If you read my recent post about my trip to the Dream Store, aka the Porsche Dealership, then that will give you a better idea of where this post begins. If you haven't read it, basically it's about finding a reason in life to get and to stay motivated. Motivated enough to remain focused on following your dreams, your passions in order to achieve your goals.And for me, my motivation is money. Yep, good ol' cash. Lots of dinero, so I can buy a car. I know, I know, very shallow but yes, I find my spine tingles the most when I'm behind the wheel of an extremely nice German Supercar. That's what floats my boat. I'm not gonna make excuses for it, that's just the way it is.
I've known this forever and I've also felt a bit guilty about it for just about the same amount of time. I mean, shouldn't there be more to life? All the thoughts of being superficial and merely out to prove something to someone else have lead me to feel guilty for getting my motivation from such a thing as a car.
The only other 'thing' that even comes close for me is women and to be honest, if I have to 'buy one', then that's not the one I want anyway. I want a woman to love me for me, not for what I can give her and since that's nearly impossible to find in todays world, I need to remain focused on the only other thing that gives me the 'warm 'n' fuzzies', a sweet a$$ German Supercar!
As I mentioned in Part One, I had gone to the Dream Store a few weeks ago to ask about the new 2010 Porsche GT3RS. They were just starting to arrive in the US and I wanted to see one in real life. Not that I could afford one [YET!] but I wanted to see what's been labeled as the best 'Drivers Car' in the world!
I'm already so enthralled with the 2007~'08 GT3RS that as hard to imagine as it is that the new version could be any better, with the larger 3.8 Liter engine, suspension changes, Center Lock wheels and all the other 'goodies' that have been updated, there was just no way I was going to miss the arrival of my new dream machine.
I put a call in to the Dealership last Tuesday, inquiring as to whether or not my baby had arrived yet, knowing that during my previous visit the Sales guy told me the new one should be in in just a few weeks. It takes approximately 25 to 30 days for the Ship to bring them over from Stuttgart, which seemed like quite a long time to me but he assured me that was normal.
Actually the Factory is located just a bit North, in Zuffenhausen, Germany but either way, still seems like a long trip. I guess when you're anxiously awaiting the arrival of anything, every minute is a minute too long.
In my mind I thought about a Cruise Ship and I couldn't believe it would take a month for that to get here from Germany, with no layovers in between but I guess it is what it is. So with a couple quick calculations, he 'guesstimated' that it should arrive by the end of the week. "Call me Friday around noon and I'll give you a status update." No need to mark it on my calendar, the time and date were instantly on the top of my list.
It's not like I was counting the hours until noon Friday or anything but let's just say that when the phone rang Friday morning around 10:00 I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. "Bryan, the White GT3RS arrived this morning. They have to do the PDI [Pre Delivery inspection] on it, detail it and then move it to the Showroom. Should be on the Showroom floor about Noon."
Even though I couldn't believe they would have all that done that quickly, I thought that maybe they had already started on it and that's how he came up with such an early time. I decided I'd go ahead and wait until it was all cleaned up and looking it's best before I arrived so I planned on getting there about 1:00. Don't wanna add any pressure, right?
On the way over there, I just kept thinking about how bitchin' this whole 'adventure' was gonna be. Knowing that there were very few of these in the US at this point just made it all the sweeter. The fact that it costs about $200K out the door made it even more of a dream trip.
Yeah, I gotta agree, that IS alot of money but when you break it down, a thousand dollars isn't a totally outrageous amount. Not these days anyway. And so you multiply that thousand by two hundred and that's it. Next thing you know, it's Heaven on earth. Not bad at all. Well, I guess it's all in how you look at it. That's how I choose to look at it anyway.
Luckily for me, as it turned out they were a bit behind schedule. As I pulled up to the driveway of the Dealership, what's the first thing that greets me? It's a Tech driving the new GT3RS, waiting to pull out into the street for a test drive. Wish I could have gotten my camera out in time but I was trying to concentrate on getting in the parking lot at the time.
Part of the PDI requires the Tech to 'take it out' and check things over. Gotta make sure everything is in working order. Even though it was completely checked over before it ever left the Factory, gotta go over it with a fine tooth comb just to ensure nothing happened to it during the 'Ship Trip'.
Porsche is known world wide for their attention to detail. Nothing gets past them. They are rated number one in the world when it comes to having the least amount of problems, which is really amazing when you think about the actual size of the Company.
They have more of a 'hands on' feel than the big US Auto Makers and perhaps that is what's lead to their success. That, and their racing heritage. Everything they produce is tested on the Track way before it ever reaches the Showroom floor. Yes, they are expensive but again, you get what you pay for.
Rarely, if ever, will you hear anyone mention the high price of a Porsche [except for the GT2 which could run over $300K and for that price, you're in Ferrari & Lamborghini territory] in regards to what you get for your money. You truly get what you pay for in a Porsche.
