AUTHORED BY: Chris Constantine (RS: @silentcartographer)
912 PHOTOS BY: David Hurtado (RS: @davidphotocars)
Alberto Scherb (RS: @porscherb) is a man with a plan. “I have a daily to-do, a current, next year, five year, and long year of things that I need to do…and every day I look at it,” he said. Scherb has been mapping out his life since he was studying for his engineering degree back in Mexico, and this near-obsessive philosophy has helped put three Porsche sports cars in his driveway, each for a different milestone in his life.
One of the first stops on Scherb’s road map was a 1997 Porsche Boxster, a car he had seen in a magazine when it was first announced and immediately fell in love with. He bought a ‘97 Boxster years later, his first Porsche and second car in the United States. This car, which he affectionately named Isabella, would be the spark that ignited his love for the Porsche marque.
Of the three performance cars in his collection, Isabella is his favorite to rip around in the canyons. “I know her so well and I know when she starts to slide; and I know how she turns precisely because I’ve driven her as a daily car more than the other cars,” he explained.
Still, Scherb’s undying love for the brand was not satiated by his mini-911, so he put his planning skills into effect once again and arranged to buy a full-size model for his 40th birthday. “Before [my wife and I] got serious, I said, ‘when I turn 40, I’m going to buy a car and it’s not going to be cheap.’” After the okay from his beloved, Scherb went to work meticulously picking out options for his dream 911…a full year before his birthday. With help from a carefully-picked dealership, he flew to Stuttgart, Germany to collect his new ride from the factory, a GT Silver 2015 Carrera S with a seven-speed manual transmission– classy and powerful, but understated.
The one car Scherb’s careful planning could not account for however was his 1976 Porsche 912E. A miscarriage left his family heartbroken, and robbed him not only of the joy of having a daughter, but of the feeling of control over his path for the first time in his life. For reasons Scherb can’t explain, he latched onto the 912E, and bought one during his grieving process. While the Boxster may be his favorite to drive, his red 912E named Scarlett is the car most personal to Scherb, as it represents the daughter he never had. “I never got to meet [my daughter], she only exists in my mind when I drive.” It’s also the car that gets him the most positive reactions from car enthusiasts young and old, and thus he has dubbed it his “happy car.”
Scherb will continue to add more Porsches to his driveway over the years, after the proper amount of deliberation of course. His current fantasy is a 1973-74 911 Carrera RS, and although this car now costs almost seven figures to own, Scherb says his way of achieving his goals means that this isn’t necessarily a pipe dream, and that no dream car should be.
“Get the car that you like, not the car that you think you will be liked on.” he urges. “You have to really want something, and plan for it, not just want it….The car is the worst investment you will enjoy the most.”
