I've been a member of 6Speed since 2005, and have always looked up to everyone on here.

I always aspired to own a really nice car, and was slowly working my way up the ranks. Owning a Porsche was always my biggest dream.

I was literally the kid at the end of this commercial (which is, by the way, my favourite ad of all-time):
My dad taught me to drive stick when I was 16 in his Dodge Stealth Twin Turbo. Boy was that car fast. He still has the car today, and has since modified the exhaust, and put on some nice wheels and tires. I'll track down a photo eventually.

For a few years I'd drive my mom's van (and later her Mitsubishi Endeavor), and when I was lucky, my dad's Stealth.

I bought my first car in 2006 to attend college. It was a black '98 Subaru Legacy GT. Manual of course.



The car was a ton of fun. I was into rally driving quite a bit (anyone remember the Richard Burn's rally game?), and was absolutely thrilled to have my very own car. In the snow the car was incredibly fun – especially going sideways.

Unfortunately the car met its demise pretty early when someone crashed into it.

I didn't drive for over a year as I was stuck paying off debt, etc.

Fast forward a bit and I became enthralled with drifting. I practiced day in and day out in Gran Turismo (with a steering wheel setup), and couldn't wait to someday get my own drift car.

I ended up finding an '89 180sx (right-hand drive) and jumped the gun.

The car made around ~275rwhp, and sounded like a beast (straight pipes!). It was my first real sports car, and I was in love. Every time I got in it to drive to work it was like I had won the lottery.





Unfortunately, my insurance company didn't see eye to eye with me, and cancelled my policy after 3 weeks. Had to sell it.

At least I managed to put 3,000km on it in the 3 weeks (about 1,800 miles)!

Took a quick trip to Italy, where I was lucky enough (well, I paid), to drive a 458 Italia and a 430 Scuderia.

I posted about it on 6Speed way back: https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...other-day.html





When I was back home in Ontario, I took some time and looked around for something that'd fly with my insurance company. After a lot of searching, I managed to find a completely stock 1997 240sx (an S14 "Kouki" for those that are familiar with S-chassis).



The car remained stock for a little while, but I couldn't resist the urge to start modding it.

In North America, these cars were given a 4-cylinder truck motor. Not really that fun. The 180sx had the Japanese SR20DET motor, which is much more fun. Ultimately, and engine swap was my plan.

But before I was going to focus on the (expensive) engine, I figured I'd get everything else in line.

I started off by replacing the factory sound system and tinting the windows. Aka the early 20's mods.

I then found an HKS Hi-power exhaust and installed it. Next came a set of wide bronze wheels with drift-spec tires.

The subframe bushings were shot, so I replaced them with solid aluminum ones. Installed some HSD coilovers and a short shifter, and I was almost there!

It was Tuesday evening and I booked my first track day for a Saturday. The next morning I was going to have a full multi-link suspension installed, along with a few other little goodies.

I woke up Wednesday morning, and the car was gone. It'd been stolen!!!!

Here's what it looked like right before it was stolen:







And just like that, it was gone. Forever.

I didn't have theft insurance (long story), so I was literally out about $20k overnight.

I needed something to get me to work, so a friend hooked me up with an automatic 2000 Toyota Corolla with ~280,000km on it for $1k.

I drove the car for a year, never spent a penny on it. The car was dinged up, so I decided to turn it into a canvas for my friends to "write" (aka key) on:





Decided I needed to go to the racetrack, even in an automatic Toyota Corolla.













Drove around at Mosport DDT all day, managing to keep up with some Acura Integras and the like. I knew I should cool the car down a bit more than I had been doing, but I didn't really care. I didn't necessarily expect to make it back with the car.

And I didn't. The engine blew.

Okay, now it was time for something a little more grown up. There was a guy that worked in the same office building as I did that had a really nice E36 328i coupe with a few mods. I started chatting with him one day and he convinced me that I needed an E36.

I set out to find one, and managed to find a black, manual, '98 E36 328i sedan with only 100,000km on it (about 60,000 miles).







It didn't have any of the sporty parts, but it still felt quite sporty. It was solid, quick, and had great feedback. This was my first taste of German engineering.

I took the car to the track a couple months later, but with the soft "comfort" suspension (and really ****ty summer tires), the car was somehow less fun than my Corolla. Maybe it was because I cared about ruining it.







I've owned the car for the last 5 years, and it's been the best all-around car I've owned.

I've taken it camping, to cottages, to the track (just the once), and had used it to get to work and such for years.

For the last few years I had been focused on starting my own business. There were many ups and downs, and times I thought I might not even be able to pay my rent.

