I think it would be interesting to know from other members what originally piqued their interest in P cars and how we all ended up with the same passion and enthusiasm. I will start by sharing my own story.

Flash back to 1974. I was 7 yrs old and one day my dad brought home a new car which I thought was cool because of the big googly eyes and the fact that it smelled so different from any other car I had ever been in.

It turns out that car was a simple 911S in non metallic brown. I can remember being in the passenger seat as dad would let me shift the gears on his signal. I knew then that I would simply have to have one of my own one day.

That car was stolen only months later and replaced with another, a silver one this time. I remember distinctly how other P car drivers would flash their lights as we crossed paths. It was my introduction to the brotherhood and the beginning of my understanding of what made these cars different.

Fast forward to 1991. I was 23 and my boss at work had just bought a 1988 Carrera targa in black. One day as it turns out he asked me to drive it home for him since he needed to swap cars to move some boxes.

As soon as I got behind the wheel I felt like I was home. The air cooled motor crackled to life as soon as I twisted the key and the clutch at first felt awkward but I quickly got used to it. I do remember the AC was horrible in the Florida heat but the driving experience was everything I hoped it would be.

I worked hard and in two years time, 1993, I finally bought my first. A 1990 C2 cab, white/beige with a black top and Ruf wheels. I think I paid 42k or so and it was a huge step up from the 1988 car, especially in the AC department. I loved the car and kept it 8 months before my boss decided he wanted to sell his house and since I was a renter at that time I agreed to buy his house, give him my C2 and take his 88' Carrera off his hands all as part of the deal. So, in short, I got to keep a 911' albeit an inferior one and I got my first house which was not a bad trade.

About 18 months later he decided to sell the white C2 and I bought it back from him for $28k. Now I had two 911's in the driveway and the neighbors were beginning to get suspiscious! I sold the black 88' Carrera for $18k ( it's still worth that much today I'm sure!) and now had my original white C2 cab back and all was good in the world.

Fast forward to 1998 and the 993's had been out for a few years and I just had to have one. I located a 1995 Silver cab with 20k miles and I traded my 90' C2 + $25k and was now the proud owner of the new 993. This car was a vast improvement over the 90' model and I loved it dearly and drove it until 3/00 when I foolishly decided to sell it and use the proceeds to buy tech stocks at the exact high. We all know how that turned out.

I was Porsche-less for two years ( having leased a corvette when I sold the 95' car) and in March 02' I found the one car I will always regret selling. A pristine 12k mile example of a 1997 Carrera S wide body. Wow! what a car. I paid $48k and drove that car 3yrs until 3/05 which I foolishlyh decided I would sell it and buy real estate ( see the pattern here?)

Well, luckily for me, I didn't actually close on the property I wanted so I just leased an A4 while I shopped more property and was Porsche-less once again. Thankfully, I ended up buying none as common sense prevailed.

Fast forward to 8/07. I had quit my job a year earlier and started my own business and was now in the market again for a new car. This time I bought my first brand new P car. A 07' base Carrera, lightly optioned, MSRP was $74k and I paid $66k brand new which I thought was a great deal. I drove that car six months before I got broad sided by another driver and one again I found myself with no Porsche.

I then ordered in 7/08 a new 09 base Carrera specced exactly as i wanted it and that is what sits in my garage right now. There you have it! full circle.

Would love to hear other stories.

 

That's a great story. My experiences with Porsches can't compare, so I won't try. Let's just say that I finally got my dream car in April. It's the iconic automobile to me.

 

A friend of mine bought a 997 turbo and let me drive it a few times and I liked it so I decided to order a 911 for myself. I am a bit of a convertible person so I ordered a 09 911S Cab 6speed. This was before anyone had driven one and they were going for full list. My car took about 5 months and by the time it was coming in the whole world was falling apart. The dealer was not willing to price the car to the current conditions and I found I could by a lambo for not much more than the P car. So I bought a gallardo instead.

Fast forward about a year and a half and the itch for a new car had come again. I decided I wanted AM V8 Vantage convertible. So me and the lady went and drove one. We only drove it for about 20 mins and I decided I liked it and I would buy it. My lady asked me to sleep on it. She said I was to young for the car and I would be bored in a month. So I did. On the way home she said you should drive a 911. So we went to Porsche dealer that a good friend of mine was running now. I told him I was going to buy the vantage and said just drive the 911S and if you don't like it buy the Vantage. Well he knew what he was doing. I fell in love with the PDK, the power was awesome and made the Vantage feel weak and the car just suited me better. So I bought myself a 911S for christmas and I love it.

I think I will be part of the porsche family for a super long time now

 

For me, it started when I was ~11, riding in my uncle's '86? '88? Turbo. The sound, the speed, the shape of the vehicle... It was totally unlike any other car on the road. Heck, my parents drove the complete opposite vehicle in every way imaginable: an 81 Volvo D240. That's a helluva transition for a young boy!

