fbfisher

Friday a.m. I head up to Laguna Seca, hang out and drool for a while then continue the drive up to the Summit of Hwy 17 in Los Gatos where I will be attending the Bar Mitzvah of my close friend's son. Now a Bar Mitzvah is a rite of passage in the Jewish religion, when "you become a man." They live in what is basically a red wood forest, with the twisty roads to match.

The friday night gathering at their house is large but informal. Sporting my HWFMR shirt, hat and track wrist band, I roll in about 6 p.m. and before I can even get out of the car it is surrounded by half a dozen 13 year old boys ooohing and ahhhing - ala the 997 comercial posted elsewhere. I leave them there gawking at the car to find my friends. So the "Bar Mitzvah boy" comes up to me about 10 minutes later asking if I can take him and his friends for a ride. I tell him that since it's his Bar Mitzvah, I'll take only him, now that he is "a man" and ready to appreciate the experience - but on one condition, "what happens in the car, stays in the car, all anyone will need to know they will be able to tell by the look on your face, nothing else need be said." He agrees to the terms of his initiation into the world of Porsche.

Off we go on what was going to be a ten minute "fun run" for those in So Cal, you know what I'm talking about - a spirited drive. As we are winding our way through some nice on-camber twisting sections the grin that we all are very familiar with is planted on both our faces. He asks, "how fast are we going?" I tell him that this is no time to be looking at the speedo, you need to keep your eyes on the road, listen to the sweet song that the engine is singing to you." I go on to explain that a Porsche is "not so much about straight line speed as it is about handlling in the twists."

We get to the bottom of a long twisty section and come to hwy 17 that will take us back to his house. "NO!" he says with a combination of enthusiasm, urgency and panic, "take Old San Jose Rd instead, no one is ever on it." Now I know he's hooked. And off we go, he was right, empty of all cars - several miles of great twisty road with only me, him and the 993 singing her music with the ROW M030 keeping us on track, planted firmly on the ground - better than any roller coaster at Sig Flags.

30 minutes later, we roll back up to the house, a hugh on his face, his friends gathered in the driveway awaiting our return, excited to hear all the details. I hear one of them ask, "how fast did you go?" As I walk away, I listen behind me for the answer. "...a Porsche is not so much about how fast you are going, it's about how it handles the corners."

He will never forget his first ride in a Porsche, on the eve of him "becoming a man" and he will never stop craving that feeling again until the day he has one of his own.

Mission accomplished. I created another deciple as well as doing my part to secure the future for Porsche.

mnmblu

Nice story

tsjoel

Great story. I love your deflection from the speed question. I have never been about top end speed. Zero to 60 and handling is another thing. I have done two DE's and have never looked at my speedo. When someone hears that I have taken my car to the track I know the first question "how fast did you go?" I alway just say honestly that I never looked and that the high speed straights are usually a chance to prepare mentally for the upcoming twistys. For me it is about concentrating on the task at hand. I think I might have to take a glance down some time so I can satisfy my own curiosity.

Mark in Baltimore

Good story, Fred.

What are you gonna do when he loses his virginity?

viperbob

That is a very nice story Fred....

fbfisher

Toga

Well done Fred!

993Dave

Fun story, Fred. I used to live off of Summit Road when I was a kid, so I know how fun those roads are (or could be; I wasn't old enough to drive then and I haven't been back much). I wish someone had taken me on a fun run like that! I had to acquire the affliction all on my own.

ON TIME

That was a very nice story fred. You are the man; you have my vote for man of the year

p_carfan

Fred........Your a Great Guy !!!! Good story too.

John H

Hopefully Fred won't be in the car with him when he loses is virginity.

David '96 993

My neighbor did that to me in 1973 in his 911S when I was 9. Now look what happened after that.

It was good seeing you on Friday at LS. Too bad we couldn't get you on the track...that might have done to you what your ride did for that 13 year.

Derrick B.

Great story about a wonderful good deed.

You know, if the dealers were really smart, they'd give rides like that to every 13 year old who walked in...

volpenyc

I took out once a younger lad - probably 18 or so - for a "spin". He was the younger brother of a friend of mine. Although he was older than your passenger, I think he enjoyed the ride as much; when he got out of the car and said: "Now, I get it...."

I submit to all rennlister's that part of the resposibility of owning a PCar is to introduce our youth to the pleasure and privilege of owning one of these cars...It's the least we can do...

fbfisher

I suspect the same principal applies, straight line speed is not as important as how you handle the curves