Da PopoMobile

Not long ago, a controversy that’s still somewhat alive erupted over Olympic swimming champion David Popovici decision to “live the dream” and buy himself a Porsche Spyder. While I have no right to criticize him, I summarize a few opinions in the mass-media and add my own.

Varianta în limba română pe FaṭăCarte Meta Zamolxis.

• Summarizing the mass-media coverage of David Popovici’s decision.
• Exploring the economic dimension: investment or depreciating asset?
• Parental investment FTW

I’ll start by stating clearly that David Popovici has the right to do whatever he wants with the money he won for his swimming excellence. But inasmuch as we “supported” and celebrated his wins, we have the right to have an opinion. Personally, I wouldn’t write about this knowing he’s reading my blog, but that’s unlikely, which is why I feel free to do so.

I’ll have to say that for me, buying a sports car doesn’t make sense now, nor did it make sense years ago and it especially doesn’t make sense in Bucharest traffic.

Let’s now look at the media frenzy created by David Popovici’s announcement of buying himself a Porsche (ig-cdporsche, ds-mmpap).

1. ctp sends the first salvo calling Popo’s dream to drive his own Porsche “pathetic” (ctp-uvb, fbctp-jan6), getting quite a bit of flak (tnr-ctpdp, tnr-ctpsubm, rtv-ctpmsn, lib-comddp)
2. Paun, an economics prof criticizes Popo’s decision from his own standpoint (rtv-paun, d2-contr)
3. Mircea Badea brings his own amazing insight (a3-mb, evz-prstiri)
4. He’s presented in L’Equipe as fighting Russian influence (d2-leq)

Apart from all this, what is interesting to me is his charity work as well as what he reveals about sport opportunities in Romania (ir-dpdifi).

As for me, I wrote in “per pedes” and probably elsewhere in the trafic category about giving up driving and living car-free (cco-cancar). Car-free is care-free and back when I sold my last car, a Subaru Deluxe (after having owned an excellent Toyota Corolla), I had not considered even once buying an expensive car.

ai

Curious if expensive cars are depreciating assets or investments, I asked AI and they all stated that even though a Porsche 918 holds its value well, it still does depreciate.

I asked “does porsche spyder depreciate or hold value?” They all gave pretty much the same answer but sending me to different sites.

copilot

The Porsche 918 Spyder is known for its exceptional performance and limited production, which helps it hold its value quite well compared to other cars. However, like most vehicles, it does experience some depreciation over time.

For example, a 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder has a forecasted 5-year depreciation rate of around 190%, meaning its value is expected to decrease significantly¹. Despite this, the 918 Spyder is still considered a valuable and sought-after car in the luxury and sports car market.

Overall, while the Porsche 918 Spyder does depreciate, it tends to retain its value better than many other vehicles due to its exclusivity and high demand².

Are you considering purchasing one, or are you just curious about its value retention?

gemini

The Porsche Spyder is known for its exceptional performance and exclusivity, which often translates to strong resale value. While all cars depreciate to some extent, the Spyder tends to hold its value remarkably well compared to many other sports cars.

Here are some factors contributing to the Spyder's strong resale value:

• Desirability and Limited Production: The Spyder's combination of open-top driving experience, powerful engine, and lightweight construction makes it highly sought-after by enthusiasts. Its limited production further enhances its exclusivity and desirability.
• Performance and Driving Dynamics: The Spyder's exceptional handling, precise steering, and exhilarating acceleration provide an unmatched driving experience, making it a favorite among driving enthusiasts. ¹

llama

The Porsche Spyder is a unique case, as it's a high-performance, limited-production vehicle. Generally, Porsches tend to hold their value well, but the Spyder's depreciation can vary depending on several factors, such as the model year, condition, and mileage.

Porsche's overall depreciation rate is around 25% in the first three years, but some models like the 911 tend to retain their value better than others, like the Panamera or Cayenne ¹. The Spyder, being a specialty model, might follow a similar pattern to the 911, holding its value relatively well due to its performance, rarity, and demand.