Then of course in high school, the ever ubiquitious poster in the counselor's office "Justification for Higher Education" with the five car garage housing various exotics (including a turbo, of course) was my motivation for doing well in school! Jump to the present and I was finally able to reward myself with a P-car last year! My wife caught my enthusiasm for sports cars and recently picked out her own Carrera! I'm so proud of her for not going with the whole practical "we need a sedan for starting a family" route hehehe

Alan

 

Great stories.

Mine is very simple. I always wanted a Porsche since playing with Matchboxes cars.

Graduated from Med school in 1993, saved up enough money and bought my first new Porsche 993 Targa in 1996...and then the illness continues...which also spread to family and friends.

 

Great story tromero.

I just wish I could remember when I first decided that I wanted a 911... According to my parents, I was very fond of the shape at an early age, they kept some drawings I made when I was 4-5 and the cars always had rounded roofs and hatchbacks. But maybe I was just drawing Pinto's?

German cars, and particularly sports ones, were extremely rare where I grew up so I would say that I most probably saw one in a movie. The earliest movies I remember which had 911's in them are "Slapshot", "Cannonball Run", "LeMans" and "Condorman" - I remember them because of the cars and these movies in the early 80's are pretty much what imprinted the 911 image on me. We had one of the early Beta VCR's from Sony and, to my parents dismay, I would just roll those movies over and over...

When I was 15 and started earning my own money, I made myself the promise that I would own my first brand new 911, paid cash, by the time I was 30. I missed the deadline by a couple of weeks because of a boat delay on my custom order. It is interesting to note that I had never even driven one, never ridden one, and made the purchase sight unseen - making it very clear that I wasn't buying a car. And it was the best feeling ever, only to be topped a few years later by the birth of my sons.

After a pause for a coupe of years from 911 ownership, I am now on my 2nd one, and I have to say that it was much less of an emotional event this time - but I guess there can only one true first love.

T.

 

I remember sitting out front of a convenience store in the back of the car when I was about 11 or 12. My brothers and I were talking cars. I asked my dad what the best sports car in the world is, being German born, his natural response was a Porsche 911. That comment imprinted on me ever since.

Bought a 1978 911SC three months before I turned 19. The car was 4 years older than I was. It took me 4 days to tragically discover the pendulum effect of a rear engine car. Took 8 years before I could really afford another one but 3 months before I turned 28 I bought my '06 997 C2. Couldn't be happier.

I don't think I'll ever not have a 911 in the stable anymore.

 

This is a copy of a reply I submitted to a similar question posted some time ago:
~~~~~~~~~~~
Many years ago a friend and I were coming back from a road trip when he asked me, "wanna see some Ferraris"? Dumb question, so we stopped by “Auto Italia” in Greensboro, NC. We showed up in dirty blue jeans and tennis shoes and were met at the door by the only salesman in the place. He asked if he could help us and we said no, we were there just to look. After about 10 minutes of us drooling on everything he asked us if we had a few minutes to spare. We did, so he proceeded to give us the grand tour of the whole facility; explained all the Ferraris and how one model was related to another, took us through the restoration area where they were working on a Dino, through the garage bays (sparkling clean), and then up to the Maserati dealership located on the other side of the building. We thank him for the tour and agreed that we had never been treated like that at any other dealership either one of us had ever visited...ever. I swore to myself that one day I was going to do this all over again.

Flash forward those many years, and one day I talk the wife into driving up to Greensboro for a couple of hours to look at Ferraris. We arrived at the now much newer and much bigger dealership and were met at the door by one of the salesmen (Déjà vu!) who asked if he could help us. We said no, we were just there to look. He stayed with us and answered all of our questions, explained the evolution of the various Ferrari models, and even started up one of the new California models because my wife asked a question about the folding hardtop (what a sweet sound that car made!). We then wandered through the Aston Martin and Maserati inventories and ended up at the other end of the dealership where the Porsches were located.

By now I figured I could at least finagle a test ride and asked if we could try out a Cayman. Five minutes later the salesman and I are out on the road. He shows me the route to take and we returned and the wife and I took the car out. Great little car (PDK’d), but we both agreed that it was a little too small inside. I said that all I wanted to do when we got back was sit in that red 911 that was on the floor to compare interior space. We got back, sat in the 911, and it was like night and day. The Porsche sales manager came over, and we ended up in his office looking at inventories and discussing purchase options. By now our little 2 hour visit had taken the whole day and all I wanted to do by then was get home. The manager asked me what I had driven up in (’06 Corvette) so we went out to look it over. He said he would work up some numbers and would call me the next day. I figured any numbers he came up with would resemble the debt of some 3rd world country, but I said OK and we left, not expecting to hear anything.

The next day, the phone rings and it’s the sales manager. The numbers he quoted me were indeed shocking, but in a very good way. We played phone tag for the rest of the day exchanging information and by late afternoon we are back at the dealership picking up our new ’09 Carrera S. Not exactly an impulse purchase but unplanned nonetheless. It was probably the only time that my wife and I left a car dealership smiling.
~~~~~~~~~~
I've been through more cars than I care to remember, one of them being a '65 356C I restored while still in the service that was one that should have never got away, however a guy made me an offer that was too sweet at the time to pass up. Needless to say with my '09 sitting pretty in the garage, the smiles continue today!!

