Riff

Man I am chapped....In the back of Autoweek there is a Market column about a car that was for sale at some auction somewhere. Usually give a description of condition and whether or not the car was priced correctly and a little history of the car.

Well this weeks car was a '86 951, sounded like it was in good/fair condition with 103K on the clock; sold for $7700...And this is what was
written.

"There's a lesson in the 924/944/968 saga for Porsche that it doesn't appear to have learned. The world wants them to build rear-engined sports
cars, and every time they venture from that calling, they have some immediate sales success but do long term damage to their image. The 924
was a crappy car, and nothing Porsche did to improve the later models could save them from ridicule by association. Today, 914 owners get more respect at Porsche club meetings than front-engined Porsche owners. If nothing ever breaks on this particular Turbo (and you still believe in
Santa Claus as well), it was a fair buy for the performance that it offers. But it will never be accepted as a true Porsche. Oh, the lesson Porsche hasn't learned from its past mistakes about being careful with its image and core focus? You might spell it Cayenne.
---Written by Keith Martin

Well I don't know where to start with this one I am so mad. Look like I will not be renewing the subscribtion this time around. "Long term damage
to their image"???? I can't believe they let this knucklehead publish this crap. The '86 951 would out perform that '86 911 of the time quite easily. Then to compare our beloved cars to the upcoming Cayenne..... <img src="graemlins/cussing.gif" border="0" alt="[grrrrrrr]" /> <img src="graemlins/cussing.gif" border="0" alt="[grrrrrrr]" />
Too mad...Must stop typing.....

BTW I encourage all to send Autoweek a particularly nasty email pointing
out the error of their ways....

Grumpy in RI,
Riff

User 462021

[quote]Originally posted by Riff:
<strong>

BTW I encourage all to send Autoweek a particularly nasty email pointing
out the error of their ways....
</strong><hr></blockquote>

Right there is the key. But I doubt they will even take the time to read it. I hate that magazine as much as I hate Motor Trend and Car and Driver. All junk if you ask me.

Rod

I think Mr. Martin is a closet "ricer" judging by his Market article in the Aug. 19 edition. He writes about deciding whether to purchase a six cylinder vs. 289 V8 65/66 Mustang:

"For most uses today , a six cylinder automatic is perfect..The new owner would have saved $20,000 over the cost of a perfect V8. And once they installed a set of chrome "289V8" badges for the front fenders and had a dual exhaust fabricated, who would know?"

Geoffrey

Well, I think you need to take the article for what its worth. Porsche people are almost cult like people. 356 owners feel that a 356 is the only real Porsche. 911 owners feel much the same. When the Boxter and 996 came out it attracted a whole new set of buyers. So one who does not understand the intricies of owning a Porsche front engine water cooled car doesn't realize that they CAN be great cars if well taken care of and maintained. I think the writer missed that one. He could have said the same of a 911, "The rear engine design of the 911 makes for a scary handling car at limit" which we all know isn't necessarily true.

True, the 944/968 Porsches were all built off of the 924 platform which at its time was average for VW and Audi, but not up to Porsche standards. The body dies of all of those cars don't have the body panel tolorances that one would expect from a car a) made by Porsche and b) one that costs so much. Just compare the panel gap to a 911, Honda, Mazda, Toyota, etc.

What is going to happen to Porsche's image if they do indeed put the Cayenne's V8 in the 996? I do agree that Porsche has somewhat lost its focus and is struggling with an image problem that isn't helped by the lack of much major manufacturer racing in the 90s and a 2 ton family wagon.

Damian in NJ

The author is just repeating what he's said in the past. And you know what? He's right. The rear engine guys don't like us, don't respect the cars, and don't consider us real Porsche owners. There are some open minded 356/911 owners, but they're not in the majority.

I love when a 993 will wave coming towards me, then the owner shrinks in horror when he realizes it's not his model but a 968 instead!

art

Think of it like this: The more the cars get talked down the better the deal they will be. I kind of like to outlaw nature of my 944 and my 914-6. Most of the time I tell people I have a 914 without mentioning the -6 part as it makes them squirm.

Art

Eddie McLaughlan

Correct me if I am wrong, but I think this is the same guy who recently bought a early 90's Lotus and wrote about it in the same colum. What a D*ckhead. <img src="graemlins/soapbox.gif" border="0" alt="[soapbox]" />

iloveporsches

That article, which I just read abo an hour ago, made me throw my magazine away and consider canceling my current subscription.

Unfortunatly, though, he's partly right. Many "purists" (aka rich snobs with sticks up their butt) do feel that way. The 924 wasn't exactly the best car in the world, and 944's are based off of it. But if the world demanded rear-engined Porsches, why was this serious such a success?

Peckster

Keeps the price of used parts down?

K27

We are just going to have to accept the fact that there are a lot of people walking around with their head up their ***, this includes 911 owners as well as motor journalists.
I personally would not bother entertaining the argument over what is a real Porsche, these people that claim this crap are narrow minded, elitist idiots, that would like nothing more than to be the "Porsche clique"
It makes them feel better to degrade the others.
I often wonder when I hear this trash, what is a real Ferrari ?
the 328/308 series was the big seller, and also one of the cheapest, with BMW it's the 3 series, what is a real BMW?
The other misconception these "Air heads" have is that us water cooled owners only own them because we can't afford a 911, I can't speak for the rest of you but I own mine because I love this car, I have driven many 911's and this car is better in every way except for maybe the sound of the motor, big deal, even the styling is on par with the 911, with some minor modifications, better in my opinion.
Just drive your car and enjoy it, bugger what they think, we are smart enough to know better.

Porsche5050

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!

My old roomate subscribed to Autoweek instead of a REAL publication like AUTOMOBILE magazine and whenever we'd go to the grocery store I'd see him reading other publications even when the new Autoweek was out and it hadn't been delivered to out apartment.

Fixn2xlr8

Much the same way that the 914 will never be a TRUE Boxster. Ive always loved the rush of being able to tell people I have a little 4 cylinder 2 door hatchback. Take pride in being able to stay even with a car that has 2 or 4 more cylinders. Some are even fiberglass. Like a fast bass boat.

ian

Well my favorite way to prove that it is a real porsche is to take her to the track. When you are driving around lapping with cars that are much newer and cost a lot more to get in you can just smile to yourself knowing that you may be looked down on for owning a lesser car, but odds are you passed one or two "real" porsches that weekend.

I for one like all the Porsche cars, and I think they all have thier place (the spicy pepper I may not like, but I hope its role is to provide enough money to get Porsche back in racing).

icat

[quote]Originally posted by Riff:
<strong> But it will never be accepted as a true Porsche. ---Written by Keith Martin
</strong><hr></blockquote>

By who's standards? I think we'll all agree that we didn't buy our cars BECAUSE they were a Porsche, but rather that they offered awesome performance, in a fantastic looking package, that makes us grin from ear to ear everytime we drive them.

My insurance company thinks it's a Porsche, the PCA thinks it's a Porsche, my parts dealer charges me like it's a Porsche - so who doesn't think it's a Porsche? Some air-cooled idiot who thinks he has to out spend everyone else to prove his own self worth? Truth of the matter is, I don't consider anyone who thinks more highly of themselves because they own what they say is a "real" Porsche to be intellegent enough to know the difference.

4Banger

Not speaking for everyone but I really don't give a crap if my porsche is not viewed as a real Pcar to those heavily involved with rear/mid engine paradigms.