Comments You Get On "Your Porsh"

[Dan in Pasadena]

In another thread unrelated to this topic Maffet and Ryan (BigChillCar) just commented that in their areas people don't even know what kind of car it is that they drive. I commented:

In SoCal it is the the opposite. EVERYONE "had one" or "knows someone that had one", or their "Dad had one" and my favorite comment? "It was EXACTLY like yours except it was a black Targa with a whaletail...are you going to put one on there?" Which of course means it was NOTHING like mine. In genreal my observation is that non-Porsche people can't tell a '66 912 from an '89 964 Carrera4.

I literally NEVER take my car out with out getting some kind of comment. Which is nice I suppose. I try to be gracious and thank people. Saturday my barber casually commented, "You have the hat and gloves, right?". I say, "Uh...what hat and gloves?". He responds that his, "brother-in-law has an old Porsche and he wears one of those flat hats and the gloves with the mesh on the back". I (tried to) nicely say that I thought that was more the British car guys thing. That I don't know anyone that has a costume to wear (his eyebrows go up!) when they drive their car unless baseball cap and sunglasses counts; in which case just about all of us wear that one!
Tell me about your favorite comment/non-sequitar?

[pieterk]

Originally posted by Dan in Pasadena
In SoCal it is the the opposite. EVERYONE "had one" or "knows someone that had one", or their "Dad had one" and my favorite comment? "It was EXACTLY like yours except it was a black Targa with a whaletail...are you going to put one on there?" Which of course means it was NOTHING like mine. In genreal my observation is that non-Porsche people can't tell a '66 912 from an '89 964 Carrera4.

Haha; so true!

Honestly, after a while, it just gets tiresome. The amount of similar conversations I've had even over my 912 just doesn't end. Makes you almost wish for full serve gas stations like the old days when you didn't have to get out of the car. Not that I ever used those, but still. The gas station conversation can get to be too much, especially if you're in a hurry.

One of the funnier comments I heard was after parking at the (old) Farmer's Market some years ago, and a couple of tourists walked by, looked at the deck lid, and in all sincerity said "912. Wow. Better than a 911."

[wholberg]

Since living in NC, I have heard, in order of frequency:

"Nice paint job"

"Is it fast?"

"My brother/cousin/friend has one, but it needs engine work"

"My brother/cousin/friend has one, and he wants to put a V8 in it."

[dd74]

Comments range from "Cool!" to "Great color!" to "I wish I had kept mine."

Several times at intersections, I've had offers to sell the car right there on the spot.

Comments are all over the age range, but I have to say that whether someone is in their late teens or late seventies, everyone knows exactly what kind of car this is and its purpose.

In my mind, that says a lot.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally posted by pieterk
"912. Wow. Better than a 911."

Absolutely classic

Reminds me of the movie "Mr. Mom". Michael Keaton's clueless character is asked if he is doing his home remodel himself and if he is "putting in 220v?". He responds, "Yeah, 220, 221, whatever it takes..." Coke actually did fly out my nose over that one!

[Don Z.]

My favorite (for my '74 911 Carrera Targa) "is that the one with the eight cylinder or the four cylinder?"

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally posted by Don Z.
My favorite (for my '74 911 Carrera Targa) "is that the one with the eight cylinder or the four cylinder?"

Yeah, the only thing worse is when the guy at the parts counter asks you the EXACT same question!

So I had this '87 Guard Red 944. I polished it and kept her pretty pristine because I am a bit mental about that stuff. I get a wild hair in a rude place one day and take it to a cheapo oil change place. The 17 year old there asks me what kind of car it is? I say, it's a Porsche. He responds, It's pretty fast, huh? I say, "Naw, actually it is one of the slower Porsches they ever made but I like it". He says, "I know you wouldn't tell me if it was fast because you think you shouldn't tell younger guys, huh?" I say, "No really, it isn't a fast car. A Honda Civic is faster". He walks away shaking his head, he doesn't believe it. "Its red, it's shiny, it says Porsche on it - he just won't tell me the truth".

[pwd72s]

My LEAST favorite comments usually come from A-holes with money who think their money can buy anything, even my car. I'm not knocking all who've asked, just some who display a certain attitude, saying something like "Everything's for sale...what's your price?"

[RLJ]

"Sounds like a small block Chevy V-8 with a Duntov 270 cam".

For years I lived in an area that was American hot rod "rich". Owned the "only" Porsche for miles and the only "hot rod" Porsche for even more miles.