I had become wise enough to know that I'd never buy a nice car again until I could properly afford it (something I can't say about my early days buying cars, much like a lot of young guys).

For the last five years I've spent hours EVERY day thinking about cars. What would I buy if I could afford something nicer? What's my next car?

I waited and waited, and even after my business started doing well I held off. I didn't want to rush into anything.

I spent some time traveling, including taking a trip to Germany to visit my sister. I rented a BMW M4 for 3 days and drove from Munich to Berlin, and then from Berlin to the Nurburgring. Managed to (safely) get up to 270km/h on the Autobahn.





Passenger took this pic!



It had always been on my bucket list to drive on the Ring, and it was finally my turn.

Rented a Toyota GT86 with semi-slick tires, racing pads, a roll-cage/rear and a seat delete – but otherwise stock. Was the greatest thing I've ever done.







Finally though, it became clear what my next move would be.

And here it is. A 2016 Porsche Cayman GT4, fully loaded with almost every option. Just picked it up on Tuesday.







(iPhone pics)

I still have the E36 and will use it as my daily driver.

Thanks for reading my story!

More pics to come once I can get out with my D750

 

Cool story and congrats on the GT4!

I drove the same 2 cars when I was in Italy: 430 Scuderia and 458 Italia. I have video somewhere.

 

Thanks man!

They were incredible! Especially the Scud

 

Beautiful car. Those are some huge homes in that 1st pic of the car.

 

Thanks! They're townhouses, so it's a little deceiving!

 

Very nice car and story.
Huge homes are not right next to each other with minimum setbacks but still a nice looking neighborhood. Make sure you have that appropriate insurance to cover that beauty and tuck her into bed at night. Be safe.

 

Great story! Congrats on an amazing car! Love the GT4.

 

Thanks! It's not actually my neighborhood either – was just visiting someone!

 

Thanks!

One more quick pic, this time from my Nikon:

 

Thanks for sharing your extraordinary automotive journey...I enjoyed the read. Also, congrats on ending up with your dream car!

 

Thanks!

A few more photos:

 

What an incredible story. Honestly, that's one of the best posts I've read in a long time. It reads like a heroic journey that has plenty of downs but ultimately ends in glory.

Since you began college in 2006, I imagine we are about the same age. Like you, I've been an entrepreneur for a few years and spend an inordinate amount of my time dreaming about cars. Nobody understands. Even I question myself, trying to rationalize my obsession, and sometimes determining it is an unhealthy character flaw. It's great to know I'm not the only one.

After what happened to your second 180SX, I would have been dejected. I had a Lotus that I literally would have married. I didn't have much money, but I put 70% of what I had into that car. Never worked properly after I bastardized it and I sold it as a non-functioning garage ornament. I was so crestfallen that I hardly looked at cars again for 3 years.


Welcome to the club. You sound like a fascinating person.

Sincerely, Mike

PS: your car is beautiful. Just wait till you get it on the track.

 

Thanks so much for the kind words Mike! I'm glad you enjoyed the read

That sucks about the Lotus. What happened with it exactly?

What are you driving now?

 

Along with a jillion other mods, I supercharged it. Nuff said! I could never afford to buy a proper ECU tuning tool + dyno time. I was starting a new business as well. It was a dark time! But the business turned out very successfully.

Now I have a '16 Boxster Spyder. It's like 91% of the thrill of the Lotus minus 99% of the headaches.

I'm sure you'll find that Porsche makes reliable cars. Nothing like owning a factory warranty and the solace of knowing you're the only one to put miles on the car.

And by the way... I'm going to Germany in July. I absolutely MUST rent a GT86! Looking at that company's website, it seems they have quite a few cars for rent. How many laps did you do?

 

Well, at the end of the day, better to be left with successful business than a running Lotus :P

When I was in Germany I rented an M4 for 3 days. Drove from Munich to Berlin, and then from Berlin to the Nurburgring. It was an *excellent* highway car, and I highly recommend renting something like it if you can swing it!

I did four laps with the GT86. It was all I had time for (I got there near the end of the day). It was "enough" for my first time, and I was okay at the end of it (it was almost an hour of track time if you think about it, especially with the few accidents on the track causing slow downs in a few areas). I took a 10-15 minute break between each lap too.

HOWEVER, did I want to do more later that night? Yes. The next day? For sure. Can I stop thinking about it ever since? No. Am I seriously considering moving to Germany? You bet. Once you taste The Ring, everything else feels like a waste of time. That's not true of course – there are many other great tracks out there (and I haven't driven on anything else that's world renown) – but, The Ring is The Ring