car I restored, it’s the one that taught me how to do it.”