For the love of driving

[hugh]

Yes, I like cars....................but it was the joy of driving that lead me to enjoying cars.

I guess it was only natural that when both of these elements combined that I found my way into Porsche (being the yardstick marque for a lot of drivers). As a 'hobby' recreational driver I now find myself indulging  in a variety of amateur motor sport in addition to the odd social drive - exercising both myself and the cars regularly. 

But, I understand that ownership comes in many forms, shapes and sizes and individuals have their own goals in terms of fulfilment. For some, the goal of just buying one is enough and are happy to just sit and look at it, others may take it out for the odd breakfast and or cars and coffee meet, some hit the track and others do all of the above...................

I'm interested to hear what is Porsche/classic car/sports car ownership to you?  

[Airhead]

Short answer? Shit load of fun.

Oh. And a bit of grief sometimes.

[hugh]

41 minutes ago, Airhead said:

Oh. And a bit of grief sometimes.

It's worth it though yeh? 

[P-Kay]

I think that photo sums up the experience by many I would suggest. A picture paints a thousand words.

Classic/sport/Porsche ownership you say....At a minimum:

- the joys and agony of working on them. It's the swearing during that makes the drive all the sweeter. Bonus when you get home without stopping = provides a sense of achievement

- driving/cruising to destination. The experience to the destination (refer above photo) along with the discussions at the destination

- of course the people you meet along the ownership journey!

- clearly the appreciation of the other cars

- washing them when you get home...actually - any time  

I've saddened myself and need to take the old girl out!!

Edited 3March, 2020 by P-Kay
How can I forget the cars!

[Dalai]

Love of cars, love of the marque but also most importantly a focus and social outlet coffee catch ups and SMT's my 'Men's shed'. After I lost my wife to cancer just over 3 years ago, already introverted I became almost a recluse! Getting out and talking cars with others has been so important for my mental health.

[hugh]

5 minutes ago, P-Kay said:

I think that photo sums up the experience by many I would suggest. A picture paints a thousand words.

It's a great shot, complete with you rocking a flanny. Love it. I think Mike took it? (Thanks Mike!) 

[wilson59]

1 hour ago, hugh said:

  

For me it is this . No words needed

[P-Kay]

46 minutes ago, hugh said:

rocking a flanny

I am my wife's Hobo  and yes an awesome shot @Mike737

[Stepo]

I think most of us would've dreamt of owning and driving any car in our late teens, although the budget probably didn't initially allow for a Porsche.  I got my license when I turned 18 like most of my friends and we drove everywhere, even if there was no reason to get somewhere, it was just the thrill of going through the motions in your pride and joy.  Things are slightly different these days, some never get their license, 80% of cars are autos to get people from A to B and we are getting bombarded with hybrid/electric/reduced fossil fuel strategic marketing...…...hell we were going to run out of petrol by 2015!

I don't get out and socialise as often as I'd like but I could talk Porsche all day when I do and still love nothing more than getting out and just driving for the hell of it.  I think I've passed my bug onto my two daughters (18&22) who still love nothing more than concertinaing themselves into the back of the 3.2

 

[edgy]

I loved cars from an early age... I'm unsure why exactly it somewhat runs in the family), apparently one of my first words was tyre, I was obsessed with tyres, and for my 2nd birthday I was made a cake that looked like a, you guessed it; tyre. 

Growing up, I feuded with my dad throughout my teenage years (I was a shithead teenager), we didn't get along and when my time came to get my P's, at 17 against my parents will I bought a V8 commodore, then an RX7 and so on and so on...  

It was in my 20's working in the auto industry I ended up doing a project car with my dad, and I guess that is the time I realised that there was more to cars than just buying them, building and hooning them...we'd really never bonded over anything, and yet here we were working toward a common goal, loading the car on the trailer for the track at 1am on a week night as you do! 

So I guess that is my long winded way of saying other than the joy of driving, or my unexplainable promiscuous relations with cars, I love the interactions, experiences and people it has connected me with... and the Porsche marque has been the most rewarding by a long stretch! I don't think anyone here will contest the fact Porsche make the best cars...

And yes, I'm still the asshole kid with too many cars if you ask my Dad... 

[LeeM]

 I was always into V8's in particular my old Chevy's and not sports cars, as I was mainly racing dirt and road bikes since I was around 16, yet since I was 10 years old (now 54) and seeing a red Turbo with a hot blonde in the passenger seat as I sat in the back seat of my dads old wagon, I always said I'll own a 911 one day.

