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GTS Chronicles
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This page tracks the progress of Luke and Andrew's Dual-car Euro Delivery adventure, which has been in progress since 2020. A full report of the journey will appear on alavigne.net in 2024.

Recent Updates:
Update - October 25, 2023: Luke has been carefully hiding the secret of our GTS Chronicles adventure from his parents, who have long encouraged him to get his dream car. The big secret is revealed in a quick weekend trip to New Brunswick. You can watch a short vignette of the special moment here on instagram.
Ready in London
Update - October 13, 2023: The long journey from Germany to Canada is complete, and our cars are ready for pickup in our home province of Ontario, at our dealership - Porsche Centre London in London, Ontario.

Update - October 01, 2023: Our cars finally finished their overseas journey and have arrived at our home dealership. Soon we'll be scheduling a trip down to them to pick them up. The final long pause away from the cars is now nearly over!

Update - August 11, 2023: We are back from the Grand Adventure! We received our amazing cars via European Delivery in Leipzig, Germany, drove on amazing roads, stayed at amazing places, and had an amazing time. The cars have been dropped off for shipment to North America, and now it is time to download, process, edit, collate, and write. This will take some time, folks. To tide you over, here are a few snaps from our nearly month-long adventure:
Celebrating the moment
Mists of the Dolomites
At the Nurburgring
We're still posting content to our GTS Chronicles Instagram feed as we work on the big trip report and full-length video. Be sure to keep up to date by visiting it frequently.

Update - June 29, 2023: Well folks, we're getting close! Only a few weeks until the grand adventure begins. We're going to be shifting our primary focus to the GTS Chronicles Instagram channel while we are on the trip, which will start on July 17th (approximately) and end on August the 10th. We will attempt to keep that channel updated with some sort of regular content and keep those following along informed. Once back, I'll begin the long, laborious process of putting together a full-length feature report and video.

Anyway, follow along at https://instagram.com/gtschronicles. If you don't have an Instagram account, you'll need to create one on this page in order to follow along. Note: This does not mean you need to post or in any way do anything else with Instagram (in case you were worried).
Contact: info@gtschronicles.com
Instagram: @gtschronicles
GTS Chronicles thread on Carpokes
Luke's personal 718 Boxster blog

Current Status - Andrew's Cayman GTS:
Safely tucked in his garage

Next Step:
Grand driving adventures in 2024
Current Status - Luke's Boxster GTS:
Safely tucked in his garage

Next Step:
Grand driving adventures in 2024
Andrew's car at V300!
Luke's car at V300!
The ED Packages
The idea behind The GTS Chronicles (and The Pitch to Porsche)

Originally this page was conceived as a way for us to pitch a collaboration idea to Porsche (perhaps because we naively thought that our dual euro-delivery story was special enough to warrant it). Over time it has evolved to be more of a status page, and a pre-cursor to the inevitable huge trip report and video that I'll be creating. I want this page to continue as a sort of historical artifact, though. The content below this point is essentially that: a frozen-in-time archive of our original thoughts on how we had wanted The GTS Chronicles delivery to play out.
Capturing the Experience of a Lifetime
Our names are Andrew and Luke. We are two keen Canadian driving enthusiasts that are hoping to experience what is likely one of the most incredible motorsports experiences in the world: purchasing two pure, focused, elemental Porsche sports cars, and becoming familiar with them through the experience of Porsche's European Delivery program. We think the telling of this story will resonate, and believe there's a strong brand opportunity here. We invite Porsche to collaborate with us, should they be willing. Just what that collaboration could entail is up for discussion. In any case, this page seeks to give you some background on us, and our vision.

