Car Parts 2011

Porsche owners at Porschefest... like brothers of a strange fraternity.

In another car driven (in both a literal sense and in motive) trek to Boston for the weekend, we cover Porschefest.

Porschefest is exactly as it sounds, a get-together picnic at the park for Porsche owners, in a friendly and intimate setting at the Larz Anderson Auto Museum of Brookline, Massachusetts. Attendees would walk amongst some of the most significant cars of Porsche's colored history.

Er... so we thought.


In its defense, The venue was very well thought out with lots on the lawn specially dedicated to 356s, another for 928s, Boxsters/Caymans, and also for a handful of 924/944s and 914s in the mix.

And yes... a Panamera was present too.




But we expected that. We knew those cars were going to be there. What we hoped for is something more exciting-- Chin's friend, Dave, looked forward to a Carrera GT, I was honestly expecting to see more than a few R Gruppe owners, a 550 Spyder, maybe a RSR, a 959, hopefully a 917 and other endurance Porches, even RUF and perhaps a 9FF (FF stands for f*ckhein führocious).

A 959 was actually there!! But otherwise there wasn't even a single 2.7RS.


I'll admit, when i saw the 959, I had a crisis in the middle of the lawn. Mmm... um, yeah, I promise to cover that for another time.

Perhaps the problem is with me. No, I didn't actually expect to see a 917 there. I read the flier. But I am still a bit of an idealist when it comes to Porsche ownership and unfortunately I've come to the conclusion that the Porsche owners that day were more like brothers of a strange fraternity, patting each other on the back or giving each other the smug nod for bone stock Boxsters, restored 914s to stock production spec, cookie cutter 930s and 356s.

It would be unfair to say that there weren't any hoonin' Porsches on the lot at all but still, you'd think with so many trims and variations for 911s, more owners would adopt a philosophy of individualism and customization. Mustangs owners did (on that note, one of the more notable cars for Chin that day was the Shelby GT350H), so why should R-Gruppe be so exclusive?

So, I've brought it unto myself to deliver. The following are some of the Porsches we would have wanted to see at the perfect fest--

R Gruppe owners courtesy of europeancar.com

Porsche Carrera GT courtesy of rsportscars.com

Porsche 917 courtesy of 917flatout.bravehost.com

9FF GTR9 courtesy of coolthings.com

Porsche Turbo RSR courtesy of sportwagen.online.fr

Porsche 911 2.7RS courtesy of EVO Magazine

RUF "yellowbird" courtesy of lindseyracing.com

Let us know of your favorite Porsche!
See more of our pictures here.

Folks, it's a road trip post!

Completing my last final exam at around 11pm last Wednesday night, I receive a call from mom with exciting news that we would be going on a trip to Cape Cod the morning after. Road trips with mama dukes always meant that you'll have to mentally come to terms with her role as the back seat driver for the coming four hour drive. But hey, I was desperate and I really needed this.

I'd like to use this opportunity to just say how important family really is and that I'm really glad we did it. In the end, this turned out to be one of the most pleasant trips of recent memory. My parents are no longer young and they're only going to get older. Another family trip is another memory that we'd be able to share together. When my folks get to an age where they've become too old to travel, I hope not to have any regrets on not spending time with them when I had the chance.

Road trips also remind us what owning a car is really about. Fundamentally, it is mobility. When an owner buys a Ferrari only to leave it in a climate controlled garage, I can only believe that what the owner must feel is a sense of regret and remorse that grows exponentially for every back road that he prevents his Ferrari from stretching its legs on.

Anyway, without further ado, please enjoy the pictures!

Day 1, Cape Cod:

Considerations were made on whether or not to make this post a review on the Lexus (this is supposed to be a car blog after all) but I was afraid that it'd make readers fall asleep.

Let's get this over with. The Lexus GS 300 awd. Design wise, it's one slippery and handsome bar of soap, or as Lexus likes to call their design direction, "L-finesse". It seats four comfortably, though headroom is a bit lacking and I would have much preferred to leave my hat on while sitting inside.

Performance is good. With all passengers and luggage in the car, the engine was not out of breath when it was asked to accelerate to merging speeds. I'd describe the delivery as similar to that initial feeling you get when an elevator starts to move from underneath you. Boring, pretty much.

The chassis is rigid, the suspension is firm, the dampers are forgiving. The cabin is extremely quiet, the air conditioner blew cold, the leathers are soft, the ergonomics are sensible, the Mark Levinson stereo system was most welcomed. My mom and dad were especially happy with it whenever Lady Gaga's Telephone came on. Really, they're more hip than you think!

In conclusion, the Lexus is a good long distance tourer, but we'd prefer something with a bit more passion (a quid in the Italian swear jar) or a bit more Maserati Quattroporte.


Day 2, Provincetown and Gray GablesToken "editor in front of test car" picture.Paying Uncle Bob a visit!Day 3, BostonTop of the Prudential with Danny ChinCoordinating get up was unintentional. Probably caught a bit of attention though.Danny Chin and I sitting around talking about cars as usual. Note how my left arm is flat against the armrest and my fingers are curving upwards. I'm convinced that this picture was taken when I was in the middle of describing this white Aston Martin V8 Vantage I saw earlier that day and what my arm was actually doing is imitating the Aston's duck tail spoiler. Yes.

All in all, I had a great time and it was great to visit Boston again. Special thanks to Sandra and Uncle Bob, a thank you to my parents for becoming less dorky, and special special thanks to Danny Chin and his family for the hospitality. It was wonderful to see you all again!

I'm sure there will be more road trip posts in the future. It is arguably the most rewarding thing to be able to do as a driver. This sort of combination of spontaneity and freedom is rare and I don't think it's even something I see many major publications write about in detail.

I hope you enjoyed this post, let us know of your memorable road trips or one that you've always wanted to do!