Way back when I was a young lad, from 1996-1997, I was working as a service porter/detailer at Stoddard Imported Cars, a Porsche and Audi dealer in Willoughby, OH. At the time Stoddard was a car dealer, not just a parts dealer and manufacturer as they are today. I had always been a car freak and a Porsche fan, but working there really cemented my love for German brand from Stuttgart. There aren’t a lot of 20 year old kids who get the opportunity to drive 911s, 911 Turbos, 928s, and 944s on a daily basis. It was the greatest job I ever had.

In 1996 Porsche released the all-new Boxster to slot in under the venerable 911, which introduced a whole new market to the Porsche brand (more on that another time). We got one of the first Boxsters in the state of Ohio, and I was smitten the moment I saw it. It was a red base model with a 5-speed manual and black interior. I remember staring at it while it sat in the detail bay, wondering if I would ever be in a position to own one of these some day. After many years and lot of hard work, that day is now. I had been searching for the past year or so for some sort of sports/muscle/classic car to buy. I looked at everything from Boxsters and 911s, to Corvettes, Challengers, and the occasional Audi or BMW. For my price range and what I was looking for, I ultimately settled on either a Boxster, C5 Corvette (base or Z06) or a C4 Z06.

During my search, the number of silver, black, grey, and white cars astounded me. I wanted no part of that. I preferred yellow, with red as a secondary choice, followed by blue. Another thing that blew my skirt up was how many of these cars, both Porsche and Corvette, came with automatic slush boxes. These two automobiles are some of the very best sports cars ever produced. Why the fuck would you saddle them with an automatic? I wanted no part of that either.

After a couple of months of searching, I had two strong contenders. One was a yellow 2005 Corvette base that was local here in the Cleveland area, and the other was a red 2008 Boxster in Champaign, IL. The Corvette was in such great shape, and I loved the color, I was kinda leaning that way. Something, though, kept pulling me back to the Porsche. So, I reached out to the dealer, spoke to the salesman, and asked him to send some additional pictures and a video of it starting up and running. I ended up buying the car without seeing it in person and having it shipped to me. I took a huge risk not doing a pre-purchase inspection (PPI) on the car beforehand, but I went ahead with it. I did, however, have it inspected afterwards at Koala Motorsport and, outside of a few minor things, came back with a clean bill of health. I did have them change the belt and battery. As a side note, if you own a German car and are on the east side of Cleveland, definitely reach out to these guys. Awesome service and quality work. They got me in within a few days.

To say I’m happy with my decision would be an understatement. This car is incredibly fun to drive and the bug has bitten me again like it did that day back in 1997. I’ll be updating this blog and article with my ownership experience, things I’ve learned, maintenance I’m doing, any modifications being performed, etc. I’m looking forward to this journey and crossing one off the bucket list.