Der Sportwagen

January / February 2015 25 no traffic tickets were issued along the way. I still have fond memories of that drive and the impression the Gen'l Sherman (the name of my 951) was indelible. I still own the car. My 1992 Porsche 968 is a rare bird, and I've owned it for about 15 years. It is one of 34 in Horizon Blue out of the approximately 2500 cabriolets that they produced for the United States and it is unlikely that you'll see another one like it, unless you frequent the occasional 968 Owner's Convention that sometimes take place in Hershey PA. I've never seen two Horizon Blue 968's in the same place at the same time. When I decided that a 968 would be a great addition to the stable, I knew I wanted Horizon Blue and it took me almost two years before I found the right car, down in Miami. Once again, the experience of driving back with the top down as along as the weather permitted showed how different it could be from either the 944 or 951. I explored some of the lesser known roads in the South on my way back to Kansas City now and it served as a great introduction to a car I always envisioned that I would own until I died. Until… A couple of years ago, and as documented by an article my friend Tim Abraham and I penned for this very newsletter, my wife thought it would be a good idea to send me to the Porsche Driving Experience in Leeds AL. It was truly a thoughtful gift and one that I will forever be appreciative for (I have an absolutely wonderful wife!), unfortunately, having access to driving most of Porsches current product offerings on Barber Motorsports track also has "side effects". While I was there, I was exposed to the PDK transmission and forced to confront my own personal limitations. While I understand the nostalgic appeal of the 6 speed manual gearbox, there's not a person on this planet that I believe could shift anywhere near as well as the PDK does, let alone beat it. If you haven't driven a PDK equipped car, you owe it to yourself to do so. Beyond the PDK, the thing that I found most surprising from the Porsche Driving Experience was that my favorite car out of the entire line up (including the 911 Turbo) was the Boxster Spyder, by a large margin. It had the balance and poise that I remembered from my first Porsche, the power of the 951 and the uniqueness and top down cruising of the 968, all combined into one special package. Prior to heading to Alabama, I had paid no heed at all to the new Porsches and had never even heard of the Spyder as I was, after all, a "944 guy". The Spyder needs little introduction here. It has done a good job of cementing its reputation over the last several years as a fun

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