Why am I not a Porsche maniac?
03/24/2025
25 years ago, I drove my first Porsche. In fact, I had a whole collection to choose from: 1600 Super Speedster, Carrera RS, 911 Turbo 3.3 – all readily available at any time for extensive and fast tours through Central Europe. And best of all, I didn't even have to leave my room.
On March 24, 2000, Need for Speed: Porsche unleashed was released for the PC, in which – as the name suggests – only Zuffenhausen products could be driven. Even with a certain educational claim: in evolution mode, the game took you through 50 years of brand history from the first 356 to the latest 911 Turbo. In factory driver mode, you could improve your driving technique.
Cracked by my cousin Matthias (after a quarter of a century, I hope I may admit it), I had the most fun simply exploring the various routes. Driving through Monte Carlo in a 356, through Normandy in a 944 or along the Côte d'Azur in an early 911 S – that leaves its mark. Or so I thought.
Until the question crossed my mind some time ago: Why don't I already have a classic Porsche in the garage? Or two? Or ten? Why is it that just sitting in the passenger seat for the first time was enough to make me eternally enthusiastic about a Triumph TR4, but hours and hours in front of the virtual image never awakened the desire to sit behind a real Porsche steering wheel at some point?
Over-saturation? Or rather the opposite? Perhaps the visual experience, despite all the attention to detail, was simply not enough. Without the feel and smell of a 40-year-old driving machine, the most important influencing factors were probably missing. In any case, I will continue to get along quite well without a Porsche. But I would love to go to Normandy one day.
