I came across my 356 at the Sovren Vintage races in 2003.  My daughter-in-law, Karen was walking my grandson, 2 years old then, and spotted the 356 near the coral with a for sale sign.  Karen said I might want to look at it.  After having it inspected, I bought the car.  I was still a bit shakey about its mechanical integrity so I Joined AAA and began my trip to my first Parts Obsolete campout.  It made the round trip without problems so I continued to drive it as much as I could, mostly on Porsche tours within Washington.

I bought my first Porsche in 1970, a 1966 912 coupe.  It has been in the family until about 3 years ago (another story).  I had always wanted a 911 but felt they were too expensive.  In '78 I sold a sailboat and my wife and I decided that now was the time to invest in the 911 which resulted in a '77 911S, yellow which I  wasn't too sure about the color but came to really like it.

 

In 1985, my oldest son graduated from Colorado School of Mines.  I was very proud of his accomplishment and wanted to buy him a car for graduation... or he could have the 911 Carrera which he immediately chose the 911.  He still has it though he  decided to paint it a dark green metallic, a Porsche color.

 

I moved from Denver to the Chicago area and now I was without a Porsche so I decided to take the plunge and looked at a '97 930 turbo which I intended to buy.  However there was a '85 - 928S on the showroom floor in exactly my favorite color, not yellow this time but a light metallic sand color.  I should look up the official color that was reportedly the factory designated color for that  model for 1985.  It also had the 32 valve engine and a 5 speed stick.  I drove it home that very day and have been delighted with its performance and comfort.  I still have it and it just turned 40K a couple of weeks ago.  It is in near perfect condition.  In fact I just had a clear bra installed yesterday.

 

My job in Chicago involved a lot of travel, mostly in the US but some International trips as well.  The point is that I would peruse the local papers each night after dinner with our sales people and customers looking for a 356.  I finally found one, a '58 Speedster.  I couldn't believe it was in a local paper.  Adding to my astonishment, the car was still available and was less than 2 miles from my former home in Denver.  There is a story here too but to make it short, I bought the car, had it checked out by a local Denver 356 expert and drove it back to Chicago.  I took it up to Mid-America a couple of times to vintage events all the while planning  a complete restoration.

 

I moved from Chicago to Seattle in 1989 and bought an high tech electrical distributor and named it Industrial Controls Supply Co.  I sold the Speedster because I needed cash for my new business.  Dumb me, I could have borrowed the necessary cash.  As a result I have suffered from sellers remorse for the last 20 years.  Anyway, the business has survived over those 20 years, not the least of which was because both of my sons joined me a couple of years following the acquisition.  I retired in 1998.  I decided that I needed an RV (recreational vehicle) which was to me a new 911 Carrera which I ordered through a dealer here in Washington state and picked it up at the Porsche factory in Zuffenhausen, Germany on June 27, 1999.  My daughter joined me on the trip and we spent a month touring the high speed motorways in Germany, Italy, France, Belgium and Great Britain where we met my son, Brian a golfer like his dad and the 3 of us with luggage headed North to Scotland and golf.  My daughter drove the "buggy", golf cart to us.  We were there for the British open and the Van De Veld disaster on the last hole of the British open and lost the tournament though he had a significant lead going into that last hole.  I mention this because that debacle is considered the #1 "fopah" in the world of golf by the sports gurus' to this day.  There were many memorable happenings on the trip that added to a lot of legal high speed driving.  It is too bad we can't have a similar system here with the same rules of the road that make the Autobahn a fun and safe experience.  We put 6000 miles on the 911 during that month of driving.  Just the thought of it is exhilarating.

 

The 911 has  just over 36K miles on it and is still a thrill to drive but our highway system does have its limitations in that regard.  As a golfer, I always had a problem getting my golf clubs in the 911 or 928 so I managed to convince myself that I needed a larger car, like a Cayenne S.  I've had the Cayenne for a little over 4 years and have truly enjoyed the cruising capabilities of the car though my non-Porsche friends chided me for buying an SUV When the price of fuel was getting so expensive.  Little did I know how expensive the fuel would become.  Through it all, my Cayenne just turned 60K and I understand is Porsche's top selling model.  It's a great car.