Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/441929
January / February 2015 26 "drivers' car". On the inside, it emphasized lightness and a "less is more" approach to performance, and shows up in subtle ways such as aluminum panels and an eye toward weight reduction, and less subtly with its red cloth door pulls in place of door handles and carbon fiber sport bucket seats. From the exterior, it screams "I'm different" with the two humps on the rear deck lid and the simple cloth top that replaced the standard motorized lid, and covers the interior only marginally better than the bikini on a Coppertone girl. Sitting on the tarmac waiting for us to put it through the paces, the Spyder caught my eye immediately. It looked like it was born for exactly that purpose. One drive later and I was hooked. It is an amazing accomplishment of engineering and style. Even better, though, was that I got to spend time behind the wheel of the Spyder later that day with Hurley Haywood instructing me on the finer points of heel toe shifting. During that session Hurley had very high praise for the PDK Spyder, even though we were in a 6 speed equipped car, and mentioned that it would be his first pick amongst all the cars Porsche was currently selling. This opinion was echoed by a number of the other instructors during my time at the Porsche Driving Experience. I left the Spyder behind me when I left Alabama, but it was always nagging at me in the back of my mind. My wife and I even went so far as to consider buying one new at Brumo's Porsche while visiting Jacksonville, FL a couple of months afterwards, but the car they had in stock had a red interior, which was just a bit more than we could handle. At the time, I think I was fooling myself into believing that we were "just looking" but the idea of owning one was definitely taking hold. Fast forward a couple of years and an untold number of car related conversations where I'd invariably mention my affection for the Spyder, I finally realized that I was conflicted about my 968. It's a phenomenal car, and I have been fastidious about maintaining it and keeping it as close to factory stock as possible, yet I was still going through something that resembled the various stages of grief. To recap, it went something like this: 1) Denial "I don't want a Spyder" 2) Anger "Why can't you be like a Spyder?!" 3) Bargaining "Since you are a limited edition cab, you are sort of like a Spyder" 4) Depression "You really aren't like a Spyder" and finally, 5) Acceptance " I need to sell the 968 and get a Spyder" Fortunately for me, about the time I was in the depths of stage 4, I happened across an ad online for a Spyder that was equipped about as perfectly as I could have hoped for. It was white with a black interior, equipped with a PDK, sport bucket seats, A/C and a radio, was very low mileage and I was able to buy it as a CPO'd car from a Porsche dealership in the Philadelphia area. The price was reasonable for the miles and options, and I've long since given up on the idea that these cars would drop appreciably in price before I purchased one. (Helpful economic hint: if you were wanting to do the same, now that I have purchased one, they'll probably drop considerably in the next year or so!) When I showed the ad to my wife and said "I think this is the one", her reply was "what took you so long?" I am pretty sure she may have just grown tired of me talking about Spyders, but regardless of the