Local Cars & Coffee, Guy Starts Harassing Me For Owning Porsche

[4flyboy]

Leave him alone, he's on a roll....

[robhamster]

Originally Posted by DSM

At local cars & coffee this weekend. Guy wearing vet hat and pins asks who owns this Porsche? Starts asking all kinds of engine build technical questions. Then says he has a real love hate feeling about these cars. Asks me if I know why? Then gets weird/angry and says the guy who designed it was hitlers boy. He designed the tiger tank and a GREAT BUG. Then walks off mumbling some bs. This ever happen to any of you? Then he gets in his vintage Datsun Z and drives off. Btw anyone see the hypocrisy? Lol

I find this not at all unusual. My uncle, who passed away in 2019 at the age of 99, said something similar to me the first time I showed up at his house in Los Alamos, New Mexico with my brand new 1982 BMW 320i. He told me to get it off his property and park on the street, the only real problem being he lived on a 10 acre lot and the street was a small country road.

Some background provides insight to his comment. He was recruited into the Manhattan Project in 1943 as a chemist to help purify uranium and palladium for use in the atomic bombs. He helped build the bomb for the Trinity blast as well as the Fat Man and Little Boy dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. His brother, my other uncle, was killed in action in France in August 1944 by the Germans. My surviving uncle wanted to finish the bomb soon enough to nuke Hitler as repayment for his brother's death. And oddly enough, even though he was involved in the death of so many Japanese, he had a Toyota sitting in the driveway that I could not park my BMW in.

Over time, as I showed up in one Porsche or another, he felt a little differently as he felt that Ferdinand Porsche was forced to make tanks based on how the Allies treated him after the war.

Now, about those vette guys...

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by DSM

.......... Then gets weird/angry and says the guy who designed it was hitlers boy. He designed the tiger tank and a GREAT BUG. ...........

Sorry, the powers that were thought Porsche's design was "too complex" but did like the turret. However, even the turret design never made it to production.

Tiger II
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_II

PORSCHE AND HENSCHEL TURRETS?
https://blog.tiger-tank.com/headline-news/turrets/

VK 4501 (P)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VK_4501_(P)

The "BUG" may have had more than one aspect in common with a prior design or two.

Held as a war criminal, an Italian that wanted an engine design bailed him out.

Or the below version.

First Porsche completed
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-porsche-completed

At war’s end, the French accused the elder Porsche of war crimes and imprisoned him for more than a year. Ferry struggled to keep the family firm afloat. He built a Grand Prix race car, the Type 360 Cisitalia, for a wealthy Italian industrialist, and used the money to pay his father’s bail.

I've never had anyone insult me about the car.

We live in weird times, chalk it up to that.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by winders

Ferdinand Porsche was the Porsche involved with the Tiger tanks. He found Porsche in 1931 as a consulting firm. Ferry Porsche reconstituted Porsche after the WWII. The first cars Porsche produced in 1948 were actually made by the Austrian company Ferry started because he was not allowed back in Germany.

Butzi, the grandson of Ferdinand, didn't really design the 911. Erwin Komenda did....

Regardless, that person's hate is misplaced. Nissan (Datsun) was far more heavily involved in war production than Porsche ever was.

Yep, misplaced hate.

Nailed it.

[dkirk]

His PTSD was acting up. Just disregard comments from the lunatic fringe.

I'm a Vietnam-era vet and was stationed in Germany and got to work on several friend's 356's while there. I love Porsches and highly admire German engineering. My dream of owning a 911 finally came true in 2008 when I bought my '88 Coupe.

Worst experience I had was at a local car show. I drove into the grounds and some smart-ass yelled "park it over there with the rest of the German ****". All other experiences have been very positive.

[Garen]

Crazy times. And the fact that it's increasingly more difficult to distinguish between someone's idiotic, dumb attempt at being funny vs. them actually meaning it. Don't know which is worse, ignorance-driven hate or the intended and conscious version of it...

You want a real mess, read up on the '30s Grand Prix days... Just before the war, where all the mobilizations in Germany were starting to take form, mix it in with some INCREDIBLE machinery from Mercedes and Auto Union (massive Ferdinand Porsche stuff in there - both, actually), toss in the obligatory "livery" mandated by the reich, and go racing. Never mind that the teams were nothing short of full-on international affairs, personnel-wise. German drivers with Jewish wives, Englishmen, Italians, etc. The best of the best running the finest cars. When you read first-hand accounts of the players in the form of their autobiographies, you get the feel that they were just racers, looking to race and win, and hated the burden of politics and war weighing them down and causing tensions. Someone ought to do a movie on this epic topic, would be fascinating even for non-car people. There is a book called Driving Forces on the era, really good read. But I digress, as usual...

Back on topic, the dude who said all that crap to the OP is a king-sized douche... A hypocritical king-sized douche to be exact!

[DSM]

I just wanted to go out and enjoy cars. Was very close to engaging this guy but didn’t out of respect for veterans. At the end when he looked at my car and said the tiger tank & “GREAT BUG” I feel he was trying to get under my skin. Was quite proud of myself for showing restraint. Typically I’m not good at that. So heads up Porsche friends. If you see an older guy with vet hat & pins rocking the Orange Z, I recommend straight up ignoring him. Especially after he starts riffling questions as if you work for him? Not sure what was worse that day. That guy or the vette eating up the slantnose lol. Intake elbow blew off so she didn’t make any boost. No excuses a loss is a loss. Anyway thanks for the great & interesting posts.

Not actual car but close enough for reference.

[4flyboy]

Dang that's a nice Z.....my first was a '72 240 so I have a foot firmly in Japan and Germany....can't get any more un-American than that

[Artfrombama]

Not everyone you cross paths with will make you feel warm and fuzzy about your personal car preference.

I feel we're in an era of "wealth hate" where it's OK to throw all manners and politeness aside and confront the consumer of lavish goods.

They're looking for confrontation, deprive them by ignoring the comments.

[winders]

Oh, I would be happy to engage that idiot. I would call him on his hypocrisy and point out that only Japan instigated a sneak attack against the U.S. I would point out that more Americans died fighting the Japanese than they did fighting the Germans and the Italians.

I would also point out that both Germany and Japan are now close allies. You have to live in the present, not the past....

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

There is no doubt Ferdinand the original was summoned by Hitler to come see him, and told to design a peoples car. What was he supposed to do, tell Hitler no?
.

amazingly, Ol' Ferd did tell hitler no on some things and argued with him - only guy I ever heard of who got away with it

- story may be in Ludvigson

[anglophone1]

Originally Posted by Garen

Crazy times. And the fact that it's increasingly more difficult to distinguish between someone's idiotic, dumb attempt at being funny vs. them actually meaning it. Don't know which is worse, ignorance-driven hate or the intended and conscious version of it...

You want a real mess, read up on the '30s Grand Prix days... Just before the war, where all the mobilizations in Germany were starting to take form, mix it in with some INCREDIBLE machinery from Mercedes and Auto Union (massive Ferdinand Porsche stuff in there - both, actually), toss in the obligatory "livery" mandated by the reich, and go racing. Never mind that the teams were nothing short of full-on international affairs, personnel-wise. German drivers with Jewish wives, Englishmen, Italians, etc. The best of the best running the finest cars. When you read first-hand accounts of the players in the form of their autobiographies, you get the feel that they were just racers, looking to race and win, and hated the burden of politics and war weighing them down and causing tensions. Someone ought to do a movie on this epic topic, would be fascinating even for non-car people. There is a book called Driving Forces on the era, really good read. But I digress, as usual...

Back on topic, the dude who said all that crap to the OP is a king-sized douche... A hypocritical king-sized douche to be exact!

https://read.amazon.co.uk/kp/embed?asin=B07TH9VPPG&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_9lDMFbA00HP3J

Read this - reality that reads like fiction

C

[Competizione]

So was Ferdi supposed to say no to Hitler...? I don't see that being a wise move.

[Garen]

Originally Posted by anglophone1

https://read.amazon.co.uk/kp/embed?asin=B07TH9VPPG&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_9lDMFbA00HP3J

Read this - reality that reads like fiction

C

Thanks! Will do. That whole era was like that. Another good one is "Speed Was My Life" an autobiography by Alfred Neubauer (Mercedes racing boss at the time, for those who may not know). Unfortunately, the book is out of print. Used copies are big bucks if you can find one!

[pmax]

[Bitte ein Bit]

Originally Posted by Tea Tray

Growing old isn’t for sissies...

Couldn't have said it better.

Just finished installing a head unit in my 86' Coupe and came here to relax and have a beer. This made my day....

[911SauCy]

Originally Posted by DSM

I just wanted to go out and enjoy cars. Was very close to engaging this guy but didn’t out of respect for veterans. At the end when he looked at my car and said the tiger tank & “GREAT BUG” I feel he was trying to get under my skin. Was quite proud of myself for showing restraint. Typically I’m not good at that. So heads up Porsche friends. If you see an older guy with vet hat & pins rocking the Orange Z, I recommend straight up ignoring him. Especially after he starts riffling questions as if you work for him? Not sure what was worse that day. That guy or the vette eating up the slantnose lol. Intake elbow blew off so she didn’t make any boost. No excuses a loss is a loss. Anyway thanks for the great & interesting posts.

Not actual car but close enough for reference.

If I have the opportunity to cross his path, I'll be sure to park next to him

[911SauCy]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

Ah, the Germans.

I've never trusted them since they bombed Perl Harbor way back in 1974.

Cleaning Coffee off keyboard....

[dmaddox]

I've found that 99% of the time, the person in front of you ripping on whatever it is (your job, your car, your home, etc..) is envious of what you have.

I know because unfortunately I had to learn the hard way, being a hater for so long. I had a stupid boss, morons with great cars or houses, etc.. I was the jackass. I learned, many never do.

[tdw28210]

One of the biggest Porsch-e-files I know in this part of the world is an ex-Arrmy Ranger. Was stationed in W. Germany in the 60's/70's and fell in love with the cars while he was there. Has probably built a dozen 911's over the years.