The moment you knew you wanted one, the moment you first owned one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRbzJ0L1Zn8 I had a buddy when I was younger whose father had a penchant for sports cars. When I was 13 he bought a brand new 1999 Porsche 911. Red over tan. I snuck into their garage one night and sat in the driver's seat and shifted through the gears. I remember thinking "This is the most beautiful car I have ever seen, I WILL own one one day" I tried popping the hood and realized that the engine was in the back. I remember freaking out because I couldn't figure out how to close it all the way. That's when I knew that I wanted one. I was accepted into the Naval Nuclear Officer's program and received my signing bonus. I was fortunate enough to have a full ride scholarship and knew exactly what I was going to plop my money on: a 996 911. Not two weeks later I drove off the lot with a beautiful 99 911, black over tan. I dont think the dealer ever believed that I was serious (being that I was relatively young) until I wrote him the check and pulled away. Thats when I owned one. I love the Porsche 911. Please share your story!

That was the commercial that did it for me. I was that kid ! It took me thirty five years to finally get inthe position to get one. When I told my 87 yr old Mother I got one she said.Finally!" You've been talking about them foreever".

LOL! I bought my first 991S in San Diego as a Navy LT helo aviator. They were handing out bonuses for pilots to extend their tours for 4+ years. Since I had just been accepted as 'Regular' Navy, it was a no-brainer since I had already decided to 'retire' Navy. I bought the car for $13K or so. Funny how I ended up liking 911's since I had test driven an older 911S while in flight school in Corpus Christi, Texas. That 911 ran like a bat out of he*l and was actually kind of scary - I ended up buying a Jag for my "Ensign-mobile". Over the years I kept flipping my 911's to get the next 'best' one. I came to realize that the 3.0L 911SC was the 'best one'. The 3.2L Carrera did not have near the lo-end Tq as the 3.0L although I did like the fact that the 3.2 was actually way easier to work on & mod. I digress...

I had a friend in college who had a 914. I thought it was the coolest thing. I eventually picked one up - and after about a year of wrenching, decided I needed a porsche to drive . So I got an '87 944. Boy, I thought I was pretty special!! I drove that 944 every day and got into the track. Then I was really hooked. After a few years, moved up to a 944 turbo. then a few years later that evolved into a dedicated track car. While I still drove the 914 occasionally, I missed having a p-car as a daily driver. So I got my 996 C4. It's as awesome now as my 944 was then (14 years ago!)

My brother had a sepia brown 911E that was just gorgeous. When he traded it for a black over lipstick red 911S I was hooked.

I think it was the first time I was stopped at a light behind a black 930 Turbo. The wide rear end, outrageous whale tail spoiler and fat tires. That was it!! With school, house, family, career etc etc etc it took me 25 years and thankfully a very insistent wife that kept telling me to go get one (great wife!!) now or I'll never get one. Three years later and I still get this stupid grin every time I open the door!! Love it! Pete

A close family friend of ours had a early 80s Targa... one night I was getting bug bite after bite staying outside cleaning it with detail. There something about the shape I always loved. In 1986 my mother bought a SAAB from a dealer who also sold P-cars. I remember this 930 Cab with the huge whail tail... awesome. Remember the poster with the table cloth and the picnic on the whale tail? lol. Its been one year now with my own 996 - and I still look back at it every time I park.

The day I knew I had to have one was about 5 years ago. I was staioned in Monterey, CA at the time and got a chance to go out on Laguna Seca for some hot laps . They do a charity event every year in conjunction with the Cherries Jubilee car show out there. The guy had a race prepped 996 that got black flagged for noise, so he took me back out in his brand new GT3 that he had picked up the day before. At the time I was 20 and an E-3 and brand new in the Air Force, but I knew I would get one some day. I started seriously looking about a year ago and 2 months ago brought home a '04 996. Everyone asks me how I can afford it being that I'm only an E-5 (found out last week I got selected for E-6), and I tell them that once you drive one you'll find a way. Every time I sit in the car it makes me smile from ear to ear. A smart man once said that you'll never regret buying the best, sounds like solid advice.........

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Ah, hahha ha ha! Interestingly enough I wasn't really bitten until my '30s. I always liked them but had written them off as just out of my reach. Bought an 82 911 SC in about 99 and after a bit of a drought due to some career moves and getting married I'm now back with a 996. One of the weird things for me is how brand loyal I've become to Porsche as an all around sportscar.... But yeah, that's me in the commercial too.

