This of course filters down to one of my favorite subjects, Porsches. Many people who don’t drive a Porsche make some pretty erroneous assumptions about those of who do. Things like people who drive a Porsche have loads of money, those behind the wheel of a Porsche are jerks/drive too fast/have no regard for others, and insuring a high performance sports car like a Porsche is off the charts expensive (good thing all of us have “loads of money”!).

What recently got me to thinking about this was an article I came across on an insurance site. It was talking about the costs to insure various cars. According to the research, which is a couple of years old, the Subara Impreza WRX held the title for most expensive to insure after the studies found drivers of the souped up mini sedan are more likely to get into accidents causing injuries such as whiplash claims. Interestingly enough, the Porsche 911 Turbo and 911 Coupe were at the other end of the spectrum with owners holding a significantly lower chance of injury claims compared to other policyholders.

One site had this to say:

For example, the Porsche 911 has a 67% less chance for injury claims than the norm. Go figure. The Mitsubishi Lancer has almost double the injury claim rate over the norm. [Source: CarInsurance.com]

I’m sure much of it has to do with the age and driving habits of Porsche 911 owners compared to the same of WRX owners, but that kills a couple of big misconceptions people have about the Porsche brand.

Even when you’re driving an older model that costs half as much as an average family minivan, people still look at you like you’re a rich snob and think you’re going to drive like a maniac. I even had a guy cut me off on the freeway this last summer, then flip me off even though I was doing the speed limit while passing him. I assume it’s because I was in a sports car and that somehow upset him.

I love the Porsche brand and the cars they turn out. I’m not a fan because they represent some status symbol in my mind. I simply love the cars and the experience of driving them. It’s icing on the cake to read things like the insurance articles that talk about how safely the drivers of our beloved brand conduct themselves behind the wheel. Course I’m sure there’s a lot of injury lawyers out there that wish that weren’t the case!

That and two bits will buy you a cup of coffee as my Dad likes to say.

I came across a bunch of pronunciation spoof videos on Gizmodo a few days ago. Some pretty funny ones. They, of course, had to include one for Porsche.

On that note, I’m always a bit amazed that people can’t seem to lock in the pronunciation of Porsche. Especially TV personalities and reporters.

Brad, one of our PorschePerfect.com readers, sent me this cartoon yesterday. Don’t come across too many Porsche cartoons worthy of reposting, but this one made me chuckle. Thanks Brad!

[Source: SpeedBump.com]

A few nights ago, I was sitting at home, a little bored. It was nearing 10pm and I decided we needed to do something spontaneous. I loaded the family up in the car and set out to do something I used to do at least three or four times a week for most of my high school and college years. We went to look at Porsches.

This may sound a little ridiculous and boring, but you should realize that I’ve likely spent more time sitting in my car (or my parents’ car) looking at Porsches than I have actually IN a Porsche. I used to drive nearly an hour each way to visit several used and new Porsche dealers in the Portland area when growing up. I’d also drive that same distance to visit magazine shops that carried Porsche related magazines not available in the Salem area.

This is a long standing tradition that has not died out.

Our first stop was a place named Northwest Investment Cars. Typically you can count on them to have not only a great selection of Porsches, but other exotics as well. On this particular night, there were some a few gorgeous late model 911s to be seen from the window. A solid start to our little late night Porscheventure.

The second location was a local Porsche dealer: Sunset Porsche. They always have nice cars on display and I was REALLY excited to see two cars in particular. The first was a 911 GT2. You just don’t see too many of those out and about, and this was a great example. Black with cool white lettering down the sides.

The second car was a first in person for me: a Porsche Boxster Spyder. I couldn’t believe they had one! I was so pumped at the sighting, I drove my wife (who had no intention of getting out of the warm car) over to the window to see it. I love the look of the car, especially the interior color.

My son really liked the white Porsche Cayman pictured above.

Of course I didn’t have a decent camera with me, so the only way to document the moment was with the iPhone. Sorry for the terrible picture quality.

All in all, a great night and a sure cure for boredom! Man I LOVE Porsches!

Dwight over at Carsinpedia.com (a site you should check out if you haven’t already) sent me a link to a Porsche 911 up for sale on Pelican Parts he found recently. It’s a 1990 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 (964).

Here’s the thing, it’s got 521,000 miles on it!

Sure it’s had a majority of it’s mechanicals rebuilt or replaced over the years, but that is a heck of a lot of mileage for a Porsche. Helps bolster Consumer Reports putting the Porsche Boxster at the top it’s list of cars with the most longevity (Porsche Boxster Tops List of Cars That Won’t Die).

Check out the LONG list of Major Repairs:

