Age, Porsches, and Appreciation

[s_wilwerding]

Browsing the Boxster board this morning(986board.com). One of the topics was a 16 year-old who's getting a Boxster and wants to join the PCA. Another guy says he's had two Boxsters since he was 15, which seemingly wasn't that long ago. Someone asked how they paid for them - answer: I don't pay for them, Daddy does.

Some impressions:

1. I don't think these kids truly appreciate their cars. Now, I wouldn't have minded having a Boxster at 16, but I also don't think I would have appreciated it as much as my 911SC that I have now and that I paid for.

2. Most of the people on this board, and most people that buy older Porsches, really, really love their cars. I think you have to if you're going to justify the amount of money most of us spend on them and the amount of work we put into them. I don't believe these things are the same for Boxster owners. Boxsters are basically new cars that, especially if you only have them for a couple years, you don't need to spend much if any money on and probably don't have to work on. Ergo, Boxster owners usually aren't as "committed" as the people on this board. Mind you, this is not always true - a Boxster owner in the local PCA has been loyal to the marquee for 30 years and has had more Porsches than I could count on two hands.

3. Just so I'm not accused of being the pot that called the kettle black, yes, I am only 23 and the youngest member of the local PCA (at least the youngest with a 911). However, I've loved the marquee since I was a child and consider myself a hard core Porsche fanatic. I've also done all of the maintenance on my car (chain tensioners, popoff valve, and valve adjustment) myself. Also, I think everything on my Christmas wishlist contains the P word.

Sometimes it just bothers me that some people, especially people who drive the newer cars, don't appreciate Porsche's history. They pay a lot of money for Porsches without understanding why Porsches are expensive in the first place.

Other opinions? Agree or disagree?

[Rick Lee]

Well, I went to a snooty NE prep school and had my share of classmates with cars I still drool over. Graduation day in 1989 was quite a sight to behold. One guy's dad handed him the keys to a new 944. I knew another kid with a 308 GTS. Two of my favorites were a guy with a concourse TR4 and another with a '71 Stingray. Yeah, their dads both drove Ferraris and threw cash at their boys. But my friends had done their own complete restorations and were every bit the enthusiasts we are here. We even did a fun run or two together.

I've wanted a 911 since about the age of 9 and always talked about buying an old one and doing my own work. The BMW bug bit me too and at the age of 16, I got a '70 2002 for $800 and made it almost perfect for another $1200. Imagine taking the girlfriend out on Sat. night and, instead of asking dad if I can borrow his car, he and mom are both asking me if they can borrow my car! Yes, that did happen, even though my mom had a VW Golf cab and my dad a Volvo. Since I washed a lot of dishes and bussed a lot of tables to afford my BMW 2002, I have always had a very deep appreciation for my cars.

[ChrisBennet]

I hope I don't sound preachy or "enlightened" but..

I really don't concern myself with whether people appreciate them "as much as they should". It is irrelevant to me whether someone worked hard to get their car or whether they were given it. I'm not even jealous of their good fortune. Frankly, most everyone on this list has already won what Warren Buffet calls the "ovarian lottery" by being born in a rich country with all the opportunities that go with it. I think we tend to forget that.

I do feel bad when someone hacks a Porsche up with bad work. Like a piece of art, I don't care if someone else likes it, only if I think it has beauty.

putting the "poor" in Porsche,
Chris

[s_wilwerding]

Originally posted by ChrisBennet
Frankly, most everyone on this list has already won what Warren Buffet calls the "ovarian lottery"
Chris

Warren actually lives just down the street from me.

[Kmatts]

I bought my 1978 911 SC from my uncle (who kept it in storage in Spokane WA) right after i graduated college at 21.
I had to have the car paid in full before my uncle would let me have it. I worked my a$$ off to pay for it.
We all love our P-cars (dare i mention any other vehicles? did some one say Ducati?) . Why else would we be looking at this site, we are all obsessed

Kyle, praying for a cloudless weekend sky and no seagulls!

[Jdub]

Richard:

So where? Choate, Hotchkiss, Salisbury (raid on Rosemary Hall tonight!)? I know just what you mean about the rich bastards. We had a guy with a diplomatic passport who brought back all kinds of wonders from the Asian shores (no, not for me...)

And yup, they kept cars OFF CAMPUS! They actually paid "townies" to go ahead and harbor their cars - in the damn garage. Yes, I was jealous.

Most often owned car? BMW 2002 hands down.

John

[DavidPorter]

I went to one of those NE schools too, but my graduation was a little earlier. One of my classmates got a new 1965 GTO convertible for graduation. By diligent experimentation we found out that a friend's mother's GM car key worked in the GTO and we hid it.

People buy cars for lots of reasons. I've belonged to several clubs over the years. To tell the truth, the Alfa club people were the least pretentious (maybe with reason?) and the most knowledgable about the history of their cars.

[Rick Lee]

Fortunately, I was a day student at Lawrenceville, so I was allowed to drive on campus and take my boarder friends all around. I wasn't ever considered a townie, because I lived in Flemington. What my parents loved about my having a cherry red BMW 2002, or sometimes driving my mom's bright yellow VW cab, was that whichever car I was in, I was very conspicuous. There was no hiding for me. If we wanted to get booze or do other covert ops, we had to use someone else's less visible car.

