What ignited your Porsche Passion?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by jcommin

In 1983 I was 33 yrs old, single and looking for a sports car, initially a Corvette. I had an uncle who owned a very large Chevrolet dealership and at the age of 18 wanted a 396 Chevelle. He wouldn't sell one to me because he thought I would kill myself but at the age of 33, I get I was past being stupid. He talked me out of the Corvette and suggested s Porsche or BMW. So, I began a quest looking at cars. My budget put me in the range of a 3 series and a 944. In 83, the 944 was a very tuff car to find, there was waiting list just to take a test drive.

I settled on the 944. I bought it thru my uncle as the 944s were getting over sticker with a 4 month wait. Still have the car. In hindsight I should have pushed my budget for a 911. Car was paid off in 2 years and got married in a year after that. Life gets in the way and so did car opportunities.

When I bought my 911, I had been considering getting something like a Chevelle, putting a FI crate motor in it, upgrading brakes and suspension and having a simple, reliable, fun daily driver with some character. Then I got an issue of Excellence with a Bruce Anderson buyers guide in it...

[Bill Douglas]

When I was a schoolboy I used to catch the train to Wellington to look at the Porsches in "The Sports Car Centre". I can clearly remember 1974 when the bumpers changed. I wanted to cry.

Then a few years later I had a fast motorbike that I was fair movin' it up a road called the Ngauranga Gorge and a 911 went ripping past me. No way could I keep up with it. It was then that I knew I was in love.

[pwd72s]

Boy do I ever understand the tears about those bumpers!

I was looking to buy a 911 when those bumpers arrived...thought I had a (still new) '73 911T lined up. Despite me telling the salesman I'd take it, by the time I could get to the dealership in Portland it had sold. The sales manager tried to talk me into a silver '74 they had on the floor. I went home, began searching print ads...finally one appeared...a '72 911S, 7,000 miles...only 30 miles from my home. A young MD had driven it out from Chicago.

His wife wanted a house, he needed a down payment. I wanted an early 911. It was my 4th Porsche, my first used one, and my last one.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Great stories, really enjoyed reading every one of them

My passion was ignited by Fischer Price, Hotwheels, Monogram, Revell, Tamiya, Road and Track, Car and Driver, Hot Rod magazines and a childhood passion for fast cars which include Porsche's

Wasn't until my mid-40's after moving to Italy and working for the Ferrari F1 team I actually got around to owning one.

First time in my life then I had both the money, free time and most importantly great roads on my door step ie end of my street joined onto the official Ferrari roadcar mountain test loop

Bought a 1989 Porsche 930 with 5-speed box in the UK as my first Porsche. My first Porsche drive was the 1000 miles with the family through Europe, taking in 7 countries and as many Alpine passes as possible back to Italy

My Ferrari work friends knew me well as part of my leaving present were two Porsche racing car books which were presented to me in the middle of the crowded design office.

Guarantee that was a first in the history of Ferrari motorsport so a moment I'll always look back on fondly

[Rapewta]

I grew up with the passion for American V8's. Big displacement and loud.
That started changing after watching many old races in Europe. The 917 and the 935 success.
Just admiring the GT1, the 959 and of course the Black 930 posters
When Porsche offered water cooled engines to the masses, I had to give it a try. A 911.

After enjoying a 996 Carrera for 12 years, I landed a Turbo. Not the iconic black 930 but a modern water cooled white one. Love the brand.

[Daves911L]

Started for me at a young age. Was a very early reader (Mom was an english teacher) Summer I was 5 (1968) I would walk doown to the local library (taking my 4 year old brother with me). Mom thought I was there reading "Harry the Dirty Dog". But I'd found the magazine racks and was digesting car stuff. Anything and everything with a motor of course, but in particular sports cars and racing in europe. I was readng about Ferraris and Porsches, and the guys who drove them. In my young mind they were gladiators, going into battle on magnificent beasts. Heroism and chivalry. I dreamed off this stuff all the time.

Dad was (still is) an amazing man. But not a car guy. He had brown 4-door plymouths, oldmobiles, and buicks, always bought as 2-years old used cars. Cars were simply a practical necessity for him, and he couldn't quite get my fascination, but he did what he could. In 1969 he took me to the Can-Am race at the then-new Texas International Speedway. The greatest thing Id ever seen. The sound. The smell. It was exactly like I had dreamed it would be. Siffert was there in the 917PA, which of course was my favorite car At 6 years old I could recognize it went around corners faster, and sounded so much better than the thundering McClarens. I was hooked.

Not long after he took me to visit a friend of his, another professor, who was a car guy. A porsche guy. He had a then nearly new '68 912, burgundy/black. It was stunning. I sat in it. Oh, that smell! And parked behind it in the garage, peering out of the darkness, was another car. A 356! It smiled at me. It spoke to me. It was small, and cozy, and as wonderful as the 912 was, the 356 was even better. 55 years later I remember that moment like yesterday and there is still nowhere Id rather be than inside a 356.

