Porsche Friends

The other day, when my family and I went out for dinner at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, it was quite crowded during dinner time, so we were waiting in the waiting area. Then, a father from a family who came in after us called out to my husband.

Mr. ○○, Mr. ○○, we meet again!

My husband showed a surprised and delighted expression and said, “Oh, Mr. A! We meet again!” and soon they started chatting about cars, diving into some pretty detailed Porsche talk. After a while, my husband introduced him to me, saying, “This is Mr. A, the person I told you about before.” But Mr. A’s first words were,

Ah! The wife who drives a manual…!

…Wait, that’s what you remember? (laughs)

I had heard the story before, but it turns out Mr. A is the very person who gave my husband the push to buy the GT3 Touring. To put it simply, if it weren’t for Mr. A, my husband would never have been able to purchase the GT3 Touring.

How the GT3 Purchase Came About

About a year ago, before my husband had even ordered the GT3 Touring, he was fueling up his Boxster at a nearby gas station when a man around his age suddenly spoke to him.

Oh! A manual, huh! Nice! And you go to the same dealer too!

That man was Mr. A, but since my husband was still filling up gas, after they both finished, they said “See you!” and parted ways with only a brief conversation. When my husband got home that day, he said,

He seemed like such a nice guy. We go to the same dealer, and we seemed to get along well… I should have asked for his contact info—what a miss.

Not long after, when my husband casually went to the Royu Driveway, he unexpectedly ran into Mr. A again! At that time, Mr. A was driving a GT3 (991.2), so my husband casually said,

Nice GT3. I want a GT3 Touring too, but I guess they don’t come to Japan, right? Such a shame.

To which Mr. A replied, “Actually, the GT3 Touring should be available through official import in Japan. Why don’t you ask your dealer?” My husband checked right away and placed a reservation. Although he half expected not to get a spot, luck was on his side, and he was able to purchase one. At the time, my husband often said,

I always thought you couldn’t buy the GT3 Touring from Japanese dealers because the Porsche Japan website didn’t have a configurator for it, so I gave up from the start. If I hadn’t met Mr. A, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to buy the GT3 Touring. Meeting Mr. A felt like God arranged our meeting so I could buy the GT3 (laughs).

Since then, even though my husband and Mr. A never made any plans to meet, they’ve bumped into each other quite a few times, and just recently, they met again in the waiting area of a conveyor belt sushi restaurant. It really seems like they have a special connection.

Porsche and Connections

When I was younger, I used to think, “Even if you meet someone once, you absolutely have to keep that connection going!” But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to realize that “some connections are meant to be, and others aren’t.”

No matter how hard you try, there are people you just can’t meet again, or people you meet once and never connect with again. On the other hand, there are people you meet regularly without even trying, and somehow your connection continues.

That’s probably what “en” (connection/fate) really means.

At this age, opportunities to be scolded by others are almost gone, and chances to reflect on myself have decreased, but just like the saying “birds of a feather flock together,” I believe the people around you now are a mirror reflecting yourself. So thinking about who surrounds you is a good way to understand who you are now.

Through Porsche, I’ve been fortunate to meet people I would never have encountered through ordinary work. I want to keep growing and cherish these wonderful connections even more going forward.