Blue Car Takeover: My Side of Things

One of Susan's photo stops on the Needles Highway in South Dakota.

Wow! Wir sind wirklich auf dem Weg nach Europa! Ich dachte erst es wäre ein Scherz als Susan mir davon erzählt hatte...

…whoops, sorry everyone. I got excited. And when that happens, I sometimes slip back into my native language.

Wow! We are really going to Europe! I trust Susan, but a part of me worried she was kidding when she told me our travel plans. But it’s real, isn’t it? She wouldn’t be writing all these articles about preparing if it wasn’t real? Right?

Susan’s working on something else this week and taking a break from writing her Substack article. I didn’t think she would mind if I slipped in here to keep things going. It will just be a secret between you and me, ok? It’s been over a year since Susan allowed me to take over her blog and I have been eager to tell you my side of things. You can say what you want about me, but I am patient.

And speaking of saying what you want about me, I hope you realize this is just a phrase of speech that Americans use (the Germans would be much more precise about this to avoid painful misunderstandings). In fact, you can’t say whatever you want about me. I want to remind you that you should never, ever, call me an antique car. Just yesterday, Susan was filling me up at the gas station and someone came by and said, “Hey, nice antique car!” I am NOT an antique. And I don’t like it when you call me old. We have been over this before people! Would you like to be called an antique or old? That hit home, didn’t it? If truth be told (and I like to tell the truth, even if it gets me in trouble), I am still on the fence about classic. If you want to make me happy (and I know you want to make me happy), just call me sexy and sassy.

I want to tell you about my dreams for this European road trip of ours, and some worries I have as well (we Germans call those worries Angst or sometimes Befürchtungen). It seems only fair that I am considered in all of this. She can’t do this road trip without me, after all. Oh…she could do it in a rental car, but really? What kind of road trip would that be?

I first just want to say that I love Susan. I adore her. We are having so much fun together. But she hurt my feelings last week. She thinks I don’t read these articles, but I hang on to every word. I love it when she describes those winding roads and the joy she feels behind the wheel. I feel like I am serving my higher purpose and that makes my engine just hum. But last week she said she was expecting mechanical problems on the European road trip. Really! She would never have talked that way about one of her children. I never, ever heard her say to any of them, “Oh, I think you will drop the ball in the outfield during a critical play in the little league playoff game.” Or, “Hey, I expect you to miss your final assignment deadline.” So, imagine how it made me feel, when she said for all the world to read, that she expects me to let her down.

You need to know that I would never do that! Never. I am still so hurt I wanted to cough and sputter and give her a hard time when she turned the key in my ignition this morning to go to German Car Day at the Larz Anderson Auto Museum. She is very lucky that I love going to these lawn events and having everyone talk about my lovely Albert Blue color and what good shape I am in, but really! I went OUT OF MY WAY to make sure our U.S. road trip was as joyful as could be. Why in the world would she think I would let her down in Europe? On my home turf no less?

I am trying to move past it and am choosing to believe that she just said that to avoid jinxing things and that she didn’t really mean it. I have never given her a reason to doubt me.

Ok, enough said about that. What I really want to say is that I have been soooo excited that we are returning to my childhood home. It’s been more than 55 years since I have been back and to tell the truth, it’s all a bit fuzzy now. I have memories of waiting with many other Porsche’s at the port to come to America. And I remember I was the only one in glorious Albert Blue. But I don’t remember coming off the factory line, or any last inspection at quality control, or saying goodbye to those skilled workers who made me. That makes me sad.

So, I can’t wait to get to Stuttgart and I was a little anxious about this (you can use that German world ängstlich if you like), and Susan knew it. She wrote to the Porsche factory two months ago, just to be sure we could get a factory tour (and maybe something special) and that I won’t be disappointed. My engine was filled with anticipation waiting for the response. I really want her to pick a date for that tour, so I know where we have to be, and when, so that I can get us there in plenty of time.

She got a response about a week later and I just need to get this off my hood and tell you that I am greatly disappointed in the Porsche Factory people over in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. First, a week was way too long for that reply. This is not the efficient German factory that I remember—have things gone to hell since I left? And then, to add insult to injury, the email was barely more than a form letter telling us, “Thank you for your email and your interest in the Porsche Museum and Factory. We are happy that you are planning to visit us. We did not open our booking system for 2026 yet. You may try it again six months before your day of visit. The process requires annual planning in coordination with production planning for factory tours and capacity planning for museum tours.”

What a letdown. I am embarrassed to say I had really envisioned a little birthday party for me on my return. Nothing big or extravagant but this is a very special moment for me—returning home for a visit after all this time. Susan says not to worry, we will book a factory tour in plenty of time when slots become available online and she will have her own little party for me. In fact, she has promised me that the whole trip will be like a four-month birthday party including all my favorite things. She never goes back on her word (I am already starting to forgive her for her “mechanical problems” comment in last week’s article).

I am brimming with anticipation. All my favorite things! Luckily, all those things are what she likes too. The trip must have lots of back roads – winding, twisting roads past magnificent scenery and with lots of elevation changes. I am less interested in going really fast on the Autobahn. Any car can do that. I want a challenge and some excitement that gets my revs up.

And she knows that I don’t have a lot of patience for her to stop and take photos. It’s so frustrating to be on a really good road and then we stop so she can get the camera out. Sometimes, she drives a road twice (and I know she does it just for me). In the Black Hills of South Dakota, we drove the Needles Highway first for photos (so many stops!) and then we did it a second time straight through for the fun of the drive.

And forests? I love forests. I want to spend some time with Susan in Bavaria and every forest in every country we visit. The memory of the redwood forests along the coast of Oregon and California are still with me. Who knew that those massive trees could make me feel so happy? I was not scared at all, even though I am so small, and they just tower over me (I am generally a very brave car). I know my engine is loud and I always try to apologize to the trees because those forests are so quiet. Susan likes to pull over and turn my engine off so we can both enjoy the peace of the redwoods. I like Zen moments on road trips. After all, you can’t be revving it up and zooming all over the place all the time. The contrast is what makes it all special.

I also love trips when I hear her laugh. You would think she sounds a little crazy but when she just laughs out loud while driving it’s not as weird as you think and it makes me happy in my own way. I sometimes feel frustrated because I can’t laugh with her, but I think she knows I offer my own joy in return: I hug the road a bit tighter and just push a little bit of extra horsepower out.

And of course, I am excited to tell you that the Nürburgring is a definite go. I am so glad she plans to spend at least one day there. I don’t want to offend her, but if we somehow happen to be there when Max Verstappen pulls another one of his incognito visits, that would be cool. I know I could convince him to do a lap or two with me and Susan would be fine with the passenger seat. Oh, a Blue Car can dream, can’t it?

There’s no angst about this trip, as long as she doesn’t fill me up with cheese. When I read that article I was horrified. Cheese! And worse, she revealed my interior cubic capacity to all! That is such a private thing. She should have asked me first. But how in the world can I be upset with her? We are going on an adventure of a lifetime. And I plan on taking good care of her.