MEET A MEMBER by
M o e
Sc h a r h o n ,
M emb er s hi p
T
he AZPCA is made up of a wonderful group of members. As Membership Chair, I would like to introduce featured member, Matthew Lew.
1. When did you join PCA? I joined PCA in August-2021.
2. What Porsche(s) do you have? I have a 2009 997.2 Carrera.
3. Where are you from?
I grew up in Tucson and went to college at UCLA. Since graduating in 2004, have worked in Los Angeles, Dallas, and now in Scottsdale – but normally, I’m traveling for work over 150 days per year.
4. Family? Single.
5. Work background or trade?
Partner / Managing Director for Deloitte, which is one of the largest consulting / professional services firms in the world. My background is in finance / accounting and I specialize in turnaround / distressed businesses. So, we get engaged by companies that are having liquidity issues, perhaps have a big debt payment coming due, have structural issues to their business models that are making them unprofitable, etc.
6. What makes your car special?
Honestly, there is nothing ‘special’ about my car. There are special attributes that I wanted in my first Porsche – for example, I wanted something affordable and well-maintained (so that basically ruled out the 993s and the 991s+), but I also wanted something that was analog-enough and still had some of the bells and whistles of cars that I have come from (have had an Audi S4, Audi S5, Mercedes C63 AMG 507 Edition, etc). I was actually going to buy a Tesla, but after looking at the fact that I’m still single, only put about 5K of mileage on a car per year, etc., I felt it was a great time to buy something that could be a ‘daily driver’, and still be on the borderline of impracticality. I wanted to drive a car….I didn’t want a car that would drive me (if that makes sense).
7. Next upgrade?
Would like to get into a second-gen 991 at some point – slightly bigger platform – would want the Carrera S – I like the RWD.
C ha i r
8. Have you personalized your car?
No – Just got it and not sure I will do much – I like it how it is. Only upgrade I will likely do is swapping the PCM3.0 interface for an Apple CarPlay solution, which with the Bose sound system, appears to be about a $2500 upgrade.
9. Favorite memory with a car?
Taking my MB C63 AMG up into the canyons above LA – amazing car – only got about 10 miles per gallon with a naturally-aspirated 6.2L V8, but an engine that we will never see again. The precision that MB used to put into the AMG line rivaled that of what Porsche does with its cars – I think that’s definitely changed now as they have split the AMG line between 43s and 63s – it’s lost the ‘luster’ of what AMG stood for.
10. Why did you buy your Porsche?
I’m a huge watch collector and the more I started reading about the Porsche 911, the more iconic attributes I found in the coveted watches of today, such as the Rolex Submariner. To the layman, the Submariner from 1980 looks like the Submariner made today. I view both the 911 and the Submariner as the epitome of that term “icon” – they’re very well-made, they don’t go through crazy design refreshes every few years, and the changes are always iterative. One great connectivity point is size – the Rolex Submariner has become larger over time, just like the 992 is a bigger platform than the 997. That being said, the changes have been subtle – both Rolex and Porsche have been able to translate classic into modern without sweeping changes. I also love the fact that people drive their Porsches. The fact that you see so many Porsches with over 100,000 miles on them tells you a lot about the experience and the longevity – Porsche drivers don’t keep them tucked away – if you maintain them well, they will last. I also find the premiums and focus that people put on ‘unmodified’ to be quite unique – it tells me that people like the way Porsche did things…
11. High school nickname? ‘Red Bandit’ – [Long story]
12. Top 3 cars you would own? McLaren F1 2016 Porsche 911R 1997 Porsche 993 Turbo S
G O I N G P L A C E S 82.2022
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