He Drives the Clark Kent of Porsche Supercars

Doug DeMuro, 35, founder of the car auction site Cars & Bids, who lives in San Diego, on his 2005 Porsche Carrera GT, as told to A.J. Baime.

When Porsche first came out with the Carrera GT in 2003, I was obsessed with it. I first saw one in February 2005 on the street in Denver, where I grew up. It is hard to believe that was 18 years ago. The car was yellow. It was such a special car—so ridiculous, rare and insane—that when I told my friends I had seen one, they didn’t believe me. But I took a picture of it, so I had proof.

Porsche was known for making luxury cars and sports cars. But it was not a super low-volume automaker like Ferrari or Bugatti. So it was unusual for the German company to make this car, and that was the special thing about it. Only 1,270 were made, with a $440,000 price when it was new. The 5.7-liter V-10 engine was originally developed for racing. The chassis was made of carbon fiber, which was highly unusual at that time. It was thought of as the ultimate Porsche, one of the top supercars of its time and of all time.

The photo of that car I took in 2005 led me to take more photos of supercars, which led me to getting written up in Automobile magazine. Which led me to a job in the car industry. Which led me to starting a YouTube channel. Which ultimately led me to starting my company and where I am now.

At the end of last year, I had some cash in my pocket. I thought: OK, let’s finally go find a Carrera GT. Let’s get serious and live this childhood dream. Initially, I wanted a yellow one, but very few were made for the North American market, and that is a lot more money. I looked for a silver one, because silver is the classic color for Porsche and because silver Carrera GTs are a little more common. 

I used a broker who deals in this rarefied level of cars, and he sniffed around. He found this car in Greenwich, Conn. He sent me a zillion photos. Also, there happened to be an independent shop that specializes in Carrera GTs in southwestern Connecticut. I had them do a pre-purchase inspection and they gave the car a glowing review. 

I had the car shipped to San Diego, and it was a special moment when it arrived. Although one of the interesting things about this car is that it is not as striking as other supercars of its era. It looks like a silver Porsche, so when I drive it, it does not grab the kind of attention that other supercars do. 

It has only been six months since I bought this car. I do not drive it as much as you might think because it is so expensive. It is a little intimidating. Maybe if I had another zero digit in my bank account, I would feel comfortable driving it to the store. I take it to Cars & Coffee events and things like that. Sometimes I just look at it in my garage and think: This car is such a feat of engineering. 

It is not easy to take a powertrain developed for racing and put it in a road car, because race cars do not have to adhere to the regulations and comforts of a road car. But that is what Porsche did, successfully. To my knowledge, the engine is the largest that Porsche ever put in a production road car, and probably will be forever, since everything is going electric. And there are so many other cool engineering details.

The car is amazing to drive. It has a reputation for being challenging, but I find it wonderfully balanced with plenty of power. It steers, handles and accelerates perfectly. And it’s a convertible—perfect for living in southern California. It can hit over 200 m.p.h, but I’ve never come anywhere near that.

To me, it remains the greatest driving car ever made for the streets. And I have driven them all.

Write to A.J. Baime at [email protected].