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Le Petit Garage - 718 GT4 Euro Delivery & Build Journal
Hey everyone,
I wanted to make a Euro Delivery and Build Journal to share my adventures with everyone. The posts will be a mix of Long and Short Form, so be prepared to read
Additionally, I run Le Petit Garage, an online store/collective where I help Enthusiasts get the best brands such as BBS, Kline, JCR, Soul, Ninemeister, Goldleaf, Recaro, etc… really anything that I would put on my car, I offer up to the community. You can follow me on Instagram @_lepetitgarage and check out my upcoming youtube channel where I’ll be posting some informational videos for this community. If you ever need anything or have questions, feel free to PM me here, IG, or alex@lepetitgarage.us. I also operate @stitchtosample where I make custom shift ***** and seat inserts, among other things. Happy to be part of this community!
Here is an index for those who want to skip around
In August 2021 I cold called my local dealer and asked what the process for a GT4 allocation would be. To my astonishment they told me MSRP, a little refundable deposit and I’m only a couple spots back in line. I told them I wanted to spec it myself and do Euro Delivery which they were also okay with.
Truthfully, I wasn’t the most interested in a GT4 at first. I had driven a couple before and it really didn’t click with me, I can’t really explain why. The cars felt very quick and capable, nice looking inside and out but my eyes were set elsewhere in the Porsche World and I felt like the GT4 was a little too “new” for me. However I knew that landing an MSRP, ED Allocation for a car I could spec myself was a needle in a haystack and I thought I should take this chance. Additionally, the days of ordering a Manual NA Porsche (or any Sports Car) are severely limited, so while the “old” stuff was what caught my attention, it will always be there and I should really try to experience a “new” sportscar for maybe the only time. Porsche also brought out Python Green and I really couldn’t say no, how often do you get to spec a Bright Green NA Manual Sportscar?
Fast forward to November 2021 and I got the call “Hey, you have a build, it locks in January we need a non refundable deposit to lock it in”. I asked to think it over the night and then called them early that morning with an astounding YES, lets do it. I sent over my build which was Python Green, Buckets, PCCBs, Leather with Yellow Stich, Yellow Seat Belts & Door Pulls, Base Headlights, Black Porsche Script, Silver Wheels, etc…
The wait period between having an allocation and lock date was a little agonizing. My ADD kept going back and forth, at one point I had PCCBs for awhile but then killed them at the very last second (will explain later)... I also had the base headlights for almost the entirety until I saw them in person and noped my way to PDLS+. I’ve never upgraded headlights or taillights before but I really didn’t like the base headlights in person, so I thought what the heck. I also drive a lot in the back country of NY on very dark roads and thought that the upgrade would be worth it.
During this time the world was still struggling on how to deal with Covid and PCNA had no idea what was happening with ED. I basically emailed Joey over at PCNA daily on updates and anything I could do. Our local PCNA rep was telling us no, Joey at PCNA was saying maybe and eventually I convinced the local PCNA rep to just let us kick the order through with it on the sheet and see what happens.
My car was built in Feb and still wasn’t sure what was happening with ED when Joey calls and tells me its on with a list of dates to choose from. I picked the latest date which was Mid May, as ED still felt iffy and I wanted to have the biggest buffer possible. During this time I coordinated with Joey at PCNA to arrange PPF on the front clip + rocker panels on my car so I could really drive worry free in Europe.
Now onto the actual delivery! Here are the photos of the final build (don't worry more photos in later updates!)
So we leave for Berlin, with absolutely no plans in sight or hotel reservations, we drive around the city, have dinner and look for a hotel. At this point, we realize the grave mistake of no planned reservations in Europe… every hotel is sold out for the night or doesn't want to speak english. We literally drive to probably 20+ hotels and do the dance (mind you this after super jet lag and then a full Euro Delivery day, so we are really really exhausted). We try calling hotels and no one wants to speak to 2 Americans on the phone looking for a hotel that night… finally finally we get to one hotel at 2AM and the man takes pity saying “we have one room that the person hasn’t showed up for, if they don’t show up by 4AM its yours”... So at this point were so excited were doing cartwheels, and eventually we get out room. We get some sleep but wake up at probably noon still exhausted. At this point we learned our lesson and decided to book a hotel room at least one night in advance….
