Osie’s Porsche Cayman R has come under (repeated) fire this month, courtesy of a scratched bonnet and a dented front wing.
| Driver's Log | |
|---|---|
| Date acquired: | April 2013 |
| Total kilometres: | 52,345 |
| Kilometres this month: | 1888 |
| Costs this month: | $1225 |
| L/100km this month: | 15.6 |
My poor car has come under considerable fire this month. There’s been not one but two car park incidents, both equally full of idiocy, malice and cowardice.
First incident. The Cayman was parked up at what I felt was a safe distance from the masses at the local mall car park. I came back after the movie to find the front left wing and bumper well and truly whacked. No note, no nothing and out of camera range. That’s a good $500 on my insurance excess alone.
The second incident took place in my own building’s car park. Some jealous neighbour thought my bonnet would look much better with a nine-inch key line cut into it (the scratch was so deep, there was actual shaving of paint hanging off it). Once again, this was out of camera range.
But there’s a silver ling to every cloud. The front end of the car was due for a touch up (as last month I had the rear bumper plus minor touch ups done) so this means that my insurance picks up the considerably large tab with all work to be done my Porsche’s official body shop.
It’s been an epic few driving weeks for the car, and knowing it’s getting a whole new front end means I’ve enjoyed chasing down a few Exiges with the Lotus UAE clan and even fellow new crankandpiston.com contributor Tom in in his Ferrari 458 Speciale through the mighty Al Hajar mountains. This was all done safe in the knowledge that any high-speed stone chips and detritus from the rear semi-slicks will be a distant memory in a few weeks.
Sean, he of the many Lotuses, took pity on me and lent me his lovely Elise 111S during my Cayman’s stay at Porsche’s body shop. It was my first time driving an Elise, and despite being such a small car it’s got more legroom than my Cayman. It made me realise how much I missed a manual box and the simplicities of driving something that was built with just that in mind. I did the daily commute in it, shopped for the weekly groceries and gave friends a lift home, and all loved it.
For now then I finally have the Cayman R cosmetically perfect, which unnerves me slightly as I’m left wondering what next to do with it. Best to head to the mountains and drive the wheel nuts off whilst the paint is still fresh.
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