Flywheel replaced at 41,991mi
Distributor replaced and ventilation kit installed at 82,120mi
Ignition lock replaced at 92,030mi
O2 Sensor replaced at 96,720mi
Both rear calipers upgraded with larger 4 piston 928 calipers at 96,720mi
Windshield replaced at 106,241mi
Clutch and rear main seal replaced at 135,242mi
Rear blower replaced at 141,234mi
Engine reseal at 150,194mi
Spoiler drive replaced at 159,020mi
Rebuilt transmission, replaced pressure plate and pilot bearing at 180,258mi
Replaced both rear wheel bearings at 220,242mi
Rear CV boots replaced, joints repacked at 251,341mi
A/C compressor and receiver drier at 275,676mi
Replaced both blower motors at 291,749mi
Front crank, intermediate shaft cover seal, and chain box covers replaced at 297,952mi
Right rear CV axle replaced at 315,774mi
Right rear wheel bearing and hub replaced at 322,742mi
Engine carrier and both motor mounts replaced at 324,620mi
Replaced alternator, fan hub, and fan housing at 326,540mi
Oil cooler replaced at 328,530mi
Evaporator replaced at 334,869mi
Shift rod bushings replaced at 334,879mi
Carpet replaced at 345,419mi
Front and rear calipers rebuilt at 359,947mi
Power steering pump replaced at 365,664mi
Fuel pump replaced at 395,042mi
Engine Converted to 3.8L by Andial and auxiliary oil cooler installed at 400,000mi
Rear blower motor replaced at 409,913mi
Clutch master and slave cylinders replaced at 413,368mi
Front bumper replaced at 414,560mi
Left front wheel bearing replaced at 452,326mi
Windshield replaced at 454,514
Replaced front swaybar links, front lower control arms, and ball joints at 454,514mi
Rear spoiler replaced at 460,308mi
Starter replaced at 480,772mi
Spoiler control unit replaced at 483,528mi
Updated fan and pulleys installed at 495,566mi
Clutch kit installed at 495,566mi
Engine rebuilt at 496,197mi
Driver side window motor replaced at 497,370mi
Right rear wheel bearing replaced at 510,032mi
Washer pump, idle valve, and left inner CV joint replaced at 519,540mi
Car painted and all body seals replaced at 519,540mi
Front hood struts, defrost motor, and fresh air motor replaced at 520,561mi
Engine reseal and bottom end bearings replaced at 520,561mi
A/C compressor replaced at 520,750mi
Odometer rebuilt at 520,800mi

One of the interesting things to me about this car, which will likely be tough to sell due to the mileage, is the asking price. It’s up for $16,000. Personally I wouldn’t spend that much on it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if someone comes along and snaps it up for somewhere near the asking price.

You can check out the car here: 1990 Porsche 911 Carrera 2.

A headline on MSNBC.com caught my eye a few weeks ago. It said, “Porsche among road warriors that won’t die” and got me to thinking about Porsche and their reliability. The post was referring to a Forbes article which in turn referred to a Consumer Reports research report on reliability of different cars.

Consumer Reports found that all of the cars and SUVs made by Porsche rated average or better in respect to longevity. The Porsche Boxster, however, rated top of the list in the report.

It’s not surprising, by any means. A good chunk of Porsche owners take extreme pride in their rides and thus take really good care of them, keeping up with maintenance and whatnot. As I continually look at used Porsches for sale on Craigslist, eBay and other places, I’m amazed at the number of high mileage cars that are in great condition…and holding strong on value.

There’s bargains to be had, for sure, but when you buy a Porsche, whether brand new, a few years old, or really old in car terms, you’re buying a vehicle with solid reliability that can be driven and enjoyed. Some TLC and you’re golden in most cases, provided you did your due diligence up front.

Sorry if this sounds like an advertisement for Porsche. Just proud of the car that grabbed my heart 25 years ago.

[Image: Porsche]

I think I’m going to have to start a category called Porsche Pictures That Piss Me Off. This should be post #1 in there. James C. sent me this yesterday saying I “might like this one A LOT!!!” Boy do I EVER!

I’ve long had a love affair with early model Porsche 911 Turbos. Add a slantnose conversion in there and I get weak in the knees. However this one made my stomach turn.

I really don’t get what some people are thinking. To each his own and all that, but still…this looks terrible. Check out some of the verbiage from the auction page:

Gorgeous, Sleek, One of a Kind, Great Condition, Head Turning, Quick, Stylish.

The Paint Job was professionally done by Dangerous Curves.

Car is garaged 95% of the time and is rarely driven…but when it is Everyone Notices.

It’s a head turner alright. More like a gawker. People can’t manage to rip their eyeballs away from the atrocity.

I’m sorry if I’m offending anyone here, but I just can’t get over how someone would actually PAY for this paint job. My son wanted me to email the seller, offer him $10k, then pay to have it repainted. Said we’d have a pretty nice car for a good deal at that point.

On a positive note, I do really like the red gauges. The rest of the interior needs to go back to the original black, but those red gauges would stay if this were my car.

Check out more pics on the auction page here: 1986 Porsche 911 Cabriolet. I can’t imagine this car is going to get a single bid at the $18k starting price, much less make it to the reserve price.

[Image Source: eBay]

The first is How to buy a Lamborghini on a used Porsche budget. This may seem really out of place, but you have to check out the details of this post and additional picture they have up on the site. Here’s one I snagged from the site to give you a taste:

Get this…this car started life as a 2000 Porsche Boxster S! Sounds crazy, I know. Check out the full post along with some details and another picture at the link above.

The second post is one that completely caught me off guard. Yes, even more so than the Porschini. It was We travel to Dubai to test the new Michelin Pilot Super Sport. The reason this caught my attention was the first photograph:

Holy crap…and you can barely make out the Porsches clear down at the end of the row. The fact that Michelin called up the people at Porsche Purist and asked them to come to an all expenses paid event in Dubai really got me to dreaming. Course I have no expectation that would ever happen to me, but a fella can dream can’t he?!

Definitely worth the read and some great pictures of the event.

I came across this somewhere a month or so ago. Porsche has set up a live webcam aimed at the Porsche Customer Center with a stretch of the Porsche circuit behind it. A novelty, but pretty cool. I’ve already hit it a few times over the last day.

Refreshes every 5 minutes, so you can just hit refresh on the web page to see a new image. Check it out here: Porsche Leipzig facility.

Should the term “truck” also apply to SUVs?

* Yep: 21% (50)
* Nope: 38% (92)
* Come on, let’s focus on Porsche CARS here!: 41% (98)

Total Votes : 240

Personally, I feel a bit victorious here. Throw out all the indecisive answers and clearly a Porsche Cayenne should NOT be referred to as a “truck”!