James Mcgrath
Minneapolis, USA
Model 991.2 CARRERA
Year 2018
Acquired 2023
What was going to be a fun weekend in Florida with some friends to attend a car show is now turning out to be my first major road tour of the year. The Porsche Club of America (PCA) holds several extremely popular events each year, one of which I attended last year at Amelia Island – Werks Reunion – in the Sunshine State (to be fair, more like the Alligator State, but I digress…).
Werks Reunion is a PCA event held over a long weekend of various car shows. Friday is Werks and purely for Porsche nuts, Saturday is Cars & Coffee where everyone is welcome and Sunday is the 29th annual meeting of the Amelia Concours d’elegance. The latter I hear is a fantastic event, but unfortunately last year I had to head off back to Minneapolis early Sunday morning. This year I’m planning on taking my time to soak in as much car and Porsche culture as I can.
Like last year, myself, Jay Read (that other British ginger Porsche ‘Tuber) and Michael Wooten (of Youtube’s Michael’s Motors and Meats) are clubbing together to rent an apartment facing the ocean on the beach of Amelia Island. Last year I rented a Panamera from a local via the Turo website, but this year I’m mixing it up by having my own 911 transported down to Florida so I can join in directly with the other owners attending the various events and shows. I’ll then plot a route back to Minneapolis and drive home over a couple of days. The opportunity of having my own car parked alongside hundreds and hundreds of other 991.2-generation
911s is really exciting.
One of my favourite things about car shows is spotting the reactions of kids when they see certain cars. If anyone asks if they can check out my car, I gladly give them the key so they can open it up and examine it for themselves. However, when a child asks I can’t give them the key fast enough and offer them the chance to sit in the driver’s seat, and even fire up the engine if their parents are okay with it.
Some people squirm at the thought of having people do this, but for me… I WAS ONE OF THOSE KIDS!
All throughout my childhood I was a Porsche 911 fan and it wasn’t until my mid-30s that I finally got an opportunity to sit in one. There were no car shows like this to speak of in my home towns of Liverpool and Birkenhead, at least none that I was aware of. The closest I came to a 911 as a kid was seeing one or two parked outside one of the golf courses like Caldy or Royal Liverpool in Hoylake.
Perhaps it was just me, but even then I would never have had the nerve to wait around for the owner to show up and ask for the key. They probably would have called the rozzers and reported that a scally was trying to steal it (If you know, you know)! My mind would have been blown to have had a chance to sit inside and check out a 911 as a kid.
Friends, family, strangers alike – if you ever see me out in the wild, my key is yours. Open the door, feel the unique contours of the Porsche 911 seat as you get in, grip the steering wheel and look at the dials of the instrument cluster. Then imagine what it feels like to drive on a twisting road through the mountains. Crank the key and find out what happens when you hear the engine roar as it fires up – the thrill, the goosebumps, the rush of adrenaline from hearing the flat six come to life. It all begins with a key.