I entered my 1970 911E Targa at Keystone last week. It is 55K miles, original paint & interior vehicle in Preservation Class. The color is Crystal Blue, which is quite rare (less than 14 911/914-6 were painted this color). This car was special ordered in 1970 with this unique paint, all leather interior, factory air conditioner, retractable antenna/speaker & tinted glass. It was shown with its original window sticker, original tool kit and owner's manual.
I have known of this car since it appeared as the cover shot in Issue #4 of Gmund Magazine in 1980. Back then it was still owned by its original purchaser - Doug Troyer. He was then the PCA Zone 1 Rep and hailed from the NNJ Region. In 1981 it was sold to its second owner - Terry Ritsos of NYC - and I used to see it often at PCA Driver Ed's at Watkins Glen & Lime Rock. This car was last shown at the '86 Portland Maine Parade and won its class. Then it mostly sat quietly in Terry's garage in NY for the past 23 years.
Last year, after I sold my 37K original miles/original paint 356 C Cabriolet for a large sum of money, I decided to re-connect with the cars that started me in this hobby back in 1973. My first purchase was a 65K original miles Signal Yellow '73 911T Sunroof that I found at European Collectibles during a visit in Southern California for the '08 LA Lit Meet in March. Then I called Terry to see if he still had the Crystal Blue '70 911E Targa I had known all of these years. He did and soon I negotiated its purchase, which was a dream I had harbored for nearly 30 years.
The car first spent the better of one year at Reid Vann's St. Louis (MO) mechanical shop getting its engine rebuild. It only arrived by transport at our summer home in Edwards, CO just 6 days before this year's Parade in nearby Keystone. I cleaned it somewhat (but did not waxed it) and drove it on Sunday to the Concours Prep area in the underground parking where most entrants were working on their cars. I wasn't too worried because Prescott Kelly had accepted the car for the Historic Display at the Concours and I had decided I didn't need it judged.
That afternoon John Paterak saw me dusting off the car in that parking and strongly encouraged me to go ahead with participation & judging in the Preservation Class. He had worked on this car back in the seventies when Doug Troyer owned it in New Jersey and thought it had a real chance of doing well in the Preservation Group at the Parade. But he suggested I first remove the H1's and European lenses the second owner had installed 30 years ago. Luckily, I had been given the original US headlights & lenses in aged/crumbling Bosch boxes that had not been opened in 30 years. I rushed back home and got them. I had no time to remove the after-market (but period-correct) Carellos that the original owner had installed. These were featured in the Gmund 'poster' that was displayed alongside the car and I wanted it to look exactly as it had been on that old magazine cover back in 1980! Nor, may I add, did I have time to wax the car prior to the event.
On Tuesday, I drove up to the spectacular Rocky Mountain Concours site with my fellow PS02 contestants and then headed for my Historic Display parking spot. The judges couldn't find me until way past noon since I wasn't with the other PS02 cars, but it was finally judged. When the results were posted an hour later, to my surprise I had won both my Class and my Division. A few hours later, all Division winners including my car were judged again by a larger team of experts for the coveted Preservation Group award. The next night at the Concours Banquet, the winner of the Group award was announced. It went to a deserving 928S in very original condition and that had travelled from NY State.
I felt very lucky that my car got even considered for the Group award, the overall winner of all Divisions in Preservation at this year's Parade. As in all cases of a well preserved car that has survived into the present, the credit for the success of this very rare Crystal Blue 911E rest with its two original owners. They kept the faith and maintained this car in pristine original condition for 39 years, allowing us today to experience the joy of seeing a piece of automobile history preserved for posterity. I am just a temporary custodian of this Crystal Blue 911E Targa and hope some of you can see it in person at some future 911 Reunion. Saludos, Eduardo Venegas - Z356
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Beauty
I recently acquired a Crystal Blue '67 911 Softie and I had a sense it was a rare color. What is the source of the information that only 14 911's and 914/6's were painted in Crystal Blue?
