Porsche ownership: Moral imperative for car guys/gals?

mazdeuce wrote: I think owning SOME iconic car is a good thing to do. Doesn't have to be a Porsche, but something that is widely considered to be really 'good'. Something with an absolutely rabid die hard community. It gives you some perspective and lets you know if you can be a marque guy.

This. There is so much win in this. So, get an Elise. Get a 911. Maybe pick up a Vette, or buy that Mondial and drive it to work on pretty days. Take your Biturbo to dinner and get an Uber home. I really mazduce has the better version of this story. At some point, save your money up, and own something nice and iconic.

I've owned an a/c 911 and a 924, currently own a 996. I bought a 996 because I wasn't willing to pay extra for an SC or C3.2, but that wasn't necessarily a good idea. The 996 is neat, fast, but also not the same as the older ones.

I doubt I'll buy another watercooled 911 and the pre-964s are currently out of reach financially. I happen to like them, but I think "requiring" a car person to own one is the wrong end of the bull communicating. I also happen to like Mazdas, Evos and a whole bunch of other cars. You pick what you desire and forget about what the rest of the world thinks.

Nope. Zero interest in Porsche. Unless its one of theses:

Mike wrote:

mazdeuce wrote: I think owning SOME iconic car is a good thing to do. Doesn't have to be a Porsche, but something that is widely considered to be really 'good'. Something with an absolutely rabid die hard community. It gives you some perspective and lets you know if you can be a marque guy.

This. There is so much win in this. So, get an Elise. Get a 911. Maybe pick up a Vette, or buy that Mondial and drive it to work on pretty days. Take your Biturbo to dinner and get an Uber home. I really mazduce has the better version of this story. At some point, save your money up, and own something nice and iconic.

This is really the correct answer. If you want to be a car guy/gal, you need to own an icon at some point. Something that makes your neighbor say hi.

All, Thanks! This has been helpful. Perhaps 'moral imperative' wasn't the correct phrase to use, but its what closest approximated what I was thinking. Many of you put it much better: "own an iconic car or marque"

The owning the iconic car thing is the proper answer, whether Porsche or otherwise.

I don't know if I'll ever bother with a 911. I've driven a friend's 80s air cooled 911 and it didn't really do much for me. The Cayman/Boxster appeals to me.

mazdeuce wrote: I think owning SOME iconic car is a good thing to do. Doesn't have to be a Porsche, but something that is widely considered to be really 'good'. Something with an absolutely rabid die hard community. It gives you some perspective and lets you know if you can be a marque guy.

I agree with this! There are so many interesting, well-handing, fast, etc cars with a cult following.

I personally really want to own a loud, angry-sounding, gas-guzzling RX-7 (any generation) someday.

I love them, but I have a pretty diverse collection of various cars anyway...it jut happens to include 3 AC 911s and a 928. I'm always on the hunt for another and, contrary to popular belief, deals can still be found.

If for whatever reason you don't own one, I'd still recommend at least going for a drive in one.

I drove the early A/C one. So I still don't own one and never will.

In reply to rocketrich:

Been there done that. Owned a couple and belonged to the Porsche club. I actually liked the P cars but less so with some of the owners.

TR8owner wrote: In reply to rocketrich: Been there done that. Owned a couple and belonged to the Porsche club. I actually liked the P cars but less so with some of the owners.

seems to often be the case.... and not just with P owners

Worth trying as many sports and enthusiast cars as possible. You may or may not "Get it" but you can at least say you've tried it.

As for needing to own one. No. I don't find that true for anything.

In reply to oldeskewltoy:

I always found that the P owners were never as much fun to be around as the British car guys as a generalization. The British car crowd always seemed to have more of a sense of humor. But then, maybe they have to.

My screen name sort of forces me to respond. First off, it has been almost a decade since one of these was in the garage and even then it was old, cheap ones. But my feeling is that true porsches are race cars made street legal. And if you have one you need to use it on the track. Otherwise you are a poser, loser and missing your fun parts. But please get one without all the electronic nannies and automatic. Learn to drive fast and enjoy. Otherwise buy something else.

porschenut wrote: My screen name sort of forces me to respond. First off, it has been almost a decade since one of these was in the garage and even then it was old, cheap ones. But my feeling is that true porsches are race cars made street legal. And if you have one you need to use it on the track. Otherwise you are a poser, loser and missing your fun parts. But please get one without all the electronic nannies and automatic. Learn to drive fast and enjoy. Otherwise buy something else.

