Hi,

As a new owner, I've been posting a few question and want to
thank everyone helping out. It is nice to find people with
the same passion for motoring that I have. I thought I
would start a post of something that I think about: (long)

Porsche as Art.

I recently bought polar silver 1996 C4S to replace my much
loved white 81 SC. I was checking out of a store and I
noticed a man standing in front of my car. He must have
been frozen to stop for atleast five minutes. When I walked
out, he said "That is a beautiful car". He just smiled and
walked off. I found it interesting that he did not say
"that looks fast" or "that looks expensive".

Off all the cars that I think are truly beautiful, porsche
comes the closest to my ideal.

Art takes nature as its model.
-Aristotle

There is something organic about the shape of the car. (Just
my opinion, the 993, especially the S cars are the most
beautiful) It curves suggest smooth muscles underneath. Its
graceful arch suggests a pacific sea shell. It has a natural
character to it. We can take as a contrast a Lotus Esprit. Its
form although interesting, is not very organic and therefore
I feel less appealing. This is true of many performance cars. The
classics all have a strong hit of nature.

Form ever follows function.
-Louis H. Sullivan

The car is surprisingly simple. Simple is also surprisingly hard
to do in art. As your eyes move over the car, they flow smoothly.
It is idea of the sports car that porsche it trying to realize. It
form (design/mechanics) must follow the function of sports driving.
Ferraris are pretty cars, but I notice that they are not driven like
porsches. A porsche is meant to driven daily and aggressively. It is
the realization of the function that make the porsche so appealing to me.
The fact the mechanics of the car are so reliable (I had fever
problems with my 81 SC than I do with my current family SUV) and well
considered make it a true sports car, not just a pretty face. It
beautiful because it fulfills the purpose of a sports car.

I get (almost) as much please buy looking at the car as I do as driving. It
stirs the driving urge everytime. It make want to jump in and find a winding
road.


Thoughts?

Sid

 

Sid,
Nice topic. If a toilet bowl or a cup of pee can be considered art then why not a 911? Or a waterfall for that matter, or a tree you like to sit under?

Art is what appears in a gallery. If you get a famous painter to paint some dots on a Carrera and put it in a Manhattan gallery for a week - then it is art.

 

I can't agree more with what you said, Sid

 

Same here, but I would also add the sound dimension (Remember Herbert von Karajan, an avid 911 driver - I remember his showing up at the Zurich opera house years back in an exclusive Martini Racing 911 turbo when he had to direct once, said, "the sound of a 911 is only beaten by a good Mozart")

 

Sid,

Fabulous post!!! Every time I approach the car, I can't help but marvel at its beauty. Truly, the car DRAWS my attention (just ask my wife). Just last Saturday, my wife and I went out to dinner in the porsche (she's rarely in it) and as we walked back toward the car, she noticed me sort of guiding her in a roundabout path. Busted! Yes, I admit it, I was waliking "around" toward the car to catch how the different curves flow and how that brilliant red dispersed the reflected light. Guilty as charged, but loving it!

Edward

 

Sid,
You put into words much of what I have felt about Porsches since 1973 when I fell in love with my neighbors '73 S (now if he had a beautiful daughter, it could have been a different story ).

The basic 901 shape has always moved me all the way through the 993. I owned an '83 SC for 12 years and it was the best and most reliable car I have ever owned until the 993. Strange as it may sound to many, (except those on this board) I often find myself just sitting in my garage sipping a glass of cabernet gazing at my Porsche. I have never done that with any other car I have ever owned, except the SC.

The beauty of the car is both form and function. It pleases all senses, sight, sound, feel (try one DE you will be hooked!), and smell (interior is very distinctive). I really cannot comment on taste though <img src="graemlins/c.gif" border="0" alt="[ouch]" />

It is hard to articulate, but there simply is no other car I would rather have in my stable <img src="graemlins/bigok.gif" border="0" alt="[thumbsup]" />

 

David,

I'm thrilled to hear that I'm not the only one with this problem! Perhaps I should show this to my wife also, as she often finds me out in the garage doing the same thing.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by David '96 993: Strange as it may sound to many, (except those on this board) I often find myself just sitting in my garage sipping a glass of cabernet gazing at my Porsche. I have never done that with any other car I have ever owned, except the SC.

Take care,

Jess

 

[quote]Strange as it may sound to many, (except those on this board) I often find myself just sitting in my garage sipping a glass of cabernet gazing at my Porsche. <hr></blockquote>

[quote]I'm thrilled to hear that I'm not the only one with this problem! Perhaps I should show this to my wife also, as she often finds me out in the garage doing the same thing. <hr></blockquote>

How about getting caught in the garage dusting the car down.....AGAIN!

Sick,sick people <img src="graemlins/jumper.gif" border="0" alt="[jumper]" />

Edward

 

Sid,

Well said. I think there are no better looking cars, and I have long considered them art. In fact, that's how I initially rationalized having more than one. People who love paintings or sculpture often have more than one, so why not Porsches? The benefits of driving different ones adds to the satisfaction.

I'm in a really good mood this week, since winter in Michigan is drawing to a close and I took both cars out of storage late last week. I've been on cloud nine (well, cloud nine, one, one) ever since.

Will

 

I have always been nuts about 911's (surprise, surprise...), but since having the car repainted speed yellow, it has gotten pretty extreme. I rained here in Zurich yesterday, and I went out 3 times, and I rinsed and dried the car, guess (yup, 3 times)... The cars curves have been accentuated with speed yellow and I just love that color! Good thing I opted for early retirement, because I have plenty of time to keep it spotlessly clean. And I will need it, because it is no garage queen, I use it daily... I even secretly have a snapshot of it in my wallet... Man, if my girl friend ever finds out... (I don't have one of her in my wallet... gulp)

 

I agree with you that the lighter colors accentuate the curves on our cars. I know white isn't the most popular color, but man, does it look good in person. That fat rear but really shows from the rear, whereas the darker cars seem a little narrower.

&lt;-- That's my Glacier White Carrera S to the left.

Will

 

993RS wrote: "I even secretly have a snapshot of it in my wallet... "

Wow..this could be a new low. Or is it a new high?

Pete in D.C.
89 C4

 

The impressions I get each time I look at my car (polar silver 993) are its unique blend of having strength in depth but also delicay. Its a magic mix and virtually impossible to design or manufacture if anyone sets out specifically to achieve these. Its a shape that is complete and needs nothing added, nothing taken away. I prefer the narrow body cars because I think they are better proportioned but its horses for courses on this one.

Overall it displays what happens so rarely in life when something turns out so right that it hits so hard on the sweet spot - it cannot be repeated, improved or redesigned with a blank sheet even if it wanted to.

 

Hey Will,

It still boggles my mind that a white porsche does not have good resale value.
I think white is one of the most stunning colors on a Porsche.

b

 

Time to revive this gem, IMHO.