Jeff Coe

Jeff Coe is the current advocate for the PCA 968 Register and lives in Connecticut with his family and two brightly colored 968s.

Articles by Jeff Coe

• Stamp collecting with my Porsche maintenance book

  Wednesday, May 30, 2018

  Many of us like to collect stamps. When I was very young my mother told me about S&H Green Stamps. You would receive these at stores as a reward for purchases, and as you collected them, you could trade them in for prizes. Years later, I’m still excited to see or collect stamps, especially when it comes to my Porsche vehicle maintenance book. This is a great source of documentation, especially for the collector Porsche, and I feel entrusted in keeping up the maintenance book for my cars.

• Purple pain: A bold lesson in disappointment

  Monday, February 12, 2018

  ​When I picked up my first 968 way back in 1996, I was thrilled. It was a 30K-mile example and a cabriolet. It was a blast to drive, and I was so happy to own such a great car. It checked all my boxes for a fun car with one exception: color. The car was painted Amazon Green, which is a dark teal color. The color has many fans, but I'm not one of them.

• Seeing red in a special Porsche 968

  Monday, December 11, 2017

  ​If you have visited the ​968 Register website, you know the 968 was available with 98 different interior options during its small four-year production run. Blacks, grays, blues and cashmeres are plentiful from a 968 perspective, but if you wanted a red interior you only had two choices. Both of those red choices cost big dollars back in the 1990s as they were not only full leather interior options but also special full leather!

• Will the real ‘last 968’ please come forward?

  Monday, September 25, 2017

  During any vehicle's production run, there are always a few significant examples produced. Some of these would include cars with special options or with the most options. With Porsches, performance-related examples often get the "significant nod" here. The rare colors are also neat and stand out among the group in later years.

• Oh, how a trip to the junkyard has changed

  Tuesday, June 06, 2017

  When I first got into cars back in high school, one of my friends offered me a ride to the local junkyard to pick up some used parts. I had never been to the yard before, and it turned out to be an amazing experience. I needed a few items for my newly acquired '70 Challenger, so I jumped in his Buick Skylark, and we made the trek to Norwalk, Connecticut, where three automotive junkyards awaited my visit. The places were a mess with stuff everywhere.

• It’s alive! Bringing an engine back from the dead

  Monday, March 27, 2017

  I have been working on cars for 40 years now and truly enjoy the pastime. I really feel a bond with my vehicles when I actually work on their related maintenance. Over that time period, one of the more exciting experiences I have enjoyed was the installation of a new engine. Much work and money had gone into getting to that point. And when that new engine fired up for the first time, it was certainly a sweet feeling knowing that all that time and money had resulted in this pivotal moment.

• 2017: New year, new project

  Tuesday, January 24, 2017

  You never know when one is going to sneak up on you — a new project, that is. And that is what happened to me a few weeks ago. I was perusing eBay looking for anything new and interesting when I stumbled onto a Porsche 968 that had suffered collision damaged and was being sold for repair or parts. It had been hit pretty hard in the lower driver's rear, and the quarter panel was bowed out. But what caught my eye were those beautiful 17-inch cup 1 wheels, which the car still retained.

• A rare MCO for a 968

  Monday, November 28, 2016

  ​Like most of you, I have a supporting collection of 968-related memorabilia in addition to my 968 cars. This includes model cars, posters, and many, many documents and brochures. But recently, I was shown a unique item that I had never seen before, an original MCO for a 968. What’s an MCO, you ask? That stands for Manufacturers' Certificate of Origin. The best analogy I can provide you for this document is it is like a birth certificate for your car.

• The 2017 Porsche 968?

  Tuesday, September 13, 2016

  Well, not quite. But in case you haven't heard, Porsche has decided to bring its first, inline four-cylinder model since the 968 to the United States. And guess what? I have one in my driveway! A new 2017 Porsche Macan 2.0 Turbo. A little background first. For daily drivers, we have a lot of Audis in our family. I've had a couple of A4s, now an A5, and my wife drives a Q5 — all powered by Audi's 2.0 Turbo. The 2.0T is a great power plant, excellent performance and mileage, easy to work on and maintain.

• What is the most expensive 968 in North America?

  Friday, May 27, 2016

  As the advocate for the PCA 968 Register, I often receive membership applications from current owners looking to become part of the group. A few months ago, an application came in from Spenser in Maryland.

• When is a 1993 Porsche really a 1994?

  Friday, December 04, 2015

  So, you have a 1994 North American 968. While attending a Porsche Club of America show, you park next to another 1994 NA 968. The strange thing is that, while your car has the 944-style bucket seats, the '94 968 next to you has the 993-style "comfort" bucket seats.

• Old postcard shows what defines Porsche ownership

  Friday, October 09, 2015

  On a recent visit to see my mother, she handed me a postcard she had found buried in my father's things. She asked me to read it. It was clearly an older card with a black-and-white photo of the Italian Riviera displayed on the front. Flipping it over, I noted it had some great period stamps and a postmark from 1953. I then went on to read the short note to my father from a friend who had been traveling overseas.

• This unique 968 shows true dichotomy in a Porsche

  Monday, October 13, 2014

  ​When looking at the modern-day car, it is amazing how we can change the personality of our vehicle with just the push of a button. One button talks to my exhaust system and changes the amount of back pressure and related noise that I experience. Too loud? Just hit the button. Another button can talk to my suspension and adjust the shocks for the handling experience that I want.

• Mourning a dying friend: The manual transmission

  Monday, August 04, 2014

  ​I can still remember my first time so well. Ahh, the excitement, the anticipation, the embrace — and finally, the experience. It was something I'll never forget. Oh wait, no no, not that first time. I'm referring to my first time with a manual transmission.

• Any color Porsche you want — seriously

  Monday, April 07, 2014

  Of the 4,242 North American 968s produced between 1992 and 1995, Porsche's "color to sample" option was selected 18 times. I have located six of these 18 color-to-sample 968s produced.

• In search of the ‘Hollywood’ 968

  Friday, November 01, 2013

  Recently, I was perusing an issue of Christophorus that featured an article about Porsches used in various films. I smiled as I read the article and remembered watching "Risky Business" back in 1983 and falling in love with that beautiful 928 — even though it fell into a lake. The article got me thinking. Whenever a production car has its run of being new, it often draws the attention of Hollywood, which is looking to feature the latest offerings of the automotive world. But as I scanned the article, I noticed that they missed my favorite Porsche — the 968.