 Finally being able to buy one (I won't bore you with my full story which some here know about), it was all about just driving the hills, nothing else, yet since the day I met a few owners, it has without question changed my life a lot. 

 I've always been more comfortable with my own company instead of others being around, a loner you could say, yet it made me come out of my shell a bit and not only enjoy the driving part, but also meeting new people and being able to call them my friends.

 As for actually driving the Porsche. Well I've only driven a couple of other marques so I cant really compare (the 308 Ferrari was...yeah nah), yet in all honesty nothing else interests me. I'd love to be able to do track days in mine or preferably a modded 996, but I just can't afford that, so I'll just have keep doing what I'm doing in the hills and also enjoy catching up with the friends I have made

[PIC]

As a teenager my favorite sports car was a 911, but out of reach, so I went down the aussie V8 road, then after a few years swapped to a RX7 and that's when I experienced sports car feel and handling.  Since then I tried a lot of different makes a models, some good, some not so good, but the Porsche brand seems to be the best all rounder, performance, price, resale, build quality, desirability and street cred, an easy car to fall in love with.

For me it's how a car makes me feel when I drive it, and as a amature driver IMO they are a great car to drive.  There is a reason that P car people hold on their cars longer than any other make.

[hugh]

3 hours ago, edgy said:

we'd really never bonded over anything, and yet here we were working toward a common goal, loading the car on the trailer for the track at 1am on a week night as you do! 

Love this. 

4 hours ago, Stepo said:

I think most of us would've dreamt of owning and driving any car in our late teens, although the budget probably didn't initially allow for a Porsche.  I got my license when I turned 18 like most of my friends and we drove everywhere, even if there was no reason to get somewhere, it was just the thrill of going through the motions in your pride and joy.  Things are slightly different these days, some never get their license, 80% of cars are autos to get people from A to B and we are getting bombarded with hybrid/electric/reduced fossil fuel strategic marketing...…...hell we were going to run out of petrol by 2015!

I don't get out and socialise as often as I'd like but I could talk Porsche all day when I do and still love nothing more than getting out and just driving for the hell of it.  I think I've passed my bug onto my two daughters (18&22) who still love nothing more than concertinaing themselves into the back of the 3.2

So nice to see those early pics - I remember that drive well.

[3legs]

For me I was bitten by the Porsche bug when in 1972 I watched a yellow 911 scream past my high school at lunch time. The look, the sound, has always stuck with me.

Fast forward to 1981 and bought my first Porsche, a Mauritius blue 924. I couldn't afford a brand new 911. In hindsight I could have bought a very good secondhand one but I was determined to by a brand new Porsche (which was only my second car after a 6 cyl VB commodore. I was into bikes mainly but had that desire to own a Porsche ) plus I loved the look of the 924.

Joined the PCSA and met some great people and did a lot of motorkhana's and sprints and had a lot of good advice from older members of the club on how to drive and my driving skills improved dramatically because of the advice.

Even my stepfather said the best to happen to me was buying a Porsche as he reckons I grew up a lot because of the people that I was now mixing with. Little did he know some of them were just a much of a ratbag as me, just richer 😁 .

I traded the 924 for a 911E made to look like a RSR and boy was that an eye opener. The 924 was so much easier and comfortable to drive hard than the 911E but I had so much more fun in the 911. Don't get me wrong. I loved that 924. It taught me so much about how to drive, why maintenance is so important and I met some great people because of it but most of all I now understood why people are so passionate about Porsches. Sure I copped of lot of good natured ribbing about a 924 not being a real Porsche but It didn't bother me (especially when I beat them in the motorkhana's 😁)

I've owned the 911 and a 930 and now a 928 and Boxster. Even owned a Ferrari 308 GT4 and whilst I loved the sound it never really did anything for me. 

To this day the 930 is the only car I've driven that leaves my hands shaking every time I got out of the car. Not because of fear but the adrenaline from when that turbo kicked in. Best drug I've ever had. Even now when getting into either my 928 or Boxster  I still have the same excitement and anticipation of the first time I drove my 924. Not even the Ferrari could do that for me.

So yeh I love my Porsches and there will always be a Porsche or two in my shed.

BTW the 928 is a great car so to all you 911 purists who think the 928 is not a real Porsche (and there are some) just remember it was the FIRST clean sheet production model that Porsche made. This from a bloke whose owned and still love 911's. (That sure will stir a few up 🤣).

