Hey everyone!

I wasn’t sure when I would get to write this, but it seems the time has come, and rather unexpectedly.

Prior to the 991.2 GT3, I honestly didn’t really know what a GT3 even was. I came very late in life to the car scene in general. But once I started learning about Porsche, hearing reputable people speak about the brand and about the GT department, and listening to AP himself speak on the product, I started to gravitate rapidly toward them, and nailing the 991.2 GT3 RS as my ultimate one-and-done dream car.

And as of December 28th, 2022, I “bet the house” on the down payment (to be hyperbolic), got my conscious spending and finances in order, and became the owner of my very own, and my first Porsche.




This post, though, may be a weird one, as I am someone who has more and more become comfortable wearing my heart on my sleeve. So here goes…

For years, I would hear the sequence of letters and numbers: G-T-3-R-S, and get chills. I would lose my breath thinking of how it would sound to redline, on downshifts, and how it was, to my eyes, one of the most beautiful cars on the road at all. I was set on one day getting one.

With how difficult work was emotionally and psychologically, dealing with the looming threat of burnout, the exhaustion, the feeling of not doing what I truly am passionate about (and still finding what that passion might even be), there was a time where the only thing I wanted to do was save money so I could one day bail from my career and do something, anything, else. After 3 years of daily mindset work on myself, I started to level myself off. The combination of working on side projects to give me an exit and at the same time becoming at peace and optimistic about my current career path all came into sight for me. It was at this point I started to become far less desperate to run away from it all.

Nonetheless, mental health and understanding my lows and my frustrations was always a challenge, and there were definitely days where it made bitter any sweet taste I had, including beautiful engineering like the above. And as I started to “dealer shop” I kept finding myself telling sales ambassadors I know I want one, I just don’t know when yet. I am waiting for the right time. What was the right time though? I couldn’t define it. Perhaps when I was generally happier? Maybe when I felt I Was successful in doing something that I was passionate about, then I would feel deserving and ready for one? Maybe when I finally buy a house first? One thing I was always great at was putting prerequisites on my enjoyment. I was terrible at just enjoying something, at being in my true core grateful and feeling it, not just knowing I should be.

Then, in Early December I went to a local event at a Porsche dealership organized by a few YouTubers and I was at that same time considering maybe a standard GT3 to start out, and when the right time for the RS came, and after gaining some context in a GT3, I would make the switch. And so, while all this time I had been avoiding listings, I started looking for GT3’s to check out as a possible bridge until the right spec RS came.

Of course, as I scoured listings, not only did no GT3 fit the spec I would go for, but pretty much the perfect spec RS popped up. It was just under my acceptable upper limit price, single owner, under my max acceptable mileage, and all the options I wanted, none that I didn’t.

But there was the problem: This wasn’t supposed to be the time. I wasn’t mentally ready. It was so sudden, almost to the point of hasty. I just collected enough to put money down, and I knew I could make the monthly payments, but…my head wasn’t in the spot I expected, my career wasn’t where I expected. All the prerequisites came to surface. On top of that, I didn’t get the chance to switch my mind into hunt mode. Aside from the mental vision board of one day having one, I didn’t get to build up the anticipation. Instead, the entire process of inquiring, getting approved, and arranging the pickup was accompanied with doubt and a feeling of confusion as to why I wasn’t feeling the breathlessness or the giddiness I had been feeling over the theory of having one, over the past thoughts of, “Man, what would it be like to have one of those?”

On the other hand, everything else around me felt like coasting. People I confided in were supporting me. Even my parents who I consulted gave me the thumbs up, which is rare for such a toy, let alone at this price! The only barrier was me.

I can definitely attest that the more energy you feed to a thought, the more powerful it gets, and the more attached that feeling gets to the thing you’re associating with it. And so now I am met with a duality of the fact that I can say, “My GT3,” “My RS,” and it’s surreal. The other side of the duality is that it’s so surreal that it prevents itself from sinking in. Even during the collection, it tried to crash my party.

With that being said, I made myself as present as possible. And on the drive home, at a rest stop I met a father and son who politely and timidly asked if they could take a photo of the car, and that the son was gushing over it when they sawm e pass on the highway before the rest stop. The kid beamed so much he literally forgot to take the photo at one point. That moment was what it’s about; being able to bring the joy to the road and to others who might not get to experience its presence. The car is the star. I’m just the chauffer and I’m happy with that.

It was driving off after that encounter that the tears finally showed up. I just wish I could go back and redo the whole thing. And perhaps that is one of the problems too. The unboxing culture we live in has led me to buy things and re-box them just to unbox them again. Sure that can be funny, but perhaps it’s not so harmless.

So, the thoughts haunted me. Did I make the right choice? Should I have gone with the GT3? Was it too soon? Was I too hasty? Maybe it was all that, or maybe it was just the size of the purchase. Maybe it’s the feeling of peaking and having nowhere left to climb. This is the pinnacle.

No matter. It’s a car many including myself thought might never be owned. It’s a car that will never lose its charm or its appeal to the market.

It’s not a purchase, it’s an achievement.

And despite the unboxing culture we live in and the YouTube car collections that happen every few months, I reminded myself that it’s okay if the beginning experience with the car, here in the dead of winter in the northeast where the car can’t speak much to me anyway, isn’t ideal. It’s not just about the collection, the unboxing, the moment of. It’s about what will transpire over time. The evolution of my time with this example of engineering. That is what it will be about.

Enough with the prerequisites and the “this is how it should be” feelings. Just be here and be happy. And while I forgot to bring the batteries for my camera on collection day, when the weather warms up I will be sure to get more photos. For now, please enjoy...

So that’s me. I thank you for witnessing that catharsis. Perhaps some will hate on it, maybe others will relate. I do hope those of you more experienced and veterans of the brand or of life will have words of wisdom to share. I look forward to sharing my own experiences, too.

- Atif

First smile...




First day of school...

 

Welcome to 6speedonline @RuleOfOnes !

Johnny