The Beltsville Shell: The Porto’s Porsche Journey

Mark Porto - Senior Director, Strategic Programs for Raventek

RavenTek is an IT modernization and integration company. We deliver and customize leading-edge agile solutions, services and products to mission critical organizations, primarily federal government agencies. We provide systems integration and IT engineering, specifically around data center optimization, cloud migration and consolidation, modernization, application performance analysis and improvement, end-user experience improvement and network performance, cybersecurity, including endpoint threat detection, threat intelligence analysis, data center protection, DDOS protection, and multifactor authentication.

Contact: Mark Porto at Visit Online!

     

Break/Fix interviews Mark Porto, capturing his automotive history and passion. Mark shares his journey from discovering his love for Porsche, starting with a 1972 Porsche 911, to owning a 1988 Carrera and later a 2008 911 GT3. He reminisces about his father’s influence, who transitioned from building American muscle cars to becoming a BMW and Porsche enthusiast. Mark discusses his experiences on the track and significant moments, including a lost engine and a switch to BMWs after selling his GT3. The conversation also touches upon motorsports evolution, favorite and least favorite cars, and the state of modern automotive design and culture.

• Stories about Mark’s Dad – and the “Beltsville shell station” book
• His car / motorsports past, all the Porsches, etc.
• Giving away a motor to the Gardeners!   
• We also asked PitStop questions like: Favorite Car, Favorite motorsport Million-dollar Man, Ugliest car, thoughts on the EV revolution, etc. All very “car enthusiast” or “racing inspired questions”

Crew Chief Brad: [00:00:00] Break Fix podcast is all about capturing the living history of people from all over the autos sphere, from wrench, turners, and racers to artists, authors, designers, and everything in between. Our goal is to inspire a new generation of Petrolhead that wonder. How did they get that job or become that person?

The road to success is paved by all of us because everyone has a story.

Crew Chief Eric: It’s always interesting when you come across a fellow Petrolhead, especially a Porsche enthusiast, while sitting across a boardroom table. Not long ago, our guest, mark Porto and I were killing time before a meeting and came to the realization that we were both car enthusiasts.

And Mark has some really interesting stories to share.

Crew Chief Brad: Finding another petrolhead in the most unlikely of places is akin to a Highlander moment, or I guess in nowadays terms, your spidey senses goes off. I’m really excited to hear all these stories and see where this is going. So welcome to Break Fix, [00:01:00] mark.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’m, uh, thrilled and honored to be here.

Crew Chief Eric: So I gotta start with the first question. Is it Porsche? Porsche or Porsche? Which one is it?

Mark Porto: It is, uh, it is Porsche and only Porsche and will always be Porsche. My dad, uh, drilled that into my head when I was about eight years old and I think the first time I called it a Porsche, she said, uh, we call them Porsches.

And from, from that point on, it’s been Porsche for me. And every time I hear it, it just kind of cringe.

Crew Chief Eric: That being said, you’ve teed it right up in the sense that you understand that Porsche started before the year 2000, much like Audi and some of these other German brands that are now at the front of our conversations in the Petrolhead world.

So how far back does your Porsche legacy go?

Mark Porto: So my Porsche legacy goes back to about the time when I was, uh, you know, eight or nine years old, you know, like some of the folks in in the space. I’m lucky ’cause I was born into it. You know, it was just, you know, really, really interesting, you know, to, to look back at, [00:02:00] you know, how I got indoctrinated into the petrolhead world.

And, um, ironically, you know, my dad, you know, when I was a little boy, he was building and racing quarter mile race cars, American muscle chavelles and that sort of stuff. Eventually, you know, went from being a, a car builder, um, and, and racer to a motor builder and for off offshore powerboats and for quarter mile cars.

And then he got himself out of that and then became a BMW guy. And after that he was a Porsche guy. So, you know, about the time I was eight years old was the first time that I ever, uh, had a nine 11 in my dad’s garage, and, uh, understood the quirks and the sounds and the smells of those cars, and fell in love with them ever since.

Crew Chief Eric: Nothing quite like an air cooled nine 11. So what year, let’s start with that. What type of nine 11. So

Mark Porto: the, the first nine 11 my dad owned was a 1972, uh, nine 11. Nice. And it was, uh, it was green. It was beautiful. He would, you know, wax it and wa wash it with a diaper. Being [00:03:00] a, a sports car guy and a gearhead, you know, uh, that car was outfitted with Weber carburetors before we knew it.

It had a free flowing, you know, exhaust system before we knew it, and eventually, you know, found its way into becoming a track sled. So I really understood the grunt of a nine 11, you know, a flat six air cooled motor. And as a little boy there was, there was absolutely nothing like it. I mean, I still remember the sounds of that, the door shutting and, uh, you know, and that car and the smell that, you know, that car had, and, uh, it’s the, the

Crew Chief Eric: smell of melting crayons, right.

All old German cars.

Mark Porto: Absolutely. Absolutely. And, um, but that was it for me. And I love BMWs. I like Ferraris. You know, I, I always see. You know, the new Audi r eights and oh, that’s a pretty cool car. But for me, you know, um, nine elevens are, are really, uh, where, you know, where, where it starts and ends for me.

Crew Chief Eric: So did you come up like I did and you actually had a VW in the family before there was a Porsche?

Mark Porto: I did not. Um, you know, the, the first air cooled motor, aside [00:04:00] from a lawnmower that I ever, you know, that I ever was, had experience with, was, was a, a flat six, 3.2 liter nine 11 motor. And, um, and, and that, that was, that was it.

I liked Volkswagens, a neighbor, you know, even younger, had one and I. Never, you know, forget looking at the, you know, start and end of that motor. Like, that’s it, that’s, that’s all that’s in there. And yeah, that’s it. But for me, you know, my real experience came with, uh, with the nine elevens.

Crew Chief Eric: You know, as our listeners have come to find out, I’ve hinted throughout various episodes that we were a VAG or Volkswagen Audi group family for a very long time.

We’ve had a VW in the family since the very early sixties, you know, starting with my grandparents. And the curse has continued up until this point. And much like you, we didn’t end up with a Porsche in the family until way later. And our first one was the 74 9 14. So, you know, we’re a part of the min engine crowd.

You know, the, the, the ones that are shunned, the black sheep of the Porsche world, you know, we’re not gonna talk about those 9 44 people, but you know. But, [00:05:00] uh, no, it’s cool. I mean, there’s this comradery amongst us Aircooled guys, right? Where a lot of people did get their start with bugs and Carmen Gaz and things like that, and finally evolved into nine elevens.

And what’s funny is you and I both grew up in a similar area of the DMV in kind of central Maryland, and that was a hotbed back, especially in the late seventies, early eighties for drag racing. You know, you had Coleman Brothers, which is now auto fab, you had SART Wells, which was a big Porsche place. You had the guys that were sponsoring the bug out way back when, which was held at the Old Dominion Raceway.

Mm-hmm. So there was a lot of this air cold community in the DMV, which is now. I would like to say maybe evaporated a little bit, but I think it plays into your past a little bit more too. So let’s talk about, you know, the evolution of your Porsche past and your dad’s racing heritage.

Mark Porto: I think it’s a great story.

So I grew up, you know, in Beltsville Maryland, and my dad was a drag guy and he and his friends, and I was young, so, you know, my memories and the sights and the sounds [00:06:00] and the smells of those cars, you know, they, they really just evaporated to, you know, memories. Sometimes you think, oh, you know, it couldn’t have been that cool or there couldn’t have been that many motors and that many cars around all the time.

I was on Facebook one night and, uh, there was this, uh, group, Beltsville historic, Beltsville reminiscent group, and um, they were commenting on this book called The Beltsville Show, and one of the guys at. I live in an Annapolis now that I, I’ve come to, you know, become good friends with, well, he was part of the original Beltsville crew and we’re now talking late sixties, early seventies.

