In the above Petrolicious video, “This Porsche 912 Is Perfectly Imperfect,” we meet Antoine Gaslais, the owner of a 1967 Porsche 912 in Bahama Yellow.
More importantly, we get a snapshot of what it means to pursue a car for love, told in Petrolicious’s patented soundtrack-free way.
While we in the U.S. frequently see our vehicles as appliances made to shuttle us between smartphone-browsing destinations in a halo of air conditioning and cheap gas, Petrolicious is trying to teach the world to enjoy its cars.
Get an interesting color
The first thing we notice about Gaslais’s nearly 50 year old car is its quintessentially 60s color. This is a shade of paint that you would never find on today’s new vehicles. In a word, it’s artistic—the kind of shade that you would find on artist’s palette. Its aim isn’t function, identity, or even attention-seeking: it’s creating a mood.
Be patient
It took Gaslais years of searching the classifieds before he bought this car. Once purchased, it took him a year to get it road-ready. Twenty-five miles out from Paris, the engine died. Only after a year of non-driving did his friend propose to install a new engine. Did you catch all that waiting? Gaslais likes the car, but it’s taken him years of appreciation to get to this point.
Pay attention to the car
This is an old car. Its engine is small, its suspension isn’t firm, it has a clackety noise, and it’s probably not the best vehicle for picking up your friends. Notice, however, that Gaslais says that his favorite thing to do is cruise alone. In the quiet it feels like a time capsule to him. Its sounds and smells transport him nearly 50 years into the past in a way that few other cars can do. What do you notice about your car?
Make friends
Finally, Gaslais’s friend Julien features prominently in this story, though he is never seen. He is road trip friend, impulse-buyer confidante, fellow 912-owner, mechanically-inclined jalop, and benefactor of a new 912 engine. Most people who accomplish something big say that they could never do so without a lot of help, and we think this video is a small example of that. Make friends and help people—you never know whose story you can contribute to, but your life will be the richer for it.