Just happened to be passing by the news stand and saw the new edition of EXCELLENCE magazine with a great picture of the new Carrera GT so I had to pick up the mag. Much to my surprise there was an article by Bruce Anderson about the general history and current market values of the 928. Not much enlightening info but it was worth the read.

I just wish I had an extra $440,000.00 for the GT. It's a beautiful and extremely fast piece of artwork.

 

If Bruce only knew what nice low mileage 928s were REALLY selling for. Again, where does he get those numbers????

 

I was comparing one years "article" to the next years "article" and noticed that the change in "value" seemed to be just applying a standard % discount pretty much across the board . I have not looked at the last couple years articles however . It is nice to have something written about the 928 reguardless of the prices . I do believe that nice low mileage 5 speed cars in particular are beginning to be sought after by more people . Nice 84 5 speed sold on E-bay for $ 10,000 recently .

 

Jim wrote:
<"the change in "value" seemed to be just applying a standard % discount pretty much across the board ">

That would be my speculation as well.

I wonder if its the same article as last years maybe with some small changes?

 

We should introduce Mr. Anderson to Mr. Willhoit.

 

same old story, blah, blah, blah...

 

Over the last years, it has been the same article over and over again - I got tired of reading it. They even kept some of the same mistakes...

To me, this is an "alibi" article, so the Editors can say they cover the 928.

I have cancelled my subscription because of the lack of useful information for me as a 928 owner. In addition, the magazine lacks very basic sections found in most serious publications. Hopefully 928 Forum will learn from Excellence's mistakes.

What I particularly missed in Excellence were:

- Editorials about new Porsche related items (kind of like a "New Products" section

- Serious comparison tests (including track measurements) and recommendations of optional items, such as "standard suspension vs. sports suspension", "17" vs. 18" wheels", "rear wheel drive vs. four wheel drive," etc. (develop standards to determine how handling and ride differ, etc)

- Detailed feature test, measurement and benchmarking of products like tires, brake upgrades, car care products, etc - I'm not talking about blah blah articles to please the advertisers, but something of value that helps the owner with purchasing decisions he/she might face.

- Detailed technical explanation and analysis of new technologies or features on the latest Porsche cars to educate owners about them.

- News on the legal front that affect sports car drivers.

- Any kind of news beyond what is fed to them by Porsche as a major model introduction. That can be very short stories.

Overall, the magazine is a "nice car blah blah fast car blah blah extreme car blah blah rescued car blah blah here is what Porsche wants us to tell you blah blah" magazine. The main value is when you try to locate a parts supplier and check for the advertisers. After that, it's a little bit of entertainment, but in my case it wore off quickly, since next to none of this applied to me as a 928 owner.

I tried to communicate this when I spoke to the advertising manager about running a small ad for my online store, but I guess I was a little too harsh on him. He did not understand the difference between a glossy advertising rag (which is what they are in my opinion, even though I did not use the word "rag") and a serious automotive publication. Nor did he understand how I could see some value in advertising with them while considering the magazine useless for myself as a 928 owner. In the end, he promised to have somebody call me, but that never happened. I took my advertising dollars elsewhere in the meantime, but might try again in the future.

Maybe I'm spoiled my my bi-weekly German magazine "Auto Motor und Sport. That is usually between about 240 and 320 pages with less (percentage wise) advertising content than Excellence. I read the magazine front to back, except the motorsports and classifieds sections. The magazine is packed with
- news about the car markets (including new car registration statistics and trends), new products, new companies,
- reports from all major international car shows,
- stories about design (look and feel) of new cars,
- driving impressions of new models,
- full feature tests with all measurements,
- comparison tests
- feature tests. e.g. tires, or brakes - they take a flee of cars to the track and the alps an do all kinds of measurements
- used car buying tips - typically one model per issue (these particular articles are not in-depth enough for my tastes)
- dealer service testes (prepped cars brought to dealers for scheduled maintenance. Points given for finding things that are on the manufacturer's check list. Analysis of service and cost as well)
- in the 80ies they did aerodynamic wind tunnel tests to verify manufacturer's claims and explained the process and technology
- in the 90ies they did offset crash and head on crash tests
- surveys,
- annual election of "Best cars of the year"
- the funniest section are the letters from (often clueless) readers
- legal news
- news about the automotive industry (dealer, manufacturer, or international market issues)
- travel tips and stories
- car care tips and tricks
- motorsports news and reports
- often they have special inserts with detailed articles and tests (if applicable) about topics like "Convertibles", "Legal Issues", "Tuning", etc.
- and more...

All that done with an excellent, professional and very modern layout. Done by the same publishing company that did the "Project 928" book (huge media company in Stuttgart, now called Motor Presse International)...

I won't give up on that magazine until Motor Trend, Road & Track, or any of the others replace pages of their editors' blah blah colums with valuable information.

I'm a "radical" car magazine reader! I have expectations. I want value for my money. Sorry, publishers - I'm your worst nightmare!

 

Nicole,

I couldn't agree more!

ZZZzzzzzzzz

 

I have not seen this one but they usually switch the pictures on the pages

 

Nicole, don't be too harsh on them. After all, they are American's.

Just so that no one get this wrong I do have decade worth of Road & Track's, Car & Driver's, Motor Trend's etc. and all four 928 Forum's.

Erkka
1992 928 GTS 5-speed going nowhere
Oak Green Metallic 22L
Classic Gray MX

 

Nicole: You have provided a well thought and thorough critique!! I had a subsription, I let it go and would check it on the newstand occasionally, but it's probably been a year since I even looked at Excellence. I can understand why they don't cover the 928, but as to the other content you suggest, I hope Adam is reading your post. 928 Forum with its minor short comings is our only hope. I am renewing for another year. Jim Bailey is right, we have a small fire started and I hope it grows by addressing some of your suggestions.

 

If I said that I'd be asked to leave the country...