"It's kinda cool the way she's always looking at me." - Jake Ryan, Sixteen Candles…read more
Okay, maybe "Jake" was a bit of a narcissist lol. Back in the day I had a wardrobe of sweater vests, polo shirts, and tight acid washed jeans. I also had a Porsche 944 Turbo nicknamed "Jake Ryan". A name taken from the pretty boy jock in John Hughes classic, Sixteen Candles, staring Molly Ringwald as "Samantha Baker" and little known Michael Schoeffling as "Jake Ryan". Molly became a Generation X icon and "Jake" slipped into obscurity.
I actually purchased my Porsche used (2nd owner) years after the movie came out, but I remember it like yesterday, back in the 1990's when Grunge was now the rage. New Wave now an afterthought. I saved enough on my own to target a German sports car... at first, I was leaning towards a classic 914 or 912, since the vintage 911 Carrera and the James Dean 356 were out of my price range at the time. Nope I sure wasn't a yuppie LOL! After paying in full... It was time for me to clean-up and customize my new baby. Then I remembered... wait... Sixteen Candles... the sports car "Jake Ryan" drove... the one "Samantha Baker" sat in! Well let's not get carried away it wasn't the actual car, but it was a similar model, in fact my Porsche had more horse power! As crazy as it sounds the movie convinced me to keep it as original as possible. Though Jake had a '85 and I had the '89 Turbo. I guess the spirit of "Jake Ryan" lived in me LOL! And now he's a cabinet maker! Oh that freckled Samantha Baker!
As the years rolled on, as time flew by, I still drove my Porsche, in between other cars. College went. I moved on to other jobs and jobs, and the girlfriend, ex-wife, fiancé, next girlfriend all moved on too, lol. Yet, my reliable "Jake Ryan" stayed with me through thick and thin... and before you know it a decade passed on, and then two decades. Finally after about 22 years of being w/ "Jake" the engine finally died. "Jake's" heart stopped beating:( And like all cars, there's a time when we just must let go.
In the end, I honestly can't recommend a Porsche to just anyone. And that's why I'm posting this in the Porsche Factory Tours in Stuttgart, Germany. It takes someone who appreciates the intricacies of German engineering, or a dude who just fell in love with "Samantha Baker" and wanted to be "Jake Ryan" if only for a minute, or in my case for over two decades. And with all the cars I have owned over my lifetime... the one car I'll never forget is my dragon-red Porsche... called "Jake Ryan".
"...But just like the rain
i'll be always falling, yeah
only to rise and fall again..." - Sixteen Candles
What a handsome car. The End.
