911vet

The recent "naming of cars" threads reminded me of an article I wrote for the local PCA newsletter. It ended up on an internet PCA site and I thought some of you might enjoy it:

KERMIT VS THE RED BARON

My Porsche is Carmine Red. It’s a deep hue sometimes described as blood red or the color of rubies. But to me, next to all the Guards Red Carreras which appear to glow in an unnatural radioactive blinding light, my car looks dull.

One day while working at the veterinary clinic, my technician was discussing her cars, a 1991 Somba Green Honda Del Sol. She explained she named it “Kermit,” and wondered what I had named my car. This seemed an odd question since I had never felt the compulsion to name a car before. But I had to admit I was considering naming mine, “The Red Baron.”

I explained it was a Cabriolet without a tail, and it possessed the lines and color of a classic German roadster. So I thought Red Baron made sense. My comment was met with a polite little smile and somewhat blank stare. Her mental wheels were turning faster than a GT3 on a long straight as she tried desperately to make sense of something. After a moment she finally asked, “You mean like the pizza?”

I answered that with a pause. A long one. It was now my turn to look a little blank, if not completely incredulous. The wheels in my head were not spinning but seemed to have Brembo Big Brakes slammed on. This was one of those moments. One when you wonder if you’re smarter than everyone else in the room, or if you’re just older.

I had a similar moment with several of the young techs at the clinic not long ago when I told them a former client was Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the Enola Gay.

Silence. Blanks stares. I decided if I repeated it enough times, they would get it. “You know, the Enola Gay? He named the plane after his mother,” I found myself rambling in hopes that I didn’t have to tell them who he was and what the plane was. “Paul Tibbets… he was such a quiet and reserved man. He had poodles. You know, the Enola Gay.” I don’t know if I didn’t want to explain that it was the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima because it was an event that lives not only in history but in infamy, or if I was just in denial that this group of people had no idea what I was talking about.

So here I was, in a similar moment, finding myself saying, “You know, Baron Manfred Von Richtofen… the World War One flying ace who shot down more allied planes than any other pilot,” knowing without doubt she had no idea what I meant by “allies.” Sigh. I continued to say the name, again and again as if it would somehow make her know what she didn’t know, “Baron Von Richthofen. The Red Baron. You know, the Red Baron.”

“Right, the Pizza guy.”

Was I the smartest person in the room, or just the oldest?

My technician asked another 20-something employee, “Who’s the Red Baron?”

She said on cue, "Um, the Pizza guy?"

I refused to let this continue. I marched to the reception area and found the 34-year-old receptionist who would finally vindicate me. “Tami, who’s the Red Baron?” I asked with all the confidence of Danica Patrick at a go-kart track. I waited with a knowing smile, hoping her answer wouldn’t include any references to Snoopy and his Sopwith Camel.

“You mean the Pizza?”

Laughter. The kind of knowing laughter that says “only an old person would know what you know.”

I suppose the days of Dr. Ferdinand Porsche and the history surrounding him are forgotten by most now. Yet, his legacy lives on. If I ask a 9-year old, a 20-something, or a senior citizen what a Porsche 911 is, each knows the answer. Everyone, young or old, knows.

My Carmine Red 911 never officially became known as the Red Baron. I decided naming it just wasn't my style. But lately I've had a strange compulsion to buy a Ferrari. And name it DiGiorno.


Shannon
1987 911

Amber Gramps

...(hugs and kisses babe)

Daniel Dudley

Sometimes you have to state the obvious. And sad to say, there are no living flyboys left.

old man neri

I like the name. Also, your knowledge of aviation history is impressive.

I might have to disagree :P

911vet

Doug: the picture of Ed's Targa and your Cab looks suspiciously like the Baron and Snoopy. You got a rotary engine in that thing?

Matt (old man neri): I only pretend to know anything about aviation... you live it. You will be flying the unfriendly skies soon and we thank you.

Ed Hughes

I know of one flyboy that was truly alive in when he lived in Texas (and stayed alive even after building his own plane) before he got hung up on Porsches:

Amber Gramps

That puts me sitting on the dog house doesn't it?...

.....and Ed, you're nuts.