Those of you who know me well know that I have a thing for Porsches. I like reading about them, I like going to the dealerships, and I like buying things with the crest. I’ve been to the Porsche headquarters in Stuttgart. I had the privilege to tour the factory (getting on the tour, especially without reservations, was a bit of a coup). I’ve had the pleasure of driving a Porsche on several occasions, too. By all measures, I’m a fanatic. There’s just one minor piece of this scene that’s missing:

I don’t own one… yet.

Fortunately, the solution to that problem is rather straightforward: buy one! Of course, that involves a lot of searching newspapers and browsing the web. Invariably, that eventually leads to the Porsche web site. Mmmm…

There, on the site, you can build your own Porsche (but avert your eyes from the price). You can order Porsche-branded merchandise. You can even get the specs on the latest Porsche bicycles (really!). A new feature, in fact the one that prompted this post, is to watch a series of films about the new 911: the type 997.

The main film is what really made me smile. Sure, the acting is a little stiff, but they hit the nail right on the head. I think that the boy in the film shares a parallel mindset with myself. Towards the end, the narrator says the following lines:

“It’s a funny thing about a Porsche. There’s the moment you know you want one, there’s the moment you first own one, and for the truly afflicted, there’s the decade or two that passes in between.”So true. I’ve wanted one for roughly a decade now, so maybe the time will be soon. The only big problem preventing such an acquisition is that I don’t have a place to put it. Maybe that will change in the near term as well…I’ll give you one more example of my fanaticism before finishing this post. While in Stuttgart at Porsche, I felt obligated to look in the Porsche gift shop. Inside, I found one of the neatest, most eccentric Porsche souvenirs ever. I found a children’s book about a Porsche tractor! In German! Which I don’t speak! And I bought it! Woo!!! It’s obvious from looking through the book that the author loves his Porsche tractor. From the drawings, it also appears that the world has never seen a happier Porsche tractor. It’s smiling on every page except for when it hits a tree. It’s kinda sad in that one. I can’t blame it, though. I’d be happy being a Porsche too, so long as I wasn’t driven into a freak’n apple tree.

For an idea of what a real Porsche tractor looks like, glance at this eBay auction. For a collection of absolutely brilliant Porsche writing, I highly recommend Porsching, particularly the “When You Wish Upon a Star” series. Good entertainment — maybe even for a non-Porschephile!

Go on, watch the movie. It will stream for you, or, if you have a high-speed connection, you can download it(38MB, zipped QT).