And he commented to me, he goes, Hey Porto, do you know your dad is in that book? And I’m like, what? And he’s just like, your dad is in that book. So I bought a copy of a book called The Beltsville Shell, and it’s the Beltsville shell and you are What You Drive. And the book was written by a guy named Carrie Thomas.

Who I remember his name. I remember his voice. I remember him coming and going, you know, in the house. And, um, he essentially outlines, you know, the, the, him [00:07:00] growing up in Beltsville and, um, integrating himself with a group of car guys. They were Corvette guys, they were Chevelle guys, they were Ford guys. And, uh, my dad, it was a University of Maryland.

As the story goes per the book. You know, they were working at the Shell, this car comes in, it was a chavelle and had, you know, no exhaust system whatsoever. And he said, Hey, I’m looking for a guy named Carrie. I heard he can help me weld these, uh, you know, uh, headers onto this car. And the guy said, yep, I’m Carrie.

And they became really good friends and my dad was indoctrinated into this group of gearheads and he was the first one who had a professionally sponsored track dedicated car. Wow. So, um, it’s so cool. So, you know, to read through this book, you know, it’s all, you know, you start recognizing the names and, and some of the stories and, um, you know, I know there was folks that passed away that my dad, you know, was telling me about, oh, you should have seen this guy in his Corvette.

It was blue and after the accident it was all over the road. Well, they kind of detailed some of these stories in the book and, uh, you know, to read it [00:08:00] one, it re jogs your memory, but it provided such clarity to, um, you know, to some of the stories that I, I had heard from my dad, you know, over the years.

Crew Chief Eric: It’s living proof that those stoplights were a quarter mile apart on Route one as well. Right. So,

Mark Porto: so these guys, they had, you know, the Beltsville Shell was a, was a service station and, and you know, back then gas stations weren’t really where you went and pumped gas. They were service stations ’cause the cars and you did a lot more care in feeding than cars today.

So I, it was a service station by day. It was a speed shop by night. So this book, you know, outlines and, you know, you and I grew up in the area, we knew it pretty well, where they actually had, you know, marked out quarter mile, you know, stretches and they could block each side of the road and test their cars, test their performance, build them, break ’em, build them again better.

So it was, uh, it, it’s cool, but, uh, it’s been a while since I’ve lived in Beltsville. I, I moved outta the area about 20 years ago. But, um, you know, just to, to read the stories, it brought me right back to, you know, that early age in time and then when I had my license and. [00:09:00] Kind of explored how fast cars can go on the same stretches of roads, you know, doing the same thing.

So,

Crew Chief Eric: you know, you said your dad’s first Porsche was that nine 11 s, but what was your first car?

Mark Porto: So, uh, my first car, my first car was a hand-me-down from my dad. So my first car was a, uh, Volvo Turbo. Uh, ’cause it was a family, you know, grocery getter. But it was a lot of fun and, um, you know, it treated me well.

The first car that I picked out and bought on my own Paul’s was a Volkswagen, GTI VR six Oh I, and, and my son, I have a, I have a 16-year-old son. He’s so much like us, it’s not even funny. And he is, uh, you know, he’s got his eye on the Japanese car. But every time I, we see one of, you know, the GTIs, whether it is an R 32 or type R, I’m like, that’s.

You should drive one of these. You should. You should. You know, you should try this. He’s like, I don’t know about a hatchback. I’m like, you have no idea. You know how much fun these cars are? That car did everything it should have done and then some, [00:10:00] it was reliable, it was fast. When I was bored with it, there were all sorts of mods, you know, it would float around the corners at the track.

I mean, it was, it was an unbelievable, unbelievable experience. And I kept that car clean. I never crashed it and uh, it treated me very, very, very well.

Crew Chief Eric: So I’m gonna guess that was a Mark three, or, yeah, it was a

Mark Porto: 1998 VW driver’s editions, VR six GTIs. Those things

Crew Chief Eric: are still sought after to this day. I mean, there’s a huge cult following for the third gen GTIs.

Yeah. So that’s really cool. At the same time you had that, my dad picked up a first Gen Rado VR six. So I was told around in that, in the nineties. Three SLC, you know, five speed, the whole nine yards. And you know what’s funny, looking back, you know, same power plane as the GTI, although the rado was built on the mark two chassis.

Yep. Uh, we shared some parts, you know, there’s some similarities with the mark threes, back then, you’re like 172 horsepower in a front wheel drive. It was like, man, even a drop of rain, or you hit the paint stripe the wrong way and you do a one wheel [00:11:00] peel, nowadays you’re like 172 horsepower. What is that?

That’s nothing.

Mark Porto: Yeah. The, the balance of, of weight in those cars too. Oh yeah. Is, you know, was, was so precision and, and it was such a, it was such a fun car to drive. Uh, you know, it was my Porsche, but I didn’t have a Porsche budget at the time. But it did, it did everything. And, um, I still wish I had that car today.

And like you said, there’s a cult following and I’m one of those guys every time I see them on the road, you know, I just, I’m, I mean, I’m amazed and you see them in really good condition. Yeah. People take care of those cars, which tells you, you know, it tells you something about the, uh, the importance of those cars in the overall big scheme of.

Crew Chief Eric: So color

Mark Porto: black on black on black.

Crew Chief Eric: All right. You couldn’t get that with the corrado. That was so annoying. We ended up with a red one ’cause my dad was dead set on a black leather interior, which only came in like two cars. If you wanted a black car, you got tan. I don’t understand the. These combinations, but you’re very fortunate.

So I happened to be a fourth gen guy. I, and it’s oddly enough, I went through a similar thing where, you know, I was buying a car and I was actually [00:12:00] dead set on getting a SVT focus.

Mark Porto: Yeah.

Crew Chief Eric: And my dad was like, you need to drive the new GTI, you just got, you gotta go drive it. I’m like, ah. I don’t know. It’s kind of big and bloated.

I don’t like it, you know? ’cause I was a Mark two kid, you know, I wanted a mark two really bad. And then I went and drove a VR six and I was like, all right, I’m done. We’re good. Have a nice day.

Mark Porto: I like your dad.

Crew Chief Eric: Okay, so GTI, your dad’s got the nine 11 and so there’s obviously an evolution there. So what came next and what got you to the track?

Mark Porto: So that car got me on the track. So that car was the car that I would, you know, bring to, you know, uh, Friday at the track events and high performance driving clinics at Summit Point. Um, and those places. And that was the first car that I really. Piloted around a racetrack, um, with an instructor and had had an absolute blast.

Crew Chief Eric: Hear that listener’s Fun wheel drive. He started with that.

Mark Porto: Yeah, I mean, it, it really was. And it, I mean, you know, just a, a little plug for that industry. It really taught me what that car was capable of doing. Um, it taught me what I was [00:13:00] doing right and wrong in that car when I was driving it. I was a much better driver on the beltway and every exit ramp.

Um, you know, because of that experience. And when I started graduating to, um, you know, other cars that had more power that were more finicky, I don’t know that I would’ve kept those cars on the road as long as I did had it not been for that, you know, those track day, um, experiences. Well, I had that GTI and, you know, I always wanted, I always wanted a, a nine 11.

So my first nine 11 was a beautiful car. It was in a 1988. Carrera factory, correct. Carrera whale tail, foc wheels. It was an absolutely, you know, gorgeous, you know, silver, they call it Granite Green Metallic. It was a phenomenal car. It was unmolested. I bought it from a fellow named Tim Holt in Pennsylvania.

Tim Holt was the driver for the inner sports cars. So, um, he had a, you know, a very boutiquey dealership if you, if you can call it that. He had a garage full of beautiful nine elevens. Most of them were race cars. Um, but some of the, the, you know, regular nine elevens were just [00:14:00] cherry. That was the car that I saw and I had to have, damn it, that car became mine.

So a lot of fun. It’s, the door is closed. It sounded just like my dad’s. It had that burning crayon smell just like the rest of. It was a ton of fun and that car was even funer to start Moding when I felt that I was ready to kind of step it up and move that car in in different directions. You know, it had bilstein coil overs all the way around, so it had a European stance.