Later, when I was teenager, dad was worried abut me. I did my schoolwork just fine, but spent all my free time with motors. Dirt bikes and cars. Thats all I really wanted to do. He worried about me. Afraid I'd become a juvenile delinquent! When I was 15 he thought a job would be good for me. He talked with that same friend who had the 912 and he knew a guy who ran a sports car service/repair shop. He got me a job cleaning parts and sweeping up the place after school.

I was in heaven. This was west Texas, and you would think sports cars were not the norm. There was only ths one place for a hundred or so miles in any direction to get anything that wasn't American serviced. But there were actually a lot of cars around. A lot of folks lived quietly, but with a lot of land and money. So a lot of really special stuff was tucked into barns and garages in the area (there was a Ferrari 250 GT/L that lived in a little wooden garage across the alley from our house!). And they all came to that place. So I got my hands on neat stuff there. And in addtition to the exotic stuff, there were lots of lots of Porsches. It didnlt take the owner long to figure out I was smarter than his mechanics, and a better mechanic. I could figure out stuff that stumped the older guys. Just seemed to come naturally to me. So before long I was twisting wrenches. I worked there on and off for several years, it paid my way through college.

When I was still just 15 a 914 came into the shop and the owner wanted to get rid of it instead of paying for repairs. So I bought a 914 (my dad helped me with half, and let me pay him back) . Hard to imagine now that was only a 5 year old used car at the time. Not long after I turned 16 I bought a '60 356 coupe that also had come into the shop. It was a rusty thing. You could pick up the mat and watch the road passing beneath you. I Had it a little while befroe I realized it had a VW motor, and not the porsche engine. But I didn't really care because it only cost me 600 bucks and it was so much fun to drive.

Theres been a lot of P-wagens since then. Some fast, some not so much. Some newer, some older. Some shiny, some faded. But I've enjoyed them all, and I've never been without at least one. Best cars ever. Especially the 356. You never forget your first love. I expect I'll die with a 356.

[Zeke]

Lots of stories here about early fascination with Porsche. With me it was Ferrari. Ended up with a few Corvettes, one being my first car. I never got Ferrari out of my system and even today I have yet to sit in one. I think the newer cars are erasing my desire. I consider the last Ferrari to covet one with Borrani wire wheels. Never liked the Dino and a friend had one.

I think I have room in my mind for a 360 Modena though.

[manbridge 74]

Sure, once driven, a GOOD 911 is so different from other cars that one becomes easily taken in. I first drove a customer 84 911 in my 20s and the top end end rush combined with light weight was like few other cars.

But really, the passion didn’t fully arrive until the understanding of why Porsche built them the way they did as explained by Grady Clay and so many others here was explained. In the end people trump the mechanical object, IMO.

[astrochex]

It was when I was a lad, grade school age. I remember seeing a 911 with a ducktail, thinking green in color. It was from a distance in Fullerton at Hillcrest Park looking down on Brea Blvd. I liked Porsches and my friend liked Datsun Zs.

I got my 911SC after I started my career in aerospace at McDonnell Douglas in Long Beach. I was driving a 1969 Fiat 124 Sport Coupe I had bought from my dad for $250. I loved that car but was definitely looking to upgrade. I was looking at classified ads and the Auto Trader. The only car I looked at and eventually bought was in Hollywood Hills, an 1982 911SC in Chiffon White with a brown interior. Andial did the PPI, and while the car was not perfect and had been in an incident, they said it was a driver. So of course I bought it.

[Mike Andrew]

Started with finding a huge pile of R & T at the curb of one of my paper route customers and dragging most of them home in my handlebar paper sack. Early 60's. I think that I read every one cover to cover that summer as I was required to read an hour a day by Mom.

Few years later my pal Dave and I would ride our bikes to Blackhawk Park in Rockford, IL to watch sports car races. (Later, as my rugby club played there, I recreated what I had seen in Sciroccos and the 911 every time I arrived) Dave and I became well known pests at Forest City Imports dropping in to drool over all sorts of things, especially Griffiths with the Hypo 289.The 356's always caught my eye and I was fascinated by their smooth lines. On a good day, they would even let us sit in the cars and dream about ownership (and a driver's license).

At 16, I was pumping gas and wrenching at a Standard station. A local neurosurgeon rolled in with his daughter, a classmate from K-12, in his new 911S. I was at the pump like the Flash as I knew exactly what it was. Fender door pops open, he tells me to cover the fender with the flap and to fill it with premium/ethyl. Wow, heaven!!! Washing the windscreen, he warned me to be careful of my belt buckle and not scratch the car. Credit card is handed to me and inside I go ro run it thru the imprinter and my co-workers ask me what kind of car. Of course, I responded accurately and ran the receipt out for signature. When I came back in, I announced that I would own a Porsche some day and that drew the expected doubts from the Talley brothers and their father, the owner.

