“Just drive” – Paula & Ken on their 911 Carrera 3.2 Euro-roadtrip

Many Porsche drivers only talk about how nice it would be to go on a long road trip in a classic car. Paula Conraads and Ken Vogel just did it. They set off from Holland on a round trip through seven countries. Instead of traveling in a modern car with all the amenities, they deliberately opted against luxury, traveled light and – despite an unexpected end – experienced one of the best vacations of their lives. In the Elferspot Porsche Talk, the two shared their experiences, their passion and what they would recommend to other travel enthusiasts.

Thank you two for sharing your story with us. Will you briefly introduce yourselves to our readers at the beginning?

Paula: Of course! I’m Paula Conraads, 26 years old, a photographer and graphic designer. Recently I’ve been trying to gain a foothold in automotive photography too. Together with Ken and our two cats, I’ve been living in Limburg in the south of the Netherlands for a few years now.

Ken: My name is Ken Vogel, I am 30 years old and an engineer. I design and build customized machines in the automotive sector. I’ve been driving a Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 for a year now and have fulfilled a long-cherished dream with that.

How did you two meet?

Paula: That was almost seven years ago. My brother worked with Ken at a company. And this company organized a barbecue for the employees and their families so that their relatives could get to know the jobs. I was a student at the time and came along primarily because it was a free barbecue. As a student, a good dinner is a nice motivation (laughs)! I met Ken there and we got on very well very quickly.

Were cars already a topic that you both were interested in back then?

Paula: No, not yet at all. Ken had a Volvo P1800, but it needed so much work that the project was never finished. At some point, he sold the car. Then it was clear that it was going to be a Porsche. And Ken’s enthusiasm for this brand was infectious for me. I was so happy for him when he bought the Carrera that I just got carried away. Ken is therefore also to blame for the fact that I think Porsches are so cool today.

Ken is therefore also to blame for the fact that I think Porsches are so cool today.

Paula Conraads

How did your love of cars and Porsches begin, Ken?

Ken: We weren’t a typical car family. But I was always interested in air-cooled cars. I don’t know exactly why. But I was always fascinated by air-cooled Porsches in particular. It became a kind of obsession. On a trip to Italy together, Paula once had to wait over an hour with me just to hear the engine of a Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2!

During our vacation, we happened to stroll past a parking lot in front of a restaurant. The participants of a rally from a classic car club were having dinner in the restaurant. There was a 911 Carrera 3.2 in front of the door in the parking lot. It was exactly how I would want it to be. Paula waited with me until the drivers had finished eating. I really wanted to hear what the Carrera sounded like!

Paula waited with me until the drivers had finished eating. I really wanted to hear what the Carrera sounded like!

Ken Vogel

You have now been able to fulfill this dream. What kind of Carrera was it exactly and what emotions did the first drive trigger in you?

Ken: It is a 1989 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 in Linen Grey Metallic. The car was originally delivered in Italy and re-imported near Stuttgart in 2004. A year ago I bought it in Holland from Nine1 Motors in ‘s-Gravenzande. It even still had its German license plates. To be honest, the first drive was totally weird. It’s a very strange feeling to drive your dream car for the first time and know that you can really buy it now.

What I remember most was the view to the front with the ever-present front fenders pointing to the road. It was a phenomenal feeling. The drive home was on a very hot day with lots of traffic jams. So I was already very nervous that the car might overheat. But after 2.5 hours, the Carrera had survived the first tour just fine.

It’s a very strange feeling to drive your dream car for the first time and know that you can really buy it now.

Ken Vogel about the first drive in his Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2

How did you come up with the idea for the Porsche road trip?

Paula: We used to travel in Ken’s parents’ camper van a lot. But with someone else’s car, it feels twice as bad if something breaks down on the road. At the same time, we’re not the type for all-inclusive holidays. So we thought we should go on a road trip and travel to different places. At first we wanted to do it in my Polo, but then we decided to take the Porsche.

What route did you plan for your trip? Where did you particularly like it?

Paula: We had set ourselves a few destinations that we really wanted to see: Stuttgart, the Dolomites, Molveno in Trentino, Èze on the Cote d’Azur and Dijon. There were a few smaller destinations around these, such as Villefranche sur Mer and Monte Carlo. We are not city people, so we tended to look for accommodation in quiet places. We had planned a total of around 3,000 kilometers for two weeks. And we booked the hotels in advance – always with guarded parking spaces so that Ken could sleep peacefully.

“After all, it was precisely because of these mountain stages that we drove the Porsche!”

