3 minute read
MY PASSION FOR PORSCHE
WRITTEN & PHOTOGRAPHED BY: OLIVIER CATHERINE
Like many, I got to discover and appreciate the Porsche brand with my Dad. However, he did not have a Porsche and was driving a Citroën GS! I grew up in France and was very lucky to live in a town named Angers, located only about 65 miles from Le Mans. So, at eight years old, I went for the first time with my Dad to watch the famous 24-hour race, and I was absolutely blown. It was 1984, and Porsche dominated the race with the private Joest Porsche 956 driven by Pescarolo and Ludwig. I did not know at the time, but the race was boycotted by the official Porsche team. Anyway, I remember vividly that the crowd invaded the racetrack at the end of the race, the safety around the track was not what it is today!
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It was absolutely crazy, and I remember touching the filthy winning car with my hand as it was surrounded by the crowd. My dad was so worried I would burn my hand. Today, I have the 1/48 scale Joest Porsche 956 model with that famous yellow and black livery sitting on my desk! I moved to Boston from France in 2004 and worked as a research engineer, and later moved to Texas. I bought my first Porsche, a new Macan S in Houston in 2016. It was a great and fun daily driver, but I always wanted a 911 at some point. I took the Porsche Driving School at Barber in Birmingham, AL and that was a first revelation. But it is really during an impromptu visit of Luftgekühlt 4 in Los Angeles that I fell in love with the aircooled madness. I was absolutely “done” gravitating around the 911 and I was ready! Back home, I decided to sell the Macan, found an alternative daily driver and started searching for the perfect aircooled 911. Well, it was not as easy as it sounds, and I almost bought two “bad cars” and thankfully walked away from the deals after pre-purchase inspections. My friends really helped: in fact, I bought my 1988 Carrera from someone who became a really good friend. For sure, I feel that I jumped into a community of ultra-passionate enthusiasts and this is one of my favorite aspects of this experience. This feeling has been reinforced as I participated for the first time to the 2020 Hill Country Rallye. This event was an absolute blast: combining amazing cars and great people taking over the Y.O. Ranch Hotel in Kerrville, with the incredible drives on the Hill Country back roads and Ranch roads. The car got dirty and abused a little, but also has shown how perfect it is for this type of driving: I am still so impressed by how much grip this car has and how fast it can corner! This event was also the occasion to have fun with the camera – Porsche cars are truly inspirational when it comes to photography and I rarely drive without my camera! J
