Back in the 1960s, I owned one of those small, cramped British sports cars and put up with the cold, rain and wind as these elements inevitably came into the car. I worked at a used car lot in the University District of Seattle that specialized in these sorts of cars and had the opportunity to work on, road test and dream of owning a number of different makes and models. One of the cars that I would never have dreamed of owning was an early Porsche; they were just too different, too much like an old VW, and just looked funny.

That was before the first 911 came out. What a difference that car was. With the 6-cylinder engine, lots of power and even a back seat - of sorts - that car would be on my top 10 list of cars I would most like to own. Even though I've never owned one, I've worked on, driven and developed opinions about the 911 Series and other Porsche models during the many years I've specialized in German-built cars.

There are, of course, many other models in the Porsche lineup: the entry-level 914, the 4-cylinder 912, and the water-cooled 924, 944 and 928, and others with front engines, water cooling and not much else to distinguish them from every other car in the world. The Carrera series continues to be the product leader, along with its mid-engine sibling the Boxster, the only true Porsches still available (just my opinion). Now there is an SUV (the Ca...