[Ed note: This is a new featured called “Every Car I’ve Ever Owned” where we feature someone interesting who tells us their car buying philosophy and gives us a list of every car they’ve ever owned. First up is Lehman McGrath Keen III (better known as Leh Keen). A Georgia native, he’s currently racing in the 2022 Porsche Carrera Cup for 311RS Motorsport and is the main progenitor of the Porsche 911 “safari” craze with his Keen Project 911s. Highlights of his career include three sports car championships in the United States, a class win at the Nurburgring 24, and a class podium at the 2010 24 hours of Le Mans in a Ferrari F430. He’s also low-key one of the funniest people you’ll ever meet at a race track. I worked with him on Proving Grounds and count myself lucky to know him.- MH]
The things I look for when purchasing a car are: Usability, excitement of driving, potential value gain, and ease of maintenance. The 911, for me, is the undisputed king of all four of those areas. If you look at a 993 RS for example, the cost of entry is very high–More than a Diablo or a 355 Ferrari–but the usability and cost of ownership is fractional compared to those two and pretty much everything else in the same category. There are no guarantees in life or in the used car market, but I suspect the 993 RS will steadily increase in value. I’ve seen the same trend from 911s at a much lower price point as well. They are sound investment but, honestly, the main reason I keep buying them is I just love how they drive and how reliable they are. Not only can you drive them, you can drive them hard. I can’t say the same for other cars I own like my R32 Skyline. I should also mention my 1985 two-door Mercedes G-Wagon because there’s also something fun about going very slow. My WRC Subaru Impreza was a childhood dream come true but, at the same time, I was also very conscious of the investment. Even though I do currently own six Porsche 911s I do believe variety is key, which is why I have the G wagon and the Skyline. Neither are as good of an investment as the 911s financially, but that shouldn’t be the only reason you buy cars. Lastly, I daily drive a pretty base black on black Audi Q7 because I don’t want to stand out every single day just driving around town. Plus, the cops don’t pay much attention to it, either! CURRENTLY OWNED CARS:
2021 Audi Q7 1985 Mercedes G wagon 1970 Porsche 911 T (racecar) 1981 Porsche 911 SC Safari 1992 Porsche Carrera RS NGT 1995 Porsche Carrera RS 2008 Porsche GT3 RS 2022 Porsche GT3
1990 Nissan Skyline GTR 2002 Subaru S8 WRC OWNED IN THE PAST: 1994 Mercedes E320 1999 BMW M3 1994 Toyota Supra 1989 Nissan 240SX 2005 Subaru STi 2007 VW Touareg 2009 BMW M3 2004 Subaru STi 2007 Mercedes E63 2012 Audi A6 1990 Porsche 911 C2 1989 Porsche Carrera 3.2 2016 Mercedes E63 2017 Subaru Crosstrek 2019 Volvo XC90 1998 Carrera S All photos courtesy of Leh Keen. Still own the bottom two I refuse to do the math, but I’m sure the scatter plot bears me out on this. (What do you mean? ) 😉 I find it more interesting to discover that someone completely unexpected is a closet car nut. Seems like with Beau’s business in LA, he would be able to provide some leads. My list (in order): 1982 Honda Accord Hatchback 1988 Nissan Stanza 1987 Honda Accord 1988 Saab 900 Turbo 1991 Isuzu Trooper 1995? Civic Del Sol Rentals while living in europe, I can’t recall… —> 2004? Opel Astra (had this one the longest) 1992 Honda Accord Wagon (stolen) 1997 Audi A4 Sedan 1998 Audi A4 Wagon (totalled by a cop) 1994 Toyota Pickup (current) 2002 Saturn SL1 2006 BMW 530 XiT (current wagon) 2012 Cadillac CTS 3.slow Base (6spd!) (current)
