On Tuesday, I drove up to Porsche West Houston for my 911's first annual service. Like most dealers these days, their inventory is small and very limited and the company's newly built show room nearly empty. As a result, they have plenty of room to exhibit temporarily a few of a private collector's special Porsches, one of which is the Carrera GT that I've shown in a couple of pictures below. This car, manufactured in 2005, is brutally fast but lacks the protective technologies that current Porsches and most other cars have today. Since few were built, the cars can bring in big money; a quick search revealed that one example recently sold for a couple of million bucks.

As it turns out, I'll be seeing the Carrera GT again tomorrow. Inspection of my car uncovered a nail stuck in the right rear tire near the edge of the tread where repair will be tricky. The tire has lost no air thus far and might well be serviceable for a quite a while, I decided to replace the tire. The service guy ordered a replacement while I was there, and it arrived today. So tomorrow it's back to Houston to replace a tire with only 3400 miles on it.

Jer

[MikeNArk]

Showrooms everywhere are empty. Great idea to showcase classic cars like this and you could have it for only a couple of million. Pretty shots. It is a treat.

[angkymac]

Sad news about the tire!
I had the same thing happen on my new car last summer--really ground on my attitude!
Worse, the place did not have any interest in their customers--no Porsche Carrera GTs on display--only some tires!
They did have some off-road tires, which they trapped me into installing!
Good images of that Porsche!
Angky.

[brewmaster15]

On Tuesday, I drove up to Porsche West Houston for my 911's first annual service.........

As it turns out, I'll be seeing the Carrera GT again tomorrow. Inspection of my car uncovered a nail stuck in the right rear tire near the edge of the tread where repair will be tricky. The tire has lost no air thus far and might well be serviceable for a quite a while, I decided to replace the tire. The service guy ordered a replacement while I was there, and it arrived today. So tomorrow it's back to Houston to replace a tire with only 3400 miles on it.

Jer

OUCH on the Nail Jer! I hate when that happens. We had our roof done here a few years back and have a gravel driveway..Not a good combo for nails. Glad they found the nail in the tire...before it was a problem.

That Carrera GT is a real beauty Nice pics of it!

al

[MSL]

We had our roof done here a few years back

Don't get me started on roofing nails. I was finding them for years after our roof was done.


Shame on the tire, but it did give you a somewhat unique opportunity and we are glad you could share it with us.

[eaglem]

A nice surprise for you

[Sailor]

Showrooms everywhere are empty. Great idea to showcase classic cars like this and you could have it for only a couple of million. Pretty shots. It is a treat.

Thanks, Mike.

Jer

Sad news about the tire!
I had the same thing happen on my new car last summer--really ground on my attitude!
Worse, the place did not have any interest in their customers--no Porsche Carrera GTs on display--only some tires!
They did have some off-road tires, which they trapped me into installing!
Good images of that Porsche!
Angky.

Thank you, Angky. My new tire is in place, and I can again drive my car . . . . . . well . . . . . . like a Porsche.

Jer

OUCH on the Nail Jer! I hate when that happens. We had our roof done here a few years back and have a gravel driveway..Not a good combo for nails. Glad they found the nail in the tire...before it was a problem.

That Carrera GT is a real beauty Nice pics of it!

al

Hey Al, thanks for looking. It was, indeed, a joy to see the Carrera GT.

Amazing times: the dealer currently has no new cars for sale in inventory - not one. At this point, they're doing a order business only; they do keep a few cars as demonstrators. I was lucky to my car when I did; my sales guy told me that wait time for a 911 is at least a year.

Jer

Don't get me started on roofing nails. I was finding them for years after our roof was done.


Shame on the tire, but it did give you a somewhat unique opportunity and we are glad you could share it with us.

We had a similar experience when our house was re-roofed a few years ago. Pain in the a--.

Thanks much for looking!

Jer

A nice surprise for you

Hey, EM - it sure was. If you want to loan me a couple of million bucks (US), I'll try to buy that Carrera GT!

Jer

[JensE]

Nice surprise - they should have given it a bit more space for a proper photo. I have never seen one for real, despite living in the city where they have been assembled.

[ToddK]

Great shots Jer! That was a very nice treat for you to see that car. I had to replace a tire on my Cadillac a couple of months ago due to a screw at the edge of the sidewall. At that time, there were only a couple of matching tires in the state of Texas, and I was lucky to get one. The tire dealer said that, like many other things, tires are in very short supply.

[Sailor]

Nice surprise - they should have given it a bit more space for a proper photo. I have never seen one for real, despite living in the city where they have been assembled.

In addition to the car at the dealership, I'd seen only one Carrera GT - at a Porsche Club Concours. Possibly - perhaps probably - it was the same car four years ago. Here are a few pics of the car - less visually encumbered - at that event.

Jer










---------- Post added 02-11-2022 at 03:18 PM ----------

Great shots Jer! That was a very nice treat for you to see that car. I had to replace a tire on my Cadillac a couple of months ago due to a screw at the edge of the sidewall. At that time, there were only a couple of matching tires in the state of Texas, and I was lucky to get one. The tire dealer said that, like many other things, tires are in very short supply.

Stranger times, my friend. I'm glad to have my new tire so quickly, and - as I mentioned to EM above - wait time on a 911 is about a year, so I'm glad to have my car!

Jer

[MikeNArk]

In addition to the car at the dealership, I'd seen only one Carrera GT - at a Porsche Club Concours. Possibly - perhaps probably - it was the same car four years ago. Here are a few pics of the car - less visually encumbered - at that event.

Jer










---------- Post added 02-11-2022 at 03:18 PM ----------



Stranger times, my friend. I'm glad to have my new tire so quickly, and - as I mentioned to EM above - wait time on a 911 is about a year, so I'm glad to have my car!

Jer

It certainly looks the same. However the color in the center of the wheels might be different. Of course after four years that could have been changed.

[Sailor]

It certainly looks the same. However the color in the center of the wheels might be different. Of course after four years that could have been changed.

Mike, you've got sharper eyes (or maybe a sharper brain) than I do - I didn't notice that difference.

Although there are exceptions, collectors of cars like the Carrera GT tend to keep them original, so I'm thinking I may have photographed two different cars. According to Wikipedia,Porsche built only 1270 Carrera GTs, but given the size of and wealth in metro Houston, it's certainly possible that more than one of these cars could be residing the area.

Jer

[SpecialK]

You nailed it.

[Sailor]

You nailed it.

Thanks.

Jer