Issue link: http://digital.nexsitepublishing.com/i/1404782
THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE… FOR CLEANLINESS FEATURE STORY 44 Spiel – August 2021 Story by Daniel Murphy and Photographs by Jeff Jones I have found a new pursuit. More accurately, maybe I have invigorated an old pursuit… I have always preferred my cars to be clean. Washing on weekends, waxing a couple times a year, even spraying that cheap stuff in the white, orange, yellow, and black bottle on the tires when I was feeling particularly spirited. Then I got my first Porsche. I had dreamed of that day since I was a young child. I drove my first Porsche (a 1975 Copper Brown Metallic 911S Targa) when I was 17 years old. I had always thought Porsches were cool, but that car changed my life! I simply had to own a Porsche some day. About five years ago, that day finally came. I purchased a 2001 911 Carrera. I always thought I preferred a clean car, but this car changed that view completely. When I arrived in Portland to pick the car up, I was shocked by how great of shape the car was in. Not only had the mechanicals been looked over meticulously, but the Lapis Blue paint shined like the car was brand new. Well, almost… ditto for the Graphite Gray full leather interior. I studied the shape like an artist would study a blank canvas. I had many plans for the car, but first was some fun on the roads! The following winter, after many cleaning sessions, I began to see some items in the paint that needed addressing. After probably 200 hours spent over a winter with some wet sanding and many (MANY!) rounds of polish, I was eventually very happy with the results. In the meantime, I had continued collecting every possible spray, polish, cleaner, soap, detailing spray, wax, coating, etc. I could get my hands on. No more white, black, orange and yellow bottles in my garage; that would simply never do! As I mentioned, I have always generally kept my cars clean. Now, my Porsche was treated to a completely different experience. Suddenly, I cared about how clean my brake calipers were – discs too. I vacuumed the interior countless times each summer, and I even washed the inside of my wheel arches regularly. I had developed a sickness. I know I'm not alone in this. There is even a support group of sorts, full of like-minded folks, that I have discovered recently (more on that later). There is a difference between having a clean car, having a CLEAN car, and then having a "Concours clean" car. It is all about the details… A clean car is one that can be admired