We often say that we’re fans of certain carmakers, but not many are qualified to be called “passionate” about them. When it comes to Ottocar J. and Porsche though, the 80-year-old man is definitely one of them.
This year, Ottocar collected a Porsche 718 Spyder in Miami Blue Porsche’s Zuffenhausen factory, his 80th Porsche ever owned. As a celebration of the momentous occasion, Porsche even allowed him to affix his own Porsche emblem on the car, making him the only few in the world to ever have had the chance.
Ottocar’s fascination with Porsches started almost 50 years ago, where he first saw them on a race track. “The Porsche cars simply flew past me on all sides,” he recalls, which prompted him to save up for his first Porsche, a 911 E in Speed Yellow, also known as the “oil cap model” which he bought in 1972.
A couple of years later in 1977, he would collect his first Porsche directly from the factory – a 911 Carrera 3.0. Little did he know that collecting Porsche cars will become a true lifelong passion, reaching Number 80 in just 43 years.
Ottocar was a driver himself, thus it was the race cars that first caught his attention. Throughout his years as a Porsche collector, he also stayed true to his motorsport roots: owning a 917, a 956, a 964 Cup, a 910 with a rare eight-cylinder engine, and not to mention a 904 with its original Fuhrmann engine.
Today, his collection comprises around 38 cars, or, as Ottocar himself puts it, “I can drive a different one every day for a month – and two at the weekends.” To fit all of his “toys”, he even had to build a separate building for them, which he affectionately calls it his “living room”.
Aside from all of his Porsches, the living room is also filled to the brim with race and car meet memoribilia. He also has a toy shop and an antiques store, and among other things – a cinema showing Steve McQueen’s Le Mans feature film, too.
On regular, he would drive about nine cars on rotation, including a 911 R, a Type 991 911 Speedster and two Boxster Spyders from the last two generations. However, when pressed, Ottocar wouldn’t name a favourite – though he chooses the 981 Boxster Spyder for most of his outings.
“The sound, how it drives, its suspension, everything that it does – it is the only one of my road-legal Porsche that reminds me of my 910,” says Ottocar – this man is without a doubt a true driving enthusiast.
Although now 80 years of age, Ottocar has no plans on slowing down – his next plan is to do a road trip along the Pan-American highway in a Porsche Cayenne. “When you are 80-years-old, you don’t think so much about the past any more but more about the future. You look forward to things that are still to come,” he says.
GALLERY
