What is the average time of ownership?

[aways]

After reading this board for about a year, it seems to me that there may be three basic types of Porsche owners. The first type include those who buy one car, use it as a daily driver, and keep it for many years. These people are content with their cars, and are what I would call "drivers". The second type are those who are fascinated by Posches as "toys", and have a tendency to get bored with their car in a year or so and want to try a different car (different body style, different vintage, etc.). They often like modifying their cars and are always looking for their next ride. I'll call these people "shoppers". The third type may own several Porsches that they seldom drive. They are what could be described as "collectors". They have been known to polish their cars once a week, and enjoy sitting around looking at them more than they like driving them.

Which best describes you, and why?

[no substitute]

Porsches are meant to be driven. And I do, almost every day since '87 or thereabouts. If you have to drive daily, have a great daily driver--911.

[Barrpete]

It's waaaaaaaaaay too much fun to drive to be left sitting in the garage.

[pwd72s]

I'm the combo driver collector, I guess....but with only one 911. Expose it to the dangers of parking lots? Nope...that's what the concept of a "daily driver" is all about. Take pleasure driving runs with my bride, drive the car to & from club events? Yep....no trailer here, but the 911S is no daily driver either.

[Steve87-911]

I drive it at every decent opportunity. But I don't drive it on short trips to the supermarket or when I need to haul the kids on a long trip. Other than that, it's my driver. I'm a driver.

[Franklin]

I bought my first Porsche, a 69E, in 1971 and kept it for 22 years. After 12 years of BMW's I bought an 87 Targa in 94. It is not the "daily driver" that the E was but it still gets out on nice days. Oh, by the way when the E left it had close to 300K and was still on the original engine (not counting the replacement of a burnt piston) and the original 5 speed gearbox. Grady put a RSR suspension in it in 76 replacing the hydro struts and for most of it's life Grady did all of the maintenance.

[724doorE]

You forgot to include "Junk collector"!

That'd be me

[Grady Clay]

Clearly a driver.

This nice old 911 was my first new Porsche. I ordered it a few
weeks after graduating from college and still have it in original
condition – sorta. It has laps on almost every significant track
in North America. It has been driven by many Porsche people
and other racers including; Jo Siffert, Mark Donahue, Jim Hall,
Lother Motschenbacher, Roger Penske, Ernst Fuhrmann, Peter
Schultz, Milt Minter, Vasek Polak, Alan Johnson, Alwin Springer,
Dieter Izenhoffer, and many, many more. Dr. Ferry Porsche only
rode in the passenger seat.

It is currently resting quietly waiting for my son to graduate
from college in three years (hopefully) and take the reigns.

Here it is in the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca in '72.


What a bargain - Porsche included sway bars and S brakes with the Koni option.



Interesting, when I scale it, it weighs 2220# with spare, tools,
and half tank of gas. I wonder why the 2450# shipping weight?



Best,
Grady

[thabaer]

Driver for what the cars are capable of, collector in that I have no intention of letting it go. Also collector because I have more sorta rare cars than I can drive at once ( i.e. >1 car ) and I 'aint giving them up either!

Now I need to make more money and get a place where I can park them with less hassles...

[Paulporsche]

Owner: Driver. Car: Daily Driver. Used April through December here in the "Great White North" for 17 years.

[anthony]

After reading this board for about a year, it seems to me that there may be three basic types of Porsche owners.

You seem to be missing the weekend driver type. My car is a garage queen. I drive it every chance I get but I don't drive it to work or in the rain.

[NY65912]

My car gets driven every weekend in the "good" weather. No rain or snow. I do not wash or wax it every weekend although I enjoy keeping her as clean as possible.

So Drver / Collector?

[speeder]

You forgot to include "flippers"; most clean early 911s on the open market in the U.S. are now being bought by flippers who will keep them for a week or two until they can ship them out of the country, never to return.

Grady is the polar opposite of these scumbags, the absolute quintesential owner/enthusiast/racer that Ferry Porsche himself had in mind when he designed the car. Of course, to stay in business you must sell many of them to guys who just wanted to park them outside of the singles bar as well.

[porschenut]

Grady, if your son doesn't want the car, I'll take it. I'll even take the "Alaupunkt" AM Radio.

[Sonic dB]

I put 3K miles on my 86 Cab every month. The combination of Guards Red, with Turbo Fuchs make it stand out among normal Carreras.

The car gets comments every day:

Yesterday, up in Malibu I was sitting on PCH where it was backed up for miles North of Topanga Canyon Blvd. This guy in a newer Black Corvette pulls up and says "How fast have you been"

I told the truth "about 130...how bout you"

He brags "180" and then he reved the engine and pulled ahead.

We ended up side by side again and he goes "thats beautiful, what year is it?" "86" I said. He goes "Man, I always wanted a Porsche... they handle incredible and look great too. They hold their value great...."

This happens every day. Today I had 2 comments within driving it around in one hour..

But the comments... and praise.... do not compare to the driving experience. Not even close.

[targa88]

After five years I still have this silly smile on my face every time I drive the P=car. Best therapy in town

[kevjandon]

Bringing up the low end, I'm a true shopper. I shope every day for about 2 hours on line. The longest I've held on to a 911 is just over a year. The shortest was 2 months. I'm always hunting for the next ride. It usually takes me 6mos. to 18 mos. to find the "right car" to buy. My standards are very high and I'm very picky about what I buy and who I sell it too. If there was a Porsche rental shop, I'd be there best customer and would never own a 911. I'm like an eternal test driver. My wife calls me fickle. I just want to drive them all.

BTW, have you seen my recent car now for sale?

I have a very nice, low mile SC that could be for sale

[Zeke]

Originally posted by kevjandon
Bringing up the low end, I'm a true shopper. I shope every day for about 2 hours on line. The longest I've held on to a 911 is just over a year. The shortest was 2 months. I'm always hunting for the next ride. It usually takes me 6mos. to 18 mos. to find the "right car" to buy. My standards are very high and I'm very picky about what I buy and who I sell it too. If there was a Porsche rental shop, I'd be there best customer and would never own a 911. I'm like an eternal test driver. My wife calls me fickle. I just want to drive them all.

BTW, have you seen my recent car now for sale?

I have a very nice, low mile SC that could be for sale

I was wondering when a "shopper" would show up. My wife is a driver, bought and held onto a '77 Targa wringing out some 120,000 miles in 15 years. I would say I'm a vicarious shopper. I can't buy many, I can't afford to. If I had a lot of money, I'd transform into a "collector" because I wouldn't HAVE to sell any cars.

I've owned over 30 cars besides the usual work truck I spend most of my time in. Only 5 have been Porsches; about twice that in various VW's including a transporter, a bus and 3 converts. We have 5 cars now, down from 7 (two person household). I've owned some British stuff, too. My wife had a '67 Healey before I met her and I had MG's from '50 and '36 plus a Jag.

And then there're the Corvettes, five of them.......well, this list grows. Time to move on.

[dgcate]

Dogs, mud, tools, kids, home depot, "fitting in" with "normal E. TN folk". For my everyday lifestyle, I use my pick-up truck. Good grief, my 911 would look like crap if I drove it everyday. You can just run any other car through a car wash once a month and be done with it.

I can't afford to "go through" Porsches as if they were any other car or truck. For me, half of the fun of Porsche owner ship is taking car of it. As it is with my other toys. Porsches are just "big boy" toys to me.

[frencjas]

Driver of my 911 since 1999 with no signs of letting go, shopper for my daily driver/second car, which I get tired of every 2-3 years. I want to be a collector, and own say 2-3 porsches, one for each occasion, but I want to retire some day.