Some first impressions after Day 1. Man I love this car, all the concerns I had about it being a “new” car went right out the window… The ontrack experience really blew me away and I was pretty smitten. The color was also very intense, it honestly took me awhile to adjust to it. Its as if you go to a paint store and say, “hello I want green paint”, this is what they hand you. I have had other colored cars in the past but wow Python Green is vibrant…
Over the next couple days we hang around Berlin, visiting some friends along the way (now with another night booked at the same hotel…)
We stopped by our friends at Craftwerks to install the LWBS seat recliners. I had tested buckets before my build locked and thought they were painfully uncomfortable for anything more than 5 minutes, my wife especially hated them. I’m a tall person and the position was just way too upright. However I was able to test a pair of seats with the seat reclining brackets on them and they went from the worlds most uncomfortable seats to the worlds most comfortable seats I tried installing these with the seats in the car and I have no idea how anyone does that. I instead removed the seats and was done with both sides in probably 20 minutes.
At last the long awaited comfort was there.
Some shots inside of Craftwerks, this spot is awesome. Imagine a community storage and garage where you can wrench on your bikes and store them together + a cafe/bar. Loved loved this spot.
A little pitstop before we headed out of the city, we made a random friend.
Continuing on with Berlin, we had an amazing time just taking a little bit of a breather and getting over our jet lag before the next part of the trip…
Now its time for delivery… since the world was still a little confused on what was going on with Covid, my travel itinerary was all screwed up and I ended up traveling about 36 hours to get from NYC to Leipzig finally arriving at my hotel at Midnight about 8 hours before my pickup. To say I was exhausted was an understatement. I really couldn’t enjoy anything that the hotel provided, had a very sleepy breakfast (which was nice) and then was picked up via Mercedes Cab to head to the Diamond of Leipzig (what everyone calls Porsches Factory there)...
I chose Leipzig as I wanted more than just a museum tour which is what Stuttgart gives you. At Leipzig you get to do a little lead follow on the track + off road course. The plan was to drop off the car at Stuttgart at the end of the trip so I’d do whatever tour then. Also getting to rip on someone else’s car on track is always fun :slightly_smiling_face:
At this point I arrive at Leipzig and am super tired / jetlagged / braindead a little bit, its 745 in the morning and a nice lady walks up and goes “Are you excited to go on track today” to which we replied “yes” to which he responded “okay were doing it now”... great I can barely keep my eyes open and were going from 0-100.
They have us set up in a Gentian Blue GT4 with Buckets and PCCBs and after a quick couple minutes we are off (cars were pre warmed). I’m expecting we do a warm up lap, but nope… We go WOT right onto the straight and then into heavy braking for T1. My brain is pretty overwhelmed truthfully, but I’m having a blast. I’m blown away by how engaging the GT4 is and especially the intake / exhaust noises. I’ve been on and off rennlist for about a decade now and I found everyone in the 718 GT4 subsection complained heavily about the noises this car made. I was simply blown away and giddy. Also PDK kicks serious a**, it made me actually contemplate it for the first time in my life as I was ripping this car around track. PDK Upshifts at full throttle are something to be experienced. After some time, I switched and let my copilot do some track time to which he loved. Additionally we did the off road circuit in an Orange Macan and damn that was fun. I have never really spent time “exploring” what SUVs can do but I definitely see the appeal when used correctly.
To give a little context on my build, I had never actually seen Python Green in person and was pretty excited / nervous on the outcome. Parked in the track paddock was a Python GT4, I tried not to notice it when we walked by but I had a little smirk.