It didn’t have that stance look like you see a car shows it had a European ride height. Stance. Um, very, very, I mean, you could

Crew Chief Eric: still see a gap between the tire and the fender. Yeah, I get

Mark Porto: it. Exactly. Exactly. You know, but you gotta be careful what tires you put on because that gap is very important. After that came the, uh, you know, stainless steel fab speed headers on back, that unleashed a lot of power in that car.

That car also, um, you know, quickly got a fab speed, cold air intake in it and never chipped that car. The other thing that eventually [00:15:00] we wound up doing was doing a twin plug conversion on that car. Oh wow. Nice. Two, two spark plugs per cylinder, then fuel rails and fuel pumps and all of the, all the other stuff.

And it was a reliable, this can be, that car never broke down on me. It’s always treated me well. I never burned through, um, you know, parts aside from. Tires, because I was going through those, you know, as fast as we go through pancakes. Oh man. It was just, it was just a, a ton of fun to drive and it, it, it, you know, it made a lot of noise and, um, and, and made me, you know, made me really happy.

And that car was also a monster on the track, you know, in my opinion, limitless power. And it’s just very, very predictable, um, to drive still you as a handful to drive. But that turned into, you know, my track baby.

Crew Chief Eric: Yeah. And there’s something to be said about that, that, that a lot of people don’t realize.

There’s a, there’s an allure and there’s a mystique around the older Porsches. Mm-hmm. But they are a handful to drive. They take a lot of awareness and a lot of concentration and a lot of patience in some respects. The new Porsches, [00:16:00] anybody can get ’em in go fast. And I’m not trying to offend anybody that’s listening, but it’s true.

There’s so many more computers and gadgets and gizmos and things keeping that, let’s call it bad design, under control because of the pendulum effect that it has. Just, it’s a front wheel drive with five reverse gears. Let’s be serious. But there’s an art to driving those cars. Fast and driving them well.

And when you do master it, it’s a lot of fun and you get in something else and you’re like, it’s just not quite the same, but it prepares you for some really interesting situations on and off track, for sure.

Mark Porto: Oh yeah.

Crew Chief Eric: There was a story you mentioned during our conference room session about a motor that mysteriously disappeared.

I believe this was for your Carrera. Do you want to unpack that one for

Mark Porto: us? So that’s, uh, oh God. Thank you for reminding me. Um, so as I mentioned, the Carrera had a lot of work done to it, and uh, when you start putting that kind of work into those motors, you start to measure the life of those motors and hours, not miles.

You know, I knew that there was gonna be a need for, you know, a new motor. [00:17:00] So I had, you know, Peter Dowes in, uh, Dowes Motor Sports build a 3.2 liter motor, not a dedicated track motor, but a performance motor that would go in a street car, um, that was still, um, drivable. That motor wound up in my dad’s garage, wrapped in plastic on a pallet.

Because he had more space than I did. You know, my dad, uh, eventually died of cancer, but as he started to get sicker and sicker with cancer, um, things that were important to him, he felt good about giving them away. So a lot of tools, you know, went to the guys that, you know, maintained his, uh, his home in his yard and other things like that.

And at some point, one of these guys said, Hey, you know, sir, what are you, what are you gonna do with that motor? He said, I, I don’t even know what that motor is. He said, I think it’s broken. He’s like, if you wanna take it apart and tinker with it, you’re more than welcome to it. And oh, man, next thing you know, they must have come in, you know, two of them, and lift it up the pallet and put it in the back of the truck.

And, um, we were there and I think it was like Christmas Eve or something like [00:18:00] that. I was in the garage and I came back, I said, dad, w you know, where’d you put the motor? You know, what happened to that motor? He goes, oh, that old motor, I don’t even know what, what car that was from. He said, I think that was broken.

I gave it to the landscapers. That was the last I ever saw of that motor and the last we ever discussed of it.

Crew Chief Eric: It took you a minute to get your job off the floor though. Yeah, I, uh,

Mark Porto: I, and you know, my fault shouldn’t have been there, you know, and um, but

Crew Chief Eric: everybody has one of those soul crushing car moments where you’re just like, did that just happen?

Whether it’s like the new motor you built just blew up or something like this occurs, or just, you know, anything could happen. But it’s just like there, everybody’s got a story like that. A moment like that.

Mark Porto: It was, it was still wrapped in plastic with my name on it. It was still wrapped in plastic. I didn’t even really open it and smell it.

I’m thrilled. My dad had a huge heart and, you know, thought he was making somebody happy. And I hope, I hope, I hope that motor wound, its found its way into, you know, something super cool. And, um,

Crew Chief Eric: yeah, [00:19:00] because it would be really hard to put it in anything. It’s a flat six. It doesn’t fit a lot of cars. No,

Mark Porto: I, I, so I said either, you know, what were they building an airplane?

Like what are they doing with that motor? And uh, I have no idea. But that was the end of it. That was the end of

Crew Chief Eric: it. So let’s talk a little bit more about Porsche’s and so obviously you joined the Porsche Club. I think we’re in the same region as a matter of fact, which is another common ground we have here.

I’ve, I’ve literally been in PCAI think since I was a little kid, so, you know, it goes back as far as I can’t remember. But, but with that being said, so where did you evolve to from that early Carrera? Nine 11.

Mark Porto: So after that Carrera, so I wound up selling that car. Um, you know, it was, uh, one of those things where, you know, somebody wanted to buy that car and I felt they were the right owner for that car and they knew what they were getting.

They understood everything that was there. And, um, they, they hit that car with a paint meter and they said, it’s never been painted. I said, no, it’s all original. You know, the paint’s all original and the guy wanted it. They wound up buying that car. My next, uh, nine [00:20:00] 11 was a, uh, 2008 nine 11, um, GT three. Oh wow.

So again, triple black, black on, black on black. And, um, you know, that was, uh, that was kind of a dream come true for me. ’cause I, I, you know, watching the IMSA races and, and, and watching what GT threes do on, you know, on the circuits, you know, it’s just, just amazing to me. And I, I always wanted to be responsible for something that made that kind of sound.

The stars aligned and I wound up getting my hands on a, uh, you know, a black on, black on black, you know, nine 11 GT three. And it was, um, oh my God. It was a riot to, uh, it was a riot to, to drive and own and, um. A different Porsche experience. It was, um, it was hard to drive. You had it sat so low. You know, I went through three chin spoilers on that car.

Never ripped them off, but, you know, you scuff ’em and you’re like, okay. They’re like, uh, pencil erasers, you know, they wear down so quickly. So I would go through chin spoilers on that car. Brake pads were, you know, were, uh, were a lot of fun. Um, those big [00:21:00] ventilated discs were kind of like cheese graters and they would just take ’em down and, um, but the car was a blast.

I mean, the car was an absolute blast. I, um, did not do anything to that car. It didn’t mod that car at all. It just ’cause it didn’t need it. It had such an even distribution of power and it, it was quick and, um, you know, quick from start to stop and it stopped like a million bucks. And if you had a long road and, um, and were brave and you put the loud pedal down and let it eat, um, that car would, would, would scare you with how quickly, you know, the speedometer started to, um, point down and, uh, it was, it was amazing.

It was amazing to own.

Crew Chief Eric: So that you went from air cold nine 11 to water cold nine 11, that’s a whole giant jump. No, nine 60 fours, no nine 90 threes in between. Nothing straight to the 9, 9

Mark Porto: 6 platform. You know, my, my dream car is a 9 9 3, you know, and I’m not finished yet, you know, so when it’s time for another one, I would absolutely kill for a 9, 9 3 Carrera, you know, a Carrera or a, [00:22:00] uh, 9 6 4 Turbo.

There’s something about the lines of a 9 6 4 turbo there. I think it’s just one of the most beautiful cars ever built. And whether you see one of those on Instagram or you see one in real life, I mean, they just seem to get better and better and better with age. And I feel that way about the nine, nine threes as well.