Edit: BTW the sunroof on a 924 is not only great for letting the sun and wind in. There is one particular thing you can also do without the sunroof on. I'll let you guys and girls figure that out😉

[TwoHeadsTas]

I guess my love affair with sports cars started when I realised I'd made a really bad choice in buying a brand new Toyota T18, and being terrible disappointed with it.  A friend from sailing owned a car yard in Launceston that seemed to have just about every Fiat 124 coupe that was sold second hand go through it.  I was particularly smitten with a repainted irridescent blue one with cream interior, but I soon swapped the T18 for a 5 year old khaki coloured 1975 124CC  coupe.  I loved that car, and learned about things like rust, cracked firewalls stuffing a number of clutch cables etc, but it also lead to meeting a number of car enthusiasts (when I was in my early 20's), some of whom became life long friends, in a club called Classic & Collectors Motor Club of Tasmania.  Members had a smattering of different vehicles, largely British, but one of the things we did was run an annual car show.  It was at one of these that I had the chance to have a real good climb over a 911 for the first time.  It was a Guards Red 911 SC, and I've just found some photos I took at the time, and the page was headed "The Dream (I had a ride in this one!!)".    I always lusted after one after that, and made sure that we always had a couple of Porsches at the motor show.

One of the other club members was a mechanic and car restorer of some note, Geoff Smedley, who was spanner man and car builder for many of our open wheeler racing heros in the 50's and 60's, and he had a business known as Classic Cars, and out the back of that business for a number of years there was a pale blue 356 (B???)speedster, with a black hardtop.  It disappeared one day, and I recall being told it sold for $15,000 (this would have been in the late 80's???).  The club eventually folded, and some of us moved onto the MG Car Club, and I moved on to a Stag, then an MGB, MGB GT V8, etc.  That original club did give me exposure to a number of other makes, notably Ferrari, Aston Martin and Rolls Royce, but it did also lead to me being involved in the formation of a charitable trust that became the National Automobile Museum of Tasmania, which has now been in existence for over 30 years, and of which I have recently become a director again - talking about coming full circle.

That circle of friends I developed at that time , and through the MG Car Club have certainly stood the test of time, and through these people I've had the opportunity to drive a 308GTB in the very first Targa Tasmania, as well as keeping in touch with the desire to own a Porsche one day.  That day came for us about 6 1/2 years ago, when Dianne, after having had an MX5 as the first 2 seater sports car since we became DINKS, decided that she should be the one to have a Porsche first, and a lovely Seal Grey manual 987S became her daily drive for 5 years, before upgrading to a 981 18 months ago.  I finally got my own car 2 years ago, when I bought the 996.2, and then the bug bit harder with buying the LHD GT3 and now the silver GT3.  Joining the Porsche Club here has also lead to another new group of friends, and I think it is indeed the company on our drives that makes them so enjoyable,  enhanced by being able to watch two holy grail cars (996 GT3CS) join our drives, as well as everyone else just enjoying their cars 🙂   Meeting enthusiasts in other states through the PFA has also been a joy (Dan189, Dalai, LeeM, 3Legs etc) and I look forward to joining the contingent of invaders (Stew F, Polorot etc) for a night and a drive in a couple of weeks over here.

[sydr]

7 hours ago, TwoHeadsTas said:

I guess my love affair with sports cars started when I realised I'd made a really bad choice in buying a brand new Toyota T18, and being terrible disappointed with it.  A friend from sailing owned a car yard in Launceston that seemed to have just about every Fiat 124 coupe that was sold second hand go through it.  I was particularly smitten with a repainted irridescent blue one with cream interior, but I soon swapped the T18 for a 5 year old khaki coloured 1975 124CC  coupe.  I loved that car, and learned about things like rust, cracked firewalls stuffing a number of clutch cables etc, but it also lead to meeting a number of car enthusiasts (when I was in my early 20's), some of whom became life long friends, in a club called Classic & Collectors Motor Club of Tasmania.  Members had a smattering of different vehicles, largely British, but one of the things we did was run an annual car show.  It was at one of these that I had the chance to have a real good climb over a 911 for the first time.  It was a Guards Red 911 SC, and I've just found some photos I took at the time, and the page was headed "The Dream (I had a ride in this one!!)".    I always lusted after one after that, and made sure that we always had a couple of Porsches at the motor show.

