January was the purchase & transport month. It was also the month I learned a very important piece of info about my 2001 Ford Escape.

Now, it was my intention to sleep all day, play with my niece and nephew, visit with my parents, but the threat of nasty weather got us moving at about 12:30pm to get us in KC around 6:30pm-7:30pm with stops.

WHERE THE TRIP GETS UGLY

So as we're cruising along, at a good pace, trying to get home before the ice and snow hit, I stop for gas (which I did a lot on this trip) about 10 miles north of Wichita Kansas at a rest stop Rout66/McDonalds. My wife takes my son (4 year old) inside to use the bathroom. I gas the Escape up, get back inside, start the truck, and put her into drive...or so I TRY to put her into drive. Won't budge. I can NOT get my 2001 Ford Escape into gear.

I call my cousin. He suggests I disconnect the battery to trick the computer into resetting itself, then re-connect it and try. “1 in a 1,000,000 change it'll work." It did not. So, for the next 2 hours we call tow trucks, service stations, hotels, my cousin is on his way down (2 ½ hour drive, mind you) to get my wife and kids…Bit of a mess.

Tow truck get there. Nelson gets out and starts his deal. He is going to have to put the Escape up on his bed, detach the trailer with the 912, two that, and we (family and all) will have to take a cab to lord-knows-where. Nelson is about to get the Escape up, when he asks:

N – "Your break lights out?"
A – “I don't know, are they?"
N – “Get in and tap them...yep, they're out."
A – “Ok, and that means..."
N – “It means you might have blown a fuse, and in that case, I won't have to tow you...head inside and buy a couple."

So I did, and the fuse was blown, and the new one got us into gear and on our way. WE LOVE NELSON. And I am not too happy with FORD for not making it easy for me to figure out this problem myself. I read the Owner's Manual, and called a COUPLE Ford people, and NO ONE had head of this…SO, if you own a 2001 Ford Escape, and you find yourself unable to get it out of Park, check your fuses.

I lost count of the mileage when I disconnected the battery, and I lost track of time, so I don't have detailed information for the trip back. I got here, that's good enough.

The last bit of relevant info is that after I get the 912 off the trailer, I can't get the engine to turn over. It's 20 degrees outside, and I tried jumping it with the Escape with no luck. So, the wife and I pushed it into the garage (did I mention the wife just had our second child 6 weeks ago).

After a hellish night of changing diapers, and general anticipation, I get on the road at 5:18am. I arrive in Austin at 12:50pm, beating my sellers by about 10 minutes (they had to drive up from South Texas). The mileage from OKC to TX is 421.5 miles. Garry (owner), Darren (son, person I've been in direct contact with) and I start the process of getting the 912 off their trailer and onto mine. Darren asked me to bring down a specialty item only acquired in the KC area (Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat), and in return he brought up a 25lbs bag of oranges from their family orchard.

Title signed over to me, receipt given, general Q&A session, and with the car comes a couple books, and the Maestro VHS set of videos (which I can't wait to watch). They also gave me a couple catalogs:

Performance Products
Tweeks

I get back on the road at 2:31pm up towards OKC. Having my new 912 staring at me from the read view mirror the whole way back is a treat. Anytime I got tired, I just looked back. I arrived in OKC at about 10:28pm, covered her up for the night, and crawled into bed.

So, the adventure begins. I got my “small vehicle trailer" all hooked up, and started the trek down to Oklahoma City (with my wife and 2 children). We left at 11:46am and arrived in OKC at 7:33pm, clocking in at 355.2 miles (my 2 children are 4 and 6-weeks, so multiple stops were required). I also hadn't anticipated the “WARNING – DO NOT EXCEED 45 MPH" on the trailer. My average speed was around 60 MHP.

These are the original eBay images. The car had been moved to a shop for minor work.
I sent a non-refundable deposit after I spoke with the owner about the cars condition,
mechanical strength, and the fact that it has a big-bore kit and Webber's installed. I am
picking up the vehicle in Austin Texas this Friday at noon. I am towing it back to KC on
Sunday, after I have a Porsche mechanic in OK City have a look at it on Saturday.

The vehicle is sound (as much as I can see from the pictures, and from talking with the owner), but needs minor additions. In the future, along with new photography, I'll be adding the following:

Cost list
I have an excel spreadsheet that I'm documenting all the costs associated with the automobile (idea taken from Dave) that I will post after the list gets long enough to mean anything.

Resources
Places of interest along with useful information I've acquired from the web, owners, and other sources.

Restoration Effort
I don't plan on doing a frame-off restoration by any means, but there are some things that will change, and I'll be sure to document those as they happen.

Since I don't want to add any miles on my new 912, I dropped off my 2001 Ford Escape at UHAUL to install a Class 3 Hitch (Class 3 can tow up to 3500 lbs). After 2 hours (which I spent next door eating a doughnut and reading PORSCHE 912 Owners Workshop Manual, Autobook 897 by Kenneth Ball) and just over $200, I have a way to get my car up from Texas.

I contacted a local rental establishment, and for $52 a day I'll be renting a "small vehicle trailer."

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