But, um, you know, those are the, uh, those are the last of the last air cools, you know, one day, one day I hope. Um, you know, and get my hands on one of those as well.

Crew Chief Eric: And it’s funny you mention that ’cause just the other week I posted on Instagram, a friend of mine out in Washington State happened to pick up all original 9 9 3 garage.

Kept super low mileage in that like merlott color. They came out when they introduced him Beautiful car. You know, he’s a Corvette guy. He is that all the others cars. And he goes. That has been my unicorn, like basically a first run 9, 9 3. And I was like, man, you made it. You crossed that finish line.

Congratulations. And then it was like, how do you like it? He’s like, I, I love, it’s, you know, it’s the best thing ever. And I’m like, okay. [00:23:00] Now I will say, you know, I don’t know that I could own a 9 93 ’cause the prices are going up thanks to, and same with the nine 60 fours thanks to Singer. Right? They’re taking all those cars and turning ’em into those resto mods and all that kind of stuff.

And, and some of the other companies out there doing that sort of stuff. But I did get the opportunity to ride in a 9 93 twin turbo. Wow. And for me, that was like, it was right up there with like the F 40 and some of these other cars where it’s like, if I ever get a chance to ride in one of those, and I did.

And it was, it was mind blowingly fast. And what’s funny is, mm-hmm. It came from this desire from when I was a kid because my uncle owned a nine 30 turbo. And so I got a, a chance to ride in that with all the giant turbo lag and kicking you in the chest and everything that goes with that. And it just left such an impression that it was like, if I ever get a chance to, you know, ride in the biggest, baddest nine 11 turbo out there, I want to get the chance to do it.

And that was absolutely phenomenal.

Mark Porto: So it’s funny you mentioned your uncle’s nine 30, so I too have an uncle with a nine 30 that’s been in the family for a long time. And um, I remember when, you know, he was kind of [00:24:00] teetering on, you know, should I sell that car? Do you wanna buy it? And I didn’t have garage space, but I should have bought another house with the garage and a bigger garage and got my hands on that car.

That too was the first turbocharge Porsche that I had ever been in still to this day. You know, that’s another one that I would love to get my hands on. But, you know, that was a, that was an amazing memory. And, um, you know, I, I would, I would kill to get my hands on that car. I don’t think it’ll ever happen.

But in the prices of those are.

Crew Chief Eric: Oh, they’re out of this world. Out of this world. And you know what’s even worse is if you have a slant nose, right? A real one. My uncles was converted. I won’t say why it was converted, but it was converted, but it also gave way to the fact of why our nine 14 was converted to a slant nose.

So it’s all like, it’s all related in one way or another. I mean, uh, so yeah, I mean there’s some really cool stuff with the older nine elevens. Like I said, when they made the switch to water. Cool. I think your GT three is one of those that everybody goes, yeah, that’s the car. I wanna, I don’t wanna say one of the last good ones, but it’s one of the [00:25:00] last driver cars, right?

Speaks that farik Newgen, right? That driving pleasure that we got from the Volkswagens and some of the older BMWs, like the e thirties and, and things like that, where now they’re space shuttles, they’re, you know, they’ve got all these computers and all this stuff and, and I notice in the Porsche world, people are really gravitating towards the Cayman, right?

Mm-hmm. Not the boxer so much, but the Cayman, which I secretly laugh and say, ha ha ha, they finally got the nine 14. Right? Ah, I gotcha. So there’s something to be said about all that. It’s all about the being a driver’s car and, and that, so what was the experience like at the track with the GT three compared to, you know, the other cars you had been with?

Mark Porto: Well, I mean, so that’s where that car really came to life. You know, that car felt at home on the track or any high speed, you know, opportunities as it did anywhere else. It actually felt more at home. You know, when you had that car at performance speed, again, it was super, super balanced. Just amazing, you know, distribution of weight and power.

You had to always be. One step ahead of where [00:26:00] you wanted to be versus where you were. ’cause you would wind up in, in a, in a bad place. The gearbox was so chunky and beefy, it forced you to think about, you know, every shift. And, and, and the clutch was so heavy. And yeah, you, you know, you became very, very autonomous over time.

But that was a car that you had to drive and you had to think about, it didn’t have the top end as a, you know, a zero one Corvette or, you know, some of the, you know, big American, you know, cars that would be on the track to, but in the turns and the twisties that car was, was butter. I mean, it was, it was unbelievable and, uh, predictable.

You could hammer a couple curbs here and there and that car would pop up and plant itself back down and you know, you never really had to get off the power. It just kind of, it took care of you. Just an absolute riot to drive horrible in beltway traffic. Horrible in beltway traffic.

Crew Chief Eric: Well, what is good in beltway traffic?

Mark Porto: I don’t, a helicopter. I don’t know. I [00:27:00] would, uh, on the, on the rare occasion where I’d drive that car to work or anywhere, you know, and I’d get stuck in, you know, bumper to bumper traffic. One you watch the temperature gauge start, you know, and you’re like, I thought there was, I thought there was water in this car, but, um, my leg would, would be so sore from the clutch.

’cause it was such a heavy clutch. And every time you, you know, engaged or disengaged the clutch, you had to think about it. ’cause you didn’t wanna be that, that guy with the stalled out nine 11 on the beltway, which never happened,

Crew Chief Eric: ever, never, ever, never,

Mark Porto: never.

Crew Chief Eric: You talked about the track a lot. So two questions for you and they kind of go hand in hand of the ones you’ve been to, your favorite.

The ones you haven’t been to your bucket list? Daytona

Mark Porto: Sports Car course is absolutely my favorite. It’s one of my favorite vacation destinations, and it is by far the, I think one of the coolest tracks to, um, to slide around.

Crew Chief Eric: So that’s the Rolex configuration, correct?

Mark Porto: Correct. Again, you know, I grew up watching IMS Acar races.

I grew up watching the 24 hours, was like the Super Bowl, you know, in my house. And, you know, and it’s been [00:28:00] slightly modified over the years, but that was the mecca, the pinnacle of motorsports. And, uh, you know, finally when I got there to, you know, witness a, a Rolex in person, it was unbelievable. But then to, to drive around the track and, and, and, you know, feel what that banking feels like to come off that banking into the infield and, you know, go from top gear almost, you know, tax.

Out to third year in the second gear and in a hard, hard, hard left turn. And then under power through the twisties again, it just, um, you, you know, you feel like Derek Bell. You feel like, you know, one of the, the racing icons who spent, you know, years moving around that track. I would love, love, love, love, love, love to, uh, me two tracks.

I would love to go around LA Mall and I would really love to go around the Nuremberg Ring. So as a gear head and watching all of the new cars get tested to see who can, you know, break the records on that. Um, you can’t help but watch a lot of Nu Nuremberg ring videos. I watch them all. I watch, you know, cup car races from the nineties, uh, because [00:29:00] hey.

It’s really cool and you get to see exactly where those guys position those cars and how they position those cars around that ring. I’ve never been there. Um, been to Germany a couple times, but I’ve never been to, to the ring. If I had a bucket list, um, and I do that, that one would be the top of the list.

Crew Chief Eric: Very cool. Get all sorts of those. The ones that surprise me are the guys that like live around here and they’re like, I wanna go to Watkins Glen. I’m like, dude, that’s like four hours. I know. Talk at least Gimme Laguna Seka or something, you know, co coda, I don’t know. Yeah, right. Yeah. No, that’s super cool.

So, mark, you mentioned imsa, and I’m a huge IMSA fan as well, and I, and I, I, I’m not shy to admit that my number one love is Rally, but we won’t talk about that because nobody likes talking about Rally. So it’s okay, we’ll find a guest eventually that wants to go there, but IMSA is my second love, right? So I grew up in the TransAm era, you know, Willie T Ribs, Hurley Haywood, this is when Hanok was running with those guys, you know, group 44 cars, all that kind of thing.

