Ch.1: Introduction
If you’ve ever found yourself on a journalism site, you’ll notice you lean more towards stories that captivate you. As a journalist in high school, I was taught to get out there and capture stories that don’t just revolve around things that would interest you. Having that in the back of my head, I went out of my usual BMW slant six enthusiast group to a celebration for another car of six cylinders, these six cylinders, however, would be clearly misplaced in a format called a “boxer” layout.
Early Sunday morning I got up, grabbed my gear, and went out in hopes of catching these flat six specimen migrating in packs into an event known as Das Renn Treffen. The 2017 gathering of DRT would be the third annual meeting of Porsches from all over South Florida hosted by a very popular, prestigious, Porsche collection house known as Park Haus 1 in collaboration with the Urban Outlaw himself, Magnus Walker.
Being a huge fan of Magnus, I went last year and met him, however last year I went sincerely for the photo-op with Magnus and to see a couple cool Porsches here and there. This year however, something different happened.
Owning an E30 Super Eta myself, I know what it means to have an older car. It’s not just a classic, more fun, lightweight sports car, it’s a time capsule. A time capsule that shows us the peak of the automotive industry as a whole before safety regulations and emissions started to get to the weight of sports cars of today. Something that showed how immense amounts of power wasn’t always the answer, it was the sincere bliss of driving; the essence of playing with the weight of a car and getting it to rotate and use all sub-200 horsepower no matter where you are because you can and you won’t kill yourself doing so.
That’s when it clicked. Yes the 2002 was an incredible nimble machine of great engineering feats, sure the E30 was the definition and pioneer of the compact sports sedan segment, but BMW wasn’t the only one to invent a game and master it. After DRT 2017 it hit me...they weren’t the only ones inventing games in the engineering world, others invented games, they too were so good at, they’d stick to their “game” for more than 80 years and still be the best to do it.
Ch. 2: Loyalty
Being a BMW enthusiast doesn’t mean swearing by the Bavarian automaker never to step foot in another car again. It’s okay to like another brand right? I’m sure I’m not the only one to experience these feelings and I know I’m not the only one to have done this before.
The first drip of the Porsche drug was given to me when I had the opportunity to ride shotgun in a 997.2 Carrera GTS. The sheer grunt the car had and incredible stability blew my mind instantaneously. “But the engine hangs out the back” I kept telling myself. Not having a license at the time, meant I’d only be able to ride shotgun and I had caught, for the first time, feelings for Porsche. It wasn’t until senior year of high school that I did a story on a friend’s dad’s Porsche 930 RSR Jagermeister racecar, that I realized the engineering behind Porsche was something serious, it was (dare I say) perfect. At the time, I still got in my E60 530i on style 128’s I owned and for some reason convinced myself that I would still stick to BMW.
Until DRT...DRT 2016 was great meeting Magnus for the first time, but after reading more about his story and watching his TED Talk I got a rush of inspiration and since then I followed what he told me to do “Follow your gut feeling”. Sure everyone says that, but no one is a prophet in their own land. It wasn’t till I saw someone that I could relate to saying that that it finally went through my thick skull.
Ch. 3 Falling
I am an automotive enthusiast; I love cars, we all do and know about all of them as much, more, or less than the automotive enthusiast next to us. There are some we hold closer to our hearts than others. My Italian lover is a raging bull by the name of Lamborghini, Japanese temptation is Nissan, American blood fueled by the muscle of the Ford Mustang (as long as it doesn’t hit me in the crowd), British class is Aston Martin, and German precision is BM...no Por...no, YES, Porsche.
DRT 2017 is the ultimate collection of Porsche’s as the area of South Miami is enveloped by the history of Porsche and that is how I finally got it. Porsche to me is no longer a “squashed beetle” as I was brainwashed by Jeremy Clarkson to think. It is the essence of German motorsport, the sheer delight of driving spiritedly or slowly cruising. It’s a timeless design, one that trickles down to the wildest of Porsche’s, cues from the very first 356 in the 959 that are now iterated in the 918. It is the family and the bond built with these cars, as with all cars no matter the brand, over the passion for their design and the desire to share it with others.
Dare I say, I fully let go that day. I went with my gut and my gut told me Porsche is the German precision I long for. Albeit I still have my obsession with BMW that I will never get over as it is the more tangible of dreams to achieve. However, Magnus told me to go with my gut and dammit Magnus, you were right.
-Esteban Larranaga
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