chuckbdc

Well, it was not the reason I sold the BMW 2002 for the 914 2. when it was introduced. I just loved the handling and the fact that it went much faster than it had any right to do, like every Porsche.

But now that you mention it, I suppose that my 69 VW with the Bursch exhaust (and the first non-swing axels) must have set me up for it. That was a fun bug for auto crossing.

holminator

Use to live in Stuttgart-Botnang at the end of Gustav Mahlerstr. Multiple Porsche and Mercedes executives and engineers on my street may have influenced me a little. It was like a mini pre-production show on my block every day and they were convinced they produced the best machines in the world. Good people.

HotLap

Unlike most of you, I don't have a long history with Porsche, my first Porsche was my 997.2 C2S cab back in May '10. I had always been a "pony car/sports car" fan all the way back to my mom's brand new 1967 289 V8 Mustang coupe. Fortunately, my business has gone well and I can now afford a nicer level of car. My last pony car was a new 2007 Shelby GT500 vert with the 5.4 SC V8 under the hood. That thing was a torque monster rocket - but so unstable in the curves it was frightening. Also the cheap plastic interior left me wanting. So I began looking at upscale sports cars and picked up a new 2008 BMW M3 vert and then it was a quick jump into the'10 Porsche. I was thinking someday stepping up to a Ferrari but given that Porsche corners as well and is just as fast, and much more reliable than the exotics (or so I've read) I think I'll be sticking with Porsche. I hate having to take a car into dealers with return trips, issues, damage on their lot, etc. These are fantastick cars, a great balance between a true sports/track car that is street legal and yet still fairly affordable service and much more reliable than most of the more expensive exotics.....

911Jetta

40 years and still looking back? awesome!

DBYT

As a teenager during the late 80s, my neighbor had the quintessential Porsche of the 80s, 1986 guards red 911 with black interior, fuchs wheels and the WhaleTail. Hearing that drive pass every morning and every evening for 5 years...the start of my love of Porsches.

The Porsche that really made me drool was the 993 when it was released. I still vividly remember the first time I saw one, while I was in London as a student in 95 and it wasn't until 2005 that I had the means to buy my very first Porsche, a 993. What a car! In the 7 years I had the 993, I never got tired of looking at that rear end...I could never walk away from it without looking back over my shoulder at it. The 993 was bombproof and superb bang for buck. Driving it was like driving a larger go kart and the handling was just so precise. Starting the 993 (with LPMM exhaust mod) always brought a grin to my face and the symphony at 3500 rpm and above was addictive.

My fondest memory in the 993 was taking a lovely Sunday drive through some major twisty back roads with my wife and then 18 mth old daughter, who was strapped into her Recaro baby seat in the back, with the top down. Every time I would floor the accelerator and hit WOT, my daughter would giggle like crazy and scream out, "FASTER DADDY!!! FASTER!!!!" Priceless!

For the last couple of years, my love of Porsche was sidetracked with the introduction of the Ferrari California. Its form really captivated me and after a test drive, I was hooked. The 997 looked boring next to the Cali and I was very much working towards ordering the newly updated Cali. When the 991 was released, its shape caught my attention the same way the 993 design did and I made the mistake of saying to my wife one day, in passing, that I liked the aesthetics of the 991 almost as much as the Cali. Next thing I know, she had talked me out of the Cali and I was down at the Porsche dealer putting in an order for the 991...

I am actually glad my wife (who, in a previous career used to work closely with Porsche's engineering team and thinks that 911s are the best bang for buck car in the world), steered me back into the Porsche camp. Cannot wait for my car to arrive....4 weeks and counting...

