Driving the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) in your Porsche 993 is a bucket list journey for any car enthusiast. Especially when you’re Reuben Ramirez, and you’re from the Midwest, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It’s the perfect opening/closing scene to a Hollywood movie. And in an air-cooled Porsche, it’s a moment you never want to end. Where time speeds up & slows down simultaneously. The curves of the road, defined by the epic Pacific coastline. And the sounds of the iconic, mechanical Porsche flat-6 bellowing against the cliffs. It’s freedom, control, adrenaline, and serenity – all at the same time somehow. It puts the sport in sports car.
Peanut butter & jelly…
The PCH landscape was made to be driven in a true, mechanical sports car. Every shift, every RPM, every corner opening-up to another stretch of picturesque coastline. It solidifies why people dream about experiences like this. It’s not just about speed, it’s about CONNECTION. The perfect pairing – feeling completely alive & present in the moment.
It’s the kind of drive that turns into character. Windows down, gusty ocean air, opening the throttle in a car that truly breathes. Anticipating the next gear. Now! Clutch in – shift – clutch out – throttle. And somewhere along the way – realizing the journey is the destination… a metaphor so many screen-addicts entirely miss these days.
For Reuben Ramirez, car culture is everything…
It’s the only thing that’s ever truly stuck. As a kid on his bedroom wall, Reuben had two car posters. One was a Dodge Viper – naturally. And the other was a Porsche 911… 993 to be exact.
Like many of us, Ruben cut his teeth with Hondas…
Golden-era Hondas were a godsend for car culture. And they allowed a whole generation of rebellious hot-rodder youths to experience the thrills & intensity of car building, camaraderie, AND visceral driving. And somehow… golden-era Hondas did it at an attainable price point! Pure brilliance!
For many of us, that became a lifelong obsession…
And in an increasingly digital/distracted/autonomous world, the direct & uninterrupted connection to a vehicle (IE: connection to ‘a moment’) became an insatiable thing for us. It’s more pursued than status, definitely more pursued than comfort/luxury, and even more relevant than the badge on the hood… or any other fleeting characteristic. True enthusiasts see past the BS, to the intangibles & nuances that certain cars offer. That’s what we put value in – not the specs, status, or gimmicks.
Circa 2010 Honda culture wasn’t just a gateway for Reuben Ramirez…
It’s deeply engrained into every fiber of Ruben’s being. Look closer, and you can see it in his Porsche 993. Reagamsters, Volks… Spoon accenting?! Like me – Ruben considers himself a Porsche owner that doesn’t fit-in with most Porsche owners. But in a way, that fuels him. And he’s found a tribe of buddies with the same mentality.
So here’s how the poster on his bedroom wall became reality…
When Reuben Ramirez found this 993 C4S, air-cooled Porsche 911 values were already well on the rise. An air-cooled 911 was dream car for Reuben, but it was accompanied by a sinking feeling in the pit in his stomach that… that ship had sailed. We all know cars like that, right?? Cars we WISH we’d bought 6 years ago?? Because once the prices go up, they usually don’t come back down much. And 911 prices would probably only get harder & harder to afford & justify for Reuben. If it was ever gonna happen, some sort of unique window of opportunity would have to present itself. Well – as fate would have it…
That window of opportunity opened for Ruben…
When his buddies – Joe Donovan and/or Justin Torres from Joe’s Garage – told him about a 993 C4S they had in storage. Long story short – the car was pretty roached inside & out. Neglected… cooked. But the bones were good! And it DID run & drive, with not much over 100,000 miles. Reuben details cars for a living. He knew he could work his magic & bring the Porsche 993 back to life. At the time, he was driving a 1st-generation Audi R8 – go figure. But an air-cooled 911 was the dream. And this wasn’t just any air-cooled 911, but the FINAL/culmination 911 in Porsche air-cooled history – the 993. And… it wasn’t just any 993, but a widebody C4S. So Reuben fire-sold the R8, and that gave him the cash-in-hand to buy the roached-out (but widebody) Porsche 993 C4S.
On Day-1 of ownership…
He drove the dream… basking in the aura. And on Day-2, Reuben started ripping the car apart to restore it. They removed 27 door dings from the passenger side of this 993 lol. How even… do you not park it somewhere else after let’s say… the first 12 dings?!
This is where the Honda Boy resurfaced in Ruben…
Most Porsche owners these days take it somewhere. But the Honda generation dives in & gets their hands dirty. And at the end of the day, air-cooled 911s were made to make sense. Straightforward – no gimmicks or tricks. And that’s part of the recipe that’s made them stand the test of time. With each passing year & decade, time proves air-cooled 911s more and more right! Same goes for the golden era Hondas actually. Coming from the Honda world, Regamasters were always one of Ruben’s favorite wheels. Overall, he loves 5-spoke designs, and they tend to be his go-to. And while Fuchs are timeless, he didn’t want to be another air-cooled 911 on Fuchs or BBSs.
