Very few automotive manufacturers elicit the same level of passion as Porsche. Perhaps the level of obsession with Stuttgart products explains why Porsche purists hate everything new the company does, from the original 911's "angular" design to the new 992 generation's use of two fonts on the rear decklid and turbochargers in non-Turbo cars. Some Porsche collectors refuse to drive anything that's water-cooled, sticking to the air-cooled flat-sixes that were phased out when the 993-generation 911 ended production. Not so for a man appropriately named Ottocar who recently picked up his 80th Porsche, a Miami Blue Boxster Spyder, to add to his collection during his 80th year of life.
Living The Porsche Dream
Porsche's feature on this Austrian named Ottocar, identified only with his surname initial J, tells the story of one man's Porsche love. He first caught the bug almost 50 years ago on the race track, where, he said, "The Porsche cars simply flew past me on all sides." That experience would quickly lead to his first Porsche purchase, a Speed Yellow 911 E bought in 1972. His collection currently consists of 38 cars, including legendary racers like a 917, an eight-cylinder 910, a 904 with the original Fuhrmann quad-cam, and a 964 Cup car.
A Porsche Collection Needs A Home
Ottocar houses his collection in a dedicated building that includes a ton of memorabilia such as cups, posters, trophies, toys, and plenty of ephemera surrounding Steve McQueen's passion film, Le Mans. Other models inside the Porsche shrine include a 993 Turbo S, a 997 GT2 RS, a Jagdwagen military vehicle, an early 356 Coupe, a Carrera 2.7 RS, and an entire row of 930 Turbo and Turbo-look examples.
Unlike many collectors, Ottocar actually drives the vehicles in his possession, including the Boxster Sypder and even the 917, in which he joins classic racing events on the regular. In the future, he even plans to drive the Pan-American highway in a Porsche Cayenne SUV, though he says the Boxster Spyder holds a special place in the collection because, "The sound, how it drives, its suspension, everything that it does – it is the only one of my road-legal Porsche that reminds me of my 910."
Sources: newsroom.porsche.com and stuttcars.com.