I was always rooting for the underdog, right? Mm-hmm. Having followed group B, I followed Audi into TransAm and then into imsa [00:30:00] where I found my, you know, my second home. Our listeners can’t see it, but, you know, you’re a Porsche guy, but you’re wearing some BMW wwa. So what’s going on here? Oh, you, you, an M eight, you M eight, M six guy, what’s going

Mark Porto: on?

No, no, no. Um, so my, so when I was, I was in high school, I think I was a senior in high school. Again, this is another one of those life episodes that I’ll, I’ll never forget. My dad, you know, had a, uh, had a Carrera, another Carrera, and um. I heard him in the garage and I was always, you know, I was always the guy that, you know, 11 millimeter wrench.

No, the, the other 11 millimeter wrench. So I was always running back and forth and, you know, I started hearing him calling my name, you know, mark, mark, mark, come over here. And he had his arms, you know, in the car and in, you know, Porsche contortionist fashion,

Crew Chief Eric: a hundred percent.

Mark Porto: There was an alternator that was bad in that car, but that alternator was like, you know, two weeks old in that car.

At that point he had had it. He is done. He said, I’m finished, I’m finished with nine elevens. These are the most expensive, you know, pieces of shit I’ve [00:31:00] ever owned. He said, I got, I got

Crew Chief Eric: no one that’s ever owned. A nine 11 has ever said that. Uh,

Mark Porto: and I, I, I still disagree, but, um, you know, just like that, you know, the garage was, you know, purged of, you know, specialty nine 11 tools and nine 11 service manuals.

There were other motors that were, you know, Grenada that were, you know, that were, um, you know, track motors that they, one by one by one, they all went out. And into the garage, you know, pulled a 1988 BMWM three.

Crew Chief Eric: Oh wow. Uh,

Mark Porto: so an E 30 M three.

Crew Chief Eric: Now your dad had good taste. That’s all I can say. So

Mark Porto: my, my dad, I, I mean, I, I, I, I was lucky growing up, you know, underneath his roof and, um, having the luxury of driving his cars.

’cause he, you know, he knew how to pick ’em and he knew how to take care of ’em. And he understood what they were, what they were capable of. But on top of everything else, he was more than willing to share them as long as they were there and they were. Clean and, um, I was respectful. He would allow me to [00:32:00] drive them and I could tell you stories of things that I did with those cars too.

It was absolutely nuts. But four cylinder water cooled, you know, front engine BMWM three, it didn’t have the grunt of a nine 11. It didn’t make the, the same sounds as a nine 11

Crew Chief Eric: GTI would beat it off the line. So, oh yeah,

Mark Porto: I mean, and it, it was anything but fast. But that car was balanced. That started a wave of m threes.

So back up when my dad was building, you know, Chavelle motors and that sort of stuff, he also had two BMW 2002. Nice. So, um, so, you know, he was always, he, he, he enjoyed, you know, German cars. Even back then when, you know, American muscle was his thing. He kind of, I guess decided, you know, I’m going back to my roots and, you know, there was A-B-M-W-M three in the garage and we had a good time with that car, you know, that was his baby.

And, um, then as BMW would release new models of the M three, he would grab them. Um, as I mentioned, my [00:33:00] dad, you know, got sick and passed away, but I was driving my nine 11 to a meeting and it was very, very rare that I did that. I was one exit away from the guy that I bought the car from. My dad called me and he said, Hey, you know, do you know anybody that wants any of these cars?

I can’t, I can’t drive ’em. And they’re all stick. And I said, you know what, what do, what do you mean? He goes, I, he said, they’re not doing anybody any good. He said, they’re all, you know, they’re all here. If you know anybody that wants ’em, any of your friends that are gonna hang on ’em, have ’em give me a call.

I gotta figure something out. Tears in my eyes. Hung up the phone five minutes later. Um, the guy that I bought my GT three from called and he said, Hey. He’s like, you know, it’s, it’s Omar. I said, I know exactly. I recognize the number. And he said, you don’t still have that car. I said, I do. He goes, what did you do to it?

And I said, I’ve done brakes. I’ve done tires, I’ve done oil, and that’s it. He’s like, how many miles are on that car? And I said, I three th I think I put 3000 miles on that car. He said, you’re not interested in selling? And I said, [00:34:00] uh, no. And then I kind of thought about it and I’m like, I don’t know. I’m like.

Let me go to this meeting and drop by the shop, and you, you tell me what, what, what we’re, what we’re dealing with. And, um, he had a buyer for the car. They offered me as much money as I paid for it. So I never lost a nickel. I had a lot of fun with it. The next thing was an Uber ride back to my dad’s garage.

My dad’s house. He said, what are you doing here? I said, I, I think I’m here to pick up A BMW. Which one, which one do you want me to buy? And he’s like, huh? And I said, yeah. I mean, I said, my sold my nine 11 today. Now I have space in the garage. Which one do you want me to buy? I wound up driving home his BMWE 46.

Which was the 12th BMW imported into the United States. So he was on the wait list for that car two years in advance. So that was a very clean, very, very low mile. Um, you know, BMW and, and I took his hat and, uh, along with the BMW and, um, I don’t know, they just, you know, they’re special to [00:35:00] me ’cause they were special to him, not a nine 11, but they’re special to me ’cause they were special to him.

So, and that’s, that’s kind of where that came from.

Crew Chief Eric: So I gotta, I gotta pull a couple threads on this. First of all, mad props to your dad for going BMW and not 9 44. I think he dodged a bullet there. Again, no offense to the 9 44 people, but you know what I’m talking about. Okay. Yeah. Mechanics made a living on those cars.

Yep. Second you mentioned Omar, that’s Omar from Intersport, correct?

Mark Porto: That’s absolutely correct.

Crew Chief Eric: And for any of those of you that are listening in the DMV, we all travel in very small circles here in the Potomac region of PCA. So, you know, everybody knows who Omar is. So hats, hats off to him if he’s listening to this episode.

So, very cool.

Mark Porto: I bought a few Porsches from Omar. I can’t speak highly enough about the operation he runs and the care that he, uh, takes of the cars and his, um, his ability to find cars that are very, very clean, very, very special, very, very, um, you know, I mean, they’re doing a, they’re doing the, the, the mother of all PPIs on those [00:36:00] cars.

So when you’re dealing with him and any, any of his inventory, um, you know, you know, you’re getting a very, very clean, very strong example of what it is you’re buying. And he’s, he’s a lot of fun and he is easy to work with. He’s got some phenomenal mechanics under, under his roof as well.

Crew Chief Eric: So now what’s in the stable BMW or Porsche?

Mark Porto: I have a fishing.

Crew Chief Eric: So just like owning A BMW or an E 36 at least. But anyway, moving on.

Mark Porto: Well, so I have, I have space in my garage right now, so, you know, I, I got rid of the, the E 46. It was not the car for me. It was a lot of computers and a lot of weird things in that car. So, um, it was fun. It was a quick car.

It did not, was it

Crew Chief Eric: the SMG or was it the manual?

Mark Porto: No, it was a manual. It was an manual. So, um, that’s all I’m

Crew Chief Eric: gonna say. It’s good.

Mark Porto: Yeah, so, so it was not an SMG car. The E 30 is still in the family. Nice. So, um, that will probably be the next one that, you know, I bring here. And, um, it’s been, you know, the car is very, very [00:37:00] clean.

It’s been sitting for a little while, so, you know, garages and, and cars that sit in rubber are a terrible combination. So it’s gonna require some, you know, some TLC and some elbow grease. That’s really it. I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m without a cool car right now or a fun car right now, but, uh, you know, soon. Come, soon come.

I’m not sure. I’m not sure which direction I’m, I’m gonna go. Which,

Crew Chief Eric: which leads into a great question ’cause I gotta bring it up. Since you, you, you’re living in both camps. What do you think of the new BMWs?