[nhurto]

I think that the issue isn't neccessarily with 16 y/o driving Boxsters, but with a large number of Boxster owners. It is a new car which doesn't have a lot of history behind it. A lot of the people who buy them bought them because they were looking for a roadster not because they had drooled over every one they saw since the age of 8. (Yes, I still remember the first time I saw a 911 turbo when my parents went to buy a Mazda in 1984). I'm not trying to slam Boxster owners - 99% of the ones I've met a PCA meets truely appretiate their cars and the marquee. However, 99% of the Boxster owners I've met in parking lots or at traffic lights look at me like I have six eyes when I ask if they ever take it to the track or if they are a PCA member. This last group are why some 911 owners look down on the Boxster. I think anything you have to wait and work for is inherently more appretiated than something that is handed to you. Although at 26 I'm on the young side of 911 owners, I've lusted, dreamed, and obsessed about owning a 911 for 18 years. I think Steve hit the nail on the head by writing "some people, especially people who drive the newer cars, don't appreciate Porsche's history. They pay a lot of money for Porsches without understanding why Porsches are expensive in the first place."

[targa911man]

Richard--

I know what you mean about that small town/conspicuous car issue. People at church and the courthouse are always coming up to me saying things like. "Man, I saw you flying down 234 yesterday!" The thing is, a guy in a red Targa passed by me in the opposite direction on 28 the other day, and he was flying (too). But with our lightning reflexes, we had time to wave.

[Dantilla]

It's the people that buy new without the appreciation for the cars that makes for a steady supply of used ones for me to buy.

[Superman]

Dantilla is right. New Porsches are purchased as jewelry. The owners sometimes do not know where the engine is located. After one or two more owners, they fall into our hands. I just hope whoever is driving my future '97 993 TT is changing the oil regularly.

[arcsine]

I was at a gas station a couple of weeks ago with my 911. Minding my own business and a gentleman with a 5-series beemer starts a conversation about P-cars. So we chat about this and that and he says he is going the following week to Germany to pick up a new C4 that he had ordered FOR HIS 21 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER as a present.

Now here I am thinking that I was born into the wrong family, she will probably have no idea of the gift she is given. But later I realize I own a 20 year old car and I think it is pretty neat. I had wanted P-car since I was 14 and it has taken almost 25 years to get one. What I cannot say is if the original purchaser of my car had the same passion I have about it.

Maybe it is all a continum. From the cars perspective, maybe they hope to survive until they get bought by folks like us that will understand and care.

[s_wilwerding]

Originally posted by Superman
The owners sometimes do not know where the engine is located.

This is probably especially true for Boxster owners, since you can't see it from the top (at least not easily)!

[makaio]

Originally posted by Superman
I just hope whoever is driving my future '97 993 TT is changing the oil regularly.

Same goes for my future 996TT

[47silver]

i look at it way differently, at 16 if all works out you will live to be about 80. even if you drove a car every day from the day you were allowed it until you were 80 it would only add up to 23000 days or so, how many of these do we work or do things that prevent us from driving the porsche?

my only regret is that i waited 35 years to get one so i lost over 12000 days of opportunities to drive on that note it is time to go for a spin, though i did drive a brothers 62 vette with 300+ when he was in the service in the 60's when i was 17/18, funny i am here

[eion]

I remember looking at all the blurb when the 964 first came out/was coming out. I was about 8 at the time, and I lusted after that car. From then on, I knew my first car was going to be a 911. I didn't really have to scrimp and save for my car, I was given enough money for my 21st birthday to buy it outright, but that doesn't mean I appreciate the car any less.

[wdarner]

Re: "New Porsches are purchased as jewelry".
How do you know that? Are you sure you want to say that?

Re: "some 911 owners look down on the Boxster"
Guilty as charged, until I drove one. Didn't really "look down" on them just didn't appreciate them

Re: "some people, especially people who drive the newer cars, don't appreciate Porsche's history."
Ever read the Moldy Fig discussions on the Boxster Board? 911 guys who own Boxsters, talking about the merits of the good old 911.

Re: "The owners sometimes do not know where the engine is located. This is probably especially true for Boxster owners"
Possibly alot of them have never actually seen them,, but I am sure they know where it is.

The Boxster ain't no good old 911, but then neither is the 996. It is a nice fun daily driver. If I had to choose between the two, it would be my 911.

[911tmaster]

my porsche is my first car.my grandpa bought my car in 1970 brand new and gave it to me on my 14th birth day. i'm only 16. i think i'm the youngest member on the board. i've been working on cars since i was 5 with my grandpa. Half the kids at my school drive rice rockets and not a day goes by that one of them asks me if its a turbo or if i have NOS. I know maybe 10 kids that really admire my car and 9 of them are girls all the others just call it old and slow mostly because 3 kids drive boxters and some other has a 95' carrera. I bet the kids that drive the new porsches don't know one thing about old 911's or porsche's racing history.All these ricer kids don't know anything about their cars except if they have a turbo or not or a nice exhaust system. I think i appreciate my car. I think i am EXTREMELY lucky to own a 911. i will probably pass my car to my son.

[Superman]

I've lusted after these cars for more than 30 years. Three years and one month ago, I bought my first (shouldn't have waited this long).

Guys (and ladies), it thrills me every day to look at this car and know it is mine. Middle of the night, a family member asks "Dad/Jim, do you think you could run to the store....we're out of milk." I get excited. The store is about 500 yards down a 30 mph street and I am still excited to go get a gallon of milk in a Porsche 911.

I love Porsches. I love everything about them. The 911 is one of mankind's greatest accomplishments. I'll put a couple hundred miles on her tomorrow, and I'll absolutely love every moment of that.