Alright you’ve read this far and are probably wondering when the heck is delivery time. So after we’re escorted off the track / off road section our host starts walking us somewhere and walks up to a car with a cover on it and goes “this is your car”... I’m somewhat confused as I almost walked past it because I had no idea what we were doing, but ultimately I loved the coyness of the delivery. I pull off the cover and am blown away… Seeing something you specc’d in person, right there just waiting for you with every option you wanted and none you didn’t is an overwhelmingly positive experience. I walk around the car a bunch of times, checked inside and out and was just awestruck. My fatigue only exaggerated every emotion I was feeling. At this time we also noticed another person taking delivery of a Shark Blue GT4 Manual with Buckets right next to us and quickly became friends.
We all toured the factory, museum and then together had lunch in their fancy restaurant. After lunch we were free to do whatever we wanted, we ended up checking out the gift shop. I bought some little things, Porsche presented us with a Euro Delivery gift of breakable China, which I still think is the weirdest gift to give someone who is traveling. We packed up the cars and decided to just hang out for awhile, watching other people take delivery looking at all the cars in the paddock and on track. We hung around until literally closing time, where we thought it was best to leave…
At this point I should mention, I’m traveling with one of my best friends who drives a cayman and we've been lifelong car enthusiasts. We’ve known eachother since we both got our licenses and have been through A LOTTT together and have done countless road trips and nights in the garage modifying, etc… The two of us travel extremely well together and are both spontaneous.
I should also mention that for the entire trip, we had no solid plans or reservations. We wanted to really just drive and figure it out on the way. We know we wanted to hit Berlin (since it was close to Leipzig), the ring, Switzerland, Stuttgart for drop off, but the rest was open and we had no order…
Last edited by Le Petit Garage; 01-17-2024 at 04:29 PM.
So we leave for Berlin, with absolutely no plans in sight or hotel reservations, we drive around the city, have dinner and look for a hotel. At this point, we realize the grave mistake of no planned reservations in Europe… every hotel is sold out for the night or doesn't want to speak english. We literally drive to probably 20+ hotels and do the dance (mind you this after super jet lag and then a full Euro Delivery day, so we are really really exhausted). We try calling hotels and no one wants to speak to 2 Americans on the phone looking for a hotel that night… finally finally we get to one hotel at 2AM and the man takes pity saying “we have one room that the person hasn’t showed up for, if they don’t show up by 4AM its yours”... So at this point were so excited were doing cartwheels, and eventually we get out room. We get some sleep but wake up at probably noon still exhausted. At this point we learned our lesson and decided to book a hotel room at least one night in advance….
Some first impressions after Day 1. Man I love this car, all the concerns I had about it being a “new” car went right out the window… The ontrack experience really blew me away and I was pretty smitten. The color was also very intense, it honestly took me awhile to adjust to it. Its as if you go to a paint store and say, “hello I want green paint”, this is what they hand you. I have had other colored cars in the past but wow Python Green is vibrant…
Over the next couple days we hang around Berlin, visiting some friends along the way (now with another night booked at the same hotel…)
We stopped by our friends at Craftwerks to install the LWBS seat recliners. I had tested buckets before my build locked and thought they were painfully uncomfortable for anything more than 5 minutes, my wife especially hated them. I’m a tall person and the position was just way too upright. However I was able to test a pair of seats with the seat reclining brackets on them and they went from the worlds most uncomfortable seats to the worlds most comfortable seats I tried installing these with the seats in the car and I have no idea how anyone does that. I instead removed the seats and was done with both sides in probably 20 minutes.
At last the long awaited comfort was there.
Some shots inside of Craftwerks, this spot is awesome. Imagine a community storage and garage where you can wrench on your bikes and store them together + a cafe/bar. Loved loved this spot.
A little pitstop before we headed out of the city, we made a random friend.
Continuing on with Berlin, we had an amazing time just taking a little bit of a breather and getting over our jet lag before the next part of the trip…
The Nurburgring
Last edited by Le Petit Garage; 01-17-2024 at 04:52 PM.
I need to split this Post into 2, as its too much content to cram together.
We left Berlin in the Afternoon on Friday (Delivery was Wednesday). We hit crazy rain but a beautiful landscape emerged glistening.
We arrived at the Nurburgring late Friday Night, pitch black around 11:30PM… Now if you’re unfamiliar with Europe and Small Towns (not in southern europe), everything closes extremely early and not even gas stations are open late. True contrast to America’s 24/7 lifestyle where you can go to Walmart and probably take a mortgage out at 3AM on a Sunday.