Mine started as a poster on my wall when I was 12 years old! I always liked cars and airplanes from a much younger age but the 911 started the dream. I purchased my first Porsche 22 years later (August last year). It has been almost a year and I still get the kid-like excited reaction every time I drive it. Today, my 18 month old son also seems quite fascinated with the car. He can point out the Porsche now on his own!! (I feel proud!)

Interesting thread! I remember wanting a 911 as a kid (a long time ago), but can't remember why. I remember they appeared here and there in James Bond movies (one with a ski rack even). I also remember my friends (in small town MN) arguing how much faster a Hemi Charger was in 0 to 60. After I started working, a 911 was always about twice as expensive as I was willing to spend. A couple of years ago my wife and I went to look and drive a Boxster. Too much engine noise for my wife (has ear damage from chemo). They also had a used 996 C4S on the lot. One test drive and we were sold! I had not noticed before how pristine a lot of you keep your cars. Used is not so bad. And a CPO warranty makes it a little less risky. Footnote: The only car I drove for only 10 miles and returned. the AC sender went out . . . Oh well. I can't say my P-car has been the most dependable I have had, but wow, by FAR the most fun.

In 1984 a friend of a friend had a black on black gray market 930 turbo. He cherished it. He would not drive it unless the conditions were perfect. He had a real clunker as a second a car although he could afford anything. I am on my 4th Porsche now and I have always had an average car as a second vehicle. There is something about having some dude in a Bimmer (probably with an $800 car payment) smirk at you at a stoplight in your average car when you know your paid for pristine 911C4S is sitting at home in the garage high and dry waiting for that perfect Saturday morning. I just smile at them and drive off.

Went to buy an E46 M3 and saw I could own a Porsche (996 of course) for the same price. I test drove the 996 and thought it rode like shi"ite. But, it was a Porsche so I bought it. I always thought Porsches were ugly at the time but I grew to really love the looks later. After a couple of hours owning my new Porsche, I was totally hooked and "got it".

It was in the mid 80s when I decided I wanted a sports car. I had performance cars before but thought it was time for a Corvette until I told the wife what I was planning. Oh, she said a sports car was fine, but she did not want one made out of ‘plastic’ and she needed a back seat for the baby. That kind of limited my options but I found a 69 T and a few years later replaced that with an SC. I kept the 911SC until that baby was about to get his driver’s license I have not given up on having another 911 of some type one of these days.

my uncle had a black on tan gray market 911 back in 1981. all i remember is sitting in the backseat thinking how awesome the car was driving around southern california. i really got the bug then. my uncle then told me that when i turned 16 that he would give me the car. well, i turned 16 and he had sold the car for a pair of mercedes for himself and my aunt. so at the tender age of 37, i finally decided that enough was enough and bought myself a 911 of my own.

My father is a gearhead and tried to get me into cars. I had no interest in them though until I moved to Germany during my sophomore year in high school. A neighbor of ours had a car I had never seen before and looked unique and sporty. I used to stare at it for what felt like days so I started doing research to find out what it was. It ended up being a 924 Carerra which looked more like an aggressive 944 with hood scoops and bodywork. At that point I started studying the brand more and found the car I really wanted. It was a 944 S2 Cabrio. I did have a job then but was making about $7/hour. With a list price of $55k+ I was constantly doing the math so see how much more I had to work and save up to buy one. My friends and I would be at the German Porsche dealers all the time looking at these cars, I even forced my parents to drive by the factory on our way to Austria/Switzerland during vacation. Eventually I got into VWs and sort of gave up on the Porsche dream for a while. I still was interested but they just seemed unattainable... I was in Manhattan during 9/11 and it made quite an impact on me. At that point I had the means and I thought, why not? So I started on a quest to find the car I wanted in High School. I finally got it after months of searching and kept that car from February 2002 until just three months ago. I'm a fan for life of these cars now!

