"I’ve always wanted to have a sports car,” Lori Bruck said, and her 2021 Porsche Carrera 911 4 Cabriolet has the power, performance, and speed to make it one of the best.
It’s also a reliable vehicle that holds its value and, with all-wheel drive, handles like a dream no matter the road conditions. But as well-engineered as the Porsche is, Bruck admits she didn’t buy it for practical reasons.
“They say, ‘Separate your needs from your wants,’” Bruck explained. “I didn’t really buy this car for need. I bought this car because I wanted it.”
And Bruck, the chief marketing officer for Tenaska Marketing Ventures, made some outstanding choices, Porsche Omaha general manager Mitch Schneringer said.
“I personally love the jet-black metallic exterior combined with the black/Bordeaux red full-leather interior that Lori selected,” he explained. “To me, the color combo is a powerful and elegant statement that reflects her personal style. Jet-black metallic provides depth and power, while the metallic nature of the paint adds the perfect level of understated sophistication. The black and Bordeaux red leather interior is dynamic, bold, and a classic Porsche interior that represents style, heritage, and uniqueness. And, of course, the beautiful wheels that Lori ordered on her 911 Cabriolet are a perfect finishing touch to a well-specified 911.”
“It’s so sleek. I love the look of the Porsche; it’s a timeless, classic automobile,” Bruck said of her vehicle. “There are a lot of sports cars that are beautiful; they’re gorgeous. They’re not understated; they’re flashy. […] People who know this car and appreciate it, ‘get it.’ In my mind, it’s not an in-your-face kind of thing. It’s distinctive, but it’s not flashy.”
To protect it from road salt and debris, Bruck puts the Porsche in storage during the deepest part of winter. However, she’s been known to push into dry days early in the season with the top down, seat warmers on, and heat blasting.
“It’s my daily vehicle when it’s nice outside. I love taking it to work. I have to say, it’s just a joy to get in to,” she said. “I don’t ‘save’ it; it was meant to be driven, meant to be enjoyed.”
Bruck said she misses the car greatly during the weeks it’s stored offsite.
“When we were storing it at our previous house—before we had kids driving and needed more garage space—I would go start it in the winter so I could hear it,” she said. “The sound of it makes me happy.”
According to Schneringer, about one-fourth of Porsche owners are women. Bruck speculates that the percentage is lower for the sports models. People often look surprised to see a woman behind the wheel, she said, but the Brucks have owned three Porsches since 2009. Their teenage daughter is already coveting the Carrera as a future hand-me-down, and although she’s enjoyed being a passenger, she hasn’t been allowed to drive it yet.
“They’re a little tricky to drive because they have so much power and they sit low. You have to drive very aware, because you can’t always be seen,” Bruck said. “But I think it appeals to everyone. You appreciate the beauty and the gravity and the grandeur of it.”
“Porsches mean a lot of different things to different people, and the German engineering allows the vehicle to easily adapt to a wide audience of individual needs and wants,” Schneringer said.
It’s a fun ride, too, serving up a maximum horsepower of 443 at 6500 rpm on command.
“It’s a beast,” Bruck said, adding that she’s considered taking lessons at a race track someday. “I would think I’d enjoy that…to push it a little further, just to know what it could do. Because I know it’s there.”
Visit porsche.com/usa for more information.
This article originally appeared in the April/May 2023 issue of B2B Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