 

Change a few dates and colors and my story is virtually identical to yours... my first one changing gears was a 1973T. Then my first one to drive was a 1986 Targa. The first one I bought was a 1990 C4 in guards red. It was 1993 and it was a lawyer's car who was divorcing... I didn't feel too sorry for him. Then I moved to the US (all before was in Belgium) in 1997 but kept the C4 in Belgium as I wanted to keep it... In 1998 I got a Boxster - not one option! - in 1999 a 996 C2 with a trick suspension bought second hand. in 2001 I got my first brand new 911 - Speed Yellow with aero kit. I went to the track with it all the time so decided I needed a track car. Got a 993 cup car for that. Then Moved back to Europe (UK) but bought a new 2003 996 to take to Belgium for my dad who was porscheless by then. When I got to the UK I also bought a 964RSR track car - street registered!!! Taught a few lessons to 996 Cup cars with that one... and then put street license plates back on, threw the slicks in my wife's Cayenne and drove home on street rubber. PRICELESS to do that. Then I got too big for my own shoes and decided I had to have a Ferrari. Worst decision ever. Hated it within 60 days. Only kept it a year and got seriously into racing; first a 996 cup because there were no series to race the 964RSR competitively (bad error to have sold the 964RSR!!!!) and then got 996 RSR for 2 seasons. Back to the US and had ordered a 997TT with PDK. It was not released in 2009... the market tanked so I decided to look at what was going on in the world before spending money... First time porscheless EVER since I had a license... lasted 14 months and then decided I had to have a Spyder. Got it in May and I love it.
Now seriously contemplating replacing my wife's Q7 with a new Cayenne and my BMW daily driver with a used Targa 4.
Fun topic, thanks for posting!

 

Hopefully I will add to my story later this year as I talk about trading the base Carrera for a 2010 GT3 or perhaps hold out for the less expensive and more luxurious 2012 Carrera RS... To me sitting in a 911 just feels like home. Driving any other car feels like "cheating" on your girlfriend/wife!

 

Jeez I'm old...in 1965 my crazy uncle showed up with a 356 super 90.....said take 'er out. Gray w/dark red interior. Oh yeah. Drag raced a dodge slant six and won. (Hey, I was 15!) Then, after 6 different MGA's, a TF, Morgan, college, Europe, I bought a '69 912. It rusted. Then after a couple years, a 71 911T. It got wrecked. On to '81, a 912E that I kept, Peru Red........and gave it to my youngest daughter two years ago. (She became pregnant between her Jr & Sr years in college. I told her she could have it if she finished and got her degree. She did with a new baby, and I did. Which, BTW is great, as the 912 will probably be my legacy) In between, before Ebay, I would scoot down to the Orlando, pick up a 944 (4 different times), drive it home, drive it, and sell it for a little profit. "You mean I can own a Porsche for $12,000?"

"Yup" I would say

So, a couple of years ago, I was Porscheless for, what, 35 years (gawd) I bought me an '03 C4S.

Lovin' it, but what if my uncle hadn't shown up back in 1965.

God works in mysterious ways

 

I'd seen and admired Porsche earlier than this (my first two 'dream cars' as a very young kid circa @1966 were the Porsche older 356, the 911 and a Jag XKE); but my first REAL connection to Porsche happened late 1969/early 1970. My dad had sights on an Audi 100LS (the Porsche was out because we needed a family car) and the nearest dealership for Audi at the time was in Lancaster, CA. They also had VW and Porsche under the same roof.

During our first initial visit to the dealership, I was totally enamored with their Porsche inventory. They had 911 Targas, 911 Coupes, the 914 (its debut year!)etc. and even at my age (just 9 yrs old), they graciously allowed me to view and sit-in the vehicles while my parents were specing-out a new Audi to order. I had a blast viewing, sitting-in and SMELLING (yes there was that special smell!) and dreaming the world of Porsche. My imagination ran wild as a youngster sitting in the driver's seat. A few return visits to the dealership before Dad took deliver of his Audi did nothing but make the bond (and the dream) stronger.

