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January 2022 - New Year's Bets

Based on our past experiences, we were starting to think that we might be getting close to receiving news of our allocations. A little date calculator we had whipped up on a google drive spreadsheet was showing that allocations now would result in a likely delivery in mid to late spring, which in our opinion would be perfect timing.
Luke's Thoughts
[on chafing with excitement...]
The anticipation is bubbling under the surface as I read of people in the forums starting to get allocations for summer deliveries. It's a real challenge to hold my excitement in check.

(to read more of Luke's thoughts from this moment, check out his blog post)


And so, we were primed. We were keen. We were edgy with tempered excitement. Every day that passed, we scanned our email inboxes for an email from Porsche Center London. Luke and I even made double-blind bets on when Christina would ring us up with allocations. Luke bet February 11. I bet February 8. Obviously we were on the same wavelength, since those dates were pretty close to each other. Some messages we made hint that I / we thought that allocations might come by end of Jan. Also I created a little spreadsheet tool that automatically counted forward by an additional 3-4 months to estimate when our allocations would result in ED.
January 2022 - New Year's Tasks

As we waited hopefully for a February allocation email, I took up a new hobby: picnic-table hunting. To be more clear, I embarked on a crusade to enhance my already-extensive "good roads of Europe" custom map (something I built during my 2018 BMW M2 Euro Delivery trip) with the location and character of as many roadside rest stops as I could find. Places that would be commodious enough for two low-slung sportscars, have a place to sit and maybe have a snack. Know in advance where along our list of great roads we could stop for a scenic picnic, set up picture or video shoots ... that sort of thing.
Perfect solitary roadside mountain picnic stop
Of course there's no database out there of "good sportscar roadstops". So I started at the southern tip of Italy and worked my way north, and I scanned. Looking along the path of every good road I had marked (of which there were many, many, many). Using street view and satellite view, and marking each and every good roadside stop spot I could find. It was horribly tedious work, but also strangely soothing - and certainly it passed the time while waiting for allocations.
Luke spent his allocation-wait time researching protective films. Known usually as PPF (Paint Protection Film), these clear plastic overlays absorb rocks, hits, and scrapes very effectively. Luke (and really, myself too) were very aware of how the little cloud of dust and small stones that is whipped up (even when driving on pavement) can create a light rash on the finished surfaces of the car (frequently this is called "road rash"). In any case, we wanted to protect our new beauties right from the start, so Luke was now busy researching what pre-made, pre-cut solutions we could take with us to Europe and affix to the car in advance of embarking on our European Delivery grand road trip.
PPF Research
Rolls of PPF
Savage Geese on new laptop
I also spent my days gathering bits of gear. I cleaned out and set up a dedicated room at home for gear organizing and preparation. Much of the purchases at this point had to do with attaching, mounting, securing camera gear to the cars, both inside and out. I started thinking about the angles we wanted to capture and I started prototyping out some mounting ideas on the gear room window.
The Gear Room
Mounting Prototyping
A more intelligent mounting
Finally, I spent some time to properly clean and prep a macbook pro I had purchased from my work's buy-back program. New SSD, fresh battery, new case and keyboard. A laptop with built-in SD-card slot, perfect for rapid transfer of all of the media we were going to capture on our exciting Euro Delivery trip. And with a nice GTS Chronicles-themed backdrop. Now .... where were those dang allocations?
February 2022 - Midwinter Anxiousness

As January 2022 turned into February 2022, the dates of our little "allocations bet" we had made in early January drew near. We were obviously more mentally invested in this idea of February allocations than we were letting on, as evidenced by this exchange on Feb 2:

From: Andrew Lavigne 2/2/2022, 9:02:26 PM
getting a little .... shall we say .....
😬
?

From: Luke Ward 2/2/2022, 9:06:15 PM
😬
Heh
Come ON Christina

From: Andrew Lavigne 2/2/2022, 9:06:50 PM
To be fair... we DID predict middle to end of next week, so we can't go running around all nervous the week before our own predictions.