We’re starving at this point, no food, no anything. Hotel owner is pissed because we’re there late and we have to wake them up just to let us in. Also pissed that we are asking about food. So we drive back another 45 mins to find a McDonalds where we strugged to order through the drivethru. We do the cliche “eat on the wing” and a bunch of drunk locals engage in conversation. Some good some bad… Ultimately it was fine and we head back to the hotel and get some sleep.
Next morning we wake up to the sounds of RIPPING (as the hotel is right next to the Ring). We get ready and head out to check out the landscape. The amount of GT and M Cars just parked randomly is awesome. People waking from their hotels and grabbing coffee, like an entire city built around one thing.
We also headed over and check out Manthey and got some gas. Something to not be missed is hanging out at the gas station… Really the only gas station in the area so lots of people hanging out. The most interesting part is, the track would close due to a crash… eveyrone would move over to the gas station to hang out, and then you hear the track opening bell and everyone rushes back over.
Lastly we went over to the Devils Diner for some breakfast (terrible food btw) and then head out for some Tourist Days. At this point we felt the car was broken in. We’d done maybe 1,000 miles varying the RPMs and also progressively increasing them. I had still never taken the car to redline or went full throttle until this point. For those unfamiliar with the layout of the Track, you basically start and end at the same point which is a big parking lot loop with the Devils Diner sitting right in the middle of it. So, you do your hotlap, come back in loop the parking lot or park and hangout and then get back on. So there is just a constant trolley of cars parked and driving through, almost like C&C with the Ring attached to it.
A casual 918 was one of the first cars out on track.
Plenty of 718 GT4s on and off track throughout the weekend.
Our buddy from Euro Delivery
Lastly, we made great local friends. Here is a guy Thilo we met that is very very quick, his youtube channel is here.
Next post, track impressions!
Last edited by Le Petit Garage; 01-24-2024 at 01:40 PM.
Here is the 2nd Part of the N-Ring Experience Here are some of my favorite pictures from the N-Ring. The really cool thing about the Ring is there are so many local photographers that are posted up and everyone uploads their photos to the same website where you can sort by car brand / color / etc... and then purchase.
Anyways, so finally after breakfast at the Devils Diner etc... we are ready to get on track.
We pull onto the track and full throttle onto the straight and start having some "safe" fun. The whole idea with the Ring for me was, “Lets have a blast but also not end up on Youtube”, so we were holding things back but progressively getting faster through the day. I hadn't been on track in a couple years and new car + excitement + notorious racetrack could go either way.
Much respect for anyone who can dip into the 7’s on this track. It truly takes some courage and an understanding of the layout. It truly is humbling seeing locals fly by in a little 20 year old Peugots into a blind corner and then disappear. The Ring was littered with BMW M Cars and Porsche GT Cars, with everything else pretty randomly scattered about. The amateur locals were always very fast, and then the locals in the M Cars were seriously fast, and then what felt like pro drivers in GT Cars would appear and then disappear like nothing. Such an awesome experience having someone with a 2RS fly by on track.
I think we did 10ish Tourist laps over the weekend. It really is an experience unlike US Circuits. Overall the N-Ring was the coolest car experience I’ve done. People treat their cars differently there (in a good way). People seem to purchase their cars to use as intended vs stored away in a climate controlled garage. At one point we witnessed a rental ring car back into a 3RS and the 3RS owner shrugged it off and said “I might have an off next lap and its all a moot point”. During the weekend there we saw a 918 on track, countless 2RS, 3RS, 3, 4, M3, 1M, M2, etc...
This is probably my favorite picture of any car I've ever had. The framing, composition etc... and of course the subject matter.
I really love the colors and the overall aesthetic, this is leading up right before the carousel.
To me this looks like a press shot that Porsche could have advertised, love this and its at one of my favorite sections of the circuit. 3
A little baby jump, even at this speed its a pretty intense section and you feel like youre flying. The people with all 4 wheels off the ground are hauling seriously fast...
