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Great question and fun to reminisce. Like others I had a picture of a black 911 targa with whale tail torn from a magazine and tacked to the wall. I was hooked. I was probably 11 or 12 at the time so I imagine the car was from the mid 70’s with accordion bumpers.
Fast forward to 2010 and a fortunate decision that if I don’t buy one now I never will. Found a black, 88, targa with tail owned by someone who bought it when it was one year old and treated it like his baby. A very lucky find. Looks like the picture I remember on the wall. It continues to be cared for and loved. Karma.
Coming of age in the late 70's early 80's, first car was a bug, then my girlfriend's mom gave me a couple tickets she won to the Daytona 24 hour race and these two sealed the deal for me...
(1). When was about 11 years old I had a newspaper route. We lived in a solidly middle-class town and neighborhood. But there was one customer on my route who had a red and black 911. Must have been early '70s. I thought it was the coolest thing around. And of course, it was.
(2). Slow forward to just over five years ago, in March 2015 I read an article in Car and Driver about the soon-to-be released Cayman GT4. The article said it was, perhaps, the best driver's car available...at any price. And the price was a-not-unobtainium price, at only $85k MSRP.
Three months later, after being told all GT4s were "sold out," I bought my first, a 981 Cayman S, which I still have and enjoy, even after having bought eight others (three GT4s, a 997 TT, a 991 C4S, and three 993s). Currently, I am down to a GT4 I spec'd and built, a 993 C2, for which I hunted for 18 months, and the original 981 CS.
If I were to add to the bunch, I would add:
987 Spyder MT and LWBS
991 50th Year edition MT in a special color with special seats
964 RS America, ideally in white with AC and LSD, at minimum
991.2 GT3 Touring in white or a special color
981 or 982 GT4 Clubsport
Being privileged to have one Porsche--a GT4-I feel like I have everything, but having the collection above, I'd really have everything.
I have always played with cars since I was in diapers. Cars were my go to toys. Fast forward to the early ninties when I finally had a little coin I bought a NM 1970 Chevelle SS396. Loved it, showed it and took home a bunch of trophies. I thought it was fast. Moved on from there to corvettes and a MB SL500. Later I purchased three 1990's MB E500's because they were built by Porsche. Great cars but defintely not a sports car. Finally decided I should have a real Porsche and picked up my 997.2. Bar none, it is the most enjoyable car I have ever onwed and I compare that to a radically modded Corvette C6 that was wicked fast. I love the 997.2's because they feel like a modern car in an old wrapper. I almost traded it to a 991, but the 991 just didn't have the same feel inside. I am currently looking out for a 997.2 Turbo.
When playing with my $0.29 matchbox toys many eons ago, I settled on a jaguar E type, corvette and 911 as my if I could afford one car when I got my license. When I finally got my license my good friend and I spent some time restoring a BMW 2002. Nice car but a PITA to work on. Then stumbled upon a rusted out 71E. It wasn't what I consider an old car but looked it by then. For a few hundred bucks took it on as a full restoration. The torque tube had rotted out and the car had the typical rust. Spent months setting up the new torque tube till we got it right and welded it in place, reworked the engine and painted it using Imron paint in a garage without safety equipment. Little we knew about health hazards back then. Boy did that paint shine and was like rockhard you couldn't damage. Spent way too much time drooling over the 911's and 930's picking up parts from our local dealership. The 930 was such an iconic and mean looking machine compared to the cars of the day. I drove some early vette's and it was like driving a truck or my father's 75 450SL which I never was a fan of and the E type owned by a friend was in his garage needing repairs more than he drove it and almost as much as the Audi 100LS or my 74 Jag XJ6 which I inherited and was always needing something. So the 911 won me over for simplicity of design and driving experience. The 34 hour drive from NYC area to San Diego really added to the experience. What solidified it for me the most was my 79 SC. It was a $15k purchase in 83 and put 72k miles on it sold it in 86 for $21k. No looking back I have owned at least one usually 2 or more 911's ever since. Wish I kept them all.