My fav at PCA events is "Thats not stock,oh ug.......!" Usually from some "geek" that bought his "new" car cause that was the only way he could meet a woman (In his mind anyway) or a purest (what ever that is). On days like that I would rather hang out with a bunch of old Ford and Chevy hot rodders, at least they take her for what she is.

I love for them to walk away shaing their heads, wondering.

Randy Jones
1971 911 "Iris"

[Dan in Pasadena]

Randy,
My comment is that true car guys like cars whether Ford, Chevy or Porsche. I like to think I am a member of that group and I like or see the good in most cars, even the ones I would never want to own.

I say there is no such thing as a bad car (well, at least currently) only cars that are bad for your intended purpose. So I can see why someone wants a Suzuki Samarai to tow behind his RV, but I never want to own one. And I see why someone with hundreds of millions of dollars wants an Enzo...but if I win the lottery I am buying something (well, okay SEVERAL somethings) else!

[Craig 930 RS]

Everyone usually has something to say - usually it strikes up a nice conversation with someone who really likes cars.

I enjoy it.

FWIW, 'Porsh' is a (one of) the correct pronunciation.......head to Germany and it is used often and by many.

[Emission]

My favorite is the inability of most to distinguish the year of my car. It is clean and shiny, so it must be pretty new...

Dunno why they can't figure out it is two-decades.... with the out-of-vogue 16" wheels and a huge frickin' spoiler!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Not to hijack my own thread but ...Yes...in Germany, but it isn't the pronunciation Porsche uses in their commercials in the U.S.

As for conversations: I had a very old man - mid/late 80's approach me using a walker and telling me he liked my car - very nice. He tells me he used to have a '55 Carrera. He asks if I know what that is and I say yes. He says, "I said a '55, not a '75 or one of these new things they call a Carrera". I say yes, I know what you are talking about, they are true collectors items now, I've only ever seen them at shows, never driven.

He ask what one costs now if he wanted to buy one and I say I don't know but that I saw an engine for one in "rebuildable condition" for sale for $30,000. He almost fell off his walker. He kept repeating, "You say 30 THOUSAND...just for the engine? And it needs rebuilding?". Must have repeated it 6 or 8 times. As he walks (shuffles) away he is repeating, "...I should have kept that damned car and the SL too".

Naw, you don't suppose do you?

[Craig 930 RS]

Sure, why not? Many cars that were merely cool then are incredible pieces now.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Yeah, but a 50's Carrera was a top of the line, high dollar car even then. A 300SL Gullwing car may not have been the million dollar car then but it was plenty expensive. Mere mortals didn't spend money on cars in those days lin quite the same way that people do now...at least that is my take.

Imagine having owned BOTH and not having kept one. Yikes.

[porschenut]

Originally posted by Dan in Pasadena
Reminds me of the movie "Mr. Mom". Michael Keaton's clueless character is asked if he is doing his home remodel himself and if he is "putting in 220v?". He responds, "Yeah, 220, 221, whatever it takes..." Coke actually did fly out my nose over that one!

Even funnier than Keaton's response is the question itself. Why in the world would he want to wire his living room all in 220? That's what I always cracked up about.

[randywebb]

I usually get some favorable comment, often real general.

Once I got a nice flower left on the windshield.

2 weeks ago, near New Orleans, a great-grandma I've known for decades (high school with her relatives) started talking about her days driving 356s and 911s. I never had heard that side of her before. She said she liked the cars b/c you could steer with your foot. Then she started talking about the first race she drove in and also how she got to drive on the Daytona track once (!) - not as a racer but just to do some laps in the '50s.

[rcecale]

Not sure if this counts, but I'll post it anyway.

Since being in Georgia, I've taken my 911 to two different smog inspection stations. The first year was at a NAPA chain store. The gentleman doing the testing refused to drive it onto the dyno, because, "Man, if that thing got away from me, I'd have to shoot myself because I couldn't afford to have it fixed!" (It really didn't break my heart to NOT have to let him drive it. ) After the test he told me that store policy was that the customer was NOT to drive onto the dyno, and that he had to explain himself to his manager.

Ever since, I've been taking it to another inspection station, one closer to home, and I get the same response. The guy remembers me each year and says stuff like, "That baby's gotta fly, doesn't she?" LOL Well, it DOES have that wing in the back...

Randy

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally posted by rcecale
..."That baby's gotta fly, doesn't she?" Randy

I'm imagining that statement with a drawn out Southern drawl.....classic.

[}{arlequin]

crackheads looove my car