My story was a little different. I was a late convert to the Porsche cult. I always loved sports cars but not necessarily Porsche. Initially I was a 15 year old Jaguar guy working a 125 customer paper route to pay my Grandmother back the princely sum of $275 that I borrowed for a (non running) 1956 XK140MC Roadster. I subsequently went through a series of Jags. Then I was smitten with a member of the opposite sex got married and had to sell my 1962 XKE and all of my Nortons to raise a home down payment. (Told you I was SMITTEN) After a couple of years living the American dream and crying in my beer, often, due to the lack of a sports car. I needed to replace my 250K mi 1972 Mercury Capri. I went to a used car lot to look at Dodge Omni/Horizon, so sad. Lucky for me there was a 1970 911S in the back of the lot slated for the Auto Auction because they could not get it through NJ inspection. It was a beautiful creamy yellow in very good shape. I liked it and could hear it crying �SAVE ME� so I bought it immediately for $6k and used it as my everyday car for the next 9 years. It got me involved with the PCA and the slippery slope of track events. I bought a 1972T and built an �R Gruppe� car for the track and ran that for 17 years. Due to health problems I sold my 1972 and all track related equipment. I was totally depressed. So we bought a 2003 996 Cab to enjoy as a street car. When folks ask how me the 996 compares to my older 911, I say it is just like a big comfortable Buick, a really fast comfortable Buick that sticks like glue. I have since received a new kidney and as I get things back together I am itching to build another track oriented 911, maybe a 1999 coupe? That 911S turned me into a raving Porsche lunatic and introduced us to the widely diverse and interesting Porsche Cult of America (PCA) community. So while we were a little late to the party I would say that Porsche has had a profound effect on our family.

I was driven home from the hospital after I was born in my dad's Porsche 911S. He's had Porsches every day of my life. It's in my bones. Got my first Pcar in 2000 and haven't looked back since.

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Same with me. I'm 39 now, but my father has always had (and continues to have) a 911 of some sort. The one he still has right now is the one he bought back in 1982 - a special-color 911SC with turbo tail that he picked up at the factory. I don't have my 911 yet, but I'm looking.

Sad to say my story is a lot less colorful, noble, etc. compared to everyone else's story and is purely an artifact of post-pubescent libido... My interest in Porsches was sparked by an extremely attractive P.E. teacher back in high school... She married well and drove a black 911 Targa to school - not sure if it was her rack and her really (REALLY) long legs (tennis coach) or if it was that car... but whatever happens in a 15 year old's mind, the attraction transferred to the distinctive Carrera shape and I've wanted one (the car) ever since... Rudy

I knew I wanted one, got one, and 8 months later the motor blew. Will never ever own another.

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Don't turn our lovefest into a pity party.

My luck came when my Bro-in-law upgraded his '00 996 Cab 3 yrs ago to a '05 997S Cab, he gave me the chance to finally own one. It was a low mileage 28K miles with good options on it including Nav, awesome. I jumped in and now love every minutes of it even if it sits in the garage Cheers,

I don't know when I started loving Porsches, but I certainly know that I really fell in love with them when I visited the factory at 15 years old in 1985. I told my parents that they had to take me there. We were staying with family in Schorndorf (about 30km east), which was also the birthplace of Gottlieb Daimler (of Daimler-Benz).

I don't remember ever not wanting a Porsche. I've always loved cars. When I was younger, I couldn't afford a Porsche. My first true sports car was a 1979 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce. It was a beautiful car, but extraordinarily unreliable. I was forced to sell it after less than a year of ownership. After that came college, marriage, kids, etc. A sports car wouldn't fit into my life. With the kids now at driving age (one driving, on to be driving late this year), I finally got to the point where I can drive a sports car every day. I knew I wanted AWD, and I knew I wanted something a little different. I live in GM country, so most people's view of a sports car is a Corvette. I've loved every minute that I've owned the C4S, and I plan to drive Porsches for a long time. I think my wife is even hooked now that she drives the Cayenne every day and rides with me in the C4S whenever we go anywhere. Once you get it in your blood, it's hard to shake!

My Mom had a red 928 when I was growing up that got me interested in Porsches. When I was 18 I bought an MR2 and thought it was the coolest car ever. Then my sister got a 911 and let me drive it. That was it. I got my Targa when I was 23 for $19k. Ten years later I ordered my 996.

I've always loved muscle cars and sports cars. My first car was a '68 Fastback. To be honest, I spent most of my life under the assumption that they wouldn't even let an average person like me INTO to the Porsche dealership. I dunno, I guess I figured they did a credit test at the door, bouncers/security and the whole deal. "Sorry sir, the Mazda dealership is down the street." Anyway, on my birthday about 3 yrs ago I decided to go "look" at cars. I sat in a few used ones that the dealer had and I couldn't believe they made cars THIS nice. The guy took me for a test drive in a Black Boxster S, and I was HOOKED! That was the best impulse buy of my entire life. Now I've owned 4, and can't stand driving anything else.

