mpm '95 C4

Give me a break...

He states, "It is the clearly stated policy of the PCA to welcome Cayenne owners unreservedly." He goes on the make it seem like Porsche created the whole SUV concept, or at least has been close to it in spirit. ANd further that it is almost natural that this is where Porsche should expand its product line.

Please...

Attention Micheal Cotton and everyone else back in Stutgart (and especially Fred Schwab at PCNA), the only reason you built this thing is to get a piece of this SUV market. Not wrong with making money. We need you to make money.

But guess what - the market is dead. Nobody is buying SUVs. You've taken your eye off the ball, and shifted Porsche brand into the also-ran catagory. Dr. Ferry is rolling over in his grave. And this hugh investment is DOA. Thanks a lot.

You could have spent those hard earned Euros on a sports sedan that will always find a market. Or, God help us, on a racing program that we could all be proud of. It's great that we ruled the GT3 class (untill BMW pulled a Porsche move and stuffed a V8 into the M3). But were else is Porsche represented - except by the privateers?

Sorry Micheal Cotton...

The Cayanne has to earn its stripes, just as the 996 has to, and don't be surprised when this SUV experiment goes down in flames. I only hope all the marketing geniuses don't take the company down with them.

993RS

Maybe in the long run it is better if Porsche gets into financial difficulties, is bought by some large automobile company, who then puts them back on track giving us what we want again...

Ray Calvo

You gave me the incentive to send a "Letters to the Editor", as follows:

I recently read Michael Cotton's "European Windows" column, and thought this was absolute garbage. He feels that we should "welcome Cayenne owners unreservedly". I frankly cannot bring myself to do so. The Porsches of recent history (till the advent of the "Chili Pepper") have been oriented toward the high performance car enthusiast; the person who enjoys sporty driving on a back road, up through the mountains or through the forests.
Porsches were designed with this in mind - until now. The "Chili Pepper" was designed and built for one purpose - to bulge up the coffers of Porshe AG. The vast majority of buyers of this barge will NOT be the sports car oriented traditional Porsche types; they will be the ones looking for an alternative to a BMW X5 or a Mercedes-Benz ML. To put these in the same group of folks as a Boxster or 996 buyer is a joke.

Michael, get real and stop knuckling under to Porsche management.

P.S. - anybody remember a saying in Porsche sales literature - "Every Porsche ever built was a race car"? Don't see that much any more, do you?

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So, where's YOUR "Letters to the Editor"??? B*tching here won't accomplish anything!

E. J. - 993 Alumni

I did like Ferry's quote when asked in '85 if the new technology, in conjunction with the electronics, take all problems out of the drivers hands:



Now that is a car guy and a Porsche guy even more. Wonder what he thinks about the Cayenne?

E. J.

mpm '95 C4

Good point Ray, I think I'll pen a note to Pano. After reading it again, it got me even more peaved.

If Porsche was an early adopter to the SUV market, why did it take untill 2002 to build one? If they wanted to joint build one they could have done that much earlier. If they really wanted to make more money they should have tuned an Audi, BMW or MB.

More then anything it is the tone of his writing that I object to the most. I was somewhat indifferent to this thuing up to know, but this puts me over the top.

Lets see if they publish our responces.

George from MD

I'm pretty much in agreement with you guys. I don't know what happens to the club when it goes "national" (as I have the greatest respect for the local officers and volunteers) but I swear they'd endorse a Buick if Stuttgart so commanded.

I will say that Panorama has at least decided, lately, to publish some criticism of Porsche. For far too long there was no dissenting opinion at all. I also get Roundel; it's apparent that BMWCCA is not afraid to criticize the mother company loud and long when its warranted (and sometimes when it isn't). And I don't think they have any less love for their cars or the company than we do.

Does anyone have any idea what explains this?

Bob C.

Good Lord! For a number of reasons, I also hate the idea of Porsche building a truck right now. However, IMHO, you guys are reading much more into Cotton's column than is really there.

mpm, a few comments regarding your posts:

<<"It is the clearly stated policy of the PCA to welcome Cayenne owners unreservedly.">>

Why quote this? Of course that is PCA's policy. It must be their policy to welcome *all* Porsche owners unreservedly.