If you're looking at a specific Porsche Spyder model, its depreciation can be estimated using tools like the Porsche Car Depreciation By Model Calculator ². For example, the Porsche 718 Boxster, which is similar to the Spyder, depreciates around 44% after 5 years, with a 5-year resale value of around $61,697 ³.

Keep in mind that these are general estimates, and the actual depreciation of a Porsche Spyder can vary significantly depending on various factors, including the vehicle's condition, maintenance history, and market demand.

Another reason to avoid the purchase is the cost of insurance, though checking at LowestRates dot ca I found that a Porsche (not sure if identical to Popo’s) is $250/month, only $50 more than my old Subaru Deluxe. So the difference in insurance price is really not that scary. Still, I’d buy a Bigster (ir-dabig) any time over a Porsche.

toronto

So, going back to my experience, I joined the swim team of my high school in Toronto as soon as I could, which wasn’t a huge effort: almost all high school had a swimming pool. Additionally, swimming in Toronto is much easier with most high rise buildings having their own swimming pools and the City of Toronto operating numerous excellent pools, man of them free of charge. In Toronto, kids don’t really need their parents to push them to swim, though that really does help.

parents

A recently published study finds that Nobel prizes are associated to daddy’s money (PDF, cepr). If excellence in science and research is tied to parental wealth, what is the situation with sports? Here’s a few studies that hint in that direction: sag-spxcfam, iu-parins, sd-pwrdg, nih-hliedu, rg-iffippp, sd-sespcpys, pp-slik6xqs.

Da PoPo’s “defenders” keep talking about how his success was his effort and that is only partially true. It seems to me that his parents played a huge role, much like Bill Gates Sr in his son’s success. I might’ve mentioned the role played by Halep’s father, and if I didn’t, check out the documentary on Serena’s dad (imdb-kr) or what we know about Eugenie Bouchard’s, or that speech of Tiger Woods’ dad crying and claiming that Tiger is his gift to the world.

As we have an interview with David’s dad Mihai, we can actually summarize it(aps-mihtt).

• being his dad is a team’s job
• wasn’t a great sportsman b/c his parents didn’t push him that way
• he chose swimming for David; he thinks swimming is bee’s knees (utility, lifesaving, phys ed, looks, immunity)
• not just coach Adrian Radulescu, but Lucian Nae, Doina Potolea, Natalia Gheorghe, Bogdan Ghile, Andrei Enciu, Usama Rebai
• coach AR decides technicalities, he only creates context, no pressure
• David didn’t try hard in training sessions
• ASE, worked in pharma sales, quit summer ‘22 to focus on son
• wife Georgeta became antidoping officer (course 20h theory, 60h practice) prev year; lack of good info in Ro
• either him or his wife bring David yogurt + honey at 4:30 or 5:30; first training 6:30
• they specialized in nutrition 5 years prior
• David drinks after training 250ml milk + honey + cinnamon (sometimes cacao instead of cinnamon)
• breakfast yogurt+honey+oats + seeds
• keeps quiet at sports events
• he’s manager of Dinamo’s Swim Academy with Walter Bolognani: lots to work on (st Jan 10, 348 kids already)
• David is friendly and open; communicative
• few pools in Romania, Dinamo has 3 in Bucharest

In short, David’s dad was pivotal in getting him to start swimming at 4 and he still is supporting him. It should be obvious that his efforts were not wasted on David because the latter worked hard (and he’s got a brother, after all, who seemingly benefitted from the same efforts but didn’t achieve the same results); still, there are probably millions of kids who might’ve been able to get where David’s got, but nobody bothered to “create the context” for them.

Sources / More info: ig-cdporsche, ctp-uvb, ds-mmpap, tnr-ctpdp, tnr-ctpsumb, ir-dpdifi, rtv-ctpmsn, rtv-paun, d2-contr, lib-comddp, fbctp-jan6, a3-mb, evz-prstiri, cco-cancar, d2-leq, aps-mihtt, imdb-kr, ir-dabig

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