When my parents bought me a $1200 81 924 for my graduation a long time ago..

I knew I wanted one when I saw one in need for speed 2: hot pursuit... I think. It was the GT2 and it just looked so damn incredible. After that I was hooked on Porsches. I did hit some other kid who's going to be posting here 20 years from now--I was cruising in the right lane when some SUV with a 10-12 year old boy in the backseat started crawling along next to me. I saw him looking at me so I hit the gas when they were past me...his jaw hit the floor and he just plastered his face to the window. Yep, he's hooked too.

I've loved sports cars since I was a kid and soaked up every issue of Car & Driver since it began. Once in college, I supported my car habit by working in my friend's British repair shop. Began with 2 turbo Corvairs, but wanted more "feel" and better handling, so began looking for a "real" sports car. The bug hit when I drove a 356. I absolutely loved the feel of being connected to the road with steering that relayed every pebble in the road. Unfortunately, the car had rust and bondo everywhere, and I had to pass. Ended up with a series of MGB's and a Healy 3000 (MK 3). The next 8 years saw me being "practical" (wife/kids,etc), but was always looking. One day my wife and I were driving to pick the kids up from day-care, and my wife spied a Silver 944S on the side of the road with a For Sale sign in the window. She said "Go ahead - look at it!" and I haven't looked back since. Despite a few non-porsches since that time (Audi, Lexus, M3), There is, for me, "no subsitute," for the feel, handling and sound of a Porsche. Still love it and smile every time I get in the car....

It's to compensate for my small *****

smackboy1 - NICE! I dont really have a story. I never knew anyone with a Porsche. There are very few on the road here (Brooklyn). Never sat in one before my first test drive (aside form the Pepper Porsche)... I wanted a 2nd car b/c I got tired of the SUVs we've had since the kids came along and test drove various cars but nothing sparked my interest... I came across a great deal on a a pcar, it fit the budget and had a warranty... test drove it and bought it. Loved it now!

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hahahah i find this hilarious

I was about 14 years old, the first year the 996 was introduced. I was at a dealership with my parents and I heard someone start up a black 911 cab and I was hooked from the moment I heard it. Now I'm just in the process of finding the one I want. Eight months of searching and I've still yet to find "it" Patience is a virtue they say...

My love began when I was a teenager growing up in South Jersey and seeing that Guards Red Turbo 911 for the first time. When I was old enough, I would drive over to the Porsche dealership in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and the manager would let me sit in the new cars knowing full well that I couldn't afford one, but was intrigued I suppose by my desire to own one someday. When I sat in that car I knew someday my dream would come true. It took me till the age of 45 to finally buy one and the joy and excitement that I had that first night I drove it home was incredible. This past May I finally made my last payment and I received my title a month later in the mail. What a great day that was. My dream had come full circle. Now I stop and think, what can I do for an encore; possibly that Turbo still sitting in the window. Jay

The day you receive the clear title in the mail is almost as good as the day you put the Porsche in the garage for the first time!

wow, this is kinda fun. I remember the "there is no substitute" ads, and just loving the car. the 911, it was a high end car for "the man"! later, I grew to love the Lambos (Countach) and Ferraris (512BB) supercars, while over looking the perpetual 911. as I began to get older, and watching the "supercars" transform their looks so often, I began to look back to the ole 911, consistent with it's looks and performance. I remember the 930 Turbos, that wicked whale tail, the DP935 and its exclusivity, and then the 959. thoses Porsches had always been a "playa's" car, and while I knew in my mind, body and soul, that there was a playa inside of me, itching to get out, I just didn't have the playa's wallet! fast forward to about 15 years ago when I threw down, went out on a limb and got inot my first - a 1980 911SC. it was fast, stable and handled like a roller skate. it was the first and only car that ever got me "flashed" by a chick in the passenger seat of a car I passed on the highway...oh the memories. sad day when I got into field sales and got rid of it for a 4 door Mitsubishi Diamonte (POS car). my 911 had 178K miles on it when it left me, it ran strong as hell and leaked NO oil. loved that car moving on to about 6 years later and, missing my old 911, deicided it was time to get that sports car back. landed a great deal on a 2000 Boxster (the Porsche in panties) - black on black, and while it handled GREAT, it didn't have the ooomph I longed for. shortly thereafter I took an overseas assignment in Australia that made me part with the Boxster, (man, that guy got a great deal). 4 years later I returned, and rush into another BMW. a few month's into that car and I was hard pressed with a need for a real car again, dumped it, and got into my current '02 996 C2. the car has been great, runs great, handles great....but now I long for the Turbo!