After our stop in Stuttgart, we drove on via Innsbruck towards the Dolomites. Our first base for day trips was the Grand Hotel Molveno. Molveno is a beautiful little village about an hour from Lake Garda. It was super quiet, perfect for us! From there we took a trip to Monte Varagna on the northern shore of Lake Garda. The winding roads there were breathtaking. After all, it was precisely because of these mountain stages that we drove the Porsche!

Unfortunately, I’m not the best co-driver. That’s why I had to ask Ken to slow down for a few minutes now and then, with all the fast bends (laughs). Then we drove on to Èze via Genoa. That was about halfway through our trip. The stopover in Monte Carlo was of course a highlight. It was cool that our old 911 got almost more attention here than modern supercars. Our trip to Villefranche sur Mer was also fantastic. However, when we wanted to take a look at Nice, we had a breakdown…

What happened?

Ken: I need to expand a little on that. Before we left on our trip, I gave the Porsche a thorough check – engine, spark plugs, air filter, suspension, fluids, lights, tires… the lot! I was a bit nervous, after all it’s a car that’s over 35 years old, but everything looked in perfect condition, so we set off.

As it turned out afterwards, I hadn’t checked one part and that was exactly what was going to cause us problems – the wheel bearing! Until that day, the Carrera ran like clockwork. But then I heard noises on right-hand bends – the left front wheel bearing! It got louder very quickly and I realized that we couldn’t continue the trip in the 911 without a repair.

How did you react? Did you have the opportunity to lend a hand yourself?

Ken: Normally I never set off without tools and a jack. But on this trip we simply didn’t have space for them. So the first thing I did was look for a garage where I could borrow the necessary tools. But there was simply no one in the immediate vicinity. We then found a place in a small French village which allowed me to park the car so that the front wheel was in the air. But unfortunately, without the right tools, there was nothing I could do.

Paula: We tried to arrange something through a friend of Ken’s who runs a garage and is also called Ken. He even offered to pick up the car from the south of France, over 1,000 kilometers from home. Fortunately, we didn’t have to take him up on it, but it’s nice to know that we have someone at home who would have even picked us up! For the next trip, it’s clear that I’d rather do without another pair of shoes and the second bikini in favor of a car jack (laughs).

Did you abort your road trip then?

Paula: To be honest, we thought about it for a moment. Ken was very disappointed. We first organized for the Porsche to be towed away through our insurance company. We also got a rental car and decided to shorten the route a little. As it turned out, it wasn’t so bad to be traveling in a modern car. Because with an outside temperature of 39°C, it would have been quite exhausting in the Porsche without air conditioning.

Admittedly, I was already pretty disheartened. But by then we had experienced so many great things, gathered so many wonderful impressions. And despite everything, it’s a story that we can now laugh about.

Ken Vogel

Would you go on another road trip in a Porsche? And if so, where?

Paula: Yes, definitely that. We found great spots in the mountains, saw so many beautiful panoramas… Switzerland is definitely high up on our list. And we’d like to make up for the trip to Dijon, as we’d like to visit family friends there. However, we’re not totally focused on one destination, but rather decide spontaneously from our gut where we want to go.

What was the most important gadget for you on the trip?

Paula: We didn’t actually have a lot with us apart from our luggage. There was simply no space left. I didn’t even have a tripod for the camera. In my opinion, you shouldn’t be too cerebral about it. Instead, I would say: “Just drive!” If something goes wrong, it goes wrong. We had a hard time staying positive at times, but we didn’t want to ruin our vacation because of it. After all, we knew beforehand that something unforeseen could happen, especially with such an old car.

However, there was one thing on board that made the journey much more pleasant. We had bought an adapter cassette for the original radio shortly before the trip. This allowed us to listen to music on the old Blaupunkt Bremen radio via Bluetooth. Until then, we only had a tape of Fleetwood Mac in the car, which we had listened to for hours on end. But we didn’t want to keep that up for two weeks. It was completely surreal to stream music from your phone on a cassette radio…

Last but not least, our traditional final question: If money were no object, what would be your dream Porsche?

Ken: That would probably be a Porsche 930 Turbo 3.3 in oak green.

Paula: The color is probably my fault. I love green cars and have probably influenced Ken a little. I think it would look best in combination with a cognac-colored interior.

Dear Paula, dear Ken, thank you so much for sharing your story with us! Have fun on your future travels!

Paula & Ken: It was our pleasure!

If you want to follow Paula and Ken on their travels, you can find them on Instagram at @the.classic.911 and @paulaconraadsphotography