Long time client and all-around great guy, Jack Doughtery, stopped by to tell us a little more about his ’72 911T, and we managed to pass a few hours soaking in stories of Iwo Jima, leased car adventures,  and his love of his 911… from day one.

Sitting in his relaxed , cross-legged  manner with a memorable, endearing smile, and donning his Marine Corp League – Dayton Detachment mesh hat, he clearly has a few years of experience. With his quick wit you’d never guess he’s surpassed the 90 year mark. We invited him in to talk about his car, and discuss what’s kept him in love with his car for the last 43 years, but we got way more than we bargained for with stories of all kinds.

His story starts in the years ago joining the Navy, being called up by the Marines, and going back to the Navy. He was a guy in demand for his specific skills, and that later translated into graduating from the military, and going to college, and become a very highly respected oral surgeon.

 

 

“Had I known that, I may not have come for you!”

Beyond being good at his craft, he was a lucky guy. As a Navy Corpsman he found himself right in the middle of the storm on Iwo Jima, and in one of the fiercest battles on the island near the southern tip by Mt. Suribachi. Young, vicarious, and driven to help those in need, Jack and his guys landed in a situation of one man left behind in a bunker under fire. Jack volunteered (more correctly insisted) he go and rescue his fallen comrade stuck in the trench. Asking for smoke grenade and heavy cover fire, he  made the battlefield dash to dive into the trench. Only to find the guy had a branded line on his back from a bullet that grazed him. “Had I known that, I may not have come for you!” Jack recalls yelling at the gent. From that moment, they proceeded to get pinned down under fire for the subsequent nine hours. Strategically, they fired and returned fire, then, waited, and managed to take out the last of their opponents. Making the dash back, he recalled, was nerve-racking, but finding all the foxholes that previously housed his company were all empty, was even more so. The field promoted Lieutenant, was not a the caliber of leader they were use to, and Jack insured he made it back to the group to give him a piece of his mind. Jack’s demeanor and laugh, gave great insight of how his likes things done… by the book and without fear.

Jack followed his passion, and frankly what his excelled at, graduating from college to become an oral surgeon, and jumped into his residency. During his time travelling back and forth at a practice in Northern Ohio, he realized that he wasn’t good at maintaining cars, and honestly it really wasn’t his thing. Leasing became his go to way to drive a bunch of new cars, and never have to really ‘take care of them’. A friend  turned him on to leasing, and $187 later he was driving a brand new Ford Convertible,… and that covered the first TWO months! He was hooked.

…eventually the sloshing of water in the floor boards got to him.

 Over the years, when the his cars needed something addressed with maintenance, he just got a new one to start all over again. Having owned Fords, Pontiacs, and a couple Thunderbirds he decided to make a change, and go after something that caught his eye years ago, and this time own it. His friends gave him a hard time when he’d leave the top down in the rain, but eventually the sloshing of water in the floor boards got to him in his last and final big iron lease.

In 1972, Jack broke down, and brought the Porsche 911T he still owns to this day. Originally purchased from Century Motors located on Dixie Drive in Moraine, the beautiful tangerine color struck his fancy. With rebates at the time, his total purchase price came to $10k. He drove it for many years, enjoyed it, and in many ways was his daily transportation. After a few mechanical engine issues with the early generation mechanical injection he decided to take it to Ray Thacker. Thacker was the man behind, Stuttgart Automotive, and the guy to perform the tuning. Once inside the project, Ray made a few recommendation, that Jack was apprehensive about, but trusted his judgement. With Jack, giving the ‘yes’ to proceed, the car became a 2.7L, Weber fed motor. “Seeing all the parts of my motor all over the place, on the bench and in buckets didn’t give me a lot of hope, but I had great trust in him, so I kept my mouth shut.” Having fits with the early mechanical injection was a thing of the past. Jack got his car back as promised and BETTER. “I was relieved to actually get it back all in one piece”, Jack recalls, and has never regretted it in the least.

“I was relieved to actually get it back all in one piece”

Many years that have passed since the 65k mile motor rebuild and repaint (in the original color), and Jack continues to keep his 911 in top mechanical condition. The odometer reads a youthful 95k miles and no signs of slowing down.

Jack also tossed in a number of stories of vacation, travel, National Porsche Parades, and a good 360 degree spin at Putnam years ago that got his blood pressure up. He’s no stranger to enjoying the Porsche lifestyle.

It was a pleasure to sit down with a gentleman that has graced our shop for years, and get (as they say) the full story. We are proud to service this time capsule 911T, and more so to call Jack a good friend of P3.

 

Also we want to extend a THANK YOU to Jack for his military service.