As a car guy, I’ve been exposed to a number of viral videos coming from the automotive community. Given that we are now in the age of social media, car content is available to us at the tip of our fingers. Now, I praise the various social media applications for easing the accessibility to such material, which helps with the promotion of car culture. But you see, the introduction of social media brought with it an aftereffect to car content, which was to regulate it. Open up Facebook or Instagram, and you’ll see mega albums from that recent car meet happening in town, or perhaps that ultra rare 918 or Carrera GT your local dealer just got in on inventory; maybe even a GT3RS ripping it around a racetrack.

Before you say that I am criticizing the aforementioned, I am not. Just like you, I enjoy seeing the many pictures and videos from the various Porsche communities around the world. Having been initially exposed to cars in what I consider to be the peak of the Fast And The Furious era, my preferences of automotive entertainment take a bit of a detour.

Let us go back in time to the beginning of the decade and to the other side of the pond, Sweden specifically. Back when we still relied on DVDs to watch movies, the Getaway In Stockholm series was a popular underground film series released at the beginning of the century. The first installment, Getaway In Stockholm 1, was released in 2000, with subsequent releases coming out yearly. The former is what I would like to focus on, as it caused a bit of a stir with local authorities.

Per the title, the film features a Porsche 930 being maneuvered to the extremes around the empty, quiet streets of late-night Stockholm. A lot of questions surround this video, primarily with its genuineness. There are two parties and a single debate: one that believes that the cops are in fact just actors, while the other believes that they are real officers. Cop dilemma aside, the identity of the driver, known as Mr.X, to this day remains a mystery, as well as those of the individuals that produced the movies. One of the areas in which this video shines is in its videography. All 10 minutes of the film was shot with a single take; that means absolutely no room for even the smallest of mistakes.

You could say that Getaway In Stockholm is a 10-minute commercial for the Porsche 930. If you can manage to tame what is known as a car that is predictable at traffic speeds, yet unpredictable when driven hard, then you, my friend, have achieved quite the feat. The drivers involved in the making of these films were all highly skilled, so it is certain that Mr.X had a lot of seating time in the cockpit of the 930. His driving abilities while behind the wheel of the 930 make you forget that there is even cops(or “cops”) in the first place. Oh, and about the real authorities. The video prompted an investigation by Swedish authorities to find those responsible for the video. My guess is that the car was driven without plates to avoid any obvious giveaways, because as of 2020, this is a case yet to be cracked. Now that’s what I call professionalism.

Without question do I put the 930 within the top 10 of my favorite air-cooled Porsches. A car that combines the G-model’s subtle looks with what was then breakthrough technology, it was the poster car for many, yet made for an goose bump-inducing experience thanks to its difficulty to drive. Anytime somebody mentions to be that the 930 is “undriveable”, I simply pull out my phone and show them this masterpiece of a film. Driving the famed Widowmaker without your nerves getting to you is POSSIBLE. It is simply a matter of practice, just like with mastering any given ability.

-Juan

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