The GTS Chronicles Euro Delivery Adventure

[alavigne]

Well, folks... it's done. Many of you that have been on the forums for a while have heard about the long journey @lukesward and I went through to get our two GTS 4.0s and our big European Delivery road trip with them. And about how I promised to document it all in a big trip report.

I didn't have any idea it would take this long, but now it is ready for reading. It's a real biggy, too.

You can read the report at https://gtschronicles.com.

To give you a little preview, the report is broken down into three main parts: a "lead-up", which goes over the 3+ years of ups and downs during the order and allocation and pre-delivery processes, with a no-holds-barred insight into all of the interactions with our dealer - both good and not-so-good.

Then there's the straight-up delivery trip itself, which is documented in the "delivery adventure" section.

And then finally, there's a "post-trip" section, which goes over the wait to receive the cars in North America, more dealer interactions, and a final heartwarming surprise to Luke's parents. And some final thoughts.

And if the above doesn't entice you... we put together a teaser/trailer sort of thing, which might get you in the mood to read about all the details:

[blueline]

The trailer/teaser was a good reminder of your epically detailed adventure that many of us here followed, more or less in real (shortly after) time. Now that you have it fully documented and in one edition, it will not only be easy to access for specifics but always available for the great memories.

No, I haven't gone through the newly compiled complete report, but I have seen enough to simply say that you've done an outstanding job putting it all together. Nice!

[ROB III]

Dreams are important to keep the soul alive and moving forward....THANK YOU

[alavigne]

The trailer/teaser was a good reminder of your epically detailed adventure that many of us here followed, more or less in real (shortly after) time. Now that you have it fully documented and in one edition, it will not only be easy to access for specifics but always available for the great memories.

No, I haven't gone through the newly compiled complete report, but I have seen enough to simply say that you've done an outstanding job putting it all together. Nice!

No worries at all. If you actually manage to read the whole thing end-to-end, I'll be a bit surprised. When Luke was proof-reading the "lead-up" part he measured that part alone at over 85,000 words - or about the equivalent of 200 pages of standard text.

This trip report has turned out to be more than just a report - it's more like a detailed memory archive!

[WillyDaP]

I traveled right along with the Canadian Cayster Crew of Two since my Cayman was ordered in late May and started the build right about the time you guys picked up the mean little mid engine muthas! Well written and I felt like I was sitting in the passenger seat, albeit I am a bit biased and spent my dream rides doing the crocodile rock. It did help I had spent 3 years of my childhood wandering similar roads in Europe that you two Canadian Car Connoisseurs were cavorting on , but you guys kept me captivated.
I got my 718 GTS 4.0 in August ( though it was a very early 24 model ) and your trip made my Porsche " Follow Your Dream " that much more special. Time for a formal thanks, you will have forever made my ordering process and delivery special because you help build my anticipation to extremely high levels and yet I had a very solid idea of what to expect when my little Chalk Croc arrived.

Appreciated you time, your efforts , your Porsche passion, and the story that stoked the fires in many a Stuttgart Speedster's heart, whether because their car was on order or because they also understand the lure of the Caysters!

[alavigne]

Many thanks for the kind words. It's nice to know there are like-minded car nuts out there.

[ ... ] Well written and I felt like I was sitting in the passenger seat, [ ... ]

Whoa! you can't possibly mean you read the whole thing already? Either that or you are one of those speed readers (I just checked and the US Guinness World Record holder for speed reading is 25,000 words per minute, which to be frank I can't quite comprehend, since that means one would be reading many pages PER second).

Or maybe you just read the short version! That would explain it.

[lukesward]

... your trip made my Porsche " Follow Your Dream " that much more special. Time for a formal thanks, you will have forever made my ordering process and delivery special because you help build my anticipation to extremely high levels and yet I had a very solid idea of what to expect when my little Chalk Croc arrived...

Ahh you made me grin with your lovely turns of phrase - so glad our adventure (and @alavigne's painstakingly impressive write-up put smiles on your face. Helping others get through those interminable wait times is a laudable achievement, so I will take that happily knowing it was something you looked forward to as you held out for your own special car

~ Luke

[WillyDaP]

C'mon Lavigne, I own a Cayman GTS, of course I do everything " FAST!"

I started reading during the delivery process, and the travels thereafter. Later I went back and read some of the bromance for acquiring a Boxster and Cayman and the planned process to become Porschephiles with delivery in the holy land.

[RDMcG]

It's a great experience, and looks like a great video:)......

I did five cars, ( mainly GT3RS and BMW M cars). I managed a couple of meetings with Dr Wolfgang Porsche and he very kindly signed my 991RS at his home in Zell am See. I took it to the Nürburgring for a week as I always do and then drove up to Hamburg. I managed to persuade the founders of the Museum Prototyp to being my car into the museum and photograph it with what I think of as the real first Porsche, the Volkswagen Typ 64 from 1939-photo of the founders of the museum below

P9070078.JPG (2 MiB) Viewed 1654 times

IMG_2376.JPG (2.55 MiB) Viewed 1654 times

IMG_2603.JPG (3.27 MiB) Viewed 1654 times

IMG_2610.jpeg (4.07 MiB) Viewed 1654 times