First... watch this "pitch" video we've crafted below. It will give you an idea of what we want to create, and hopefully be an inspiration for collaboration:
GTS Chronicles Official Promo Video
In the summer of 2020, we began to form the idea of acquiring two Porsche sports cars. Luke and I had recently had a wonderful time receiving a 2018 M2 through BMW's European Delivery program (which you can read extensively about here), and I wanted... no, craved, to experience something similar again. Except with a purer, more focused car. And as a shared experience with two cars, one for each of us. After research and consultation and test driving, we realized that the pure, lightweight mid-engine experience of the Porsche 718 was the only choice for us. We placed two orders -- with European Delivery -- for a base Boxster and for a Cayman S, in November of 2020.
Initial Discussions
The Research Phase
First GTS 4.0 Sighting
Discussing Orders
Understanding The 718
Our "home" dealer
Meeting with Dave
A Resonant Quote
We received allocations for our two cars in late February of 2021. Our dealer told us that our European Delivery was to take place in June. However, the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic was sweeping across the world, and travel was severely restricted. By all accounts at the time, it looked like our ability to travel to Germany would not be possible until later in the summer. In order to maximize our chances of being able to do European Delivery, we elected to give up our allocations and wait for another pair to be given a few months later. Unfortunately, those two new allocations did not come after a few months. And then another month. And another after that.
Travel to Europe Restricted!
By the summer, we started to realize that this delay might be longer - much longer - than we had thought. Our thinking then evolved, and we decided that if we were going to have to wait a long time, that we should switch to our dream models. By doing so, we knew we would be setting ourselves back, into a new queue for these two new models, but at this point we had resigned ourselves to waiting for another year.

And so, in the summer of 2021, we placed two new orders, again at the same time, for two Porsche 718 GTS 4.0 models: one a Boxster, and one a Cayman. Both in Carmine Red. Both with manual transmissions. Why did we switch? Simply put, the call of the naturally-aspirated flat six was something we just simply could not ignore.
Our two orders. We think the sight of the pair of us experiencing our two Carmine Red GTS 4.0s through the alps and on the Nordschleife will be quite unique.
Fast forward to the summer of 2022: unfortunately, various world events have resulted in an extreme shortfall of production. For us, another year has passed without allocations, and we are hearing nothing about when they may come. Things are tight at our dealer, and we are beginning to grow a touch anxious that when the now-rare 718 GTS allocations come, we may not even be selected to receive them.

On December 16th, 2022, we received our allocations, paired so that the delivery will occur at the same time, with European Delivery to occur on July 20, 2023 in Leipzig, Germany. So... this grand idea *will* happen!
We must pause for a moment to stress something: we take the purchase of these two cars very, very seriously; they are deeply meaningful to us, and we are not casual buy-a-flashy-car types. We use cars such as these for their intended purpose: on the track and on great roads; not idled all day sitting in a parking lot. We will drive thousands of kilometres to find great roads or tracks. We are not the types to waste a beautiful driving day by only taking a short jaunt around the lake before parking in the underground garage of a resort hotel.
Our Goals
Obviously, first and foremost, we wish to experience everything that is amazing about these cars, Porsche's delivery experience in Leipzig, and the fantastic scenery, roads, and tracks of Europe. But secondly, and perhaps more interestingly, we are planning to craft a very detailed accounting of our pickup; I have some experience putting together reasonably polished web and video experiences of our previous adventures (Including my 2018 BMW M2 European Delivery Experience, which, again, you can read about here).

This time around, Luke and I are pulling out all of the stops to craft what we hope will be a very high-quality video and multimedia experience. We have been gathering gear, taking courses, honing our scripting, story-boarding, car videography and drone flying skills, obtaining our radio operator and drone flying licenses, recruiting crew members, and creating a deep database of excellent European roads - all in preparation for a hopefully thorough, high-quality, heartfelt and respectful accounting of what we think will be one of the most memorable experiences of our lives.

This story will not be for profit - we do not intend to monetize any of what we produce. We simply want to capture and share the experience of two lifetime auto enthusiasts acquiring and experiencing what may well be one of the best true sports cars on the market. We are calling our adventure "The GTS Chronicles", and we hope that this pickup experience will be the first chapter of many. You've no doubt noticed that the logo we've crafted is an amalgam of a red Boxster and a Red Cayman.
This Will Not Be a Car Review!

