BaT Auction Success Story Update: Motown Targa, Back Again

06/03/2026 Update: BaT user B.Fryk wrote to us in May 2023 about the 2015 911 Targa 4S that he won from BenKeith in a March 2023 BaT auction, and today he’s back to give us a post-road-trip update after scuttling his original plan to “fly and drive.”

B.Fryk writes:

In March 2023, I placed the winning bid on one of my dream cars: a low-mileage 2015 911 Targa 4S. It departed from NorCal for its new life in the Motor City. Since it was early March, the summer tires didn’t allow for a cross-country drive home, so onto the hauler she went. I recently made up for this by completing my “epic trip west,” a 6,200-mile road trip to the West Coast and back. I appreciate that each owner is free to drive their Porsche as little or as much as desired. I personally leaned into driving the car a lot, as Dr. Porsche intended. Looking toward my October 2025 calendar, my high school reunion in Pasadena was coming up one weekend, followed by a family wedding in Livingston, Montana, the next. With family in the Bay Area, it was the perfect opportunity for a road trip. A break in my schedule allowed me a two-and-a-half-week trip West!

On day one, I visited Chicago to see my first home, a Chicago condo, and had dinner with my daughter.

The next two days were spent heading west on I-80 and I-76 through Denver, summiting Wolf Creek Pass at 10,856 feet before dropping into Pagosa Springs, Colorado. In total, I summited four >10,000-foot passes. The fun really started on day four on Colorado’s “Million Dollar Highway” from Silverton to Ouray. The views and the road were worth every bit of a million dollars!

Having spent much of my career with the Ford Motor Company, I could not pass up a shot of two Fords on Silverton street.

Though I briefly hit some rain, it was the perfect opportunity to stow the Targa top and drive.

Despite Mother Nature’s plentiful sights, the Porsche drew some onlookers and many “thumbs up,” too.

From Colorado, I continued west through Moab to Dead Horse Point and the headwaters of the Colorado River, then through Capital Reef National Park. Utah’s diverse landscape left me stunned.

Sunrise at Bryce Canyon should be on everyone’s bucket list.

Driving out of Bryce, I enjoyed the sights of Utah’s State Route 12.

Next up was Zion National Park in southwest Utah. The sun broke through after a morning’s rain shower, highlighting the 991’s silhouette and “Butzi” Porsche’s styling magic.

I highly recommend the Zion-Mount Carmel Scenic Drive—a 25-mile stretch of Utah State Route 9, connecting the south and east entrances of Zion National Park. Throw a hike in, too!

I arrived in Los Angeles for my high school reunion and took time to hit Mulholland Drive, a road I commuted on 30 years ago.

Next up was the long slog up I-5; timing constraints precluded a drive up PCH. After visiting family in NorCal, I was back on I-80, albeit heading east this time. I also hit I-15 coming and going. In central Nevada, I stretched the 911’s legs, but no photos were taken to avoid self-incrimination. En route to Montana, I took in the sunrise over the Tetons.

After the Livingston wedding, it was time to head home to the Motor City. The route on I-90 led me past South Dakota’s Badlands National Park, a highly recommended diversion for anyone traveling that way.

Twenty days after departing Michigan, I was back home. In total, my “epic trip west” covered 6,200 miles at an average speed of 64 mph.

I subscribe to the idea that great driving cars can unlock great life experiences. Did I contemplate the “throw away miles” of I-5? Sure. But in totality, my trip west was a trip of a lifetime. The sights moved me. The driving roads rewarded me. Now I need to convince my wife to join me for a Utah/Colorado redux!

As one famous Porsche-loving comedian said, “If you arrive in heaven with the lowest mileage Porsche, you lose!” Words to live by.

One postscript: the day after returning home, I discovered low air pressure in a rear tire. I was blessed to have traveled 6,200 event-free miles only to pick up a nail on my last day. Indeed, Dr. Porsche was smiling down on me.

A trip well done, B.Fryk! Thanks for the update.

ORIGINAL POST:

Like many of us, BaT member B.Fryk was captivated by the iconic, swooping silhouette of the Porsche 911 at a young age. He recently wrote in to tell us about his acquisition of a 2015 911 Targa 4S from BenKeith in a March 2023 auction.

B.Fryk says:

When I was just a toddler in the late ’60s, my dad brought home a 1968 Porsche 912. At a young age, Butzi Porsche’s famous 911 silhouette was embedded in my heart. Porsches were abundant in Southern California during the ’70s and ’80s, and as a youth I learned to identify 911s by their distinctive flat-six sound.

It was in the early ’90s, after graduating from college, that I bought a then-nine-year-old ’82 911SC while my friends were out purchasing new Honda Accords. The car was finished in a unique factory color—Bamboo Beige. To this day, I’ve yet to come across another 911 in that color.

My 911 was my daily driver, and in my three-and-a-half years of ownership it was virtually trouble-free. I spent 1993 living near LA’s famous Laurel Canyon Blvd. in the Hollywood Hills—taking the “long way home” on Mulholland Drive was driving nirvana!

Alas, when I attended business school in Chicago, I had to sell my 911, as I could not bear parking it on the street, especially through Chicago winters. A career with a major US auto manufacturer followed, and I enjoyed the benefit of 50+ management-leased vehicles over the years. While that was nice, I started dreaming—while scrolling on BaT, of course—about owning my own Porsche again.

With my OEM career behind me and a college-aged daughter needing summer transportation (I gave her the use of my new Bronco), “someday” arrived this spring—and I found myself back in the market for a car. I was initially nostalgic for the G-body SCs and Carreras of the ’80s, but I later shifted my focus to 991-generation cars for their updated technology (while still offering a normally aspirated flat-six). With the return of the brushed metal “Targa bar,” I thought that the Targa model presented the best option in open-air motoring (and even gained the critical support of my wife).

A 991.1 Targa 4S went live on BaT in late February. As the auction wound down I placed my one and only bid, and that was all it took. As of March 3, Friday afternoon, the car was mine! The seller was extremely accommodating, and by Monday morning I was on a flight to NorCal to pick it up. Twenty-four hours later, my 911 was headed east in a hauler along with someone else’s BaT win (the second time hauling that particular car, the driver shared). We move fast in Detroit!

Now in the Motor City, my 911 Targa 4S earns several “thumbs up” on every drive. A BaT success story—my 911 dreams once again came true!

If you’ve got a Success Story or an update on a project you purchased on BaT, please send a few lines and pictures (or a video) to community.content@bringatrailer.com. We’d love to hear from you! We’ll send you a $50 credit to the BaT Gear Store when your entry posts to the site.