The restricting factor with a vintage Porsche is:
As the values go up, I think owners subconsciously get locked into a certain parameters & aesthetics. The rising values kind of put boundaries on where people creatively go with the cars. To a point. Because on the contrary, you have companies like Singer emerge & raise the bar to the stratosphere. But with normal/individual owners, when everyone ends up doing the same things – things can get stagnant.
So when everyone goes right, Reuben tends to go left a little…
Not necessarily to be different or defiant… but it just kinda happens that way. Perhaps it’s just curiosity & excitement that tugs on Reuben. You don’t want to redo what you’ve seen a hundred times online. And actually – I hate to keep going back to Hondas, but when Hondas & 90s imports were affordable & plentiful, creativity had no restraints. And it resulted in a defining, highly impactful/vibrant chapter of car culture. But in today’s era of grown-up $50,000 Type-Rs & hot hatches… most owners fall in line and modify tastefully. The gift is the curse I guess. But I think the end-goal is to free yourself from the chains of ownership, and just roll with it. Enjoy the ownership experience… wherever that leads you.
Reuben regularly rocked his Porsche 993 C4S for a year…
Before a valve seal went out. And that’s where it kind of snowballed… but in a good way. The car went back to Joe’s Garage where Joe Donovan & Justin Torres built the engine the right way… future-proofing it for (predictably) many-many years & miles to come. Was it expensive? Yeah kinda. But in a forever car like this – it’s worth it! A lot of people get stuck with the same bill on modern cars/engines that absolutely aren’t worth it lol. So pick your poison.
For Reuben, he chose to invest into something that returns the favor. And put his effort/love/resources into the things that make him FEEL something. It’s almost always worth it when you do it that way. Reuben drives this Porsche 993 regularly… without what-ifs. And that’s what vintage air-cooled 911s were built for. They were the sports car for people who wanted to drive a sports car everyday. And they tend to be happier & less cranky… the more you drive them. Old school Porsches want to be driven… they were built to be driven. It was a different era… and a different mindset to these sports car brands of yesteryear. The modern world chooses comfort, compromise, convenience, and safety just about every time. They don’t think a mechanical, physical, heavy-clutch sports car works for everyday commuting. The modern world is also soft, wrong, and sensitive to gluten. Choose a side lol.
Photos by Brandon Deuster (Doyster Media)
1997 Porsche 911 C4S in Ocean Blue Metallic
ENGINE
3.6-liter built & by Joe’s Garage w/ custom tune
All surfaces vapor blasted, powdercoated, and zinc plated
LN Engineering port/polished heads with titanium high performance valve guides, springs, and retainers
Rennline brushed aluminum valve covers
Fabspeed air box
993 RS carbon fiber heater-duct tube
Sleepers Speed Shop titanium heater bypass delete plate
Sachs Clutch Kit
Fister stage-3 mufflers
Fabspeed X-pipe with cat delete & 3” exhaust tips
INTERIOR
DAS SPORT half cage (paint matched)
OEM option Porsche hard-back sport seats (paint matched)
Momo Prototipo streeing wheel – 350mm
Boulevard & Avenue custom Spoon Sports suede horn button
Spoon Sports shift knob (re-tapped to M12x1.25)
FD Motorsport short-shifter w/ golden rod
Continental head unit
Miscellaneous Rennline brushed aluminum silver interior upgrades
EXTERIOR
OEM 993 Turbo front lip
Clear front turn signals
Euro vented fog lights (paint matched)
C2S paint matched split spoiler grille
Paint matched bumperettes
Spoon wipers
Many new OEM exterior gaskets, trims, and moldings
70+ hours of paint correction & polishing
Full body paint protection film in STEK PPF
Ceramic coated with GTECHNIQ Crystal Serum Ultra, Gtechniq wheel armor, & smart vision on all exterior glass
Full under body restoration including engine bay using dry ice technology
WHEELS & SUSPENSION
Bilstein PSS10 coilovers & top camber plates
Elephant Racing bump steer kit
Tarett adjustable toe links
72mm extended wheel studs
Rennline 30mm rear spacers
Front Wheels: 17” Desmond Regamasters with
–Falken Azeni 615K+ in 225/40/17
Rear Wheels: 17” Volk TE37s with
–Falken Azeni 615K+ in 255/45/17
Both sets have been powdercoated in Porsche silver
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