SMLaker

Somewhat amusing story of my odyssey to won my first Porsche...from the time i was a teenager i knew i wanted a 911. College, graduate school, marriage, kids, early career all made the timing off. When i was 399 (now 46) i became obsessed with a black CLK 55AMG, clearly the nicest car i would own up to that point and drove my wife crazy until she acquiesced and let me buy it. What i didn't realize was she was planning on buying me a 911 for my 40th birthday as a surprise. As I'm sure all you married men know, i have been paying for that with her ever since! LOL. Fast forward to 2 yrs ago, i found a somewhat base model boxster i thought i wanted, she appropriately made me realize that the lack of options and creature comforts would ultimately disappoint me. Understanding that since i turned in the CLK in '08, i have had a S5 for 6mos, X5 4.8 for a Year, and a 335 IS for 2yrs. with the launch of the 991, the timing was perfect, and I took delivery 7/31/12. Now 3500miles later as my DD, I have come to the realization that, from now on, I will always own a porsche.

solomonschris

I'm the old fart here. My introduction to the magic of Porsche was at the now defunct Marlboro raceway in 1960, where the E production pushrod 356's won against more powerful cars. The RS60, with its little 4 cam Furhman engine, beat the Corvettes with their thundering V8's. They were referred to as giant killers. In 63', when I got my first car, I couldn't afford a Porsche, and suffering from testosterone poisoning, I bought an MGTD with a Volvo engine. This was the very essence of a good-looking pile of crap. It was broken 10 days for each day it ran. To this day I think I could identify the smell of an English wiring loom in flames.

My next car was a 64 VW bug, a semi-Porsche I was convinced. I installed Pirelli Cinturatos, some sort of loud side exhaust, and a genuine wood gear shift **** with the shift pattern on top in case I forgot, I guess. I learned the drama of that particular rear
suspension and became adept at cutting cookies in the snow by using the handbrake (testosterone poisoning again, a malady that has haunted me through life, though not as often as I would like these days).

My first Porsche was next, a 365. It had seen 8 years of winter salt on our MD roads and was well along on the weight lose program we
know as rust. I was more proud of that car than any I've owned since. It couldn't possibly have been as great a car as I remember. I am reminded of two quotes. Hemingway's wife said of him "Earnest doesn't exaggerate, he just remembers big"....and from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the big Indian said "It's all true, every bit of it, even if it didn't happen".

Anyway, 8 911's later and I am more firmly in the Porsche camp than ever. They have gotten smoother, quieter, faster, etc, etc but you can blindfold any of us and put us in any model 911 and we will know it's a 911. I kinda miss the bottom hinged pedals, and there's no way to put wooden shift **** on my 991.....Cheers Chris

Papa Fittig

Nice Porsche stories here!
I guess I am not a porschephile, at least not till now I always knew there are Porsche in existence . However for sports cars I was always nodding towards BMWs except one early affair with Nissan 300zx (which I still miss) and lately with Infiniti FX45 (which I still love). My interest for Porsches was always there, but somehow I did not have this “must have” thrill in me. I remember one day back in early 90s I happened to stop by at a used Porsche dealer who was trying to sell me on a high mileage 1976 2.7 carrera (with impact bumpers). That car had about 300K miles on it and the dealer told me “this is nothing for a Porsche”. Being enough of a car guy to know , I did not buy that, however his high confidence (which sure was just a sales trick) in Porsche reliability somehow got into my head. (BMWs are great cars, but let’s not talk about their reliability here ) Few months later I found a 1979 930 from a resale guy. That one had about 90K miles on it. Seller did not allow me to drive it, but put me in a passenger seat and drove it like it was no tomorrow. The car overheated badly. Too bad. I still was interested in buying it at a right price, but we never agreed on it. (Now I wish I had bought another 930 back then ) So I was going my BMW way. At the same time I was taking P-cars for a test drive now and then. So I always remembered there are Porsches out there, but never had enough internal push to get one. I guess BMWs and Infiniti where good enough for me. However recently with BMW reducing engine sizes, and going drive by wire everywhere etc. (the trends I hate ) I asked myself what is that I really want to drive. As I love manual transmissions and feel like they will become extinct soon I decided to go buy a Honda S2000. If you know this car I think you would agree that there is no better manual transmission on this planet currently. Period. I found a low mileage S2000 in great condition, but as nice as this car is I did not buy it, as I knew I would be driving it at 6000+ rpm all the time risking my license Up there this car is a true love, but bellow this mark it is just a Honda I then decided to go Porsche and found a 1 y.o. Cayman S with a stick and every option present and in a color of my choice. I went to test drive it being confident that I would buy it on a spot. However, somehow I did not like how it drove comparing to 997s. So I ended up locating two 997 cars with exact set of features I wanted (stick, Sport Chrono, PSE, PASM, full leather etc,) both in a color I like. I was sure I would buy the first one I found – 2011 997.2 c2s with 12K miles on it sold by my BMW dealer at mid 70-th. I test drove it and what a disappointment! That car had some bad engine noises I did not like. The BMW dealer suggested I took it to a mechanic of my choice, but I knew this car was not right and I passed. The next day I test drove the other car I found. That one was a late 2005 997.1 c2s with every option on my list and 35Kmiles on it with no issues. Although I’d rather had a 997.2, but being smart a seller was nice enough handling me the keys to drive it for a day or so and after few hours spent with this car a “must have now” feel developed right there in me So I ended up getting this one and am happy with it although I have yet to see if I will keep it for years or trade it in for a 991. I admit I never test drove 991 mostly due to the fact of it coming with 7sp manual, which I feel is an overkill. I could be wrong on this though and would appreciate you guys with 991 stick shipt sharing your experience. I am sure that otherwise it is the best Porsche ever

