Board Botschaft: Record Keeping

by Chris Flaugh,

One of the few things I like better than an interesting car is an interesting car with a story. Sometimes that story is verbal, sometimes it is in the form of paper. A documented paper trail not only adds interest, but also adds value when it comes time to sell.

I recently acquired a 1988 Porsche 911 Carrera cabriolet. Along with the keys to the car, the seller handed me a folder containing 114 pages of receipts for maintenance and repairs on the car, dating back to 1988. That level of comprehensive detail is gold, as it shows the car has been well cared for, specifies everything ever done to it, and also documents its mileage. I paid a bit more than I initially wanted to for the car, because of that treasure trove of paper; but it’s worth it. However, it’s not always that easy to obtain that history.

My 1980 Porsche 928 came to me in 2018 from its 3rd owner with a good bit of documentation, dating back to the original owner, but I wanted more. Some of the early documents included the original owner’s name, as well as a registration in his company name. I looked up the company, found it still existed, and he was still the CEO of the company. Also included on one of the documents was his date of birth, so I knew he was 82 years old at that time. So, rather than call him, I decided to send a letter, explaining that I had just bought his old 928, and did he happen to have any photos or stories about the car. About a week later, I received a text message from him. We talked on the phone, he told me the story of how he ordered the car from his local Porsche dealer in Detroit, he and his wife picked up the car at the factory in Germany, then proceeded to drive it throughout Europe for a month before having it shipped home. In addition to the warning triangle given to him upon picking up the car in Stuttgart, he sent me several photos from their trip: with the car at the factory, driving through the German countryside, stopped in the Alps. He also told me the story of having a radar detector installed in the car in the mid 1980’s, as he was getting too many speeding tickets (the radar detector is still in the car). These stories and photos are now in the history file for the car.

When I buy a car from a dealer auction, there is typically little to no documentation or service records available, other than what limited info might be shown on a CarFax report. But sometimes, all it takes is one piece of info, to lead to others. I bought a 2017 Alfa Romeo 4C last year through a dealer auction, not expecting to get any specific service records with it. However, tucked away in the trunk, underneath a car cover, I found a service receipt with the prior owner’s name and phone number. Since this was reported to be a 1 owner car, I believed this owner to be the original owner. So, I called him. And he was the original owner, told me the story of his search for this particular car, and then mailed me all the original service records.

So, what do you do with all this paper? I still have the documents for the Carrera and 4C in folders. The 928 documents are in a 3 ring binder, with a selection of documents and photos featured in a poster I had made. Whatever you do with your records, keep them, save them, and pass them along with the car. Once that history is gone, it is gone forever. Your modern Porsche today may be someone’s collectible pride and joy in the future. Save the records!