One of the other club members was a mechanic and car restorer of some note, Geoff Smedley, who was spanner man and car builder for many of our open wheeler racing heros in the 50's and 60's, and he had a business known as Classic Cars, and out the back of that business for a number of years there was a pale blue 356 (B???)speedster, with a black hardtop.  It disappeared one day, and I recall being told it sold for $15,000 (this would have been in the late 80's???).  The club eventually folded, and some of us moved onto the MG Car Club, and I moved on to a Stag, then an MGB, MGB GT V8, etc.  That original club did give me exposure to a number of other makes, notably Ferrari, Aston Martin and Rolls Royce, but it did also lead to me being involved in the formation of a charitable trust that became the National Automobile Museum of Tasmania, which has now been in existence for over 30 years, and of which I have recently become a director again - talking about coming full circle.

That circle of friends I developed at that time , and through the MG Car Club have certainly stood the test of time, and through these people I've had the opportunity to drive a 308GTB in the very first Targa Tasmania, as well as keeping in touch with the desire to own a Porsche one day.  That day came for us about 6 1/2 years ago, when Dianne, after having had an MX5 as the first 2 seater sports car since we became DINKS, decided that she should be the one to have a Porsche first, and a lovely Seal Grey manual 987S became her daily drive for 5 years, before upgrading to a 981 18 months ago.  I finally got my own car 2 years ago, when I bought the 996.2, and then the bug bit harder with buying the LHD GT3 and now the silver GT3.  Joining the Porsche Club here has also lead to another new group of friends, and I think it is indeed the company on our drives that makes them so enjoyable,  enhanced by being able to watch two holy grail cars (996 GT3CS) join our drives, as well as everyone else just enjoying their cars 🙂   Meeting enthusiasts in other states through the PFA has also been a joy (Dan189, Dalai, LeeM etc) and I look forward to joining the contingent of invaders (Stew F, Polorot etc) for a night and a drive in a couple of weeks over here.

very interested in your comment about the National Automobile Museum of Tasmania - is it correct that the museum has a 1934/1935 Riley Imp on display?  And if so, what is the known history of this car?

[TwoHeadsTas]

1 hour ago, sydr said:

very interested in your comment about the National Automobile Museum of Tasmania - is it correct that the museum has a 1934/1935 Riley Imp on display?  And if so, what is the known history of this car?

@sydr, not sure if it is currently on display in the new museum (we relocated 5 months ago), but it was certainly displayed at the old site.  Pretty sure it belongs to one of my co-directors, and I'd be happy to pass on his contact details if you'd like to talk to him (sorry if I'm a little vague, but all our displays cars are co-ordinated by our manager, and it's only a short while since I rejoined as a director, and haven't got fully up to speed with who owns what...)

[firstone]

Started with billy carts.

I liked pushbikes but when i saw the fun kids were having on billy carts I researched scavenged and bought mower wheels with ball bearings straight up. Dad told me to go up the road and tell the steel shop what i wanted for axles. I had little idea he could drill them for cotter pins. He was hard to approach at 8 or 9, no smile right up until i was walking out impressed by him.

The wooden frame took a few variations. 

First car was an xw falcon 6cyl 3 on the tree.

Rusty dog. 😂

Porsche, holy shit. Got all the good bits for amazing driving. 

The other kids think I'm swish or wanker.

Stiff sh1t, it's a roller coaster.

I live vicariously through you kids and your carts. 

Great thread idea. 👍

[Pokiou]

For me it was the brand and what it represented, once i got behind the wheel of one, i totally got what it was all about.. but what ruins it for me is some of the people in the marquee and their snobbery of certain models... it really takes the pleasure of being part of something amazing and history driven... But non the less. I love all the makes and models and get so happy when i see them driven rather then stored.

[Dalai]

Surprised to read you have encountered snobbery @Pokiou. I thought that might have been the case prior to ownership, but have yet to encounter it. Everyone regardless of model or number of cars owned have been extremely welcoming. 

[firstone]

Probably depends where ya live.

I'm in typical holden/ landcruiser country here.

Highway patrol waves ffs. A nice change from being followed in olden days.

They're in bmw now.

[DavidW•GT3•]

I've been a Porsche tragic since I first heard the sound of a flat 6 air cooled 911 back in the 1970s. I bought my first Porsche, a 987 Cayman S, when I got made redundant about 10 years ago.  It was either do something sensible with the money or something for me.  I've never looked back and since have moved through a 997 Turbo, a Cayenne GTS and now a 991 GT3.  All my P cars have been driven hard and regularly. After all,  they were made to drive.   Every trip is an experience, enriched further by sharing with friends or other Porsche enthusiasts.   Can't stand the market shift to investors treating these amazing machines as assets.  Kills it for the real enthusiasts!