YEA! Second Place in Concours...

I entered my 15 year old, 78,000 mile Boxster in a "Unique Concour" our local PCA chapter was holding at a dealership a week ago. The special part of it was - there were multiple categories based on models, and no overall winner. There were 1st, 2nd and 3rd for each category. Cars were initially judged on the judges impression from 15 feet, then a closeup inspection (but - no underside or Q-tips), then adding in points for the miles on the car. Two days before I had my "hired lad" (a local high-school senior who does things like hand-washing my car very carefully for $30/hour that I no longer find it possible to do and be able to walk around afterwards) spend 2 hours on my car to prepare it. It did look pretty damn good. I didn't drive it except directly to the Concours trying to not use the brakes. At all. Since the competition included fairly recent $100k++ Boxsters and GTS 's, I'm guessing I scored big on mileage. What I didn't really expect was to be in the top-3 for the class. Imagine my surprise when I was called for 2nd place for a 2009 Boxster S (the only real S feature it has is the twin tailpipes out the back, something I did because I liked the look..) The prize was a solid-gold trophy made from base-metal, shiny stuff and some marble chunks. It will go with the numerous trophies left over from my motorcycling career (where I never entered a bike judging so I never got that sort of trophy.) That's just about life size! The car came home and hasn't left the garage since - it hasn't stopped raining in over a week. My hired lad and his brother also run a detailing at your house business (they do quite a nice job at a reasonable price) - now they can advertise "Concours Winning Service!"... WIN/WIN! I wonder if I can velcro it to the hood?

Congrats, display it proudly.

What, no picture of the Boxster? Congratulations, Don!

Ah.. let me rummage around.. I might have better... but one of my favorite photo spots.. Ah - from the Concours: The judging..

A bit more.. my "lad" - working his soap cannon.... Anyone in the NJ Shore area (Asbury to Brick) who needs detailing Chris and his brother Mike do wonderful work for reasonable money. All they need is water and electricity and a place to do it. They come to you. You can reach them on Facebook at: Luxury Finish Mobile Detailing They don't do ceramic - yet - I might teach them how to... (My Boxster got ceramic 3 years ago - by me. Wonderful stuff..)

I’m jealous, I’m in the market for exactly what you have. A 981 in white, S trim please. The only thing I’m on the fence about is the trans. I hear such good things about the PDK , but fear I would miss my manual. Looks great.

It does look pretty damn elegant. White on the right car is so classy. Thank you for sharing.

Congratulation Don! Next to your excellent driving experience, I think the next glory is having your car recognized among peers and car show!

Congrats, and well deserved! I have seen this car in-person, and it is truly immaculate. Makes my 2010 look kinda crappy, honestly. Even the drive is so much nicer on his car than mine... just feels tight, secure, and SO MUCH newer than mine! Don't get me wrong, I still love my 2010, but Don's is certainly wonderful in so many ways!

Congrats! Give us more pics of the car.

Remind me tomorrow - it's around 1:15AM, and will require a bit of digging on my computer. There are some very subtle mods I did to the car that I can show... they are really not obvious as mods, some of them Porsche did on other special models, some of them are stolen off other models. I did them for two reasons - First: I like to do that sort of subtle thing, I'm not a big wing kinda guy - I'm a more small model numbers in the corner of the doors kinda guy, and Second: I sometimes tend to lose interest in cars after a while (my wife sometimes has something to say about that..) but - if I can keep coming up with things to mod - I retain interest. I had one Volvo 122S Wagon for 17 years - then I ran out of things to modify on it.. bad move - the wagon that replaced it (DL5) was total crappola. Anyway - remind me..

Congratulations Don! Use double stick tape right over the Porsche logo on the hood for the bling. You have ceramic coating , the tape will come off easily!

Congrats. Curious - what took 1st in your class? And what ceramic product did you use 3 yrs ago?

a bit late to the party here but congrats Don!!! I really didn't expect someone else to say "post some pics"

Congratulations Don! What a nice looking Boxster . I was at my local PCA meeting last night here in Greenville, SC. It was a nice clear and cool night. Wonderful turnout. We have a lot of Boxsters and Caymans but get over shadowed by the 911 's. I like to hear great stories about the Boxsters and Caymans . I have a 981 - 2014 Boxster S . I love it. I think we need more notoriety as these are great Porsche Sports Cars and a blast to drive. Nice Trophy.

