Road Warrior

The story of Porsche's seminal 912 model has been well and often told, but the unique life of this particular 1969 912 is documented in several books that you've likely never seen or even heard of.The late Michael Newlon drove his Porsche 912 all over the western United States, and wrote (and published) books to share his adventures.

- Matt Stone

On the surface Michael Newlon was an average American guy. He was born of a normal family, grew up, went to school and college (co-incidentally graduating from the same university as this writer), got a job as a business consultant, bought a cool sports car, served in the military and reserves, and married, retiring with his wife in 2005.

His '69 912 was configured like many others; Mr. Newlon bought the car new, and ran it as every day transport for the first several years of its life. It was originally painted Light Ivory 6804-131, a standard 'soft white' 912 colour. He described its specification thus: 'It has a very nice monaural Blaupunkt AM/FM/SW radio. Its only factory option was tinted glass all around – pretty basic, even for 1969. Long after delivery, I discovered the car had actually been assembled using a Karmann-built 911 chassis, complete with dual battery boxes, factory 911 suspension fittings and wiring harnesses.'

He drove, used, and enjoyed it, particularly for long solo journeys on some of the more storied American highways: US Route 95, State Route 99, California State Highway 101, California 395 and others. Picturesque roads leading to and through historic places, with a variety of natural and manmade wonders to be enjoyed along the way. Michael Newlon photographed and memorialised his adventures, writing and having published (through self-publishing house Outskirts Press) books about four of those trips, one of them covering the more than 1500 miles he travelled.