On a recent visit to see my mother, she handed me a postcard she had found buried in my father's things. She asked me to read it.

It was clearly an older card with a black-and-white photo of the Italian Riviera displayed on the front (see above). Flipping it over, I noted it had some great period stamps and a postmark from 1953. I then went on to read the short note to my father from a friend who had been traveling overseas.

Contained within it, the author stated, "The Porsche goes great and we pass everyone on the road." Wow, reading those words from 62 years ago brought to me a vision of a new 356 doing what it was built to do, carving up the roads in a beautiful location.

My dad was a car guy back in the '50s and clearly his friend wanted to share his experience. I can relate. Of all the enjoyable experiences I have had with my 968, putting the top down and going for a cruise on a beautiful day has to be my favorite. This card from all those years ago reminded me that the driving experience is still what defines Porsche ownership.

I recently returned from my first trip to Europe and, just like the author of the postcard, I saw some amazing roads while visiting. Although we didn't visit the Italian Riviera, we did visit Breisach Germany and then headed over to the Black Forest.

The rolling hills and amazing switchback roads of the Black Forest had me crying because I was stuck in a tour bus while my 968 was parked in the garage at home. If only it was with me.

Oh well, now that I have returned home, the beautiful New England autumn has arrived. The season promises many amazing drives so I have that as a consolation.

I then wondered if the 356 mentioned in the postcard was still around and how cool it would be to get this card to the current owner, but we lost my dad three years ago and with him, the name of whoever sent this card.

Still, the card lives on and reminded me of how long Porsches have been doing what they do, bringing smiles to the faces of their drivers no matter where they are located.