Grew up in Pittsburgh area and had SAAB 93,Falcon Sprint, MG Midget,Aston Martin DB5,TR7 COUPE,TR7 CONV and TR8 and moved to CA in 1980. Always wanted 911 but were stuck on English cars. Set a sales goal for myself -MADE IT,So we ordered 911 in Feb1984 and still have it!
thank you 2.7 RS for this question, I grew up in southern Wisconsin, on the lake, my Dad would say heh let's go look at some Sports Cars at Lakeview Motors, I was 12. So, we went to see Triumphs, Sunbeam Tigers, MGs. His favorite was the Tiger. I was enthralled. He never did purchase one. He was too focused on his corner store and the family budget. He never bought a Sports Car until much later mid-90's? A Nissan 350Z? Then, you add-in this: our neighbor in 1961 (I'm 12), 3 doors, down, a successful company executive bought a 1961 356B 1600. So, beautiful, chocolate brown, tan interior. And the Road & Tracks, articles, road tests etc. got me hooked. My first car a '67 VW bug, then I moved on to all kinds of great cars. In the '90's I owned an '87 Targa, miss that one. I drove it to Wisconsin and asked my Dad to drive it, he was beyond happy. Now I'm in a '89 951 and '11 987.2 Spyder. Porsche has soul.
Loved Porsche’s since the late 1950’s when a guy that worked for my dad had a 356. As a young Air Force pilot in 1966 my dream car was a 1964-65 356 S.C. but they didn’t pay me that much , problem is almost 60 years later I still can afford one. First Porsche was a 1966 912 I bought in 1969 and that cost used over half my annual Salary . My boss in Europe in the late 70’s had a ‘73 RS touring as his daily driver... what a car. Many Porsche’s and many years later still would love a ‘ 64-65 SC coupe , oh well life is made of dreams and the Porsche’s I have owned and still do make life enjoyable and each has a story of fun times with wife and kids and now grandkids
I was 13 years old we were at a camp ground on the cape. I made a friend who's dad was a porsche mechanic his father let him drive the car around the cranberry bog roads next to campground. I think he was around 15 yrs old as my old memory serves me. Now in 1961 you didn't run to ask permission like today. This old beat up 356 pulled up to me and my new camp ground pal said hop in and i did that ride even on sandy small roads was my introduction to porsche. I have wondered over 60 years years the year of the 356 i took my first ride in. My thinking is 1950 356. That was 59 years ago. My current 1998 S arctic silver coupe.
When I decided I was just too slow on track with my motorcycles I went looking for a car. Caught one of the last allocations for a 996 GT3 which was delivered in November 2004. Frustrating fun on cold roads, but I tracked it every weekend I could the next few years. Never should have sold it when I bought the cup car, but I did. The GT4 is similar on track in many respects, but I must say the 911 is an absolute delight on rural roads at a spirited but not clearly illegal pace. I just love its handling and communicativeness. When I got back in the M140i I appreciated the seamless power and comfort, but could not get over how enormous and fat it felt, and it's not a big car!
I'm a big fan of the 3.2 and am thinking of adding a 964 C2.
The first car I owned was a 77’ MG Midget. My father had a Triumph Spitfire. Those two cars got me into sports cars in general. I became interested in Volkswagen, air cooled engines at some point and then owned a Rabbit GTI. That morphed into a Porsche obsession after seeing a neighbors 911 and replica 356.
The first car I owned was a 77’ MG Midget. My father had a Triumph Spitfire. Those two cars got me into sports cars in general. I became interested in Volkswagen, air cooled engines at some point and then owned a Rabbit GTI. That morphed into a Porsche obsession after seeing a neighbors 911 and replica 356.
We didn't have a TV but at a family dinner at my aunts house, it was on- on a color TV no less- and I got addicted. Rennenhaus had a new Black 74 Carrera in the showroom that I lusted after. Ron Langford ended up buying it.
I got my first Porsche in 76- a 75 Carrera and have had one since. I grew up in cars as my dad was a Chevy mechanic so the Porsche wasn't an immediate hit but it grew on him.
First car of any sort that got me interested...tricky but I have vague memories from early childhood of toy model Porsche 917s, but I think I really got it bad when I fell in love with VW Beetles as a teen.
Whereas first Porsche...well, besides the earlier memories, my first Porsche poster car was the 928. I loved it. Still do.
I did not like 911s till late. Actively denied they were any good. Preferred anything English or Italian.
Then, the lightbulb moment came one day...it was sort of akin to finally listening to the lyrics of a Bruce Springsteen song and realising the power of its mesmerising poetry.
And now I’m hooked.