981 GT4: Smile and the whole world smiles back.

Each colour plays its part,ⁱ the art is in the start.
Yellow, like a tranquil sun, beams from our inner core,ⁱⁱ
Smile — observe — the world itself becomes a smiling shore.ⁱⁱⁱ

Beauty, not a lofty goal, but presence in each seam,^iv
A currency of soul, more real than any dream.
Capital, embodied, demands its earthly fee,^v
Invest in timeless grace; like waves so free.^vi

Fear no path, illusion scale’d,^vii
Kiss its fate, mystery unveil’d.
Colours blend harmony, patterns unbound,^viii
Once vex’d, the wisdom of the mind.

1. “Life is like a Rubik’s Cube – as you twist and turn it, you try to get the colours to match.” ~John Cleese ↩
2. Yes, you CAN drive colour, just ask Jerry! ↩
3. Indeed, smile and the whole world smiles back! And this is easily the smiliest car I’ve ever owned. I think even Jack B. would agree that Mr. Sunshine here is just too much to resist. To quote from his 2015 review:
   

   This limited-production [yellow] Porsche always manages to feel special, from the moment you first lay eyes on it to the end of a long day at NCM Motorsports Park. It’s full of considerate little touches, like “GT4” logos on the wheels and doorsills. The rear wing obscures visibility through the back window in a manner that is very un-Porsche-like and all the more charming for it. The optional fixed-back buckets are so compelling that one of our editors (okay, it was me) suggested that they be fitted to every car in PCOTY testing just to deny Porsche a clearly unfair advantage. Nestled in that shell seat, with the 3.8-liter behind you and the wide nose barely visible beneath the dashboard, it’s easy to feel a bit superhuman.

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4. Speaking of seams, how great is the yellow stitching on this spec? Fucking amazing!

   

   Also of note, since there’s clearly all kinds of empirical evidence that beautiful people are wealthier people, and that society is happier and less judgemental of its bureaucrats working in gorgeous buildings as opposed to hideous ones, shouldn’t we strive for beauty always and everywhere? Really, what’s the downside?! Westbank doesn’t see any and frankly I’m not sure that I do either. ↩

5. How expensive is money these days? Let’s put it this way, just by shortening the term on this new car purchase from 5 years to 4 years, I pocketed enough for a new pair of Ferragamo loafers AND a sexy new Tom Ford suit. Bam! Which really brings into focus Venkatesh Rao’s eternally uncomfortable question: How much of our personalities (and our culture – especially “degen” / “streetwear” culture) was predicated on ZIRP and the forced gambling as an extension? After 15 years of free money, maybe we’re about to find out? ↩
6. Speaking of rare, the 981 GT4 is actually rarer than a lot of the newest and hottest pieces from Porsche, including the ear-splitting, drool-worthy 718 GT4 RS. With production numbers of ~5000 for the 981 GT4 vs ~7000+ for the latest greatest 718 RS, it just shows how much the Stuttgartians have grown in the last decade! ↩
7. To quote the legend Lil Wayne:
   

   My ceiling’s absent, my wheels are massive, my friends assassins / All of us bastards, our mothers queens and our women dancers / My rivers rapid, my fins are splashin’, my gills are flappin’ / I bit some matches, then sipped some gas and went, kiss the dragon

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8. No the GT4 is not a “parts bin car” anymore than we’re each “parts bin children” of our parents. Nihil fit ex nihilo! ↩