Mark Porto: Uh, man, it’s funny. I saw one on the road today and the guy made a turn and let it eat and it made a great, it made a whole hell of a lot of sound and it looked like a lot of fun.

It was a new brand new M four. I think they’re really, really cool looking cars. Um, they’re so. Computerized and there’s so much stuff and gizmos and gadgets in them. They’re not as raw as the types of cars that, you know, excite me.

Crew Chief Eric: So you’re okay with that front end? Are you the one person that I’ve talked to That’s okay with that snout?

Mark Porto: No. I, I, you know, the, they haven’t been my [00:38:00] thing, but, um, you know, when you see a car and a car shoots down the road and you’re like, for the first time, you’re like, that wasn’t. You know, that caught my attention. That wasn’t that bad. I, I literally had that experience today with a triple black, uh, you know, brand new BMWM four.

And the guy, you know, was, was slow to make the turn, but once he had, you know, all four wheels pointed in the same direction, um, he got on it and it did make a hell of a lot of noise and it disappeared under it pretty fricking fast. I, I, I, oh, absolutely.

Crew Chief Eric: I was impressed

Mark Porto: by how quickly that car, um, how quickly that car, um, you know, vanished.

But I don’t know. They’re, they’re, they’re, they’re okay. There are too many of them. There are too many of ’em. One of the gripes I have with all these cool cars today is you see so many of ’em, you know, m fours, m fives, m sixes, you know, they’re, they’re, they’re everywhere. A MG Mercedes, everywhere you look, they’re awesome.

They’re super special, they’re very expensive. But there’s just so many of ’em. I, I can’t believe how many, you know, cars these manufacturers are pumping out, um, these days. [00:39:00] You know, and I remember when an M three sighting was a rarity, you know, when a nine 11 sighting was a rarity when a nine 14 sighting, well, that’s still pretty much a rarity now, but you know, you, you, you just didn’t see them and encounter them as often as, um, you know, you do with all this new age space, age stuff.

Yeah. You know?

Crew Chief Eric: Yeah. They’ve become more available. But I also look at it from the other perspective. A lot of those specialty cars. We’re grounded and born out of motorsport, and now they’re born out of status. So it’s like, I need to have an M four and they’ll take, you know, the factory will take an M four or a private tier.

I’ll take an M four and go racing with it. But it’s not like the e thirties or the one 90 s or the early nine elevens and all the other, you know, specialty cars. And it’s like, let’s call it a, let’s call a spade a spade. We took a shit box and we turned it into a race car and we went to go compete against the big boys, right?

We were the underdog with, you know, the evolution. Let’s, let’s look at the E 30. It’s an evolution of the 2002 platform, right? Mm-hmm. And then they went, oh, we gotta put flares on it. ’cause we wanna put big more meat under [00:40:00] there. You know, we want to compete with Audi, with the Quattro, with the big flares and all this kind of stuff.

And it was, it was kind of a sign of the times, right? But now I feel like we flipped it on its nose. And to your point, there’s a SLS in everybody’s driveway. Mm-hmm. I mean, that’s an exaggeration. Mm-hmm. But it’s not like, oh my God, like the goal wing, right? Like the, like the old ones where you’re like, that’s something really cool.

It’s really rare, you know?

Mark Porto: You know, I second that. I mean, I really like, um, I really get into the in races and go in in person because, you know, there’s so, so much of a similarity of what you see on the track, um, and how it translates to what they eventually build for the road. Um, whether it’s a Ford Eco Boost motor that, you know, they’re running in, you know, a Daytona prototype car.

Well now Ford Eco Boost Motors are all over the place, um, on production cars and a lot of that research and development test and engineering was conducted on a track. Oh yeah. Um, and finds its way into the cool stuff, you know, that’s. That’s in the dealerships and on the lots these days. So that’s what I think is amazing about IMSA racing, especially [00:41:00] GT Daytona and the, you know, GT LA Mile class where the cars resemble what you see on the, on the streets, or if you’re lucky enough in your driveway.

Crew Chief Eric: Since we’re back on that, what do you think about the current changes to IMSA with the classing, the potential merger with WEC? The lack of LMP one cars, which is like, you know, for us IMSA guys, it’s like Formula One. That’s where the technology trickles down from is LMP, right? So what are your thoughts on that?

Mark Porto: Well, you know, I, hmm. So you, you guys like us, go back a long way. And I remember, you know, going to Daytona and there were privateers, you know, there were people who had, they didn’t have these 18 wheelers with, you know, multiple different cars and chassis and motors. They were, they were, you know, family oriented people who loved motorsport.

And, um, the diversity of the field, the diversity of the sounds in those cars was what was amazing to me. You know, from, you know, Mazdas to Porsches to, you know, BMWs to Audis, like there was everything. And, um, it’s [00:42:00] gotten to be such a high dollar, high, um, you know, cost of entry series. I wish there was a way that they could e devolve back into, you know, the pure roots of that, that type of racing.

And, um, yeah, of course you can go to other venues and watch other certain, you know, other. You know, classes of racing that still have, you know, historic cars. But when you get to that scale, to that, that level with those drivers, you know, I’d love to see it, you know, kind of devolve back into, you know, what it used to be

Crew Chief Eric: to that exact point.

I’ve heard many people say that about nascar. It’s like, let’s bring it back to the old days of stock car where, yeah, I mean, let, let’s be, let’s be real. How many rear wheel drive Camry v eights have you ever seen on the road? They don’t exist. They’re all two frames with, you know, it’s almost like an RC car.

Put whatever plastic body you want on top of, you know, the underpinnings and, and away you go. So I would love to see a stock challenger out there, or a true Camaro or a Mustang or whatever it is, and have them go head to head. So [00:43:00] I agree. I think mo more and more disciplines are that way. And you know, of the big ones, like F1 is not like the air in days.

Alan Pro stays when I was a kid, you know, watching that. I mean, formula One today, it’s night and day different, you know? Yeah.

Mark Porto: Yeah. No, I, I mean, it absolutely is. Those cars are amazing. The performance they get outta those cars, the fact that they can stick those cars to the ground, um, you know, with all of that power, you know, and, and run those cars at those speeds on those tight circuits without, you know, a, a, a yard sale of parts after a a a session is just, just amazing to me.

But again, that’s not, you know, that’s not an every man’s, you know, everyday man’s, you know, um, endeavor anymore. At one point it kind of used to be

Crew Chief Eric: Well, and, and, and to that point, let’s, let’s use stock car, or let’s use NASCAR as an example. I just recently, you know, read an article came across my desk where they were talking about how, you know, we already know they’ve, they’ve gone away from carburetors, right?

Mm-hmm. They’re,

Mark Porto: they’re,

Crew Chief Eric: they’ve gone fuel injected. Mm-hmm. Now they’re talking about doing away with the four speed [00:44:00] manual and going to a five speed sequential transaxle. Right? A totally different drive, train configuration. I mean, they’re coming into, oh, I don’t know, the 1980s now, which is great. But, but the point is.

It’s where they would go to figure out how stuff would last It’s, it was an endurance thing or longevity thing. It’s like that gearbox is junk. We’re gonna go back and redesign it. Why would we put that in the streetcar if it breaks all the time? Stuff like that. And so those really fancy setups, and even for Porsche, the PKS and all that stuff is watered down from GT racing and all that kind of stuff.

So it does eventually find its way in the mainstream, but it’s not the same as in the old days where they took a tempest and built a GTO and then went to the track,

Mark Porto: you know? Yeah. One of the things on my bucket list that I haven’t done yet is to go to the historic 24 or one of the historic, the HSR series.

Because those are all car guys that have acquired those cars or rebuilt those cars. Yeah. You know, they’re running them and they’re running ’em [00:45:00] at speed and it’s not an exhibition lap, you know, but, um, they’re not banging into each other for all the right reasons. You know, when I look at my calendar with family and work and everything else and I’m like, all right, you know, Daytona weekend, or should I go, you know, to an HSR event, historic 24?

