When I was growing up in the 1980s, the sports cars that I more commonly saw were Camaros, Trans Ams, and Mustangs. I grew up in a middle class neighborhood, so exotic cars were not around very often. I would get pretty excited any time I would ever see a Porsche, even more so a Ferrari or Lamborghini. Heck, we would even get excited at the sighting of a Corvette, as they were fairly rare in our neck of the woods.

The first quasi-exotic car brand that I formed a love relationship with was Porsche. In my neighborhood, we would see one every once in awhile and I became very fond of them. I had a newspaper route as a kid, and I remember one of the houses had a Porsche 924 in the driveway, which was a newer model at the time. Now we all know that the 924 was nothing exceptional in terms of performance, but it was still a cool car to see. Cars can be exotic just by being the only one of its kind in the surrounding neighborhood. The era that I am talking about is predominantly the 1980s. The model of Porsche that really got me going was the almighty 911 Turbo, but I also had quite a fondness for the 928. The 928 was not a Porsche purists’ car, but are still cool none the less. It was fairly futuristic looking, nothing at all like a 911, and unusual to see. I must admit I’ve never gotten to drive a 928, but I’m still curious to this day to do so.

In high school, I had a buddy who ended up buying a used 944. This was the very first Porsche I ever got to drive. The thing I remember about this car was how well it handled. Power was nothing to write home about, although certainly better than the average car. This car’s real strength was the way it handled. In fact, I remember reading in one of the car magazines of the day a road test for the best handling car in the world, and the 944 won.

The 911 Turbo, starting in the late 1970s, to me, was an incredibly muscular looking car. The way it’s rear fenders flared out and the addition of the whale tail just give it a menacing look. Anytime you read about a 911 Turbo, you would always read about how its rear end would exhibit a pendulum effect when one lifted off of the throttle mid-curve. If a driver was not highly skilled, it was not uncommon for the car to go off the road, back end first. I never did get to drive this era of a 911 Turbo, although I did finally get to drive one in 2006. 2006 was the second to last year of the air-cooled motors, and it also had all-wheel-drive – which helped immensely in keeping the back end in check. If I recall correctly, it produced 400 horsepower. That was a ton of power for its day, and I was blown away by how well the car performed. Just getting to drive it was an absolute dream.

One thing I thoroughly enjoyed during my career as a Ferrari salesperson was the fact that so many people valued my opinion on their other brands of cars that they owned. I would often get asked to drive somebody’s car just so they can get my opinion on it. This was a request I don’t think I ever denied. Later on, I got to drive a 911 Turbo S – the first variation that incorporated the PDK dual-clutch transmission. This thing was an absolute rocket ship with its all wheel drive but it felt a little clinical. It didn’t really invoke a whole lot of passion. Also, in this era of Porsches, the turbos were not different enough from the garden-variety non-turbo 911 cosmetically. A lot of this has to do with the “whale tail”. Once they got into active aerodynamics, the tails they produced would pop up at higher speeds. To me, it lost the aggression that the earlier 911 Turbos possessed. It was as if they were trying to minimize it, or conceal it. I felt that they should have kept it as something prominent because it really differentiated the Turbo from the rest of the 911s. The only tails that I find carry on this tradition today would belong to something like a GT3, or the last generation GT2 – something that’s fixed and prominent.

The holy grail for me in the Porsche world was getting to drive a Carrera GT. Sadly, this model has become associated with the death of Paul Walker, as this is what he died in. I will tell you that it’s the most exhilarating Porsche I have ever driven. Having gotten to drive a Ferrari Enzo prior to driving this Carrera GT, I got to feel how the most raw form of a manufacturer’s car could feel. The Carrera GT was Porsche’s Ferrari Enzo. It was just as raw and untamed as the Enzo, but done in a Porsche fashion. The clutch was especially tricky as it was ceramic. I read quite a bit about the clutch and the launch procedure prior to ever getting to drive one, and learned that you were not supposed to give it throttle when trying to take off from a standing start. When one is used to driving a manual transmission, one is very used to doing the exact opposite of that. It was quite difficult for your brain to to allow you to do what you needed to do to not stall the car. I was able to get it going, I think the second try or maybe even the first. I just adhered to what I had read and got off the line rather easily. You could hear all the pebbles kicking up inside the wheel wells. You could hear all the mechanical noises coming out of the engine bay. It was a very raw exotic car driving experience. And the thing was brutally fast! It was the type of car that you had no business carrying a cell phone with you. You do not need any distractions whatsoever in a car like this. Just because one had the money to buy ones didn’t necessarily mean they were qualified to drive it. I cannot tell you how many Ferraris are sold to customers who were really buying them for status symbols rather than for the performance machines that they are. They think they can just hop in the car and drive one on a casual basis while sending their friends text messages or talking on the phone. The reality is that these cars require your full attention. They were far too easy to drive fast. This Carrera GT was such a car. It definitely required your full attention, or you could find yourself in some serious trouble very quickly.

There was a time where Carrera GT’s could be bought for relatively little money considering what level of car they were, and how much they sold for when new. In today’s automotive market though, prices of more special cars have gone through the roof. They really have become unattainable for so many people where not that long ago, they were somewhat attainable. I think the bubble will have to burst at some point because it just can’t keep going in this direction. It’s not sustainable. So having said that, perhaps a Carrera GT may one day be attainable again.