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Porsche Club of America
The Northeast Region

By Dennis Cataldo, Autox968@aol.com
NOR'EASTER Online - February 2001

Have you every really thought about why you own a Porsche? I have thought about this on many occasions and I have come to the conclusion that the reason goes much deeper than the "characteristics" most people use to focus their search and that's because I have already owned one. Usually, I think about this subject when deciding to purchase a new sports car. I asked myself this question many times but the answer is always the same. It has to be a Porsche.

I am not quite sure what got me interested in Porsches to begin with, when I was a kid I lived reasonably close to Porsche dealer. I passed by almost every day looking in the window and occasionally begging my parents to "pull in" so I could take a look. And, I am sure my initial infatuation had something to do with the movie Risky Business. That was absolutely my favorite movie and coincidently a 928 was my first Porsche. Come to think of it, that was my favorite movie until Top Gun came out. Hmmm,..... I wonder if an F-15 is in my future!

I was so obsessed with Porsches by the time I was age 15, I just knew I had to have one, someday. Fortunately, that day came much sooner than I had predicted when a skilled thief rid me of my first car, a used 1982 Toyota Supra. With a little(okay maybe a LOT) of lobbying, I convinced my parents that a used Porsche would be a better and actually more affordable buy than replacing the Supra with a new one. The Supra's were running upwards of 20K when they redesigned them back in 1986. Since I had "earned" the new car as part of "Dean's list" agreement at school, I had negotiating power. And negotiate I did, right into a 1979 Petrol Blue 928. The sun rose and set on that car, I didn't let dust settle on it! I owned that car for a couple of years and when the mounting repairs, not to mention tickets began to bankrupt me I opted into a slower, newer and more affordable 944, so I thought anyway. I blew the engine in that car and eventually sold it and moved into a vintage 911 Targa for a short period of time.

My life was changing with college, a girlfriend and everything else you go through at that younger age(notice I did not say "young", that would be conceding). So, the last Porsche went on trade for a Jeep Wrangler complete with a warranty and a very large payment book. I had bought an "original" 1970 Pontiac Ram Air Firebird to cure my hot rod fetish, the problem: it was original, an original piece of S#%#*. But, I would take my time and make the car right.

Fast-Forward a couple of years and I had become friendly with my Orthodontist, a very nice guy named Gil Meyer. You might know him, he knew a thing or two about Porsches. And boy, did Gil get my blood flowing. I was beginning to think seriously about another car and my insurance was back in the affordable range, no more "oh my god, do you actually have 35 points" from the insurance agent.

Unfortunately, Gil was killed while driving his Porsche on the way up to Vermont late one November evening and along with him, my conduit back to Porsche. A few more years passed and as things happen, and they always do, I had a doctor's appointment where I was presented some "no so great" news and had one of those "screw it" lets live for today moments. Straight to the convenience store, bought a Want Ad and went right to the Porsche's, no thinking, just went there. Ad reads: 1988 Porsche 944 Turbo, needs a little work, need money. Looks good to me, I call the guy, go to the house, drive the car, offer him about $3,000 less than he is asking, he takes it!

I joined the PCA for the first time, as Gil had so favorably spoken of. I got involved in autocross racing and met lots of great people, it was more fun, organized and structured than I ever imagined and with so many other things to do. I fondly remember the great driving lessons I was given for the first few years by Bruce Corwin, Steve Ross and Charlie Learoyd called "getting my ass kicked". I decided, after trying so very hard that my 944 Turbo was not up to the task of slaying those 968's of Bruce and the gang. I was going to autocross an older 944 I had bought for that purpose in a class that was more equally set and I would buy "something else" as "the" car. I traded the 944 Turbo for a BMW ragtop, for my wife of course.

Hence, the point of the article comes to life. I looked and looked at different cars and with the intention of purchasing something more "exotic". I was fairly settled on an black 1993 Acura NSX, my wife loved it, the car was fast, exotic looking and it could be had for about half the price of a new 911. But I just couldn't do it. I had autocrossed the 944 once and without knowing the car, race tires or power steering had finished second at my first event by only .08 of a second. Hell, that was the very first award I had gotten in over three years, but it didn't really feel like I won anything. I also took that car to my first drivers ed event where my desire to go fast was taken to new heights. The 944 would have to go and the new car would have to "do it all". And that car had to be a Porsche!

Why my wife asked? My answer: "Honey, to give up Porsches is like having to give up a way of life, if I buy an NSX or anything else for that matter, it would mean giving up everything. There is no other car that has such a great heritage and in such abundance. Porsches are reliable, they have dealerships readily accessible in all fifty states, there are multiple choices for performance minded repair facilities in our area, there is a very well organized national club as well as a great local region and I receive some of the nicest publications available. The Porsche club also hosts all of the driving things I am interested in, if I go into something other than a Porsche I cannot do any of the autocrossing or drivers ed events that I love to attend, or maybe I could but not against other cars and drivers that are equally classed. Heck, there are probably more Porsches at a single drivers ed event than there are NSX's in the entire state. It's so, so organized. It has to be a Porsche!" Her reply: "so, what model are you going to get?"

As many of you know, I bought the 968 that I have been enjoying for the past eighteen months. I had a great time autocrossing this past season, actually winning NER Class 5 and the Zone One. Unfortunately, none of my old nemesis stuck around for the fun, those guys ran off and did crazy things like buying factory race cars and converting to air cooled buggies. Chickens, hah!

In retrospect, the 968 originally cost me less than half of what that NSX would have been. Sure, it doesn't turn as many heads and surely it isn't as fast, but heck I didn't have to trade "my way of life" for it, and my guess is, neither would you!

Thank you Gil, you were a very good man.

Porsche Club of America The Northeast Region

Porsche Club of America
The Northeast Region