Whether or not individual members of PCA choose to live down to the porcupine/Porsche-owner mentality and thumb their noses at Cayenne owners remains the choice of individual members.

<<He goes on the make it seem like Porsche created the whole SUV concept, or at least has been close to it in spirit.>>

Actually, he provided a short history lesson of Porsche's involvement (both Ferdinand and Ferry) with four-wheel drive vehicles, not necessarily SUVs.

At one point, he specifically said, "It is interesting to theorize that if Porsche had decided to go into competition with Land Rover, which had started out in 1948 and discovered markets in the First, Second and Third Worlds, then Sport Utility Vehicles might have been defined in Zuffenhausen many years ago."

It sounds to me like Cotton specifically credited Land Rover with creating the "SUV concept".

<<Attention Micheal Cotton and everyone else back in Stutgart (and especially Fred Schwab at PCNA), the only reason you built this thing...>>

Perhaps I'm inferring a bit too much from your statement, but AFAIK, Michael Cotton doesn't live in Stuttgart, and he certainly doesn't work for Porsche. He's simply an auto/motorsports journalist who happens to be a fan of the Porsche marque.

Fred Schwab, as head of PCNA, has very little influence on anything PAG chooses to do.

Instead, the whole SUV decision sits a bit closer to Wiedeking's feet.

<<...And this hugh investment is DOA.>>

I would welcome the failure of the Cayenne if it caused Porsche to re-focus its efforts on engineering and building world-class sports cars and taking them to the track where they belong.

However, I'll bet you the Cayenne will be hugely successful in the short term.

<<...Or, God help us, on a racing program that we could all be proud of.>>

Now, I agree with you 100%. ...and so does Michael Cotton (just read almost any of his previous columns, September's in particular).

<<Lets see if they publish our responces.>>

They won't. AFAIK, Pano *never* publishes "Letters to the Editor".

Ray Calvo:

<<He feels that we should "welcome Cayenne owners unreservedly". I frankly cannot bring myself to do so.>>

What exactly are you going to do if/when a Cayenne hangs with your Porsche on the track during a PCA DE and then the owner wanders up to you in the paddock afterward to pat you on the back and tell you how much fun (s)he had?

<<The Porsches of recent history (till the advent of the "Chili Pepper") have been oriented toward the high performance car enthusiast; the person who enjoys sporty driving on a back road, up through the mountains or through the forests. Porsches were designed with this in mind - until now.>>

Did you read the part about the Cayenne lapping the Nuerburgring as quickly as a Boxster S? Plus, the Cayenne can be driven straight up the side of a mountain. The Boxster S certainly can't do that.

<<The "Chili Pepper" was designed and built for one purpose - to bulge up the coffers of Porshe AG.>>

Why would Porsche do anything that didn't involve bulging up the coffers of PAG?

IMHO, the only question should be... Will it achieve this objective? In the short term, I think the answer is yes. In the long term, I'm not so sure.

<<Michael, get real and stop knuckling under to Porsche management.>>

Cotton has berated Porsche management on a number of occasions in his previous Pano articles.

In fact, in September's "European Windows" he lamented that Wiedeking is using the Cayenne as an excuse to forego a proper racing program.

<<...anybody remember a saying in Porsche sales literature - "Every Porsche ever built was a race car"? Don't see that much any more, do you?>>

That's a good point.

However, the same applies to Porsche's current crop of (non-turbo) sports cars as well. You don't see Porsche racing any cars with M96 engines in them.

In fact, Porsche specifically states that running race slicks on a Boxster will void the warranty due to the potential for oil starvation in the engine under high Gs. I assume the same holds true for today's 911.

I wonder if the engine(s) in the Cayenne will be race-worthy...

cecil

Bob, go cleanse yourself

mpm '95 C4

Great points Bob...

I still think Porsche could have made a better, cheaper and faster decision to build off Audi's A6 Avant platform, and had the best estate in the world - with money left to go racing...