Along Came A Spyder

Story by Ron Myers Photos by Roger Fabel

Back in 1971 at the age of 17 I found myself in the showroom of Ted McWilliams VW/Porsche/Audi in Monroeville, Pa. I was looking to purchase a VW bus with the money that I had saved over the last 5 years as a paperboy. While there a Sunflower Yellow (L13K) 1970 914 on the showroom floor caught my eye. She was one year old and had 24,000 miles on her. I called my girlfriend and asked her which I should buy, the VW or the Porsche. Without hesitation, she said “Get the Porsche!” I can’t remember a thing about the VW Bus but have vivid and fond memories of the 914 that I remember to this day. And so began my nearly 50 year history with the marque.

I grew to love Porsches and over the years had six in total, keeping most of them for 5 to 10 years before selling them. And I regret selling every one of them! It’s just that from time to time, life got in the way. In 2001, when my job transferred me to Florida, I had three tucked away in my two-car garage; a gorgeous 1987 911 Cabriolet Summer Yellow (LM1A) with Mahogany top and interior, a 1976 914 2.0 liter Scarlet Red (L31M) with black interior and an ultra-rare 1972 Italian 914 1.7 liter Bahia Red (L30E/1310) with Russet interior and less than 10,000 Km on the odometer (that’s a whole other story that I will write about in a future article.) My eldest was getting ready to go to college so to free up some funds I sold the 1976 914 before moving to Florida and then after arriving here, regretfully sold the 911 and Italian 914. I kept my membership in PCA but for the next seven years (our sons’ college years) our garage was Porsche-free. Finally, in 2009 I was ready to buy my next Porsche and after a long search found a mint 2006 996 Turbo Cab in Seal Grey Metallic (6B4/Y1) with Light Grey interior and factory wood trim. She was a beauty and my wife Susie and I enjoyed 5 years as her caretaker. I always said the Turbo, for me, was a case of “too much car, not enough driver”. That Mezger engine was a monster.

It was during that time we became involved in the Gold Coast Region PCA, attending programs such as Zonefest, Amelia Island, Porsches by the Bay, etc. and concoursing the car. And involved we were! At our first event, Steve and Dottie Kidd welcomed us with open arms and quickly introduced us to Roger and Sherry Fabel, Ed and Beena Kohly, Cynthia Fluhart and Richard Diaz (RIP), Frank (RIP) and Christy Spangler, and the concourse experts Fred Kohly and Peter Olliviere. Susie began help out at registrations and anywhere else she was needed while I would prep the car for show and then help judge classes in which I was not participating. I learned a lot about car care and judging from Fred and Pete-like making sure to clean my door hinges, checking for dust (!) behind the gas, brake and clutch pedals, and using the same yardstick for every car when judging.

We really loved the Turbo Cab but found we weren’t driving it as much as we should have, so in 2013 we sold it locally to its next caretaker. For the next couple of years I was again regretting my decision to de-acquisition my Porsche so I began the hunt for my next car. I had always loved the 914s. Their mid-engine layout made for flat cornering and they drove like a go kart. They had a trunk AND a frunk and were, frankly, cool! In 2016 I finally located a nice 1974 2.0 liter Phoenix Red (L32K) that was actually being sold nearby by Danny Simonson, a local Porsche shop owner and concourse enthusiast. We worked out a deal and I became the new owner. But more importantly, we were back in the club! I still drive the 914 every couple of weeks to keep it lubricated and spry but being 46 years old I am cautious about driving it any great distances which has limited my enjoying regional Porsche events. So, with continued gentle pressure from my wife to buy something we could drive more often, and that had an air conditioner, I started to look for my next Porsche in early 2018.

I settled on trying to locate a 2014-16 911 GTS Cabriolet (991.1.) This was the last year of production for the naturally aspirated engine in the non-GT cars. I was particular with my desired spec. It had to be a manual transmission and not Black, White, Silver or Grey. I was also hoping to find a one-owner car with low miles and full service history. Little did I know that I was looking for an unobtanium Porsche, a Unicorn. I looked and looked and looked, setting up search engines on Rennlist, PCAMARKET, Bring a Trailer, CarGurus.com, eBay, CARFAX, Cars. com, etc. but couldn’t find one. I even advertised for over a year in the Panorama CARS WANTED section with no luck. I began to lose faith.

In early 2019 I started hearing rumors of a new 2020 718 Spyder in the works. It was to be the third generation (Boxster) Spyder (987, 981, and 982.) This car intrigued me. Unlike the 2016 981 turbocharged four cylinder variant, the 2020 982 was to be equipped with a bespoke 4.0

liter naturally aspirated six cylinder boxer engine, 414 hp, 390 #s of torque, 8000 rpm redline all mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox with real wheel vectoring and the entire front suspension borrowed from the 911 GT3. Wow! Plus it was a mid-engined car with a trunk and a frunk (and air conditioning): the great grandson of my beloved 914!! SIGN ME UP!!!

Not so fast 914 Boy. I learned that the new Spyder was going to be very difficult to obtain unless you were a Preferred Customer of Porsche or knew Ferry Porsche or someone in the Piech family. I called all of the local dealerships, and some not so local, and kept getting the same story; their allocation was small and since I wasn’t a Preferred Customer my chances were slim to none that I would be able to get one. Damn, another unobtanium unicorn. In August 2019 after my third trip to Porsche West Broward and pleading with Ariel Sommerfleck, their GT cars specialist, to get me one he told me of a secret backdoor way I could try. It seemed that if you took European Delivery then the car won’t count against a dealership’s allocation. “Sue, want to go to Stuttgart next May? Yes?! Done!” We specked our car just the way we wanted it, Racing Yellow, black leather interior with deviated yellow stitching, yellow gauges and seatbelts, carbon fiber trim, 18-way Sport Seats, fire extinguisher, NAV, black wheels, PDLS+, aluminum gas cap and a few other goodies. I spent the next two months planning the perfect three week trip to Germany, locked in our flights, AirBnBs, admissions to tough-to-get venues, and, of course, time to spend in Stuttgart at the factory museum (especially to see one of the two 914-8s ever built.) Then the S*#% hit the fan: COVID-19, and everything went south. After much stress and many sleepless nights, Porsche approved my car being shipped to the US and would not take away one allocation from Porsche West Broward. Phew, back on track.

Susie and I learned that our car arrived in Emden on June 20th and was going to ship on the 26 th via the car carrier Siem Cicero. We checked its location 5 times a

day until it got to Davisville, Rhode Island offloaded some cars before sailing on to Jacksonville, Florida. It took 26 days to get here after arriving at Emden-26 painful days. But it arrived! We asked that the car not be prepped but shipped as is, still in its wrappings, to ParkHaus1 to be Xpel wrapped and Cquartz ceramic coated by their Detailmeister, Albert Garcia, who Ed Kohly said was the ONLY one to which I should entrust my car. Albert spent days prepping the car and did an amazing job.

So now, my 914 has a stable mate, my wife has air conditioning, and I have, well, one of the best driving, funnest cars Porsche has ever produced. See you at the shows and fun runs! I’ll be in the 914 and Susie will be in the Spyder 

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