So I park my car, grab my Flip Camera and jump out hoping to catch a glimpse of MY DREAM pulling back in to the Lot. At this point I wasn't sure how far along they were with the PDI and detailing. All I knew was that I wanted to soak up as much as I could.
Standing on the sidewalk, I could hear something approaching that sounded absolutely incredible. Looking to my left, there it was. Caught just a bit of it as it pulled in the driveway. Then I more or less ran through the Lot, following the Tech back to the Service Bays.
Turns out they still had to finish up the PDI. Took all I had to ask but I couldn't pass up this opportunity. "Is it ok with you guys if I go inside and take a closer look?" To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what they replied as I didn't really hang around long enough to hear the answer. I immediately flew inside, Flip Cam rollin', doin' my best to get as much Video in as I could. After all, I had no idea when they were gonna kick me out.
Just the way it was idling, you could tell it's definitely a beast. When you put 450 Horsepower in a car that weighs very little and handles so well, you can't help but end up with major amounts of fun. And that is certainly the case here. From inside to outside, everywhere you look is just another engineering marvel to gawk at.
No doubt I found myself wanting for a 'scratch & sniff' button for my camera in hopes of capturing the amazing aroma permiating from the Leather and Alcantara Suede 'cocoon' known as the interior. Just exquisite. Even the exhaust fumes smelled like a million bucks! It didn't take me five minutes to know that two hundred thousand dollars is a bargain for this car.
As they wrapped up the Inspection, I knew it was now or never. "Mind if I sit in it for a second?" "Sure, no problem." Did I mention these guys at the Dealership were nothing but cool to me? Definitely unlike any other experience I've ever had at a Car Dealership. No 'Used Car Vultures' here, just a bunch of relaxed, easy going and helpful guys. From the Techs to the Sales Manager, all of them First Class. No doubt I'd highly recommend this Dealership to anyone.
Doing my best not to get drool all over the interior, the Tech gets in, saying "I'm gonna pull it around to the front." Normally, I would have totally blown it and said "Oh, ok, I'll go ahead and get out" but not this time. Oh no. If they wanted me out, they were gonna have to drag me out of there, kickin' and screamin'!
Just as soon as he started it, the 'tingles' hit me and flooded my spine with the warm 'n' fuzzies. While it might have only taken two minutes to get to the front of the Lot, it was the best 'trip' of my life. I tried to keep the camera going but I found it difficult to focus on the filming and so in the video, you'll see quite a bit of the dashboard. No doubt I lost my focus.
And while I would have loved to have gone for a quick cruise to LA, I've been informed that you have to sign away your life in order to go for a test drive and so that just wasn't gonna happen. Oh well, that's life. It had to end sometime and so with that, I reluctantly got out.
I walked around the car a bit more, trying to soak up all I could while at the same time not wanting to wear out my welcome. Which after being there filming for nearly an hour, I'm pretty sure I was coming close to doing exactly that.
As I walked inside the Showroom, hoping to get a glimpse of the 'Magic Pumpkin', the Orange 2008 GT3RS that was traded in on the new Gray GT3RS a few weeks ago, my head continued to spin. Is THIS RS really that much better than the 'old' one? Larger engine, RSR Race Suspension, Center Lock Wheels, etc., etc. I guess when it comes right down to it, yes it is a better car.
Does that in any way mean that the previous version is any less incredible? By no means. It merely means that just when you think they have reached perfection, perfection can still be improved upon. Which is exactly what they've done here. Hard as it is to believe, that's what happened.
This doesn't in any way diminish my dreams of having an '07 ~ '08 version. I would give anything to have one. Is the new one worth an extra $75K compared to the old one? Absolutely it is. Both are extremely low production, Collector status, High Performance German Supercars but if I had the $200K I would buy a new one in a heartbeat.
When they are being described by all of the 'in the know' testers as the Best 'Drivers Car' in the world [meaning a car without alot of electronic gadgetry that in essence eliminates feel] it's difficult NOT to want a new one. Not to say that I wouldn't be extremely happy with an old one, that's for sure. I guess we'll just have to see how it all plays out.
At least I can walk away from this experience knowing that I have all kinds of extra fuel for my motivational fire. Matter of fact, as I was walking to my car, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. I'd pretty much know that color anywhere, being as rare as it is.
Sure enough, there's a Green '08 GT3RS parked in the Lot. They produced a combined 200 of these for the North American market during the '07 ~ '08 year and to see two of these at the same Dealership is just insane. I have no idea what the odds are but they have to be very high, that's for sure.
Getting back inside my car [which I gotta admit seemed pretty damn frumpy at this point], I began to go over all the ways I could make enough money to buy one of these babies. I KNOW there has to be a way. Other people buy them, why not me? If you're gonna dream, might as well DREAM REALLY BIG!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment