2017 was a year of recovery for me. It didn’t start out that way. In retrospect, I hit bottom in March when I purchased the 1974 911 Targa. Not because it was a bad car or a bad purchase, but because it was my third car. Not the third car I had ever bought, but the third Porsche I owned concurrently. I did not need the car. I simply wanted it. I had an unquenched thirst for a reasonably early 911. So I bought it. After I bought it, I convinced myself that I was happy and I was done buying cars. Well, maybe Pam or the fact that I was out of room in the garage and driveway had a lot to do with convincing me I was done buying cars. In any event, I spent the second quarter driving the 911 and the Cayman and letting the 912 just sit in the garage, except when I pulled it out to teach my younger daughter, Kim, to drive a car with a manual transmission.
Then I noticed that I still had a desire to purchase additional Porsches. A strong one. It scared me. Not a lot, but enough. I began to question myself. What was I doing? How deep did I want to get into this? What was driving me? The more I thought about it, the more I realized I had no interest in collecting more cars nor did I have an interest in modifying them or working on them, though early on I thought I did, but the reality was that I would rather work in the kitchen than in the garage, even in my newly repaired garage. So where was this compulsion coming from? What was causing it? Obviously, some of it came from my DNA.
I have always had a weakness for cars. I have always been attracted to them. I have always looked at them with longing. Cars have never been about basic transportation for me. They have not always been about looks or comfort, either. Instead, I have consistently opted for functionality and performance and to a lesser extent comfort. For 30 years I was smitten with BMWs, mainly 3 and 5 Series coupes or sedans. I could not walk into a showroom without feeling an irrational urge to buy a new one, though I never wanted to have more than one BMW at the same time. Recently, I have lost that loving feeling towards them. Porsches have taken their place, and I can walk into a BMW dealership and feel no need to buy or even sit in one. Walking into a Porsche dealership continues to be another story.
But there was more to this than nature affecting me. Nurture was playing a role here, too. Most normal people would call me a Porsheholic. And to a large extent, I guess I am. But I do not hang around with enough normal people. My Facebook news feed is a continuous stream of cars, cars and more cars. Sometimes people are present. No need to even describe my Instagram feed. My circle of friends includes many serious car club guys. They are car collectors and restorers. They own way more cars than I own. They have multiple garages to house them. They keep many mechanics in business. They own cars which have had more oil changes than miles driven. They were more likely to encourage me than not. Most thought I was simply committed to the Porsche marque not committable. Clearly, they were affecting my judgement. At least I was still sane enough to realize that.
Thankfully, summer arrived. I wanted to drive the 911, but, as it did not have air conditioning, it was very tough to justify, even though I was more willing to accept sweat dripping from my brow and my shirt sticking to the seat when I drove it than I was willing to accept not driving it. That’s when it dawned on me. I really only cared about driving my cars. That was why I owned them. As I have written about before, my friend Mark helped me realize that I had no need to own more cars. I just needed to own the right cars. And one of the right cars for me was his 1989 Carrera Targa. So, counterintuitively, I took my first step towards recovery by buying his 1989 Carrera …. and selling my 1969 912 and my 1974 911.
I have owned the 1989 Carrera for the past four months. My Porscheholism has gone into remission. I have no desire to purchase another Porsche, even a 993. My driving needs are met completely by my Cayman GTS and my Carrera. It is with more than a slight sense of relief that I can go to any car event and leave without longing to purchase another car, even when great ones are dangled in my path. I can go into a Porsche showroom and leave feeling the same way. Having said that, it is not clear if I have recovered or just replaced one illness with another.
Now that I can drive either car any time in relative comfort, I find myself having issues deciding which car to drive. It’s not like one is more fun to drive than the other. I love driving them both, even though the two cars represent wildly different manifestations of Porsche engineering. One is essentially analog. One is essentially digital. One is air-cooled. One is water-cooled. One has a rear engine. One has a mid-engine. One has a manual transmission. One has a dual electronic clutch transmission. One has a few creature comforts. One has a lot, including a seriously good air-conditioner and seat warmers, arguably one of the least functional features to have in a car in LA. One has classic styling. One has masculine elegance. One represents the past. One represents the current, though with the advent of the Cayman 718 and its turbocharged four banger, I could argue that both represent the past. So while I no longer long to possess another Porsche, I now long for a way to choose which Porsche to drive.
This is not an issue to be taken lightly. It has been causing me serious angst. I have spoken to several of my car club cronies about it, as they are way more experienced with it than I am. While they cannot help me solve my problem, at least they understand it and have helped me label it. Apparently, I have a split Porschenality. I am not alone, but I am definitely in the minority, as most Porsche sports car owners are either 911 centric or Boxster/Cayman centric. Sort of like most people are either right or left brain dominant. Only a relative handful show convergence.
As 2017 draws to a close, I have been searching for worthy resolutions for 2018. So far I have only one on my list: Find a way to decide which car to drive. Somehow I doubt I will, but I will have lots of fun trying.