The obligatory Carousel pictures
You can really see the elevation changes here...
More elevation changes.
I love the E9X platform, if you couldn't tell...
This is probably my second favorite picture of the day... There was a wreck just before this so we were all bunched up. I want to say this was my last lap of the day, you can see the breadth of cars on track at one time.
We ended up leaving the Ring in the early afternoon to make our way towards Switzerland
Last edited by Le Petit Garage; 02-01-2024 at 11:55 AM.
If you've made it this far, you're probably wondering when we leave the Nurburgring or even Germany... Well buddy this post is for you!
So we ended up leaving the Nurburgring sometime early afternoon on Sunday with an itinerary to Zurich to meet a friend of ours and start our Switzerland leg of the trip. Before we left, we took some photos which are some of my all time favorites.
We hopped on one of the many autobahns and headed south. Leaving the Ring is also a fun journey as you see heaps of cars coming and going on the highway. We passed by a group of pre-war era cars during this bit. The overall journey from the Ring to Zurich is about a 6 Hour Drive without stops. To be honest, I really don't remember too much from this day other than the start and the end.
We ended up stopping and getting gas somewhere in middle Germany, this is where I realized the significance of License Plates over there (our plates were S 94 R). Which apparently was very very in demand. One lady stopped us and basically asked if we were famous and pointed at our plate. In Germany (and probably other places), the lowest number plates are the most desirable and are very hard to get. Additionally the "S" stood for Stuttgart so many people thought we were old wealthy family from Porsche and Mercedes land. We in fact... are not, just two friends from America.
I took this photo on the autobahn eating Doritos in my brand new GT4 with tire rubber all over it. Also these little snack cakes are amazing. Life is good...
We went from the Nurburgring to blitzing down de-restricted Autobahn to what felt like a Police State... We were pretty terrified of the local traffic laws. We stopped a couple more times for photos and eventually made it to Zurich where we crashed with our buddy. I especially love how this came out.
Getting into the foothills of Switzerland...
Some random little town in Switzerland...
Zurich is very sleepy at night but beautiful during the day.
This is probably one of the "least" exciting days of the trip as it was really just lots of highway driving. Switzerland gets better.. I promise
Last edited by Le Petit Garage; 02-11-2024 at 03:31 PM.
We left Zurich sometime in the late morning, after breakfast and a tour through the city with our friend. Switzerland is an odd place, its full of Metropolitan Cities, Stunning Landscapes, Lots of Cows, and well this thing... We had the pleasure of being stuck behind it for too long of a laugh.
We thought it would be a good idea to pull over at a car wash since the car had seen a lot of life since it left the factory and was coverered in everything imaginable. Trying to decipher the many languages of Switzerland was very interesting to say the least. Luckily a local stopped by and gave us some assistance and we had a set # of minutes to work with. I love these little carwash bays, I wish NYC had them. Washing a car here is a true headache and something you need to plan for....
A little behind the scenes magic of some of these shots. I loved this about our trip, it was just pure "anything goes"... Me laying in a dirty carwash for some picture, why not...
We then kept chugging along, Switzerland is a mix of farmland and then stunning landscapes. We turned a corner and then there was this... Also some goats on the side of the road, we wanted to ask them which of the many languages they speak. They were less amused.
Some more behind the scenes magic
As I write this post, it truly brings me back to how AWESOME the landscape in Switzerland is. I could babble on but lets let some pictures do the talking of a recent stop...
We pulled off on the side of the road for another quick little break and made a new local friend, none of us spoke the others language... But we did speak the common tongue of "Cars". I think one of the best parts of owning cars like these is sharing them with people. I think back of my youth and finding inspiration in Cars and friendly people sharing that experience. I try to share these experiences with as many people depsite their background, age, whatever it is. Cars bring people together. Heck thats why I'm even here posting these photos
We finally arrived to where we were were staying (St Moritz). What a lovely lovely place, offseason is dead as a door **** but we had an amazing time here. We stopped at this random location in town for some quick photos and they are truly some of my favorite shots ever... Enjoy below
Lastly.. we wound down with a perfect dinner. If anyone knows me they know that Fernet Branca is my drink of choice and French is my food of choice... Luckily Switzerland is located next to France and Northern Italy so I was covered there This dinner was an awesome time, I have fond memories of just being awstruck over the trip and truly just enjoying ourselves at dinner.
