It’s no secret there’s a staggering and growing overlap in the Venn diagram of enthusiasts interested in both cars and watches that few other hobbies share. It’s an age-old tradition, an intimate relationship between motoring and timing, heritage and the intoxication of the analog. Within this shared ground, it’s easy to observe another strong intersection — the one between Porsche and watches, specifically.
For further pontification, we looked to the leadership team at HODINKEE, the destination for all things watches, to dissect the objective and subjective synergies of hairpins and horology. Marqued met with both Founder and Chairman Ben Clymer and Chief Brand Officer Eneuri Acosta for an insightful chat and sampling drive with their 2020 Porsche 911, 1990 Porsche 911 Type 964, and 1969 Porsche 911 S to learn more.
Below is a condensed version of Marqued's conversation with Clymer and Acosta. To read the full interview, visit Marqued.
On Porsche ownership
Marqued:
I’m seeing some really beautiful Porsches here. There’s obviously a lot of crossover for you between the watch world and automotive world, Porsche especially. At a glance, it appears this is a favorite marque amongst the HODINKEE crew.
Ben Clymer:
Yes. I think collectively within our team, we've owned every single variant of the 911, except probably the 996. So everything from the short wheelbase cars, to long hoods, G-body, 964, 993, 997, 991, and now 992. Every single creation.
On what sparked the car bug
Eneuri Acosta:
Oh, the spark car for me? A 1989 Toyota Cressida. Which was my dad's dream car at the time, and when he finally got it that was perhaps the first car that I thought to myself, that's kind of interesting. He was just obsessed with that thing and it connected us. From there, we would always talk about watches and cars, which planted the seed of, “Okay, there’s a culture here. People are into this.” My career ended up heading in that direction, to the point where I worked at General Motors for 11 years. And even though I was at Cadillac, Ben and I bonded over Porsche. The rest is history.
Ben Clymer:
For me it was the VW Beetle and Herbie the Love Bug. I was obsessed, and as you can probably tell from my life, I get obsessive over things. Then when I got my first Porsche, it was the 356. There's obviously a very linear connection there. My uncle had a Beetle growing up, a really beautiful red Cabriolet, and I was like, "Oh, should I get a Beetle?" And then I was like, "You know what, this Porsche, this makes sense." And I found a restored 1962 356B in Smyrna Green. I straight up could not afford it. We had zero employees, and HODINKEE was early days. And I found some guy, I don't even know who they are, where they are now, that said, "If you put five grand down, we'll finance the rest." And I was like, "Let's do it."
Ben Clymer x 1990 Porsche 911 Type 964
That’s kind of how I live my life and I love that car. What’s funny is my dad would not teach me how to drive stick as a kid, thinking I’d kill myself so I had friends that taught me a bit over the years, but I bought the 356 not really know how to drive stick! I taught myself when that car was delivered to a parking lot at the Short Hills mall in New Jersey.
Eneuri Acosta:
That's a wild story. I didn't know that. It was actually the same thing with me, with my first 911, a ‘73T. Bought it not really knowing how to drive stick, and taught myself on that car.
Eneuri Acosta x 1969 Porsche 911 S
On connecting with the next generation of enthusiasts
Eneuri Acosta:
It takes guts to stick to a point of view for the last 50 plus years. If you look at the interior of the 2020 992 and 1969 911 you can find connections between the two, whether it's the horizontal dash layout or the positioning of the gauges. The radio knob is on the 992, it's in almost the identical spot in the ‘69. It's wild how they’ve managed to maintain the user experiences through their lineage.
On appreciating the early developments
Marqued:
Eneuri, given you own two Porsche 911 sports cars with similar model years, 1969 and 1970, I get the sense you like to zoom in and really study the model.
Eneuri Acosta:
I've invested so much time and effort researching the brand, and getting to know the brand, especially the early stuff and learning the nuances. I still find new things to appreciate every single time that I get behind the wheel and keep going deeper. Whether it's this car or the 1970T, which is a 2.2, carbureted versus MFI, and trying to experience the contrast between the two. One of the things that we were laughing about the other day, we had Ben’s '67 S here, this '69 S and my '70 T and all three of them had different door handles. You start figuring out all these little nuances. What I've really learned to appreciate is, they were just trying to figure it out in those early days.
Ben Clymer:
Eneuri knows the difference between everything. I think that's what's so charming about it. In HODINKEE magazine, I pick certain models and go incredibly deep so I wrote a story on my '65 911 in our first volume. The early 911s are so charming to me, because I started doing all the research on what Porsche was going through at the time. It was anything but a sure thing, but in the end it worked out.
Info
Text first published in Marqued
Interview and Photography: Shayan Bokaie
About Marqued: Marqued is a venture of Porsche Digital, Inc. as part of its mission to create best-in-class user experiences that foster car enthusiasm above and beyond the core Porsche business. Our purpose is simple: imagine, create, and curate stories, guides, and resources for the next generation of buying, selling, and most importantly, enjoying cars.
