[MartinJ]

I posted this (a slightly different version on PPBB) about 7 months ago but I figured some of you might enjou the read.

I have been lusting after Porsche’s for 30 years. The first Porsche I loved was a cute red 924; I was a poor student in England at the time so even considering such a car was out of the question. Just for comparison (the older Brits will know what I am talking about) I was driving a clapped out Ford Cortina with a rebuilt 1.3 Liter engine enlarged to 1.6 Liters with more rust than I care to mention.

The years rolled on I moved to the USA (bought a Mustang), later I test drove a used Porsche 944, and bought a first year VW Rabbit GTI (quite a car at the time) and drove it into the ground, 180,000 miles! Early in my GTI years I fell in love got married had two great kids, bought the Volvo station wagon for my wife, owned a Mercedes 190E 2.6, which was followed by a Mercedes C280. My cars needed four seats and had to be safe and practical (according to my wife) to go with my long commute, during that time my wife had several SUVs (it’s a kid thing). We always looked at various Porsches, my wife and I would regularly go to car shows to look at the latest models. I loved the Boxster prototype and said I will buy one. In 2001 (age 46) I decided to buy a nice car (it needed to be comfortable and carry 4) a Mercedes CLK320 seemed to fit the bill (only 2 doors, but 4 seats), the Porsche would have to wait. In 2004 we completed our westward cross country journey (from Connecticut to California via Utah – another story). Early in 2006 my wife and I decided to buy a fun car for the weekends. One kid out of the house, employed and a home owner, he drives a VW GTI (Good taste in cars that kid, so we did some things right) the other will be in college this year and we have that covered, so early 2006 we test drove a number of fun cars. I lusted after a Porsche and test drove several of them. We also looked at other cars, my wife always loved Corvettes so of course we looked at a number of them, she loved the sound of the V8 but found the car to be a bit frightening, we also drove a SLK350 a Miata (quite a car for the money) and others but none of them sung to either of us quite like the Porsche Boxster, after spending a nice afternoon looking at various Porsche cars my wife said that out of all the sports cars we looked at that the Porsche’s were classy, glued to the road, solid stable and nimble, we agreed to look for a 2003 (or newer) Boxster S. We even discussed buying new and spent a few evenings together playing with the Porsche configurator, we both decided that Carrera White was the color for us with either a grey or brown interior, A few weeks later my wife became ill and died (we had been together for 24 years), I did not get the Porsche in the spring as planned. Late summer I started to look for a Boxster (again) it was tough to find one with the right options, I had waited 30 years so I would take it easy and find what I wanted (this board was a great source of info). Saturday September 2, 2006 after test driving some used Boxsters I bought a slightly used 2006 Boxster S, the previous owner had it for 4 months. The dealer called me the week earlier to say that it was coming in (it was a bit more $, than I intended to spend) but he said I had to look at it. The first time I saw it I knew I was going to buy it, It was configured almost exactly the way my wife and I had built one on the WEB, the only additions were a sport shifter and 19 inch Sport Design wheels. The sales guy I was working with had had it cleaned up and asked the service manager to leave it in the repair shop until I came in (he wanted first dibs on the car for me). After a brief test drive and a little negotiation the car was mine. After we shook hands another sales rep approached my guy and wanted to let another couple take it for a run – too late it was mine, fate (my wife?) had intervened. I took my daughter with me to pick it up; she drove me to the dealership. She got a definite case of permagrin just sitting in the car. She has to learn to drive a shift before she can drive it, I am not sure she will learn in the Boxster! When I got in the car to drive it home I wished my wife was with me but I knew my wife was smiling down on me, she would have loved this car. She had learned a lot about cars while we were married and the last car she drove was an 05 BMW 325i with the sports suspension, she loved that car, she did not drive fast but she loved the way it handled. The drive home was a great experience top down all the way (40 miles mostly at highway speeds).

Sunday mornings when the weather is nice I like to drive top down (even when it is 45 degrees) through the winding mountain roads where I live (Northern CA). Driving through the mountain roads (mostly in 2nd and 3rd gear) listening to some of my favorite tunes with the wind in my hair is wonderful. This morning I took the car out for one of my favorite twisty runs, I played one of the CDs my wife loved, I know that she would have loved the morning runs.

In the last 7 months I have really learned a lot about driving this car (I’ve driven it about 3,000 miles, it is not my daily driver), the engine roar between 5K to 7K is really satisfying and pretty fast on even in 2nd gear on the roads in my neighborhood. I plan on doing some autocross with PCA latter this spring so I am looking forward to improving my skills. At the same I have found piece with what happened and with God, I am looking forward to moving forward with my life, I spend less time at work, made some new friends, savor early morning drives in my Boxster and a nice glass of wine before I go to bed.

Buying a Porsche is a special event, it is not up there with getting married and bringing up a family, but if I could change one thing, it would be to have lived a few more adventures with my wife. To all those of you who are waiting to buy a Boxster, make sure you take care of your family, but buy that Boxster you have been looking at and enjoy it while you can.