Ownership Update: The End of a Porsche

Much has changed since I last had the opportunity to humblebrag on TTAC. My good friend Derek has monetized the skills he developed and honed here into an actual, real-life job in the automotive industry, and I’ve gone from owning two Porsche 911s to owning zero cars — at least temporarily.

Keen readers will recall that I bought a Porsche 911 from the halcyon days of the mid-1990s just over 3 years ago. September will mark my 993’s 20th birthday, and when it was originally delivered on Halloween in 1995, I was trick-or-treating at the local bank with the rest of my first grade class. During my stewardship the car never failed to generate acute, intense emotional responses; I’ve loved, adored, and cursed the car at various times. For all those nostalgic reasons — as well as the pricing dynamics of the air-cooled Porsche market — I decided to hang on to my old car when I bought my 997.1 GT3 last year.

Recently, I wrote an advertisement for the car. I paid a high school kid to take some exceptional pictures. And then I listed it for sale. As I’d anticipated, the car generated plenty of interest including that of a very gracious, patient gentleman from Minnesota who ultimately bought the car. I won’t be so crass or callous as to tout my outsized returns on the “investment,” but suffice to say I bought the car for well under $30,000 and sold it for well north of $40,000, after three years and 23,000 miles. On the other side of the ledger there were some admittedly hefty maintenance bills, but the car proved a much better allocation of funds than the CamCordImas that the Best & Brightest typically espouse for purchasing their first car.

Meanwhile, I had a fun road trip planned for the GT3. Two, rather selfless, owners of the latest generation GT3 — the 991 GT3 in Porsche parlance — devoted countless hours of their time to plan a three-day drive through my native North Georgia, as well as the Smoky Mountains, that attracted nearly 40 new GT3s from across the eastern seaboard (and further afield). I left work a bit early on a Thursday to change out of a suit before heading to a kickoff BBQ cookout with other attendees.

Unfortunately, I didn’t make it.

I was driving on Peachtree Road, a major surface street with a 45 mph speed limit in my neighborhood, as I headed home. A teenaged driver traveling the opposite direction failed to yield and made a left turn immediately in front of me. Panic stop, ABS, fiendishly expensive Porsche Ceramic Composite Braking system, etc., did little to retard my progress. When the collision occurred I was probably going about 40 mph and airbags in both vehicles deployed. Mercifully, everyone involved was unharmed and the adverse party’s insurer accepted all liability.

Of course, I wanted the GT3 totaled rather than extensively repaired, but the insurance company saw things differently — for a time. The car had some frame damage and the entire interior would have to be replaced, courtesy of an unhappy marriage between 20 ounces of Venti Iced Caramel Macchiato and acres of Alcantara. Add that to new panels on the front end, new clear bra, new air bag, among other things and the decision became easier. Although I’d love to regale the readership with the sordid details of my negotiations with the adverse party’s carrier, I’ll refrain. The insurance company eventually totaled my GT3 and I received a healthy payout, reflective of the market appreciation that has transpired since I purchased mine last April.

So, with an intense distaste for Atlanta’s public transportation options and a reluctance to embrace fully the shared mobility lifestyle, I started shopping for another car.

To be continued …

David Walton grew up in the North Georgia mountains before moving to Virginia to study Economics, Classics and Natural Light at Washington and Lee University. Post graduation, he returned to his home state to work in the financial services industry in Atlanta. A lifelong automotive enthusiast, particular interests include (old) Porsches and sports car racing.