Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/441929
January / February 2015 35 WELCOME BACK appeal to people like me who normally couldn't afford to own one of the iconic Porsche models. For years afterwards I coveted Boxsters from afar, always admired their shapely lines, and gazed into their windows at the Porsche dealer near my beat when I worked the midnight shift. I never drove one, partly because I didn't think I would be taken seriously, and deep down I knew I had other priorities and commitments that made ownership a seemingly impossible dream. About 10 years ago we moved to Kansas so my wife could be closer to her family in Oklahoma. Last summer, we were attending a large family gathering in OKC when I overheard two of her relatives talking about cars. I knew both men were "car guys" who owned several different makes of domestic and foreign performance rides. One of them, who used to own a Boxster, asked the other one if he still had his. Wait a minute! I knew about the first 986 owner who had sold his without telling me, but did not know the second guy even owned one—not sure how I missed that little tidbit. But when I heard this question my head spun toward him and I said, "I didn't know you had a Boxster too?" He said he was the original owner and was interested in selling it because of a medical issue that was making it difficult for him to drive a manual transmission. He told me it was a red 2000 S with 30K miles. I hadn't checked prices in years and when he told me what he wanted for it I nearly fainted from shock and disbelief. I hadn't kept up on 986's and didn't know their values, but he wanted to find the 986 a good home and keep it in the family which is why I think he quoted me a good price. It all sounded too good to be true but I began my research in earnest by examining the IMS issue and scheduling a PPI before finalizing the deal about three months later and driving my 986 to her new home in Kansas. Part of the delay in the process was due to the tragic Moore tornado which passed within five miles of his warehouse in south OKC where he garaged his car collection. Here's the part I know your readers know too. Within the first 5 minutes of driving that car I knew I had to have it—you know what I mean? I just had to have that car. It stirred emotions in me that I had never felt before while driving any car, including my first one which a '69 Mustang, or motorcycles I owned before I was married. Now my long wait seemed worth it. As you probably know the 986 is not the fastest Porsche, but it handled like nothing else I had ever driven! It also made me thankful that I hadn't driven a Boxster years earlier because I would have been tempted to do something financially foolish in order to own one and satisfy the instant addiction created by that first drive. I don't lay awake at night anymore (well not every night) thinking about my 986, but I still peek at her parked in the garage