Porsche Anthology
Discussion
My Porsche Life.
As most of us have time on our hands, I thought I’d put out this missive, for no particular reason than, err... I’ve got time on my hands. Apologies for its length but a bald list gives little context to the ownership experience.
New 944 Lux 1983-85 - Youthful exuberance would rate it 9/10 (from a geriatric distance 7/10) - the Berber cloth seats irritated bare legs relentlessly & the rear lights regularly filled up with water. Four cylinders didn’t seem to be problem in ‘them there days’.
Used 911 Sc. Sport* (1982) 1985-86 - 11/10 at the time (10/10 still through the mists of time) a defo keeper... then twin newborns forced early sale: hello Mercedes 200 Estate, yuk! Major misstep, so...
never thought about it before, but the arrival of my first 911 came nine months prior to the twins appearing! Hmmm, obviously, just a coincidence?
New 944 Turbo 1986-89 - 9/10 (in retrospect 7/10) thrashed it & crashed it; damn that abysmal turbo lag (my only accident in a Porsche, fingers crossed).
New 911 Carrera C2 1990-94 - 8/10 (8/10) not much to say, other than I put loads of miles on it. Linen leather sports seats were a big mistake, especially when the takeaway curry leaked ghee onto the passenger one, aargh!
New 911 Carrera C4 1996-98 - 6/10 (8/10 on reflection) first & only non-manual: beautiful Aventura Green metallic paintwork. Tiptronic, enjoyed it... but wouldn’t repeat.
New Boxster S 2001-04 - 9/10 (8/10 now) nice. Must have been good, did lots of miles in it.
New 911 Carrera S 2006-07 - 8/10 (9/10) first factory collection, a great experience, thoroughly recommend it. Metallic Black with rare dark green leather... well we liked it!
New Carrera GT3 997.1 2007-08 - 9/10 (9/10 still) bought at a time when GT3s weren’t all that desirable: indeed, I could get the GT3 delivered quicker than a standard vehicle, at the time. Only major fault was it’s very high speed stability - very hairy at around & above 135mph on German autobahns. Lost some money on it too - bizarrely, given the prices since.
Used Carrera C2 2008-09 - 8/10 (8/10) bought as stopgap whilst waiting for...
New Carrera GT3 997.2 2009-10 - 10/10 (12/10) simply brilliant, a quantum step up from the .1. Why did I sell it? No idea, a temporary aberration, me thinks. I’m still in therapy for selling it.
New Carrera 991 C2 2012-13 - 8/10 (8/10) factory collected. Hated the early 7-speed manual rendition, a real dog’s dinner. The car, apart from the gearbox, was great - usable performance in the real world.
New Carrera GT3 991.1 2014-14 - didn’t keep it long enough to rate it, it spent more time in Emden with marshmallow engine than in my garage. I found the PDK utterly enervating (each to his own) & the engine issues gave me sleepless nights; thanks for that Porsche, but to be fair Porsche did stump up a monthly amount for loss of usage. Sold toute suite.
New Cayman GTS 2014-16 - 10/10 (12/10) great car; probably the best of the bunch in that it more closely matched my driving talent, if I have any, & could be hurried along using a larger portion of its power & handling than the be-winged GT3s.
Used Carrera 4S (+ power kit) 2016-17 - 7/10 (7/10) anodyne & that 7-speed manual box hadn’t got much better. Nice dark blue metallic paint & tan interior got many unsolicited positive comments, though. Sold, without loosing too much money, surprisingly, awaiting the arrival of the Touring GT3.
New GT3 Touring 2018- - 13/10 factory collected: run in on non-autobahn roads of Germany & Austria. I think my Porsche buying history allows me the definitive subjective opinion (other differing opinions are equally valid) that the Touring is one special car. The sound & fury: the presence & style: &, courting controversy, lack of the wing (I tolerated the wing on the other GT3s to own them): retro-silver highlights - bootiful!
Lessons I’ve learnt, mind you, it’s taken me an inordinate amount of time to realise this.
Top speed & acceleration are not the metrics to measure a vehicle’s qualities by. Like drugs (I imagine) extra speed & acceleration are instantly gratifying but ultimately transient pleasures, leaving one wanting more of something that’s illegal, antisocial, & dangerous both to oneself & others.
Far better to appreciate the visceral pleasures of ownership. The feel of the door handle: the clunk of the door: the smell of leather: the multiplicity of sounds the engine emits: the art of cornering: the pleasures of getting “it” right - whatever “it” is: the sheer pleasure of ownership of an excellent piece of machinery - I suppose that is why petrol heads, in the main, love mechanical watches. I do.
Anyway, if you was bored enough to read the above you’ll be even more so now, me thinks. If not, I’m bored enough to read any other long term Porsche owner’s anthologies of ownership & experiences.
Ciao.
As most of us have time on our hands, I thought I’d put out this missive, for no particular reason than, err... I’ve got time on my hands. Apologies for its length but a bald list gives little context to the ownership experience.
New 944 Lux 1983-85 - Youthful exuberance would rate it 9/10 (from a geriatric distance 7/10) - the Berber cloth seats irritated bare legs relentlessly & the rear lights regularly filled up with water. Four cylinders didn’t seem to be problem in ‘them there days’.
Used 911 Sc. Sport* (1982) 1985-86 - 11/10 at the time (10/10 still through the mists of time) a defo keeper... then twin newborns forced early sale: hello Mercedes 200 Estate, yuk! Major misstep, so...
never thought about it before, but the arrival of my first 911 came nine months prior to the twins appearing! Hmmm, obviously, just a coincidence?
New 944 Turbo 1986-89 - 9/10 (in retrospect 7/10) thrashed it & crashed it; damn that abysmal turbo lag (my only accident in a Porsche, fingers crossed).