Kind of to answer your question, I find myself getting more excited about an HSR, you know, weekend at the track just to see and listen to those cars. ’cause they’re very, very different than, oh yeah, what’s going on today? I mean, the, the difference in decibels spending 24 hours at the track or wherever with today’s cars versus, you know, the cars of yesterday.

Absolutely night and day. I mean, you know, when I’d go Daytona with my dad for days, your ears would ring from the sounds of the RX sevens. I mean, those cars would, would go by. It was absolutely deafening Ford Mustangs and the Camaros and the Corvettes. I mean, you would feel those cars in your chest. You could feel the cars in your chest until they got rid of the Corvette Daytona prototypes.

And the, um, [00:46:00] you know, the last version of the, uh, what is it? Uh, C seven C seven, the C seven C seven, but I mean, just the thunderous, you know, voice of that car. I mean, they’re playing the American anthem as they go by. Oh, a hundred percent every lap. And. Now, you know, there’s so much quieter, everything’s turbocharged and, um, it’s so much quieter and you can literally hear the wind going over those cars.

If you listen carefully, well just

Crew Chief Eric: wait till they’re all EVs. You won’t hear anything.

Mark Porto: I know. I mean, it’s, it’s so, it’s weird. So I have mixed feelings about, you know, merging and blending all these things. Yeah, I mean, you’re gonna see the best of the best drivers and the, the highest caliber teams, which is really, really cool to see the way those guys and girls do that, you’re getting to, you know, you’re getting to the stratosphere of, uh, of spend and cost of entry is just prohibitive from anybody who isn’t the owner and founder of WeatherTech.

I mean, it’s very, very, very tough to get into those, into that series.

Crew Chief Eric: Yeah, and to your point about the historics, I think the only exception to that rule is Goodwood. If you’ve ever watched a Goodwood race, those guys. [00:47:00] Send it. And then some, they do not care that they’re out there in a $50 million, one of one Ferrari.

I mean, they’re in it to win it. It’s crazy.

Mark Porto: Yeah. I see them bouncing off the hail ba uh, hay bales and all that other stuff. But, uh, festival of Speed, I mean, they’re bringing it.

Crew Chief Eric: I mean, you could sit and look at a car, you could drive it. It’s what it was built for, right? Yeah. Yeah. So, speaking of driving cars, you said your stable’s empty.

You’re looking at, you know, you’re looking at maybe something new. Let’s talk about what’s on your list. Let me lobby you an easy one, in your opinion. Sexiest car of all time.

Mark Porto: 9 64 Turbo would be the sexiest car of all time for me. It’s 9 64 Turbo, wildly sexy to me. I’ve always had an eye for Ferrari. Uh, F four 30 C two.

I’ve never owned a Ferrari. My, you know, my dad’s never owned a Ferrari. Um, you know, I don’t know that I’ll ever, you know, step into the Ferrari, you know, category. But, um, there’s something about four thirties. I just have always excited me, thought we super cool. So either a 9 64 turbo, preferably [00:48:00] black. Or silver or a, uh, Corone Rosa Ferrari.

Crew Chief Eric: Remember I said your dad was a smart man, that’s why he never owned a Ferrari, right?

Mark Porto: I know, I know. I just, uh, I hear the stories and um, you know, I hear the stories, but you know, in terms of, you know, living art, that car is one of ’em, in my opinion.

Crew Chief Eric: So sexiest. But if, you know, if you were the million dollar man, you had a million dollars to spend on a car, you’d buy anything you want.

It could be one car, it could be 12 cars, it could be 150 Crown Vix, if you want it to be. Are those same two cars on the list or is there something else just further out of reach?

Mark Porto: No, I mean, uh, I’m a simple guy, you know, and that, that, that would be for me. You know, I would, I would I perfect world somebody else’s money, or if I had extra, extra, extra money.

9 64 black or silver or a red, a red four 30 Ferrari. I think that would be, or both. Um, I just think that would be such a, you know, either or. It would be such cool cars to, uh, you know, to, to have.

Crew Chief Eric: We gotta flip that on. Its noses though. So [00:49:00] ugliest car of all time.

Mark Porto: Oh man. The ugliest car of all times. Um, that’s an easy one.

The Avanti. Have you ever seen one of those avantis that was the stude baker? Uh, yeah, I mean, it’s absolutely insane. So, you know, there is a, there is a, a, a woman who drives one of those as a daily driver around Annapolis. So I see it all the time and it just, it seems to get worse and worse and worse.

Worse. And, um, and you, you look at it, you’re like, what the, you know, what was the di designer, you know, thinking like, it’s, it’s crazy. It’s absolutely crazy. So, um, that, that one is just never gets better, never gets better. That

Crew Chief Eric: was, that was the Hail Mary for Studebaker though, right? I mean, they had some weird cars, but that one definitely took the cake as they were sunset the brand, I mean, I don’t know, it shares qualities and some lines with other cars, but I’m with you.

I have seen some though, where guys have lowered ’em and put big wheels on ’em, kind of do the whole like, you know, old Corvette style of like, you know, tasteful rest mods, but then you just get to that front end and you’re like. What happened? [00:50:00] It’s got no

Mark Porto: nose. Yeah. This particular one is, is atrocious. I mean, it has, um, silver and gold wheels Ooh, um, spokes, you know, and they must be, you know, 90 spokes per wheel.

I mean, it’s crazy. How do, how they, the poor person who cleans those? You know, I, I, you know, I look at it and it’s got curb feelers on it. Um, there are all sorts of gold, dude, daddy, you know. Oh man. Uh, accents on the car. So it really, I mean, it, it went from bad to worse with that one in a heartbeat. And I, like I said, I, I happen to see this all the time, does have nice paint, they take care of it.

It’s clean. Um, it’s somebody’s pride and joy and hats off to them, but, um, just, just, absolutely. Absolutely. So, so now I’m gonna

Crew Chief Eric: ask a really pointed question. Ugliest Porsche, in your opinion.

Mark Porto: Ugliest Porsche. In my opinion, you can say the nine 14. It’s okay, I get it. No, I, some of these new nine elevens, the new nine nine twos, I don’t love the looks of those cars.

They’re [00:51:00] gigantic. Um, yeah, I thought

Crew Chief Eric: you were gonna say like, I was expecting, and I’m sure the audience is groaning going the 9 28. Right? That’s what I was expecting you to say, but No, you, I’m surprised.

Mark Porto: Yeah. I, yeah. Nine 20 eights are atrocious. Um, they are bad. The new, the newest nine elevens. The nine, nine twos.

I get it. They’re cool cars. They’re four liter PowerPoint. It, it, I mean, they’ve got, you know, tons of power, but, uh,

Crew Chief Eric: and the motor mysteriously keeps getting closer to the driver every year. Right.

Mark Porto: When you open the, when you open the, the trunk of one of those cars, you know where the motor is. You no longer see the motor.

You see a place to put oil. You see a place to put water, and that’s really it. I think that it’s a sin, you know, I mean, the people that buy those cars that are true Porsche, people are crying out loud. You don’t even, you’re not even allowed to see the motor in that car unless it comes outta the, you know, from the bottom.

From the

Crew Chief Eric: bottom. Yeah, exactly.

Mark Porto: I’m baffled by that. Just blows me away.

Crew Chief Eric: Retro question for you. Is the 9 59 still cool or was it ever cool to begin with?

Mark Porto: I thought it was [00:52:00] super cool. You know, I thought it was a super cool car when they, when they came out with that. I mean, uh, God, we’re going back to the, you know, 88, 89 when that car was on the street.

So, or, well, not on the street, but in the magazines. I just, you know, I, I thought it was so futuristic at the time and the amount of power that it was pumping out and the fact that it was Twin Turbo and four wheel drive was kind of unheard of, you know, for a, um, I, I think, I think it’s a pretty cool car.