While the story is better told elsewhere, my father made a deal with me, his underachieving son, to buy me a car of my choosing if I could get straight As during my junior year of high school. I zeroed in on a 944, just like the one the general contractor who was building the addition on our old house had at the time. Long story short, my father taught me lessons in negotiations, the power of incentives, and the economics of owning a german sports car. I did get straight As, and I did wind up with a new honda at 17. I have since driven a lot of cars, but didn't own my first Porsche until I was 29! I have since proven my father somewhat wrong on at least one count (probably not on the 944), as the 996 has cost me practically nothing to own.

I'm clearly older than most on the 996 list. Although I lived in Germany when the 911 first came out I didn't pay them that much attention. A school friend's father bought a new 911 in those days (we lived in Wiesbaden) but again, didn't think much of it. Flash forward to 1973. A buddy dropped by my house and out in the driveway was his brand new 914 1.7 in Zambezi green. What a beautiful car. A year later he changed jobs and the car was for sale,--I bought it and shocked my mother (I was 19 at the time) by purchasing such an "expensive" used car. So, from the time I gave a Porsche any serious thought purchasing my first,--about a year. Soon, I moved back to Germany, and put my 914 up for sale, selling it for what I bought it for some 50,000 miles and 2-1/2 years later. That money went into #2, a brand new 911S picked up from the factory in early March 1977 when I was 22. In Bitter Chocolate it was a fun car at the time but soon was troublesome, with the magnesium engine. Porsche #3 was a slightly used 1981 911SC in Bamboo Beige with a stunning dark brown full leather interior. And it happened to have been modified,--with a turbo, moving the HP rating from 172 to 270. It was a screamer. It would peg out in 5th gear at 162 mph, and grew into 7 and 8 inch Fuchs, and had come with a Carrera 934 RSR tail to keep it on the road. It was the sweetest running 911 ever, spitting out blue flames at times as there was nothing downstream of the turbo other than a piece of tailpipe with a 180� bend in it. What a sound. And then there was #4,--in Paint To Sample Blue Turquoise with full natural brown leather. This one is the most incredible handling 911 i have ever experienced. With ceramic brakes and 8.5 and 11.5 by 19 inch rims, this thing is BETTER than on rails. It was European Delivery #2 for me, affording me the opportunity to break it in all over Europe, and up to some 180 mph. What fun. Porsches are more addictive than drugs and possibly AS expensive. Today, I have nearly 250,000 miles in them and 35 years driving them.

I saw my first Porsche in a small garage in downtown New Orleans in the early 70s. I was studying at Univ South Alabama and my wife and I went over to New Orleans for a meeting and stayed at a bed and breakfast in the French Quarter. After dinner we went for a walk, and passed this garage (it still is a garage) and there was a Rolls, Bently and a 911. Love at first site. a few year later, when we needed a second car, I thought of that 911. I convinced my wife it was a family car, as it had 2 small seats the the back for our two young girls (There are now 3, all over 6' so they dont fit in). I found a beautiful 911 s targa in NYC - we moved to Albany NY. So, I went down, picked up the car and driving back on the NY Thruway and at milepost 34, the chain tensioner slipped and the right side started eating valves. It was 3 months before the car saw my garage at home. and after 30 yrs, i am still at it, driving the best one yet, 2002 c4s.

I always was a car guy and grew up around my dad having Corvette's etc. and other american cars (OH)... I always had an eye for P-Cars but thought that they were untouchable... @ 21 I bought my first new car and first German Car, GTI VR6; which was also the first german car I ever drove.... From that point I realized it was not untouchable. Sounds stupid but I used the 911 as a personal goal to achieve but only if I could pay cash...... Few years later I had a 993. Ever since the GTI I had only German (except for the occasional company car).. Funny thing is now my Dad is a Euro Car guy..