Origin Story

The cover photo for this post was taken on March 20, 2007. I was nearly 16, and my dad and I were working on my 2000 Honda Civic SiR (EM1) - the Canadian-spec version of the Civic Si.

If I think back to my first passions in life - and the ones that have stuck with me the longest - they would have to be computers (my profession and career), cars - specifically sports cars - and a certain football team in North London that just won the Premier League for the first time in 22 years.

The first cars I remember are my grandmother’s maroon Mk2 Golf and my father’s first-generation Saab 9-3 - both manuals and both wonderfully analogue.

My first car was a 2000 Honda Civic SiR that my dad bought from a friend when I was 12 - well before I was legally able to drive. When we got it, the car had a blown head gasket, a ricer body kit, neon lights, and a stereo system complete with custom trunk mouldings for subwoofers.

A lot of time and effort had gone into getting the car to that point, and then even more went into bringing it back toward an OEM+ looking SiR, with some thoughtful performance upgrades along the way. It was not actually ready to drive until I was 17. The car spent many summers on jack stands in my garage, worked on during the warmer months and almost exclusively on weekends.

We tore down the engine and rebuilt it with a B20 block and B16A2 head (CRVTEC), a new stage 1 clutch, and improved much of the chassis. The interior had horribly painted trim, which I stripped and repainted. I had to source OEM bumpers, side skirts (those were the hardest pieces to find), a front lip, and plenty of other components to bring the car back to looking like a stock SiR. I also sourced a number of performance parts. It was a labor of love, and I spent countless hours working on that car by myself and with my dad.

Through all of this, I learned a lot about how cars work - and how to work on them - from my dad. I think those lessons in troubleshooting, diagnosing, problem-solving, and repairing things found their way into many other aspects of my life.

At the time, I was working part-time at an auto-parts store before attending university. This gave me some connections in the aftermarket parts world. I was able to source many of the parts I needed through my job, and I learned a lot about the automotive industry in the process.

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Over my teenage years, I met some incredibly close friends - friends I still have to this day - and shared my passion for cars with many of them. This was also the era of The Fast and the Furious, and we all loved JDM cars.

Ryan had a couple of DC4 Integras. Omid had a DC5 Type S, which he still has to this day. Ian had a four-door DB1 Integra with a five on the floor - I particularly admired that car. Tyler had an FG2 Si, and Nat, well, Nat took my old DA2 Integra off my hands. Safe to say, we all started as Honda boys.

I really miss those simple days - turning wrenches in our parents’ garages, doing everything ourselves, and ripping around Western Canada. The amount of Top Gear (the real Top Gear - Clarkson, Hammond, and May era) we watched back then was borderline unhealthy.

There were many other friends made along the way, and you all know who you are.

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I ended up splitting my university years between Western Canada and Australia. I lived in Australia for close to two years, and some of the cars I got to see up close were awesome. R32 - R35 GT-Rs, Silvias, RX-7s, Evos, Imprezas, and so many JDM-spec cars that we simply never got in North America.

After finishing university, I returned to Canada and began my career. Shortly afterward, around 2015, I got a job opportunity that required me to move to the U.S. Because of that international move, I decided to sell the Civic. I loved that car. For all of its problems and quirks, it was such a big part of my life. I made so many friends and created so many memories in that thing.

From 2015 to 2017, I lived in a small ski town in northern Montana. I was making U.S. dollars, and the exchange rate back to Canada was something like 1.4x at the time, so I dug in and focused on paying off my student loans.

I was a traveling consultant at the time, and I remember paying off my student loans while I was on the road. I started thinking - maybe I can have a sports car again?

I’ve always been drawn to practical sports cars - cars with utility that you can still drive every day. The two that spoke to me most at the time were the Porsche Cayman and the Audi S5 coupe. I was leaning more toward the S5 for its AWD system in the winter and its rear seats. I actually test drove one in March 2017 while I was working in Dallas, TX. That car was so much fun. My friend Nat was also evolving past Hondas and getting more into Audis - so an S5 would sort of keep me close to him in a way. But I decided to wait. I wanted to build my career and finances a little more before buying another sports car.

In 2017, I moved to NYC. Nat helped me pack up the 2016 VW Jetta I’d leased in Montana and drive across the country. When I decided I was moving to NYC, I paid the lease off early, and the day after we arrived in NYC, I handed the Jetta back to VW. It was the longest I’d gone without a car since getting my licence.

Moving to NYC was a dream come true for me. I love the city, the energy, the people, and the culture. But one thing that has always been a challenge is owning a car here. Garage parking is expensive, street parking can be difficult to find, and traffic can be a nightmare.

While I was carless, the interest never really went away. I was recently scrolling through my photos and couldn’t believe how many I’d snapped of cars parked on NYC streets.

I always thought I’d own a sports car again someday, but for the longest time I couldn’t figure out how to make it work in the city.

I kept my head down and focused on my career, building a life with my now-wife, starting a family, and completing many other personal and joint goals that we had set together.

By this point, my wife and I had a 2025 BMW X3, which is a practical family vehicle we use to lug around our 80-pound dog and toddler. But it’s not the kind of car that scratched the sports-car itch. That said, it has the M Sport package and is finished in beautiful Brooklyn Grey, so it is not your average X3. That little bit of uniqueness is enough to keep the car enthusiast in me happy.

If it were not for my car enthusiast friends gently nudging me toward getting a sports car again, I probably would have continued to go without one for a while yet. I was hesitant to get a sports car in NYC, but I knew that if I found the right one, it could be worth it.

I also wanted it to be something I could share with my wife and daughter. A car that might give us our own set of memories, and perhaps someday give my daughter a chance to learn the same lessons that working on a car with my dad gave me - patience, troubleshooting, problem-solving, and the satisfaction of figuring something out with your own hands.

That dream finally came true in October 2026 - 11 years after selling my Civic. I found a 2003 Porsche 911 Targa in great condition, although, like any 23 year old car, it had a few things that needed attention. I knew this would be a great opportunity to get back into the world of sports cars - especially as hybrid and electric vehicles continue to take over, and sports cars with a truly analogue, internal combustion engine become rarer and more expensive.

The obsession took over and I knew I had to have it. Nineteen years after that photo in the garage with my dad, I’m looking forward to turning wrenches again.

Next up: Why the Porsche 911?