Not to belabor the point too much, but it is worth repeating clearly: We are *not* creating a car review. There are many excellent reviews of all variants of the 718 out there, many of them extremely high quality, and we would likely not offer much extra of value. That space is fully saturated. Our story focuses on people -- which is often the most compelling component of any story, really -- and of our road-tripping journey through the world of Porsche. Our ups, downs, challenges, successes, failures. Two nearly-but-not-identical GTS 4.0s (and the Porsche ED experience in general) will form a rich backdrop, but in the end, the compelling story here is the personal journey.
Porsche Collaboration

As mentioned above, we're hoping that Porsche itself would find our idea inspiring, interesting, and worthy of collaboration. Collaboration can take many forms, but in our minds we think it would involve some combination of Porsche's media and marketing teams. These teams could share guidance on the nature and style of at least some of the footage we shoot, perhaps in order to ensure eligibility for Porsche's own use in publicly-facing media. Or, media and/or marketing teams may have some expertise in terms of assisting with the outline, narrative or screenplay behind the content. Or perhaps access to certain persons or facilities that would be relevant to this story. We're pretty much open to as small or as great a degree of collaboration develops.
How We're Preparing

We're taking this upcoming adventure seriously. We've learned from the past M2 Euro Delivery trip that we need to prep better, in order to get more and higher quality media that will, in turn, will allow us to tell this story in a much richer, more complete manner.
Smooth Hand-holding?
Drone Tracking Practice
Lightweight Mounting Solutions
Twisty Road Compilation
Hands-free Comms Solution
Drone + VR
courtesy LWard
Pairing is very useful!
Gimbal Testing
Footage Review
GTS Chronicles Soundbooth
We're Even Thinking T-Shirts!
GTS Chronicles Promo Recording
The Crew Vetting Chamber
Crew Camera Training
Solid Interior Mount
Solid Interior Mount
Like a robotic spider!
Lateral Bracing
Here's an example of the product of our practicing: a 1m44s video showcasing Luke's S2000 roadster. If nothing else, it will make a great sales video when it is time to sell it before receiving his Boxster GTS!
October 2021 Car Videography Practice


We can't say what others will think of our plan. We personally think our story is interesting and unique, and worth telling. We also wonder, in the back of our minds, if perhaps Porsche would be itself interested in our story, or if they would consider using or incorporating fan-generated content such as this. If so, we would be more than happy to collaborate, or share anything we produce without cost. We are already mentally invested in the Porsche brand, admiring of its values, and I suspect we will be fervent fans from this point onward.

Who We Are

Luke and I have been friends since we met at university in 1985. Here are a few images of us, doing things over the years related to cars and/or motorsport, to give you perhaps a bit of an additional sense of who we are:
1985 CRX: Luke's First Fun Car
Andrew, 1991 Canadian F1 Race
1998: Yosemite Splendor
Luke and I have always been interested in motorsport and, at the same time, in the experience of dynamic and spirited (but safe and respectful) driving in scenic places and on great roads. It is probably clear from these photos that we had a strong preference for hot-hatch Hondas in our early days. We were (are) big Formula One fans and have attended numerous races over the years.
2000: Piloting a 1st-Gen Boxster
2008: Two Honda Roadsters in The Appalachians
Luke's E46 M3
Luke With Raikonnen
2015 F1 Canadian GP
We spent a couple of seasons fielding our own entry into the local kart racing club. We've done several big road trips, including two cross-North-American trips and two long trips to the twisties of the Appalachian Mountains in the Eastern U.S. We've been to many HPDE days at tracks in our general area, including Mosport, Shannonville, and Mont Tremblant, and most recently, at the excellent new Calabogie track.
Kart Racing
The Memorable Type-R
2002: Luke at Track day
courtesy _sang
2004: Shannonville Motorsports Park
Fall is Great
The 2018 BMW M2 European Delivery trip was a major life event for us. In addition to getting to drive a fun and powerful coupe on countless excellent twisties, we were able to visit the Nurburgring and the Nordschleife for the very first time (in fact visiting and lapping at the Nordschleife had been a bucket-list item we both had on our lists for our 50th birthdays). Incredible. And we need to do it again. And with a much purer, focused pair of cars, as the Porsche 718 GTS 4.0s are, the experience will be rendered many times more amazing.
2018: Ahead of a GT3 on The Nordschleife
The Amazing Malojapass
Virtual Nordschleife Practice
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