A '98 986 took first place. The judges must love mature cars... And the ceramic product was NanoBond "Diamond Nano".. Ceramic coating | Nano Bond ceramic coating experts Very easy to apply, only had one or two spots I needed to clear up, and that was done painlessly. The biggest part of the job is the prep - the finish is only as good as what it's being applied to. It does some minor filling of very tiny haze/scratches, but you really want a glass like finish before doing the ceramic. I spent 4 days, a few hours each day (as much as my back could take) working over the existing finish. It got fully stripped of old waxes by being washed with a dish detergent mix. This was followed by a second wash with car-wash mix. I then evaluated each section of the car (pretty much dividing it into quarters) using a very bright focused LED flashlight. I was looking for haze and scratches. The hood and nose have PPF on them, I assume from when the car was new (about 12 years then). I found a product made to "correct" and polish PPF - and used with a PorterCable polisher - I got excellent results. The PPF which had an overall slight haze to it, polished up just fine. I then did the rest of the paint using several steps of polishing compounds with the appropriate pads. The sides aren't quite as critical - you can get away with maybe two steps of polishing on the sides - at least on light colors. All this was followed by a wash with 50/50 water/denatured alcohol to remove any oils or grease leftover from the polishing stages. Then to the easy part - applying the ceramic coating. The Nanobond is applied with a cloth over a foam surface applicator - and simply slid onto the surface. It's a case of do it and then leave it alone. You can spread it out and wipe it out - but once that's done - let it start to harden (takes about 10 minutes). Depending on the shape of the area I was doing - I did 10"x10" to 10"x20" sections. Each slightly overlapped the last. I also did the plastic black trim on the car - the cowl (black plastic the wipers emerge from) - had been carefully washed and scrubbed with a soft brush in prep for this - then it got the alcohol rinse, and the same NanoBond ceramic. It turned out looking like brand new plastic. Not shiny, but a nice deep dull gloss to it - the look it had when new. I haven't touched that since I did it - and it still looks the same - the ceramic coating is perfect for this application (as I proved also on my Cayenne Turbo - and the grille plastic). So that's the story - the ceramic still beads water and it flows off easily (when it's clean).. and it only needed a wash to win 2nd place after 3 years on the coating.

Pics!!

Let me rummage a bit.. 2024 "Beauty Shot" by a pro - a local dealership (Ray Catena, Edison NJ) wanted to build an image library of cars they considered exceptional. They asked, I agreed: Taken a few years ago - who can ID the location? In both - notice the 987 on the door - subtle - but for the cognizetti - it tells the story. The black "porkchop" in front of the rear wheel was a replacement for the badly deteriorated clear factory one that had turned yellow. On my several BMW Z3-M coupes I had magnetic black porkchops in the same place and liked how they looked, so when I replaced them I decided to try using black. I still like how it looks. Again - subtle - most people would never know. It makes the hips on the rear fenders more prominent. Not a great shot of the interior - but it shows several things so I'll use it. The interior modifications were intended to lighten up what was a drab looking blue interior. Mediterrain Blue - aka Navy Blue in US colors. Dark. Dark enough that a lot of the time it looks almost black. The center console wasn't awful - but it was the same damn blue. I found a guy who offered a painted console in my exterior color for my old console and some $$$ and he'd do the installation while I waited - no question about it. I found the $$$ and ended up with the new console. About a year after that I decided the beltline-trim between the top and bottom of the dash - the dull silver stuff - really would look better in body color. So I bought a complete set of used trim from a junkyard and set about trying to paint it myself, with outstandingly bad results. I ended up wrapping it with some vinyl I found on Amazon. Looked 95% great, but since I did the job I could see the flaws. Contacted the guy who did the console, he still had some of the paint, and was willinng to do a complete set if I provided the parts and $$$. I did - I think the result looks great. Again - subtle. A few special models used the painted console/strips - so it's not really out of place. Footwells - the matts - Coco Matts - great company. Blue and white didn't hold up, the blue faded badly. I contacted them, they replaced them for free with black/white - and they look great. Porsche Car Floor Mats Cell phone mount - I hate the ones on vents - they always look like they're going to break the slats. This one mounts firmly to the console. And I like the location. Custom Car Phone Holders & Dashboard Mounts for Phones | ProClip USA Headunit - There is a very long (24 pages right now) thread here on the Aliexpress headunit. I believe I was the pioneer on that.. at least on this forum. Love it. See the thread. Steering wheel - aluminum (356 Spyder) look wheel with flappy paddles. It looks stock because later models had it for an option. Looks great, works great with the PDK. I painted in the + and - symbols on the paddles so I could easily read them. Same thing on the shifter. Filled with red paint, wiped. Done. Other audio stuff - I'll dig out some more pics - more subtle stuff to reveal. It's different - but only if you know. Gotta go for a haircut - so I'll continue this when I get back... One for the road, sunset over Spring Lake:

OK - freshly ceramic'd: The great part - it still looks like that.

Wow - if yours got 2nd then the 986 must have been truly spectacular. I've seen many attempts by owners who think that they can improve on the factory aesthetics but - in my opinion - very few actually manage to pull it off like you have. Thanks so much for the detailed information on your ceramic application - much appreciated.

Just a very brief update. Apparently, the 987 has aged gracefully.. for 2025 it got First Place in the Boxster/Cayman category. Bigger, even more bling trophy. I think I might pass on 2026 - give someone else a chance..

Way to go. It but even better if you had done the work. I never understood Concours guys; days, weeks maybe months preparing a car for a show. I entered my first Concours at the 2019 Porsche Parade Concours in Baco Raton FL (might as well start at the top). Spent 3 weeks prepping the car and won with 178.5 points out of 180 (there was some dirt an arm's length up in the intake).

Augie - the Concourse I enter the car in isn't a Q-tip sort of event. It's more like "Would I like to drive that car?" event, or "Cool that car still looks good" sort of event. It's actually called "The Unique Concourse".. by the regional club who runs and judges it. As far as doing the work - I did the primary work - polishing and ceramic coating the car about 4-5 years ago. I have a young man come by to wash it because he's about 60 years younger than I am, and can get the brushes in between the spokes on the wheels and get the wheel drums brake-dust-free pretty much. If I was still that flexible I'd go at it myself, I did for MANY decades, but age catches up with you, especially if you've spent a lot of life working in cold/damp environments chasing perfection in some hobby (couldn't help myself..) Congrats on your results in the Porsche Parade - but that isn't an event I'd even think of going near. Too much work, and it would limit the fun I had with the car on the way there. If they're using fractional points, it's not the event for me or my Boxster. My Boxster is in no way a pristine example as it came out of the factory. There are a lot of rather subtle modifications I've made to it for my own pleasure, and apparently some of those resonated with the judges. But - whatever rocks your boat. Great job at the Parade - are you think of entering again?

Tell me about it I’m 79. It was a Spyder so a bit special in itself Never did it before and won’t do it again. What I could do 7 years ago I can’t anymore

I will no longer be 79 before the end of this month. I have to realize that I just can't do some things. I still believe I can R&R the radio (aftermarket Chinese, long thread on it) for an intermittent ground causing bad noises, by myself. But the day after I do it - I wake up wondering why I hurt all over. DUH. And the top mechanism - I didn't hurt that badly - but my arms looked like I'd been through a battle - black and blue wherever I had to work around other parts of the mechanism. Maybe a padded suit? EDIT: Just noticed - this was my 6,000th post here. I'll catch up someday with the 10,000 I had on the forum whose name is never spoken here..

I thought no big deal I’ll just change oil/filter in the van. Well getting up and down to get under the van was a bitch. your 9 months older than me and you just hit 6000 posts; nice going. Maybe I’d be there too if I hadn’t dropped out of life after my surgery in January 24. I didn’t do my taxes for 2 years and I used to work for H&R Block after I retired and then had my own tax firm for 2 years after that.

Congrats! End of 79 here as well.