That bond between myself and Porsche was firmly established- that's all it took; and hasn't gone away. Now, some 40 years later, I'm very close to getting my first P-car. And it will be a 911.

 

With me it was simple, @ 6'5" tall the only option I had was a carrera for the head room and leg room.
2005 carrera, then a 2006 cayenne turbo S to eliminate the carerra ( NOT)
then sold the 05 carrera and bought the 09 4S.
Porsche, the best car made. PERIOD.......

 

My history is short…very short

I love cars but often move from one passion to the next when it comes to models and manufacturers. I can remember the red Countach poster over my cousin’s bed (he is 7 years older than me) but not knowing anything about it as I was too young at the time to know anything about cool or cars.

Move a few years later (early to mid 90s) and all I looked at were late 60s early 70s Vettes and the new Viper due to my model building hobby. Late 90s was the first Porsche that caught my eye that Will Smith drove in Bad Boys. Never thought of them again as just about every other major supercar maker went in and out of my fantasies.

2006-ish was worked for an outsourced IT company. We had a client who just purchased a 911 from the West Coast with a full carbon package, even though I had a stage 2 WRX (270 HP) it ripped on the drive he took me on, it was soon to be a growing passion.

Late 2009 my 2007 STI needed to be sold for something better. After months of looking at cars I started to actually look and consider Porsche as a viable option. About Six months later my 2005 C2S was in my driveway.

 

First post for me...

It started for me with buying Issue #25 (August 1988) of Sports Car International from a grocery store magazine rack. Even at quite a young age, I was captivated by what was the then-brand-new 964. I can't even tell you how many times I must have read that mag and pored over every word of the technical specs, driving impressions and photos of that car. Some kids get comics, I got car mags. I promised myself I'd drive a new one off the lot one day...

It didn't get any better with the advent of the 993 which is probably one of my favourite automotive shapes of all time, especially in the wide-body look of the C4S and Turbo. If anything, that cemented my desire for a 911.

In my late teens I dabbled with the idea of a vintage 911 or 912 - first one I drove was a 912E, which was amusing but was in need of work that I didn't have the space or time to provide it. Same story with the '68 911 that I drove some months later.

Fast forward to ~8 years ago. I'm driving a highly modified Audi A4 1.8T (think H&R Race coil-overs and StopTech 332mm brakes amongst other things) and thinking that something more purpose-built might be interesting. I'm very enamored with the concept of an NSX after driving a friend's but still have the 911 bug. I get a test-drive in a two-year old 996 C2 and... something's missing. It's just not quite 'right' - especially coming from my razor-sharp A4 and 50-60mi on an NSX in the Santa Cruz mountains. I decide to stick with the A4, eventually trade to a twin-turbo S4 which I sell on my way out of the country for a bit.

Three years ago, I'm just back to the US and am completely apathetic about cars. Nothing's exciting; truth be told, the Ford Explorer that I was borrowing from a very gracious friend was about all the car I cared about right then. That is, until that gracious friend needed Bessie the Exploder (tm) to run some errands over the weekend.

See, Bessie was available for my use because that friend had recently taken delivery of a 2007 Boxster that she'd special-ordered after dithering for many years over whether or not to take the plunge. Imagine my surprise when this conversation took place:

Gracious Friend: "Hey, I need Bessie over the weekend, is that a problem?"
Me: "No, not at all. I'll have <other friend> drive me around this weekend."
Gracious Friend: "Oh, I was going to let you drive the Boxster."
Me: "Really??? You just got that thing."
Gracious Friend: "Yeah, so?"

After my first drive I think it took all of three hours before I was in a dealership looking at Boxsters. I was hooked, bad; but didn't want to splash out for a new one. After a few more weeks of looking around for a CPO 987, I was willing to admit defeat and was a day away from buying an Accord Coupe (the apathy had returned). I get a call from Gracious Friend:

Gracious Friend: "Hey, did you buy anything yet?"
Me: "No... probably picking up an Accord tomorrow."
Gracious Friend: "Don't. I just heard from <fellow porsche nut> that <dealer> is having a sale on this year's Boxsters. You should check that out."
Me: "Sure thing, thanks for the tip."

Two days later I was driving a new 2007 Boxster, which was the most trouble-free car I've ever owned and one of the best ownership experiences I've had. There's something magical about doing the Northern to Southern California drive in a Porsche with the top down the whole way, and it's something I'd tell anyone to do at least once.

I suppose it's no surprise then that a little over two weeks ago I made good on my promise from 1988 and brought home a 2010 987.2 Carrera in Basalt Black. I'm hoping my experience with it mimics my Boxster experience, only with a little more power. Driving it back to San Francisco over the Golden Gate was an experience I'll probably never forget, and was a great way to kick off a new experience with my first 911.

Thanks to the OP for an excellent topic.

MB