Belgium-based 911 fan LEM – aka Maxime Lecluse – and his father own three 911 sportscars including a striking type 997 GT2 between them – and two more Porsche SUVs besides, including a classic Cayenne S. He tells of a love for Porsche that burned slowly and then exploded, leading to a life of roadtrips and racetracks.
The year 2023 will be a big one for 997 owners around the world, as it becomes an official Porsche classic. It’s been on quite a journey already. As has Maxime.
Inevitably his earliest Porsche memories are strong ones. “I was five or six when I sat in my first Porsche,” says Maxime. “It was my dad’s first Porsche too – a 964 cabriolet. We went to Spa, and I was in the rear. In fact, most of the time back then he would only have cabriolets, so he could bring my mother and me with him in the car. He told me once that he had been to see a 911 RS and that it was a good price, but I wouldn’t be able to get in it. I tell him that he should go back and buy that one now!”
When Maxime was a little older, his father started racing cars as a hobby – which is when he bought a 1970 Porsche 911 T, since rebuilt as a 911 ST in original colours and using factory lights and more, that both still drive today. Since retiring, his father now has more time to race in classic competitions more regularly. It feels like Maxime’s love of Porsche is down to genetics… although he says that despite his dad’s passion for the cars, it took Maxime into his late teens before he was hooked.
PHOTO: @amaertens
“The thing about the 911 is that they’re easy to drive, but hard to master. You can cruise in it, but when you get to know it better, and you get better at driving, you enjoy it in a different way. Drive a 911 and you are always on an upward curve of enjoyment.”
Despite his dad, Eric, being a long-time 911 owner, Maxime said it took a while for the Porsche bug to bite him. But it would bite him hard.
PHOTO: @amaertens
There are no big plans to do much to the 997 GT2 immediately, adds Maxime, apart from one thing. He’s very excited about the prospect of being able to fit one of the Porsche Classic Communication Management (PCCM) systems – meaning access to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, among other benefits. “The PCCM will definitely be a big upgrade for the 997. It’s the one thing about the car that has perhaps not aged so well. To be honest, nobody believes me when I say my GT2 is from 2008. It looks so fresh and new even now, which is true especially of the front of the 997. It’s a car that will continue to age really well.”
Maxine currently owns three different 911 types from across the decades, including this 1989 911 (type 964). There will be more, he says.
PHOTO: @amaertens
“The way I organise my roadtrips is based on the people I’m going to meet. That’s the trick. For me it’s about engaging with the Porsche communities,” Maxime Lecluse aka LEM - 911 fan and Porsche content creator.
For me it’s about engaging with the Porsche communities on Instagram and Facebook, etc. I’ll meet up with people in the area, ask them for restaurant recommendations or the best roads, and we just talk. Most of the time, it starts as a four-day roadtrip… and ends up as eight or nine days once we get there.”
“The first big roadtrip I did was to the south of France,” says Maxime. “It was a 13-hour drive, and I ended up sleeping at somebody’s who I knew on Instagram but hadn’t yet met in real life who owned a 911 ST. You really don’t get stuff like this in other car brands’ communities. The Porsche one is so strong.”
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