From: Luke Ward 2/2/2022, 9:10:07 PM
Yup. And the more I've thought about it, the more I think of Pfaff giving us our allocations (back a year ago now) on the 25th...
So could easily run later...

From: Andrew Lavigne 2/2/2022, 9:10:44 PM
Right. Post-Feb 11.... THEN you can start posting your
😬😬😬😬😬😬😬

From: Luke Ward 2/2/2022, 9:12:28 PM
Yep. Dying with anticipation...

From: Luke Ward 2/2/2022, 9:12:46 PM
Just. A. Bit. Longer.

The days of our "bets" arrive. February 8 for me, February 11 for Luke. No special email, unfortunately, and by 11pm on the night of the 11th, Luke puts it succinctly, but with a positive spin: "Subdued wannabe Porsche fellows we are today. Fear not. A brighter future awaits.".

He was right, of course. Those dates we picked were arbitrary. And we were only three months out from becoming the top folks on our respective order lists. Mix in all of the massive post-Covid supply chain issues slowing everything down, and all of the indications on the forums of a subsequent slowdown in Porsche sportscar production, and we really shouldn't have been that surprised.

We decided to ask for a quick touch-base with Christina as the end of the month drew closer. We held a quick Zoom meeting. Unfortunately, there was no clarity on when our allocations will land, or even - slightly more disturbingly, as to the likelihood of them being tied together. That could end up being a big problem for our dream of receiving our two cars together in Europe, and filled us with some level of dismay.
February 16 and 24, 2022 - A Series of Shocks

To this point, February had been passing by slowly but unventfully. And then, bang, bang, bang! Things start happening ... but not in a good way. A bunch of bad news starts lighting up our news feeds.

First, on February 16, we hear of a car-carrier catching fire on its journey westward over the Atlantic from Europe. The carrier is filled with thousands of mostly German cars, including Volkwagens, Audis, and - you guessed it - Porsches. The crew abandons ship and it drifts for many days, smouldering. There is an attempt to tow it back to a port but ultimately, it sinks before that is achieved. Four hundred million dollars' worth of cars are lost. A report later concludes that lithium-ion batteries from some of the VWs on board started the fire.
The Burning Felicity Ace Car Carrier
Among the almost one thousand Porsches that were destroyed included one commissioned by notable Porsche YouTuber Matt Farah. We had watched a lot of his content and it was sad to hear of the loss of his 2022 Frozen Berry Metallic 718 Spyder.

The key point for us with regards to the ship sinking was this: What was Porsche going to do about those 1000 cars? Sinkings had happened in the past, and in those cases, Porsche made provisions to rebuild all of the lost vehicles. Would that be done in this case? Probably, we would think. Would that affect the timing of upcoming allocations? Unfortunately, probably yes, we would think.
Russia attacks Ukraine
And then, on February 24, Russia begins its attack on Ukraine. Markets are thrown into turmoil. The future course of world events is surely affected. Ukraine is close to Germany. Would this be another blow to production, after Covid supply chain issues and the sinking of the Felicity Ace?

A week or so later, we get the answer. Ukraine is the location of important automotive wiring loom manufacturing. Including for Porsche, it seems. An unfortunate bulletin eventually leaks out onto the forums:

Production halt notice sent out by Porsche at the beginning of March, 2022. 718 models are indeed affected.
Leoni wire harness factory
With all of the new human suffering and instability this most recent news had caused, it was time to put away our Porsche fretting for a moment and for us to consider the millions of lives that were being brutally impacted. We were waiting for high-priced playthings, and there were people out there battling for their lives.
Luke's Thoughts
[on recent world events...]
Russia has invaded and the Ukrainian people are under siege. Makes our little car challenges seem pretty minuscule in comparison. Our 'problem' pales in comparison. Make my worries just a little more insignificant.

Worldwide pandemic, ship on fire and sinking, and now war. Certainly feels like somebody up there doesn't want us to get our cars.

(to read more of Luke's thoughts from this moment, check out his blog post)
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