Middle Age Crazy? Maybe...

"Today he traded his big '98 Oldsmobile
He got a heck of a deal on a new Porsche car"

To be clear, I have not now, nor ever, owned an Oldsmobile. I am not opposed to Olds but I just have never owned one. I did get a heck of a deal on an older Porsche car. In fact, last week, I pulled the trigger and purchased a 911 Cabriolet. It is a 996 model, for those of you who are Porsche-philes or just car buffs. For those who are not, it is a first generation of the water-cooled Porsches. Purists often prefer the older air-cooled versions.

I had been looking for a long time for one of these, and, in fact had about given up my search and had been seriously considering purchasing a 1988 Alfa Romeo Spider. A pretty car, but with none of the power or handling of the German car. I might even go so far as to say that Alfa has cleaner lines, but that is about it. The Italian roadster offered manual steering and an anemic 115 horsepower.

The little car I purchased is silver. It has a few miles on it, but not many considering it's age, and less than half what I have on the Saab, which is several years newer. I found the car in Charleston, South Carolina. A couple of weekends ago I made the trek to see the car. I took it for a spin around town in the rain. It was a delight to drive. I spent the next four hours examining the car, calling friends and experts with questions about it, and reviewing the service records that had been maintained with the vehicle. 

I walked away from it that rainy Sunday, determined that I needed a couple of days to do some additional research and really think about it. Two days later I made the purchase. That was eight days ago. It will be Saturday before I have the chance to return to the city and take possession of the car. 

I am looking forward to the trip. I have wanted a Porsche for about 30 years, when I first encountered the 944 Turbo. I came close after to college to buying a 928S4 (I bought a BMW convertible instead). But the desire to have a true performance car was always in the back of my mind.

Call it a mid-life crisis. Look at the me, the middle-aged guy in the Porsche and sneer and make snide comments. I really don't care. I will enjoy the car. I will enjoy the throaty rumble of the flat-six as i push the pedal on the right into the carpet and flick the car into some corners on some sleepy road in the Deep South.