It wouldn’t surprise you to know that I hold Porsche sports cars very close to my heart. At the risk of sounding too cliché, I had a poster of a black, slant nose 930 on my bedroom wall as a kid. Come to think of it, though, I never really liked the slant nose. I’m much more of a traditionalist. A white 964 dinky car made far more of an impression – if that qualifies as tradition! At any rate, the 911 is my favourite sports car of all time. So, it should come as no surprise that I went out and bought a 1988 944 Turbo when I was in a position to do so – which is to say once I faced the realization, after years of scouring the classifieds in California, that I simply couldn’t afford a 911 of any vintage whatsoever. Of course, I had to sell the 944 before moving back to India – as, not long before that, someone with far greater foresight than I ruled that left-hand drive vehicles would be unsuitable for our roads. Well, despite that ruling, being the rebel without a cause that I am, I’ve managed to confound the system and figure out a way of driving just such a car everyday – but not a Porsche unfortunately. Nevertheless, I can safely state that it puts me at no greater disadvantage than the next guy on our roads. For that matter, I could drive blindfolded, with one hand tied behind my back, and I would still be at no greater disadvantage than the next guy – such is the attention, or lack thereof, that the average motorist pays to the act of driving on our roads. But that’s another editorial altogether… Back to Porsche. I would give my left arm – preferably the one tied behind my back anyway – for a 993. For a Porsche ‘Reimagined by Singer,’ I would bequeath all my limbs in a heartbeat. What about a 911 fresh off the showroom floor then? Well, to start with, it would have to be a manual. Not only do I find it hard to pronounce the full form of PDK, I’m just a sucker for three pedals and a gear lever. Plus, said gearstick in the new 911 has 7-forward ratios – impressive! With one of those, I could perform heel-and-toe downshifts all day long – even on the highway. Or could I? You see, Porsche has decided that there’s simply too much effort wasted in that process, so the electronics now blip the throttle for you on the downshift – even in the manual. Never mind, I’ll simply turn it off (preferably with a hammer) whenever I want to perform some fancy footwork. Believe it or not, however, it can’t actually be deactivated (perhaps with a hammer, but I wouldn’t try). So, there’s that dream down the drain. Perhaps, while I live out my Porsche fantasy (in my dreams, of course) I should just get to grips with modern technology and settle for the PDK after all. Really, in our conditions, what would be ideal is a car that feels like a 911, but has the ground clearance of a Humvee. Well, the car on this month’s cover isn’t quite that, but it’s close – the Macan that is. I’m a little wary myself when I say this, but it’s almost good enough for me to abandon my 911 dreams and jump onto the compact SUV bandwagon. It really is that good. And while I am truly sold, no matter how good the Macan is, I fear I’d be seated in its beautiful cabin but still be dreaming of that Singer 911. After all, a modern Porsche is one that you seemingly buy more with your head than with your heart…
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