Funny car chat leaving restaurant today
 

Now keep in mind I live in the Bay Area where Porsche and other high end cars are a dime a dozen. So anyway, I'm leaving a restaurant today and a teen sitting in his car next to mine jumps out and asks:

him: What kind of car is that?

me: It's a Porsche Boxster.

him (sounding enlightened): Oh, it's a Porsche. I thought it was a Bimmer or something.

me (humouring him): Well, they're both German so I guess they look similiar. :D

him: :confused:

me: :D :D :D

I don't know if he just came to CA from Timbuktu or something but I thought it was pretty funny that a car that's been out for 8 years is still "new" to some people. Pretty cool, actually.

Hmmm...I hope he wasn't playin' with you. Haha, that's a strange story indeed...

I had the same thing happen, waiting for my grandson at his elementary school.

Some guy was driving by looking for parking, when he stopped in the middle of the lot and asked me.

The guy had no idea what he was looking at, when I told him he just smiled and then walked away with his mouth open.

Mine is Guards red, The color fools them e.g. Ferrari, Lambo, Maserati etc...

I would not trade for any of those...


Scott

I've had similar things happen to me twice. A lot of people just don’t know a lot about cars, however they know a good looking car when the see one.

Its funny because the stories you guys have told are almost identical to mine. The first guy was totally in love with the car and even said something along the lines of "We don’t get many of those around here." The funny thing being that I live about 1/2 mile from where that was and there is a Porsche dealer only a few miles away. The second time I was in line at a ferry and the couple behind me came up and asked what kind of car it was and it was basically the same " . . ahhhhh a Porsche" To them it really didn’t matter what model.

Which brings up another point. Should Porsche make the brand identification a little more obvious? Unless you know what the Porsche crest looks like, there isn't any manufacturer identification on the car.
I am not necessarily advocating a return to the huge "PORSCHE" lettering that used to be between the taillights on every model. Maybe a small Porsche nameplate might be in order.
A while back I had occasion to rent a car, and ended up with a mid-size sedan, white with grey interior, and as far as I could tell, no manufacturer labelling whatsoever. All I could find was a swoopy looking symbol that I took to be an "A", apparently standing for "Anonymous". Turned out it was an Olds Alero. I still don't know if the "A" was supposed to be an A, or if it was some stylist's idea of an Oldsmobile rocket.
On second thought, after driving it for a few days maybe GM was right in not wanting to take credit for it.

A week ago, I took a couple of drives with a young woman who really appreciated driving (and riding) the Boxster. She rides a 600cc motorcycle so is no stranger to acceleration or open air - but fell in love with the crisp, sure handling of the 18" tires with 030.

She was reasonably knowledgeable about BMW models but was surprised to learn Porsche was a German car - funny thing was she grew up on the family farm in Northern Germany! I really thought she was pulling my leg at first. By the second drive she spotted a Cayenne S and a 944 as Porsche. She left the experience proud of the beauty and performance of another German marque. Also with plans to add a little money to her life so she can buy one of her own :)

I was asked a silly question, "Who makes Porsche?"


answer: uuhhhh...Porsche!

one day i was cruzing on Ocean Drive here in miami and i had my top dwon, i saw a group of women walking and one of them saw me and started to yelling "wooow" so i smilled and she came and said "can u please take me on a ride just around the corner" i said ok but the lady did not want to open the door, she was trying to jump in to my Boxster i said "hold on lady let me open the door" ...lool and when she got in, her friends started taking pictures of her in my car, after a short drive i droped here and one of her friends asked me. what is that car? is it a Ferrari ?!?!
i said no its a Porsche.
it is weird that some people still dont know this car, its not that rare :).

I was in NYC last weekend with my SO and made it a point to Porsche watch.

Walking around the city from Central Park to Battery Park, in 4 days I saw 5 Ferrari Modenas, 3 Lamborghini Murciélagos (all together), 1 Diablo, 1 Bentley Continental GT (the new coupe), 1 996 Turbo, 2 early Boxsters, 3 996 Cabriolets. Most were from the Penn Station area, Times Square and Soho.

Here in Atlanta and Birmingham you can help but trip over a Porsche. With so many around I'm still amazed people unfamilliar with Porsche even with the SUV craze and the Cayenne.

I don't mind it really. I think it adds to the mystique of owning a Boxster.

Dave

Did you also know that those tailgating you are actually trying to find out what kind of car it is, since the "Boxster" logo on the rear trunk lid is very subtle especially in the darker color cars?

You mean you get overtaken?? :-) just kidding...

On a more political note:

I was in Court handling a case the other day, driving my Boxster (with the Kerry/Edwards bumper sticker), and when I left the Courtroom, ran into a friend who is the former county chairman of the Republican party. From the other end of the courthouse lobby he yelled at me "Is that your Ferrari? That's a god damn beautiful car!!" Then he went on to tell me that he just couldn't understand how anyone with such a beautiful car could possibly be a Democrat. He is as confused about automobiles as he is about politics.

I think a lot of people just don't know a lot about cars. My boyfriend calls a Mercedes a BMW and when I had an Audi I had one guy I worked with who kept calling it a Volvo. I was raised by a dad who always worked in the foreign car business and now sells Mercedes parts. Now I know a little something, at least about foreign cars, when it comes to what kind it might be but riding with my dad he'll see a Mercedes and go, "Oh, that's a European model, 220 body, blah blah blah" or he'll get in someone's car and start quoting them prices of each part. My boyfriend and I pulled up next to a boxster in traffic not long ago and he's like "what's that?" and I told him it was a boxster and what I have my eye on for my next car....:)

LoveBunny, sounds like you need a boyfriend who is more automotively astute.....