PCA Gold Coast – Member Profiles Mark Johnson, staff writer
We sincerely hope you are enjoying meeting your fellow members via this format. Die Porsche Kassette staff certainly is!
Featuring Jose J. “JJ” Colon-Lauer Jose J. Colon-Lauer is known as “JJ”, which certainly seems logical and reasonable. He and his family are originally from Puerto Rico, and they currently live in Davie, FL. The family of 4 moved to the US in 2007 as part of a job transfer. What about his Porsche, you may ask? The PCar in the household is a 1988 Carrera 3.2 Cabrio in Venetian Blue with 98,789 miles. JJ acquired the car in 2010. It has been “chipped”, AC deleted, lowered to Euro spec, with an added front DP valence, Momo steering wheel, and an upgraded shifter. As with many Porsche owners, JJ enjoys cruising the car, driving it to various shows, and bringing joy to kids (and adults) when they see such a beauty.
Beautiful it is, JJ Colon-Lauer’s 1988 Carrera 3.2 Cabrio bathing in an evening glow Earlier, Jose had a line on another 3.2 Cab that was in Maryland. The year was 2007 and he made a gentleman’s agree-
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ment with the owner to fly up, buy the ‘87 and drive it home. The owner had a close friend who heard about the pending sale and indicated that he would purchase the car to keep it “in the family,” so to speak. The owner refunded the airfare to JJ and that opportunity ended. Since a Porsche was not in the cards at that time he decided to lay off the search, hoping another 911 Cab would find him. Then, as luck and fate would have it, Mrs. Colon-Lauer was cruising eBay and found the ’88 3.2 Cabrio. The car was in South Florida, 5 miles away. After a brief email exchange, Jose met the owner at a local Publix. The very next day he drove it home. He has been a proud and happy owner now for 11 years. Sr. Colon-Lauer’s affinity and appreciation for the 911 Porsche was kindled at a very early age. As with many young men he had an interest in cars. When 9 years old, the vehicle of choice was a Corvette. His father had both a Mercedes Benz 220 and a 6.3. Pops advised JJ that by the time he was able to purchase his own vehicle, cars would be quite different. Doing research through the magazines--Road & Track, for example—JJ’s mind and eyes were opened to a wonder of vehicles. One day, riding with his dad, he heard a massively and distinctive loud roar! The growling vehicle that passed them quickly was orange, with black lettering on the side, and carried massive spoiler. It was nothing like a ‘Vette. It was otherworldly to JJ. Ultimately this unique vehicle was ID’d as a 911 Carrera that was owned by a local radio DJ. Young Colon-Lauer was quickly transformed from a Chevy Corvette guy to a Porsche 911 aficionado.
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The Porsche 911 aficionado himself, JJ. His father and JJ had numerous conversations about cars (dad liked them every bit as much), so they looked around Puerto Rico together. Unfortunately, the supply and availability of the 911 in the island country was not large. Also, the roads and driving conditions that existed did not contribute to finding many high-quality Porsche vehicles. It wasn’t until JJ arrived in South Florida that the opportunity to acquire a mechanically sound 911 would appear. When the previous owner of the 3.2 had to sell in 2010 because of an unplanned divorce, JJ was the beneficiary of the 911. He has certainly made it his. To his knowledge, JJ Colon-Lauer is the fourth owner of the car. Besides the upgrades noted above, he has been working relentlessly to bring up the quality and keep the Carrera Cab in outstanding condition. Seats, carpeting, paint, wheels, and multiple other features were serviced personally or with the assistance of several local shops—Rivero Auto in Kendall in particular. While the previous owner kept the vehicle maintained mechanically, cosmetically it needed work. JJ became
