Chris Wallbank
The 997 has officially sold! It feels like the end of an era, eight years of ownership and I loved every one of them – by far the longest I have ever owned a car, which says a lot.
Unfortunately the deal on the 991 Carrera GTS I test drove in last month’s issue didn’t happen, mainly due to my 997 not selling quite fast enough.
But you know what they say… every cloud has a silver lining and this was literally a ‘silver’ lining. Just as my car sold with Sterling Motors of Wetherby, they offered me a Rhodium silver 2016 Cayman GTS that had just come in at price I couldn’t refuse! The Cayman
981 was always a close contender in replacement for the 997, the mid engine
balance of the car reminded me so much of my old 987 Boxster I loved so much.
So, it comes with great sadness that after eight years of writing for Total 911 magazine and a total of 96 entries, I will also no longer be contributing to the ‘Living The Legend’ columns.
This for me is just as sad as selling the 997, it’s been like a second home, meeting some great fellow contributors along the way and creating some great memories – but all good things must come to end, and you never know, I may just return to the columns if and when I upgrade the Cayman GTS to a 911 GTS.
I thought I would take this last entry as an opportunity to look back at a couple of highlights with the 997 over those eight years. Instantly, one of the stand-out memories for me is the Wales road trip with my fellow Uk-based
Living the Legend columnists; this was the first true road trip in my 997, which took place over two days on some of the best and iconic driving roads Wales has to offer, including the infamous Evo Triangle! I’ve got editor Lee Sibley to thank for organising that one.
Another was learning how to control my 911 properly with Car Limits on
North Weald airfield in Epping, perfecting oversteer was great fun!
There really were too many road trips and highlights to list in this short piece, but it really has been an awesome eight years. I would like to thank Total 911 for having me on board and also the readers for putting up with my ramblings! Haha!
As always you can keep up to date with my Porsche and photography adventures over on my Instagram @chris_wallbank.