According to a 1993 Jackson Browne song, "All good things got to come to an end." Over the years, I've come to accept that it's so.
I had wanted a Porsche 911 Carrera since I saw a brand new 1967 Arctic Silver 911S when I was a freshman at College of the Sequoias. Most of us were into muscle cars, such as Mustangs and Camaros and GTOs but I got the sports car bug right then and there.
Of course, there was no way a college kid from a modest background could afford a Porsche 911, even a used one. The solution was my first sports car--a 1961 Triumph TR3. By the time I graduated from college and had a real paycheck, I realized the paycheck wasn't big enough to buy a 911.
In the ensuing years my paychecks grew but never as fast or as high as the window sticker on a 911 Carrera grew. Bummer. The solution, then, was a string of pretty good sports and GT cars, including a Porsche 914, two Nissan (Datsun) Z cars, a Mazda RX-7, a BMW M3 and another Porsche, the 968. They were all good cars--all good things.
Then, in 1995, Porsche introduced the new 911 Carrera (model designation 993) and I fell in love all over again. Lo and behold, a quick check of the window sticker and a comparison with my paychecks of the time proved I could buy one of them if I wanted. Finally! I found the one I wanted, negotiated the deal and had the pen in my hand, ready to sign. I couldn't do it. No way. I could not force my hand to sign a paper buying a $55,000 car.
Fast forward to the late fall of 2008. The economy was in the tank, investment markets were in free-fall and I was losing almost as much money per day in the stock market as the cost of a used '95 Carrera. This is really dumb, I thought. So, I started looking and by January 2009, I'd found my dream 911 on eBay in Chicago. It not only looked right, it had all of the right after-market performance goodies already installed. All I had to do was turn the key and drive. Awesome. It was, too--awesome, I mean. It still is.
Things are different, now. I'm semi-retired and self-employed. My son, Alex, just turned sixteen, will be getting his driver's license very soon and his sister, Julia, will follow that act in two years. My life has moved on, too. I found I was driving the Porsche less and less. Instead, I was driving my big Ford Expedition more and more, going to the barn and hauling horse stuff or guitar and amplifier stuff.
When I was a kid in the Fifties and Sixties I wanted to be a pilot. I'm not sure why but the idea of flight and the freedom of it really appealed to me. Later, during the Viet Nam era, I had the chance to join the Air Force but declined, even though I still wanted to fly. During the Eighties I fulfilled that dream by getting my private pilot's license and doing some recreational flying for a few years. It was great while it lasted but my life moved on to new homes and jobs in new towns and it's been about twenty-five years since I've flown as pilot in command. I think about it every once in a while but with no regrets.
It's with mixed emotions that I'm selling my Guards Red Porsche 911 Carrera--the car I'd wanted since I was a college freshman in 1967. I fulfilled that dream and living it--driving it--was every bit as great as I'd hoped it would be. I'm sure I'll think about it every once in a while but with no regrets.
"All good things got to come to an end
The thrills have to fade
Before they come 'round again
The bills will be paid
And the pleasure will mend
All good things got to come to an end
All good times, all good friends
All good things got to come to an end."
Jackson Browne
