DANdeMAN

DoubleNutz : Nice collection of Avatar you have there. Seeing them change EVERYDAY....Don't you have a job or something?

911Dave

Right on, my brother! If I could have any Ferrari I wanted, the 246 GT Dino would be it.

DoubleNutz

The only good Ferrari is a ...

911Dave

Yes, I would. My theory is that 911 development took a back seat to 928 development up until 1990 or so, since the 928 was intended to replace the 911. Then, when it was obvious the 911 line would continue and the 928's sales numbers began to fall off a cliff, 911 development once again became the priority. Rapid development proceeded from that point and still continues.

It's really sad that the 928 never garnered the popularity it deserved. It was probably way too expensive and achieved its purpose way too well. The 911 was already iconic when the 928 was introduced, and no matter how good the top of the line model was, people wanted a 911 instead.

Personally, I own both and I am in love with both of them. They are very different cars, and both have a special magic all their own. The fact that the 928 is relatively rare makes it even more special in my eyes.

Oh, and 100% agreement on the 993 C4S. If I could have any modern 911, that would be the one. Cobalt's 3.6 Turbo would be a close contender.

worf928

And Porsche has learned that lesson all too well. The threads and news stories on the upcoming C7S (Caymann, Gayman, Boxster Coupe, etc.) make that completely clear. Porsche will compromise engineering and product design to ensure that the 911 family remains the top dog. Rather than fulfill the potential of the C7S's mid-engine coupe platform Porsche will (for the foreseeable future at least) hobble the car with smaller engines. RUF - and other tuners - will no doubt show us the C7S's true potential.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not trying to flame, start a war, or 'put down' the 911. The only thing I really don't like about 911s is the hard-core close-minded 911-only mentality of some Porsche owners that pushes Porsche into not building the best sports cars that it could build. I fear that this putting of the 911 at the top at the expense of any other Porsche (whether it's the C7S or some other future non-911) will eventually kill Porsche - or make Porsche's products so 'iconic' as to make them irrelevant. This fear of the hard-core forever-911-only crowd will allow other auto makers with less fear of their historic customer bases to make products that will slowely but surely eat away at Porsche's customers until only the 911-only crowd buys Porsches.

The competition is on the near-horizon. How many auto makers are targeting Porsche's sports car market with well-designed products due out in the next year or four?

What would be so wrong about Porsche putting the same engine in a 997S and a C7S and let the market decide?

cobalt

You are forgetting we are talking about the German mentality. This argument has been presented many times before. Why did Porsche kill off the 914-6? The plans to introduce the 916 or increase the 914-6's displacement were seriously curtailed because it would have blown away a comparable 911. It also had problems because VW had control over build and advertisement and it was sold as a VW in Europe which did not fair well here in the US.

The big issue is who’s dream was it? Should we blame Ferry Porsche for designing a car that in theory is flawed from the get go? The weight hangs out over the rear axle distribution is 40-60 at best and the earlier designs had a very high drag coefficient only exacerbated by the addition of flares and wings. But the dream is what made Porsche and the design made it unique. It's flaws made it exciting to drive and challenging to master.

The Germans have always been ones to stick with a known quantity. The 911 was that. The 928’s sales were falling off quickly. The last of the GTS’ sat on some dealerships floors for a year or more after 95.

The 911 especially the 930 turbo set the benchmark that for many years all auto manufacturers tried to best. This gave it that elusive edge that kept the car alive. Although the 928 was far more refined had a high top end and could be driven all day at high speeds without discomfort, nobody in the US really cared. They wanted speed and thrill and those who did not know saw the numbers and said the 930 turbo is the car to best. Especially coming form the days of Miami Vice.

I find that most new 911 owners buy the newer cars based on the history and recognition of the 911 of old. In fact they don't know much about what the older cars were about but feel that they are getting a continuation of the breed. Which IMO is not the case.


I find it funny, from my perspective growing up with friends that drove 911's and 928's back in the 80's. I found it was the 928 guys to be more on the defensive than the 911 guys. It was always the 928 guys putting down the 911's saying how much better the 928 was and this in turn began a long argument over which Porsche was better. Rarely did I see the argument start by the 911 guy saying the 928 was not a real Porsche. It usually ended that way because the argument was not sensible and ended in bashing instead of admiration of both cars. In all Porsche needs to test the waters with these new models as they did with the Cayenne before they can start killing off the 911.

Porsche has always moved slow and I think we will see a big change in the 998. They are kind of locked into the 997 now and need to hold on to the Known Quantity until enough has been established in other areas to survive through these quick changing times.These new models are kind of like the "New Coke" of Porsche. It is an attempt to hold onto the market share while they adjust for the future. A future that is not going to be easy for any manufacturer with increased fuel costs and speed limits more strictly enforced with HP wars coming from every manufacturer. You will see the new Cayman move in to the sports car line up and most likely see more top end cars move into were the 928 left off.

Just my opinion.

rob rossitto

thank god the cooler survived!!

IcemanG17

I also read this article! I think it is great that a high ranking Porsche exec realizes how timeless the 928 is!! Hopefully he will design a worthy successor! A 928 is just like a fine wine...it gets better with age!
Brian

911Dave

That really irks me too. Talking about the 928 to a 911 owner usually elicits a response like "928...(thinks hard)...oh, that's the big U-boat-looking thing with the automatic and the V8, right?"

kshipp

Arkansas!?...damn Arkansans.
That's what can happen when your garage is too close to the road.

kshipp

fyi - This month's wallpaper download is of mine & my fathers 928's. I'm the webmaster of our local PCA club's website and each month I create a calendar wallpaper of a P-car. I have three sizes of the wallpaper to choose from.
Attached is a thumbnail of July's download.

Click here to visit the download page for our the monthly calendar-wallpapers. It's a free download.

I welcome your feedback. Here's the home page of our PCA website: www.pca.org/ozk/

DANdeMAN

Nicely done work! Are you the photog as well? I presume that members only car are chosen for this calander right!? To bad, my 84 would have looked real cool.

kshipp

Thanks! Yep, I'm the photog as well. I took a lot of great pictures of them that day - front, back, sides. All looked great. I wish I could photograph cars for a living.

On our website, we have a "Porsche of the Month" which is for our local PCA members only, but the wallpapers are open to any P-car. So far, they have been member-only cars, but I'm about to open-up the options to any. Feel free to e-mail me your low-res images (I like the two you recently posted) and I'll consider them for upcoming wallpapers. If I chose one, I'll request a high-res version. I want to be fair and show other P-cars, but I will gladly slip more 928's in there during the year.

If you look at the download page and look at February's wallpaper, I digitally added the fog to that image. It really set the mood for the image. Normally, I don't modify the images too much, but the fog added another dimension to a regular photograph.

sharkmeister85

Kelly,
Luv what you''ve done! How about taking the calender idea and making a 12 month calender of 928's only that changes automatically at the start of a new month. Put it as a download on a "hidden" page on your website that only people here would know the url. Photos from those submitted by members here, you decide. Or is this just crazy?
Glenn

DANdeMAN

Very well Kelly.... I'm working on something special for my next shoot.
I will post some here....