My philosophy for the purchase of cars has really led me to mostly owning Porsche 911s. Granted, I do own a few Japanese cars and have owned many AMG and BMW M cars, but ultimately everything boils down to me wanting more 911s because of all the experiences I’ve had with them. The Porsches I’ve owned have ranged from a 1970 911 T to a 2022 911 GT3 and just about everything in between.
[Ed note: This is a new featured called “Every Car I’ve Ever Owned” where we feature someone interesting who tells us their car buying philosophy and gives us a list of every car they’ve ever owned. First up is Lehman McGrath Keen III (better known as Leh Keen). A Georgia native, he’s currently racing in the 2022 Porsche Carrera Cup for 311RS Motorsport and is the main progenitor of the Porsche 911 “safari” craze with his Keen Project 911s. Highlights of his career include three sports car championships in the United States, a class win at the Nurburgring 24, and a class podium at the 2010 24 hours of Le Mans in a Ferrari F430. He’s also low-key one of the funniest people you’ll ever meet at a race track. I worked with him on Proving Grounds and count myself lucky to know him.- MH]
The things I look for when purchasing a car are: Usability, excitement of driving, potential value gain, and ease of maintenance. The 911, for me, is the undisputed king of all four of those areas. If you look at a 993 RS for example, the cost of entry is very high–More than a Diablo or a 355 Ferrari–but the usability and cost of ownership is fractional compared to those two and pretty much everything else in the same category. There are no guarantees in life or in the used car market, but I suspect the 993 RS will steadily increase in value.
I’ve seen the same trend from 911s at a much lower price point as well. They are sound investment but, honestly, the main reason I keep buying them is I just love how they drive and how reliable they are. Not only can you drive them, you can drive them hard. I can’t say the same for other cars I own like my R32 Skyline. I should also mention my 1985 two-door Mercedes G-Wagon because there’s also something fun about going very slow.
My WRC Subaru Impreza was a childhood dream come true but, at the same time, I was also very conscious of the investment. Even though I do currently own six Porsche 911s I do believe variety is key, which is why I have the G wagon and the Skyline. Neither are as good of an investment as the 911s financially, but that shouldn’t be the only reason you buy cars. Lastly, I daily drive a pretty base black on black Audi Q7 because I don’t want to stand out every single day just driving around town. Plus, the cops don’t pay much attention to it, either!
CURRENTLY OWNED CARS:
2021 Audi Q7
1985 Mercedes G wagon
1970 Porsche 911 T (racecar)
1981 Porsche 911 SC Safari
1992 Porsche Carrera RS NGT
1995 Porsche Carrera RS
2008 Porsche GT3 RS
2022 Porsche GT3
1990 Nissan Skyline GTR
2002 Subaru S8 WRC
OWNED IN THE PAST:
1994 Mercedes E320
1999 BMW M3
1994 Toyota Supra
1989 Nissan 240SX
2005 Subaru STi
2007 VW Touareg
2009 BMW M3
2004 Subaru STi
2007 Mercedes E63
2012 Audi A6
1990 Porsche 911 C2
1989 Porsche Carrera 3.2
2016 Mercedes E63
2017 Subaru Crosstrek
2019 Volvo XC90
1998 Carrera S
All photos courtesy of Leh Keen.