New 911 Carrera C2 1990-94 - 8/10 (8/10) not much to say, other than I put loads of miles on it. Linen leather sports seats were a big mistake, especially when the takeaway curry leaked ghee onto the passenger one, aargh!
New 911 Carrera C4 1996-98 - 6/10 (8/10 on reflection) first & only non-manual: beautiful Aventura Green metallic paintwork. Tiptronic, enjoyed it... but wouldn’t repeat.
New Boxster S 2001-04 - 9/10 (8/10 now) nice. Must have been good, did lots of miles in it.
New 911 Carrera S 2006-07 - 8/10 (9/10) first factory collection, a great experience, thoroughly recommend it. Metallic Black with rare dark green leather... well we liked it!
New Carrera GT3 997.1 2007-08 - 9/10 (9/10 still) bought at a time when GT3s weren’t all that desirable: indeed, I could get the GT3 delivered quicker than a standard vehicle, at the time. Only major fault was it’s very high speed stability - very hairy at around & above 135mph on German autobahns. Lost some money on it too - bizarrely, given the prices since.
Used Carrera C2 2008-09 - 8/10 (8/10) bought as stopgap whilst waiting for...
New Carrera GT3 997.2 2009-10 - 10/10 (12/10) simply brilliant, a quantum step up from the .1. Why did I sell it? No idea, a temporary aberration, me thinks. I’m still in therapy for selling it.
New Carrera 991 C2 2012-13 - 8/10 (8/10) factory collected. Hated the early 7-speed manual rendition, a real dog’s dinner. The car, apart from the gearbox, was great - usable performance in the real world.
New Carrera GT3 991.1 2014-14 - didn’t keep it long enough to rate it, it spent more time in Emden with marshmallow engine than in my garage. I found the PDK utterly enervating (each to his own) & the engine issues gave me sleepless nights; thanks for that Porsche, but to be fair Porsche did stump up a monthly amount for loss of usage. Sold toute suite.
New Cayman GTS 2014-16 - 10/10 (12/10) great car; probably the best of the bunch in that it more closely matched my driving talent, if I have any, & could be hurried along using a larger portion of its power & handling than the be-winged GT3s.
Used Carrera 4S (+ power kit) 2016-17 - 7/10 (7/10) anodyne & that 7-speed manual box hadn’t got much better. Nice dark blue metallic paint & tan interior got many unsolicited positive comments, though. Sold, without loosing too much money, surprisingly, awaiting the arrival of the Touring GT3.
New GT3 Touring 2018- - 13/10 factory collected: run in on non-autobahn roads of Germany & Austria. I think my Porsche buying history allows me the definitive subjective opinion (other differing opinions are equally valid) that the Touring is one special car. The sound & fury: the presence & style: &, courting controversy, lack of the wing (I tolerated the wing on the other GT3s to own them): retro-silver highlights - bootiful!
Lessons I’ve learnt, mind you, it’s taken me an inordinate amount of time to realise this.
Top speed & acceleration are not the metrics to measure a vehicle’s qualities by. Like drugs (I imagine) extra speed & acceleration are instantly gratifying but ultimately transient pleasures, leaving one wanting more of something that’s illegal, antisocial, & dangerous both to oneself & others.
Far better to appreciate the visceral pleasures of ownership. The feel of the door handle: the clunk of the door: the smell of leather: the multiplicity of sounds the engine emits: the art of cornering: the pleasures of getting “it” right - whatever “it” is: the sheer pleasure of ownership of an excellent piece of machinery - I suppose that is why petrol heads, in the main, love mechanical watches. I do.
Anyway, if you was bored enough to read the above you’ll be even more so now, me thinks. If not, I’m bored enough to read any other long term Porsche owner’s anthologies of ownership & experiences.
Ciao.
...just in case the wife is reading?
It's just that writers who say things like
I wondered if you could remember why you are a bit 'meh' about the 964 and 993?
It's just that writers who say things like
Anthrograd said:
Far better to appreciate the visceral pleasures of ownership. The feel of the door handle: the clunk of the door: the smell of leather: the multiplicity of sounds the engine emits: the art of cornering: the pleasures of getting “it” right - whatever “it” is: the sheer pleasure of ownership of an excellent piece of machinery - I suppose that is why petrol heads, in the main, love mechanical watches. I do.
...are the drivers who name the 'air-cooled' cars as the sweet spot.I wondered if you could remember why you are a bit 'meh' about the 964 and 993?
Orangecurry said:
...just in case the wife is reading?
It's just that writers who say things like
I wondered if you could remember why you are a bit 'meh' about the 964 and 993?
Orange curry you’re a hard taskmaster, It's just that writers who say things like
Anthrograd said:
Far better to appreciate the visceral pleasures of ownership. The feel of the door handle: the clunk of the door: the smell of leather: the multiplicity of sounds the engine emits: the art of cornering: the pleasures of getting “it” right - whatever “it” is: the sheer pleasure of ownership of an excellent piece of machinery - I suppose that is why petrol heads, in the main, love mechanical watches. I do.
...are the drivers who name the 'air-cooled' cars as the sweet spot.I wondered if you could remember why you are a bit 'meh' about the 964 and 993?
Re: wifey, Yes, I’m lucky to have her... in case she sees this.
Re: air cooled P’s, I’m not ‘meh’ about 964/993s - I probably drove those cars further & faster than my recent cars (due to youth & less road restrictions & traffic density). I have no bias to any of the various models, all have character, my rankings are based on an increasingly faulty memory. My overriding memory of the 911SC though was that it was always whispering gently into my ear, “I’m gonna kill ya”, which I tended to ignore, because of course, when young I are going to live forever. Now, I’m old enough to know I don’t want to die young.
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