Where it all started

As most teen guys we love fast cars and those exotics wow. I always was up on performance autos being the younger brother to a true Mopar head. My older Brother at 15 had a Roadrunner then pulled that engine a 383 balanced and blue printed it and put into a wild red white and blue Cuda called Ms. Fortune.

But for me the lines of the Euro Monsters couldn't be beat, they looked so fast just standing still. My first car was a 1981 280zx a fun nice car which I restored and added all that fun airdam fiberglass stuff to. In no way did that car prepare me for what was soon to happen. The Opportunity of a Lifetime was about to come my way at 17 (1988) and heres the story.

A relative of mine imported a 1984 911 Euro widebody cab in 86. This car was beautiful Garnet metallic and every time I was in it I'd just love the purr of the Borla exhaust and the thrust of the torque driving me into the passengers seat. But a wise Porsche mechanics and some circumstance of owning a Porsche in Manhattan would be what pushed me at 17 into the drivers seat!!!!. This car was stuck in Manhattan and pretty much only driven on weekends and sometimes not for weeks on end. As anyone who lives in NYC can tell you just because you pay $800 a month for parking does not mean your car is safe.The car was broken into twice via a slash in the top and the radio was stolen. Despite that the real reason for my opportunity to drive this beast came from some mechanical trouble. After a trip to the shop upon picking up the car the mechanic uttered these words " THESE CARS MUST BE DRIVEN OTHERWISE YOU ACTUALLY WILL HAVE MORE MAINTENANCE PROBLEMS" (needless to say that man is my mechanic on my current and future Porsche.)

IS THIS HAPPENING!!!!

With that my cousin brought the car up to the burbs and handed me the keys at 17 and said drive, it gas it, wash it, and call the mechanic if it needs work and have him bill me. I nearly shit myself. I was very respectful of the power and was cautious with the car cause I knew he would have someone on the hook if I wrecked it.

The only problem, which was not scheduled maintenance, was when the short shift kit linkage broke. So I limped it over to a phone in 3rd gear and called the Mechanic and waited. About a half-hour later I heard that flat six air cooled rumble coming and knew he was close. Over the crest of the small hill I see this black beast as it gets closer I realize what it is, a Gembella Avalanche(sp?) the Darth Vader of Porsches. Well long story short, guess who had to drive that while following the mechanic to the shop as he drove the Euro with a vise grip shifter. YUP yours truly, memory is vague it was only like a 20min ride but What does stick in my mind was the overwhelming smell of leather in the car EVERYTHING was covered in leather.

Those were some real fond memories I had while I had the car for 9 months at which time he also moved to the burbs and took the car back. Returned WITH NO DENTS,DINGS,or even clutch work. Actually it was cleaner then when i first got it, since waxing it was a ritual of mine, so was driving. I think I added about 10k to the clock in 9months and trust me it was all cruising.(ok maybe some late night parking =). I vowed to myself the day we parted one day I will own a Porsche.

SKIP 11 Years

WELCOME TO THE BIG LEAGUES

I purchased a 1988 911 turbo with 42k on the clock and subtle mods such as HRE rims, Rear 930s vents and boxed rockers. The car captivated me at first glance. When I was told the previous owner was the kid in Flipper the TV show I had to have it,NOT( True though).The color and the additions made my mouth water and my wallet scream open.

(Below Left- Me , Below Right Me with Brother to left)

So one month later and a trip to Teterboro airport I was on my way retrieve my ride from being on a transporter. Now a proud Porsche owner since 9/1999.

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