Issue link: http://digital.nexsitepublishing.com/i/186711
Fast-forward to the summer after high school graduation. My circle of friends either worked at the local drug store or hung out with someone who did. We regularly closed the store at 10 p.m., then went to a pizza place or a poker party somewhere until midnight or later. One of the girls in our crowd was dating the newly hired pharmacist who was fresh out of pharmacy school. The first thing he did upon getting his initial professional job was to buy a brand new 1971 Porsche 911T. It was olive, and it was beautiful. I was fascinated by how he took it in to his dealer to have the suspension meticulously adjusted just for him. I was (and remain) Full Scale 911T Hood Shield Original Porsche hood crest on the pharmacist's Porsche 911T. If you look carefully at the reflection, you will see a 17-year-old version of Carl Spencer taking this picture. 46 impressed by the solicitous nature of the Porsche dealer and how fussy they were to deliver maximum performance out of that one particular car. I knew I wanted that someday. We invited the pharmacist and his date to go hang out with us at a friend's house one evening and they accepted, only he didn't know the way. I offered to lead him there. I was driving my parent's faded red 1965 Plymouth Fury III. (Now it's hard to believe the car was only six years old -- but cars wore out quickly back then.) As is the wont of seventeen-year-old males, I drove it hard and fast. The pharmacist followed serenely behind me in his 911T. When we got to the hairpin corner, I took it as quickly as possible, more or less on two wheels, to impress the pharmacist with my driving prowess. Watching in my rear view mirror, I saw him negotiate the corner without even tapping his brakes, without apparently slowing down, and without rolling in the slightest, closing the gap between us almost instantly. Now I really wanted one of those someday! [Next month: Working for John Crean's company forms my business philosophy, but makes my Porsche addiction worse.] OCTOBER 2013 Above 911T Interior View Comparatively Spartan interior of the car. Below: 911T Engine Compartment The engine compartment of the brand-new 1971 Porsche 911T.