I just moved from the city to a small country town with almost no foreign cars. No matter how far away I park it always seems like there will be some huge giant Chevy truck right next to me. People always try to cut me off and never want to let me in or change lanes, and I have a whole collection of new door dings and scratches. Is it just me, or does a Porsche bring out the jerks in people? I'm almost sure that people open their door into my car just because its a nice car, and foreign. I don't understand why, I never did anything to them, and when they are driving proudly in their old Camaros I don't drive them down like a crazed drunken moron and run them off the road. Has anyone else gotten this treatment in their Porsche?
I drive three very different cars and ride a pushbike, and get very different treatments from other road users in each. In the Porsche (2003 Boxster S) I get the same as you - jealous people wanting to race (I don't) or who couldn't care less with car doors and so on. Few will let me out into traffic streams. If I am going shopping, I prefer to take my wife's Toyota, which is nice and anonymous. Even then, I try to park close to new, smart cars. It is when I take the Bentley (1926 3 Litre) that I get the most varied reactions. Some people are really polite and let me out into traffic, reverse out of the way if the road is too narrow for two to pass and so on. Others will pull out very close in front to avoid getting behind what they think will be a slow car and make no concessions to a car that weighs over a ton and a half and has unassisted drum brakes.
I had just finished restoring my 1973 914 in the summer of 1982. Got her = all polished and shining, took the top off and went to one of the local = malls to do some shopping. As I was able to park near the entrance and = wasn't going to be long, I left the top off. I was in the mall about 20 = minutes. Came out and got in the car to find all of the dash knobs gone! = Now, the dash knobs have colored, lighted lenses in them and aren't = cheap to replace. I was steamed to the max. Dashed to the mall exit and = hit the brakes kind of hard and saw something roll out from under the = seat. It was the knobs, still intact. I was thankful that they were = still there, but can't understand what would possess a person to mess = with another person's car just because they have it and you don't. = Sheeese.....
Interesting stories..thanks! I see all kinds of American muscle cars and they see to get all kinds of attention and special (nice) treatment on the road. I guess either the local country hicks think I'm either a snob because I am in a Porsche, or they think that since its not the latest American iron its some inferior piece of junk. Today some old truck was trying to get me to race and spun its tires right as a cop pulled up, I was hoping he would get pulled over but no such luck. When dealing with these idiots the best thing you can do is not even look in their direction, and if you make eye contact then your really in trouble.
"Jack D. Russell, Sr." wrote in message news:bjb5em$hdlg6$ snipped-for-privacy@ID-120468.news.uni-berlin.de... I had just finished restoring my 1973 914 in the summer of 1982. Got her all polished and shining, took the top off and went to one of the local malls to do some shopping. As I was able to park near the entrance and wasn't going to be long, I left the top off. I was in the mall about 20 minutes. Came out and got in the car to find all of the dash knobs gone! Now, the dash knobs have colored, lighted lenses in them and aren't cheap to replace. I was steamed to the max. Dashed to the mall exit and hit the brakes kind of hard and saw something roll out from under the seat. It was the knobs, still intact. I was thankful that they were still there, but can't understand what would possess a person to mess with another person's car just because they have it and you don't. Sheeese.....
Bullshit. Do NOT live in fear. Stand up for yourself. Let people act like the fools that they can be. We have no control over that, hey? I see an equal amount of sincere admirers of a fine marquee. Unfortunately, small towns don't tend to have a terribly sophisticated populace. They don't realize that most modern American iron is shit. Autos are perceived as status symbols by many and lunkheads are quick to judge others that they know nothing about. I chose my car not for status, but rather for quality, performance, uniqueness, style and a host of other reasons. Most certainly not for status. I see some folks in feeble cars that want to race, but both they and I know without a doubt that they would lose any such race. Sometimes I bite, but only if I deem it safe enough. Probably not the smartest thing to do in these cases, but I also have an itch for speed to scratch and sometimes it just takes over. For those lane changes, use your car's speed to zip to the gap. That's what I do. I never give a jerk a chance to cut me off if I can help it. If the car gets it's share of dings or scrapes, fix them and chalk it up to it's being a daily driver. Or leave them and don't worry about it until the next paint job. I do what I can to prevent door dings and other mis-haps, but you can't protect yourself from everything. I also drive my truck around to minimize the miles and exposure of the Porsche. Buy an old beater to take to town, there's probably several in your area for sale...? I also do what I can to educate those that don't know about Porsches. I don't act like a snob and I don't think I'm better than anyone because of the car I drive. Hell, most trucks cost more than our cars. I live in truck country (Pacific NW) so people really mull that one over when I mention it. My 79 911 got damaged once (bashed on the headlight ring), my 95 got hit by an anonymous asshole last year and even my 68 Mustang got keyed a few years back. Idiocy crosses all marquees and all towns. Don't let it get you down and you can vent to us anytime you wish. BTW: What town do you live in? If it's not too far for some of us, we could meet you there for a rumble...
Oh no, I wasn't eluding to that at all. I feel the same way as you do, I hate being walked on by people and avoid it if possible. Of course I also realize that you can't go making gestures to the wrong person these days, I've seen road rage go too far before and want no part of it.
could meet you there for a rumble...
I am up in Thief River Falls, MN. I was living down in the metro area but work forced me to go up north. Where are you from?
Having owned several 911s' in the last 30+ years it's easy to identify with all of you ......and then some. Hence.......My wife refers to my P_cars as "The Idiot Magnets" Unfortunately, what's that make me? Hummmmm
I enjoyed reading this thread on vandalism, road rage, tailgating behavior, envy, the perils of low SES, the bell curve, and other social maladies. I am afraid that I've experienced much of the same in every state (rural and urban settings) in which I've lived: GA, FL, MO, NY, VT, MA (to date). I've also driven cross country through all but 1 of the contiguous states. I believe three of the SCARIEST PLACES I've ever lived (or visited) in terms of my assessment of the skill of the average driver (note: this is highly correlated with the level of funding and hence quality of the state's education program) are:
Alabama (almost anywhere),
Florida (north, central, and panhandle).
Over time, I have been the target of various tailgating, aggressive driving (i.e., road rage) and direct attempt to engage me in "street racing" incidents in ALL of the cars I've owned since graduating from college in the
I have never seen the likes of (frequency, depths of idiocy) as I have from the local (urban and rural) redneck, low life, beer guzzlin', trailer dwelling, scum sucking vermin that exist in these two states.
Please note: I mean NO offense meant to anyone reading this board who lives in either AL or FL. In fact, the very fact that you're reading this NG likely excludes you from the "groups" I just insulted.
At any rate, may God help and protect me and my family when I pick-up my Guards Red 1988 Porsche 928 later this week. I wonder how many times I'll be invited to "drag" (pronounced "drayyyg" in rural AL and FL) or be tailgated or cut-off on my way home.
Guess what? A fellow Porschefile was tailgating me earlier this week. Right after we discussed the aforementioned, a beautiful red '95 911 sped up and was on my ass like a dog in heat. I would expect more from a Porsche owner but this guy hounded my lowly '79 911SC. I don't know what to think now. I should get a bumper sticker that says "I don't want to race, please pass me safely!"
I've got to admit I was a bit close to the tail of a 996 Turbo the other day. He seemed completely unaware of where he was, so I passed him on the right in my wife's SUV. After one other driver passed him on the right, he finally pulled over to the right lane in order to free up the left lane. Guess he finally woke up. I hope he didn't think that I wanted to race.
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