chuckbdc

Just noticed your post about Marlboro in 1960. The SCCA President's Cup. I was there and got bit by the same bug. I recall the GM backed Vette Stingray SS of Dick Thompson, factory backed Bob Holbert in an RS-60, some newbee named Roger Penske in another one in a different class, and a birdcage Maserati. I never recovered!

limey940

I started looking at Porsche back in around 2002. I did quite a bit of research and still have a book "buying a used Porsche" because i couldn't swing a new one. The car on the cover was an arena red 993 which i still thing is absolutely gorgeous. Anyway, it turns out i couldnt really afford to get the kind of Porsche i really wanted. On the way home from the Porsche dealer i actually ended up buying a ducati motorcycle which took me down another path for several years.
Then in 2005 i decided to get a Cobra replica built. Very fun car, but so impractical. Put it for sale and was researching what i wanted to replace it with. Porsche was at the top of the list and it turned out that a porsche dealer in kansas wanted my Cobra rep. So we did a trade plus $ on a new 997.1 s cab.
I just replaced it with a 991s.
For me the car is perfect. can use it everyday, track it, and obviously its a nice car without being in your face. though after saying that the color of my car attracts a lot of attention which i wasnt really prepared for.
Also, while a used ferrari 430 is close to the price of a new 991 the ferrari is a little to flashy for me, particularly living in Charleston. If i was in Miami beach i would maybe .
Oh, the cool thing is if i won the lottery i wouldn't want a different car, but i would buy some porsche race cars.....

holminator

Salient: "Oh, the cool thing is if i won the lottery i wouldn't want a different car, but i would buy some porsche race cars....."

Feel exactly the same! No intention of bragging (bragging is lame), but I've been lucky to have driven certain "super cars" and it was never a let down to get back into my 997 or 991. In fact, I appreciated my ride more than before, which was certainly not what I expected.

DrJay

Because there is nothing else that compares to a 911.

parkerfe

901, 930, 964, 993, 996, 997, and 991..that's the 7 generations of the 911.

meine911

Way back when, my best friend's dad bought a used red 1962 356B (hardtop). It was unique and I loved the looks. And I assumed it must be a well engineered vehicle since the owner was a nuclear submarine engineer. Can still see that red baby in my mind today. One thing that stands out in my memory was the script across the back: "Body by Karmann." I knew Karmann did some of the Porsche bodies, but never since have I seen that script on one.

turboporsche996

My first was a "71" 911T (sportamatick) 41 years later I have had every iteration of the 911
Now a 991S .... Can't wait for the next one... Porsche there is no substitute .......

By the way the first ones vin # 9111101913 I know that by heart. If any one knows where it is I'd love to know....