911DAYS

The recently released 911DAYS 2018AUTUMN Vol.73 features a special theme: “Our Porsche Sports Cars 70th Anniversary—How We All Came to Love Porsche”.

911DAYS Vol.73 (911デイズ Vol.73)

created by Rinker

• Amazon
• 楽天市場

Looking back at Porsche’s history, the content is fascinating and very enjoyable. (In a previous blog, I also excerpted from the magazine in an article titled “Thoughts from the Lyrics of Momoe Yamaguchi’s ‘Playback Part 2’—Don’t Underestimate Me, It’s Your Fault.”)

As I flipped through the pages again, I realized I had skipped an article near the beginning. The title was:

“What Was the State of Porsche in Japan from the 1950s to the 1960s!?”

Sounds interesting, right? And I was surprised after reading the first few lines!

“To unravel ‘Our Porsche Sports Cars 70th Anniversary,’ one must know the starting point of Porsche in Japan. So, we asked Mr. Katsumi Okubo, advisor and founder of the oldest existing authorized Porsche dealer, Showa Motors (Porsche Center Nishinomiya, Sakai).”

It turns out that this “Showa Motors” is the dealer our family always relies on. Or rather, “It’s actually the oldest existing Porsche dealer! I had no idea (；ﾟДﾟ)!”

So, feeling it was more than just someone else’s story, I immediately started reading the article.

1953: Porsche’s First Arrival in Japan

Porsche was first imported to Japan in 1953. At that time, Sanwa Motors, which had an official import agency contract with Porsche, imported just two 356s—that was the beginning.

Then, in 1955, ten 356 Pre-A models were imported, three of which came to Osaka. However, two were purchased by a major corporation, leaving only one for a private individual. The person who bought this Porsche privately was someone with considerable social influence spanning pre- and post-war periods. (Who could it have been!?)

At that time, Mr. Okubo was working as a mechanic at Yanase Motors (today’s Yanase Corporation), and he was asked to service that precious single Porsche. Naturally, there were no service manuals or anything, so he initially declined but eventually couldn’t refuse and took on the maintenance.

Back then, Porsche had beautiful handmade bodies, and the parts and engine sounds were completely unlike any other cars he had seen before. Being a car enthusiast, Mr. Okubo was instantly captivated by Porsche. In 1959, he established Showa Motors as a foreign car repair shop. Later, he happened to see an ad in the car magazine “CG” recruiting authorized Porsche dealers, applied immediately, and became the very first authorized dealer.

By the way, the new price of the 911 in 1965 was 4.35 million yen—equivalent to about 37 million yen today. What’s more, almost everyone paid in full cash. At that time, installment plans were just starting, with a maximum of 24 payments, meaning monthly payments equivalent to 1.5 million yen today. Only very wealthy people could afford it, and only those who truly understood Porsche’s value would buy one.

Today, you can get a used Porsche within a few weeks, and by taking out a loan, you can keep monthly payments affordable and enjoy driving a Porsche. For regular models, new cars can be delivered within a year. But this situation exists thanks to the pioneers who built the foundation from nothing.

Thinking about this really makes me reflect deeply.

Could They Hire Me?

Since my days in sales, I’ve always been the type of employee who wants to know the history and background of products and services.

“Why was this product created? What were the creators’ intentions? What was the trial-and-error process? How did customers at the time feel?”…

Even though I rarely had the chance to present these stories to customers, knowing the history and background helped me convey the passion and feelings of many people when selling. In fact, the more I learned, the better I sold. Conversely, products I couldn’t fully understand never sold well for me. (Clearly, I’m not cut out for corporate life, lol)

So every time I talk about “I researched Porsche’s history” or “Did you know this about Porsche?” my husband says,

What’s up? Are you trying to become a Porsche salesperson? If they’re hiring at a Porsche dealer, why don’t you apply?

And I half-jokingly reply,

“Well, you know, there aren’t many female salespeople at Porsche dealers, so maybe I’d be a rare find and they’d hire me.”

That’s how things have been lately (laughs).

911DAYS Vol.73 (911デイズ Vol.73)

created by Rinker

• Amazon
• 楽天市場