Where I Started

I’ve been a huge fan of Porsche since I was very young. While other kids had posters of Lamborghinis, Deloreans, Vectors, Ferraris, etc. I was obsessed with 911s. From the clean lines of the early narrow bodies to the aggressive looks of the wide-bodies to the out of this world design of the 959, I loved them all. I’ve created the site so that I have a place to share my experiences and document the history of the cars while I own them.

My first Porsche was a 1978 SC Targa that I bought in 1995 back in Northern Virginia. I was driving home from college one day and saw a beautiful white Porsche sitting in a grass field with a for sale sign on it. I went home, grabbed my Dad and went to take a look. I had read all about buying used cars so of course I kicked the tires, looked at the battery and opened the engine compartment. Basically I had no idea what I was doing. Fortunately my Dad did so after a thorough inspection and a long test drive we decided the car was solid and I bought it for $10K. Neither of us had a clue about the various known SC issues, head studs, etc. and we didn’t do a pre-purchase inspection (PPI). While this first Porsche brought me a lot of joy and a few speeding tickets, it also taught me the value of a PPI. The car needed a top end rebuild which my Dad and I did partially and then had a shop do the rest. I didn’t have much money so the whole project was financed on my credit card. I wish that I had held on to this car but eventually I needed some money and I sold it. I bought it too young but I always knew that I would come back for another one someday.

I Lost My Way

Fast forward way too many years to 2013.  Now living in Seattle I had grown use to seeing Porsches everywhere. I think they must be required at Microsoft or issued as part of the new hire program. I drifted away from Porsche and somehow turned into an Audi guy.  My first Audi was a S5.  It was sexy, fun but way too small for my family and didn’t qualify as a 2nd, weekend only car.  I ditched the S5 and bought a Q5 which I immediately modified with BBS wheels, AWE exhaust, APR chip and a KW coilover suspension.  A daily driver that can haul kids, dogs, bikes, etc. but is still really fun to drive.  Until recently Audi had replaced Porsche for me and the R8 has completely replaced the 911 in the part of my brain that is always planning my next mid-life crisis purchase.

Born Again

Two things happened.  First was the 50th Anniversary of Porsche.  I know this was just a marketing campaign but it worked wonders on me.  It got me thinking about the timeless designs, the sleek lines, the perverse obsession with making a rear-engine car go around a track at speed without killing the driver.  It made me ignore how many Porsches I see on the roads as status symbols and think about them as a true drivers car again.

Second was the first time I saw the new 2014 911 Targa.  Seeing the clearly throwback design of the Targa brought back all of the fun memories of my 78 SC and I was so excited that Porsche went in this design direction. It’s different, it has more personality and it doesn’t look like every other Porsche on the road today. Honestly I think the 991 Targa is the best looking model in the entire lineup. For the first time I think the lines of the Targa are far nicer than even the coupe. Suddenly the R8 had competition to be my mid-life crisis car and it was quickly losing ground to this 911!

Finding My Way

After some soul searching I decided that replacing my new Q5 with another sports car wasn’t in the cards just yet.  I wanted something I could drive, that I could work on with my kids helping out, that I could take to the track from time to time.

I started looking for classic Porsches and wanted something a bit newer than my old SC.  I was targeting late 80s Carreras and was surprised to find the market for these cars is out of control. Limited inventory and high prices for great cars.  I always loved the wider, more aggressive looks of the 930 Turbo and now that I’m older with a bit more budget I included those in the mix as well. I didn’t care as much about the Turbo itself but I liked everything else that went along with it.

I jumped out of my seat when I found a 1987 white/black Carrera with an authentic factory turbo look wide-body (M491) with less than 50K miles on it at Holt Motorsports.  The aggressive wide-body looks of the 930, the same suspension and breaking setup as the high performance Turbo but paired up with the normally aspirated 3.2 engine and G50 transmission.  After the PPI confirmed that the car was in amazing condition I bought it and had it shipped out to Seattle. Sold!

So much fun, but not a Targa

I loved every minute of the 87 Cab and the car was such a blast to drive. But as much fun as it was, I just couldn’t stop thinking about the new Targa. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had bought the wrong car. Then Porsche went and released a GTS version of the Targa in the most beautiful red that I’ve ever seen, Carmine Red. That was the final straw. The Cab has just been sold and replaced with a a 2016 Targa GTS. This one I intend to keep a lot long than a year…but no promises 🙂

Time to try a real Turbo!

The Targa was so much fun but for a variety of reasons, we decided to sell it in 2018 and be Porsche-less for a while. I made a big career move to leave the private sector for non-profit which not unexpectedly…is less profitable.

Fast forward to 2020 and another Porsche will be joining the family. I wanted to avoid taking the depreciation hit of a new car again so I spent a lot of time searching for a car that captured the true essence of Porsche, was still a bit modern, was at the bottom of the depreciation curve and would be fun to drive. After doing a ton of research I decided that a 2010 to 2013 997.2 TTS was the perfect car for me. I found a beautiful example at RAC Performance that will be delivered in a few weeks:

Along came a Spyder…

People that know my serial car collecting habits will often ask what my favorite car has been. I always answer “the next one” 🙂 I absolutely loved the Turbo S and the acceleration and speed were addictive. If I had room for multiple fun cars in my life, I would have held the Turbo S forever but I’m a serial collector so when I started to fall in love with the Porsche Spyder, it meant getting comfortable giving up the Turbo. Spyder allocations are rare so maybe it would never happen anyway but one can dream. The dream turned into reality and I ended up with the option of spec’ing and buying a new 718 Spyder. I had to jump on it. After a longer than expected wait, I’m the happy owner of a new Spyder and my Turbo will go on to the next owner who I hope loves it as much as I did.