You haven't even owned one in a decade and you're calling people posers and losers? Interesting.

i'm a car guy... i can't say that i've ever wanted to own a Porsche of any kind. i hear they are really expensive, especially if you get a free one.

also, i don't let other people dictate what i need to own or not own. i just get what i want when i want. life is easier that way..

I don't feel compelled to own one. I've never driven one though. Maybe it would be different if I had. The boxsters are gorgeous and prices aren't horrible, i woul definitely consider it, But I would probably put the money into a vette instead for a cheaper and easier ownership experience.

I learned to drive stick on a 944. Have driven a number of 944, 928 and Boxsters. Never a 911 though. I will likely own one someday, but lately it is the Cayman that I find myself most attracted to. Well, that and a Carerra GT.

I agree with others.. there is no such thing as a car you must own, but you should experience as many different types of cars as possible.

Regarding repair costs...they aren't a Honda, so anyone expecting to pay Honda prices is going to be disappointed.

In general, I don't think you need to own an icon to be a true car nut. For some, it will help calm your mind. I do think it is one category of 'car nut' that many will want to experience in their car lives. But as always, there are many different categories and you can easily have a full 'car nut' life without owning an icon.

You will have to work hard not to own an icon at some point though, as just about every car is an icon to someone. Here is a list of ultra-common cars that I believe have achieved icon status by some group of 'car nuts':

• miata
• camaro/TA/firebird/mustang
• any little brittish car
• jeep (pretty much any pre-1990, and all wranglers)
• full size, american pick up truck
• e30
• vw beetle
• corvair

the list goes on and on. I guess my point is that even though you don't have to own an icon to be a car nut, it will be truly hard to never own a car that someone thinks is an icon.

Devilsolsi wrote: I agree with others.. there is no such thing as a car you must own, but you should experience as many different types of cars as possible.

This---- Drive as many fun cars as you can---P cars included. There is a reason people love them, but there are good reasons to love cars from nearly every make. Of course this is assuming you can separate status from automotive enthusiasm. I have no love for any individual badge, but I have much love for all kinds of machinery. Actually the thing I like the least about my E36 M3 is the badge. I love it for the way it performs, not the way others may view me.

but hey..... I also drive a minivan, so I obviously don't give a flying berkeley what other people think.

For me, motorsports is about fun. It's about the pleasure of a well apexed corner, a beautifully executed pass, and If I'm lucky, maybe an occasional hard-won trophy. The driven thing doesn't need to have a particular badge, it just has to do its job well. Currently that looks like a Miata for street, and an RX-7 for 24 Hours of Lemons racing.

porschenut wrote: And if you have one you need to use it on the track. Otherwise you are a poser, loser and missing your fun parts.

Hah, this is my dad!. He has owned a Porsche of one sort or another for most of his life. He just bought himself a brand new 981 Boxter S, the quickest and fastest car he has ever owned and just like all the P cars he has had, I'm quite certain that it will never see 100% WOT, or the red line. Has has had several Miatas as well, and drove them the same way. I just bought his 2003 Miata LS off him, 116,000 miles and still on the factory installed brakes and clutch. The car is so physically perfect it litterally still looks showroom new. THAT is no way to enjoy two of the finest handling cars ever built.

They look cool but i'd never own one.

Mike wrote:

mazdeuce wrote: I think owning SOME iconic car is a good thing to do. Doesn't have to be a Porsche, but something that is widely considered to be really 'good'. Something with an absolutely rabid die hard community. It gives you some perspective and lets you know if you can be a marque guy.

This. There is so much win in this. So, get an Elise. Get a 911. Maybe pick up a Vette, or buy that Mondial and drive it to work on pretty days. Take your Biturbo to dinner and get an Uber home. I really mazduce has the better version of this story. At some point, save your money up, and own something nice and iconic.

I think I want to revise this a bit. There's a certain truth embedded in the statement, but there is an exclusionary tone as well, and I'm not satisfied.

I like to think of myself as an automotive enthusiast. A "car guy" if you will. I think, as a result, that I have this in common with other automotive enthusiasts, regardless of the way they express their interest in the hobby.

This isn't my bag:

And this isn't my bag:

And yet, I think of these and other folks as automotive enthusiasts. People I have something in common with.

I do think that I want to own an exotic car at some point. A Porsche has been on my short list for some time. If it's a 911, great. If it's a 991 GT3, then even better. If I never get the money together, then I think I'm still an automotive enthusiast.