And, um, and I like that car because on the inside of that car, you don’t. There’s no difference whether you’re in my old nine 11 or you’re in, you know, in an extraordinarily rare 9 59. I’ve never been in, so I’ve never been in one. I’ve seen them in person a few times, but, um, I’ve never been in them, but they say they have a tremendous amount of punch and, um, they’re just pretty predictable fun cars to drive for those of ’em, those of us who are lucky enough to get in ’em, you know,

Crew Chief Eric: I won’t nerd out on the all wheel drive system, but, we’ll, we’ll sidebar that, but I’m just gonna say Audi and we’ll move on from that.

But, uh, [00:53:00] but I, I do wanna ask another kind of question that goes with that. So, if you were the, we, we got all the votes cast, and you’re the last one to cast your vote.

Mark Porto: Mm-hmm.

Crew Chief Eric: I’m 59 or F 40. Which one is it?

Mark Porto: F 40. Really? Ah, yeah. F 40. They’re two different animals. You know, Ferrari makes race cars and they happen to make street cars too.

So that F 40 was really the, you know, the generation of the racing, you know, heritage, you know, built into carbon fiber with a place to put a license plate. You see an F 40 in real life, they’re a lot smaller than they look in the magazine. They’re a lot lower than they, they, you know, they look in the magazine, they’re tiny, they’re essentially race cars.

There’s nothing to them. And I think that is so cool that, you know, car manufacturer will, you know, take that. Racing heritage and package it into, you know, something that is street legal, the sounds of those cars, the looks of those cars. There is nothing, there’s really nothing like an F 40 in, in my opinion.

But, um, [00:54:00] yeah, I’d go F 40

Crew Chief Eric: I, I’m okay, I’m okay with that answer. That was that,

Mark Porto: and that was the first car that I bought in four is a seven too.

Crew Chief Eric: At one of these years, we’re gonna stop poking fun at Corvette and, and it’s not because we dislike them. I have, I’ve had the very fortunate luxury of instructing in many a car as a coach to include Cortes, and I’m a huge fan of the C sixes and the C sevens and things like that, especially the C seven.

I think they finally had gotten it right then. That’s just my opinion, but whatever. What do you think of the new one? What do you, what do you think about the mid engine Corvette?

Mark Porto: So, um, I’m with you. I thought the C sevens, uh, you know, not a car that I would ever own or buy, or a car that I ever thought I would like.

I, I think the C sevens were amazing. Great sound, amazing power. They certainly got it right. The new ones, you know, I don’t know. I mean, you know, you see them coming at you on the road and I am, they catch my attention, they catch my eye. So I think they’re really cool looking. I think they need to mature a little bit [00:55:00] and, um, and iron some, you know, some kinks and bugs out and, um, they’re gonna be pretty hot.

I think they’re gonna be pretty, pretty hot car, you know, but they’re definitely not, you know, definitely not a, a c seven Corvette in my opinion, you know? I mean, will they catch my attention? And, um, you know, I mean, shit, they’ve done an amazing job with those cars on the track. They’re certainly proving themselves on the track.

That says a lot because that technology too finds its way into. The dealership.

Crew Chief Eric: So Mark, you know, having gone through, you know, racing and, and we’ve talked a lot, you know, you do a bunch of virtual racing and whatnot. So if, if I kind of place this as a virtual question, if you could meet anyone kind of racing legend, sit down, have a beer with them, who would it be?

Mark Porto: Oh, gosh, that’s a, that’s a good question. Um, God, man, put you on the spot. It would definitely be, you know, maybe a Nick Tandy or one of the Porsche factory drivers. Patrick Long, I mean, I, I, you know, I, I I look at these, you know, these guys that are driving, you know, for [00:56:00] Porsche, because I love the cars. I’m just so envious of, you know, of them.

And, um, but to answer your question, Burg Meister, if I could drink some beer, it would be with York Burg Meister, preferably in Germany. That guy’s had an amazing racing career. He is, seems to be everywhere, still just an amazing life. The, you know, the life that all of these drivers, these professional drivers live just is amazing.

But Burg me, that would be, uh, that would be my fellow that I drink some beer with.

Crew Chief Eric: I, I think I’m with you there, man. I, I would love to meet like. The factory Audi Group B team. You know, Michelle Muon, Walter Royal Ola, you know, stick, bloom fist. Any of those guys, I’ll have a beer with any of them. It’s, but there’s one in particular, and this is why I brought up the virtual racing part, especially I racing, I happened to watch the video, I think it was last year or the year before, where they released the imsa ITU, you know, GTO Audi 90.

And they interviewed Hanok. Mm-hmm. About it. And so he does this voiceover and they show [00:57:00] him driving the real car and then some footage from I racing and all this kind of stuff. And it was one of those moments where it was like, I guess, you know, with the way we do video nowadays, compared to back in the day, I felt like, you know, I was in the room with him.

It was one of those kind of experiences and it’s like. I would have a beer with Hauk, like he seems like the coolest guy in the world. He is, got the longest resume, all the crazy stuff. He’s, he’s been fast in every car he is ever been put behind the wheel in, you know, and it goes back to his dad, you know, hauk s senior back to the Silver Arrows days.

I mean, his racing pedigree is, is absolutely incredible. So that’d be my vote if I had to pick. But, uh, yes.

Mark Porto: He’s, uh, he’s had a, a phenomenal, you know, phenomenal career and, um, and has driven many, many, many different, you know, brands of cars as well. I mean, I remember hunch stuck from his b BMW days, you know, uh, driving E 30 M threes when, uh, and uh, CSI BMWs even before that.

So, I mean, it’s just super, super cool.

Crew Chief Eric: You know, what did it for me, it wasn’t all the Audi stuff. It was in the two early two thousands when he participated in their version [00:58:00] of iroc. You remember we used to have, remember we used to have IROC here in the us? I remember

Mark Porto: that. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Crew Chief Eric: Well over there they had the Beetle Cup in the uk and it was like all these famous race car drivers and he’s out there crushing it in a front wheel drive beetle.

I’m just like, you’re the man. That’s all I have to say.

Mark Porto: Ah, that’s amazing. That’s amazing. Yeah. I wish, I wish we had that. I, I, I wish we could live those days again. I mean, there was so much cool history, uh, you know, made around the racetracks, you know, for drivers, for cars, for fans, and, you know, maybe one day we’ll get, get there again.

Crew Chief Eric: Absolutely. And you know, and that’s really the premise of, of what we’re doing here at GTM, that’s why we’re talking to guys like yourself, right? Is to continue to spread that motor sports enthusiasm to remind people there’s so much of the motorsports world and the car world entangled and car culture, you know, entangled in our daily lives.

That it’s, I don’t know how we can just give up on it. There’s such great stories and memories, the freedom of driving. We talk about this throughout the show and, you know, you’re just a reminder of [00:59:00] all of that. And it’s been an absolutely fantastic experience talking with you and, you know, our listeners getting to know you a little bit better and, you know, hearing your story and all that.

Mark Porto: Uh, no, I, I, I, I appreciate it. Thank you so much, Eric. It’s been, uh, it’s been a great, you know, great conversation and thank you so much for giving me an opportunity to share a couple stories and, uh, and uh, spend some time with you.

Crew Chief Eric: Absolutely. And if you’re out there listening, maybe you’ll see Mark Trackside with us this year.

Once he picks a new car, we’ll have to borrow one of ours, I suppose, from the fleet.

Mark Porto: Exactly, exactly. Yeah. I would love to meet you guys out there and, um, at, you know, at at, at a minimum at least, you know, be there cooking hamburgers and fuel you guys up. I, I, I love a track day,

Crew Chief Brad: so

Crew Chief Eric: absolutely.

Crew Chief Brad: Thanks for stopping by, mark.

If you like what you’ve heard and want to learn more about gtm, be sure to check us out on www.gt motorsports.org. You can also find us on Instagram [01:00:00] at Grand Tour Motorsports. Also, if you want to get involved or have suggestions for future shows, you can call or text us at (202) 630-1770 or send us an email at crew chief@gtmotorsports.org.

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