Well, after a host of Sciroccos, GTI's and GLI's, the place keepers yielded to the SC and I parted with my beloved 81 Scirocco to make room for the Pcar. Oddly, at the same time, I happened upon Mark Talley on a school site. Sent him a note reminding him of the boast I had made years earlier and announced that someday was now and I had my Porsche. Damn, did that feel good!

[jmerino]

Love your story.

I have an 86 that looks identical, however our stock AC system is pretty weak. I had it rebuilt 5 years ago from a reputable local Porsche shop spending $3K. The shop warned me prior to spending the money the factory AC systems were never very good and don't expect much from it compared to the modern day systems. Have you upgraded your AC system on your car? Thank you.

[Seahawk]

PM GH85Carrera. He knows.

Originally Posted by jmerino

Love your story.

I have an 86 that looks identical, however our stock AC system is pretty weak. I had it rebuilt 5 years ago from a reputable local Porsche shop spending $3K. The shop warned me prior to spending the money the factory AC systems were never very good and don't expect much from it compared to the modern day systems. Have you upgraded your AC system on your car? Thank you.

[David]

I don't remember when I first became a Porsche fan because I was so young. Some memories besides the posters on the wall was riding my bike to various car dealers to look at cars. I lived pretty close to Ferrari of Houston so I went there a lot and they were very friendly even to a young kid. The Porsche dealer wasn't as friendly but that didn't sway my Porsche allegiance. There were a few other high end dealers in Houston in the 70's and 80's I frequented. I remember seeing an RSR with California plates in a hotel parking lot around 1980. I remember the huge flares on it, much bigger than a normal turbo. I read every article I could on Porsches. I didn't subscribe to any magazines but the school library had a few so I'd go there and read every chance I got and my mom would bring home Autoweek from the office after all the guys had read it and initialed off on the front cover. I got the occasional ride in one but never got to spend any real time in one until later. At 19, I finally connected with my half brother who I hadn't seen since I was 4 shortly before our father died. This is when I first learned that our father bought a 911 shortly before his death in 1972. What I would give to find that car!

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

PM GH85Carrera. He knows.

I sent him a PM.

[Aurel]

I always liked the 911 when I was a kid growing up in France, but it seemed one had to be making a ton of money to afford one. It was a status symbol for lawyers and dentists…When I moved to the US in the early 2000s, I realized they were affordable, and I could actually make the dream become reality. It was a very exciting realization, and I could no longer wait to put my hands on one.Which I have now enjoyed for the past 23 years. It has been a fun hobby to bring it back to glory from its neglected state of the late nineties.

[p911dad]

The Speedster was what really started me off. One of our teachers drove one and it always stuck with me.

[Matt at Pelican Parts]

Speedsters are beautiful! Can't argue good taste!

Originally Posted by p911dad

The Speedster was what really started me off. One of our teachers drove one and it always stuck with me.

[WPOZZZ]

Back in 04 or 05, I was helping out a lot at my mechanics shop. He worked on all my BMWs, and he had a love of Porsches. His place is like a candy store to this day. He had a 930 that was converted to a K3 smack dab in one of the bays, and a 959 replica. The K3 is his and it is now in a shed on the side of the shop. The 959 rep is still there too, but belongs to a customer. A couple of notable cars that havebeen there for many years is a 3.0CS and a 190-2.3-16, plus a bunch of 930s.

A SEAL out of Pearl had a project SC that was a shell. It was sent out for paint and the RUF Yellowbird kit installed. The SEAL had to ship out to CA and got sent somewhere. His project needed finishing up and all of us pitched in to finish it up. I learned a lot at that time, and another friend need to work on his longhood. We dropped the motor and installed a new clutch and some other stuff. Again, a good learning experience. Then a friend told me of a Carrera Cab at the Porsche dealership that was sitting in the bay for years. I got a deal on it and that started me on the slippery slope.

[Daves911L]

Originally Posted by Matt at Pelican Parts

Speedsters are beautiful! Can't argue good taste!

This makes me laugh. Speedsters are not beautiful. Coupes are beautiful. Cabriolets are elegant. Roadsters are sporty.

The speedster is, well, like that one girl in high school. You know, the one whose boobs were a little too big. Her backside a little too curvy. Her nose a little crooked. Her eyes big and deep and a little too closely spaced. Her legs slightly too short. Her tummy slightly too soft.......Oh, you wanted her. Badly! You just didn't want your friends to know.

[Matt at Pelican Parts]

I guess it all comes down what you like! I've always been very found of cabriolets and targas in general which I admit is unusual. Maybe it's from my many years of motorcycle riding. Who knows