Next stop is Milan and all of its wonder
Last edited by Le Petit Garage; 02-15-2024 at 12:58 PM.
We left our Flat in St Moritz sometime mid Morning to head to Lake Como / Milan and see a friend. On the way there we immediately had to go over a Swiss Pass, I don't remember its name but it was beautiful and I love how these shots turned out... FYI there might be some duplicate angles in these posts, but I really love all of the pictures and the different feelings they elicit.
Right after that pass we then find ourselves in this massive massive valley with no one around. We were probably in the road for 30 minutes and maybe saw 1 or 2 cars go by. A real pinch me moment as we're in the most dramatic climate with my new GT4...
After leaving this valley and leaving behind some rubber along the way we started making our way into Northern Italy. Truly untouched towns that are so rich in culture and tradition. I have no clue what any of these were called and we didn't stop, we were just awstruck...
Arriving in Lake Como to have some lunch and start the rest of our Journey. Northern Italy is so beautiful...
Our local friend took us to their friends restaurant and he brought us out an assortment or pizza's, etc... We were also about 100 feet from the lake and its one of those "what the heck is life right now" moments...
I love Rolling Shots but I have so few of them, this was post Lunch in Lake Como heading to Milan.
Pretty cool looking down at your GPS and seeing this appear.
I love this shot, I don't remember this man running next to me at all, but it feels so candid.. Which is exactly what the trip was, candid fun...
I love these shots in the woods of Monza. This is basically the infield where you can park and then walk to your seats. Very beautiful for the inside of a racetrack.
At Monza that day there was a private Lamborghini track day. It was pretty cool seeing STO's and a bunch of other Huracan variants being used as intended. Some other GT cars were parked around the paddock but we only saw the Lamborghinis on track.
We had some freak weather in Milan that day so after it all passed we decided to do another wash. I think looking back we were pretty lucky to find these. Still wish we had them in NYC.
We then capped Northern Italy off with a very very local dinner somewhere in the foothills of Lake Como via recommendation from our Local Friend. First time having "Olive Oil Ice Cream" and it seems like its catching on back in the states...
Last edited by Le Petit Garage; 02-21-2024 at 11:22 AM.
Thanks for sharing! Love the pictures! Even though our stores are different, it's fun to see the similar nuances and parallels with mine...
Congrats on kicking on Le Petit Garage!
This is a fun read! Looking forward to the upcoming posts. I am waiting to pick up my 992T in PECATL in early Feb - this post really gets me fired up!
Can't wait to see that, you should make a thread when you do
Originally Posted by Pyrat2
How was the front plate held on? Doing euro delivery this year and want to make sure there are no holes left in the front bumper.
As what the post below states. It is held in place w/ Velcro that is stuck on your front bumper. I had the car ppf'd prior to pickup and there was literally no issue. I took the front license plate with me when I left Germany.
Originally Posted by n4v4nod
Per European Delivery Contract:
Yep, no issues what so ever!
Originally Posted by 6IXSPD
Absolutely awesome story and photos! Love how you captured these moments and with proper photography, too.
Thank you so much, all the really nice shots were done by my copilot, he is on here but forget his username. All of the crappy iPhone Shots and Film were by me
Originally Posted by MrFunk
Thanks for sharing! Love the pictures! Even though our stores are different, it's fun to see the similar nuances and parallels with mine...
Congrats on kicking on Le Petit Garage!
Thank you so much, it really is a joy to share the wonderfulness of these cars with everyone Thank you for always supporting me and being a good friend!
01-17-2024, 04:10 PM
Le Petit Garage - 718 GT4 Euro Delivery & Build Journal
we started making our way into Northern Italy. Truly untouched towns that are so rich in culture and tradition. I have no clue what any of these were called and we didn't stop, we were just awstruck...
