Jeremy Clarkson on Porsche
05-14-2010, 11:33 AM
#1
Race Director
Thread Starter
Jeremy Clarkson on Porsche
Shamelessly stolen from the OT forum.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/dri...cle7118301.ece
He has never liked the air cooled 911's but he really likes the new GT3.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/dri...cle7118301.ece
He has never liked the air cooled 911's but he really likes the new GT3.
Now I should make it plain that I have never let a 911 out of a side turning, either. Not because I despise the man who’s driving it, but because I have always despised the car, a machine born of an original idea by Hitler. The engine was in the wrong place, the handling was suspect, the styling never really changed and the air-cooled noise made me think I was in Martin Bormann. Plus, Richard Hammond has one.
I will admit that since Porsche moved the powerplant forward and began using water to cool the block, rather than air, things have improved. In recent years I’ve even admitted a grudging respect for the way these throwbacks drive. But I’ve never liked the 911. I’ve never thought of owning one. They were, you might say, a bit like Margaret Thatcher. You could admire her but at no point did you think: “Mmmm.”
I will admit that since Porsche moved the powerplant forward and began using water to cool the block, rather than air, things have improved. In recent years I’ve even admitted a grudging respect for the way these throwbacks drive. But I’ve never liked the 911. I’ve never thought of owning one. They were, you might say, a bit like Margaret Thatcher. You could admire her but at no point did you think: “Mmmm.”
Last edited by Slow Guy; 05-14-2010 at 11:55 AM.
05-14-2010, 02:15 PM
#2
Drifting
Join Date: Aug 2006
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The Simon Cowell of the automotive world. Jeremy's in the business of being outspoken. If he was an unopinionated milquetoast, he'd have no career. Being contrarian to an icon is an easy way to get attention and makes people post in web forums...like...right...now.
Really, his complaints cover no new ground that we haven't already heard. That said, I do enjoy his show quite a bit.
Really, his complaints cover no new ground that we haven't already heard. That said, I do enjoy his show quite a bit.
05-14-2010, 03:54 PM
#5
Rennlist Member
Later in his report he writes:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/dri...cle7118301.ece
As the miles wore on, I started to think that maybe I could live with this car. And then I started to wonder how it would be possible to not live with it. I was falling in love.
Today 911s are generally driven, I’ve noticed, by grey-haired, sensible people who need some common sense in their lives but who at the same time cannot live without the extraordinary feel of that steering. It’s a bug, and I fear I have it too. I want a GT3.
05-14-2010, 04:23 PM
#7
Three Wheelin'
It's almost a requirement that to be sucessful in the media these days you have to be a windbag who makes controversial statements. We have plenty of them here in the US too. The days of Edward R Murrow are long gone.
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05-14-2010, 04:48 PM
#9
Shamelessly stolen from the OT forum.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/dri...cle7118301.ece
He has never liked the air cooled 911's but he really likes the new GT3.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/dri...cle7118301.ece
He has never liked the air cooled 911's but he really likes the new GT3.
As far as I know he owns a Lambo himself. And last I checked they had their engines in the same location as the 911.
What does that tell you?
05-14-2010, 04:56 PM
#10
Burning Brakes
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05-14-2010, 05:06 PM
#11
Drifting
05-14-2010, 05:08 PM
#12
05-14-2010, 06:56 PM
#13
Who the hell is this guy... he must be British! Listen... the "Brisish Empire" fell by the wayside long ago! It is this kind of thinking that made the British surrender the motorcycle world to the Japanese and then they also lost the technological edge when they could not advance anything in the rest of the automotive industry.
LOL just a poor loser!
Bert
LOL just a poor loser!
Bert
05-14-2010, 07:28 PM
#14
Rennlist Member
I think they they first covered that with a 914-6. Thus my confusion. I really think he read some press babbling, or was told, that the engine has been moved forward in some way over the generations. If so, I absolutely would like to know. The wheelbase of a 996 is longer than the 993. OK, so did that change the relationship of the transaxle in the chassis? (Remember when the long bellhousing 930 came out in '78? You'd have thought Nixon was reinstated as President with the howling about how "stupid" it was to move the engine back even further. Then everyone wanted a short bellhousing 3.0 930 tranny. But I never really could tell the difference.)
05-14-2010, 08:49 PM
#15
Three Wheelin'
I will admit that since Porsche moved the powerplant forward and began using water to cool the block, rather than air, things have improved.