Ray S

I've been doing some end of year filling in my office and I just came across the following article that I had torn out of Excellence Magazine. I've copied it below.

Excellence Commentary, December 2006

With each new model from Porsche comes criticism that the company has lost its way - that it's building cars too heavy, luxurious, stylized, or easy to drive. Car and Driver summed up this great debate nicely in a road test I came across recently:

"With an old Porsche, sailing into a turn over our head meant the tail would start describing a great wiping arc. Lots of crossed-arms unwinding of the wheels was necessary to keep from looping or running off the road backwards. Porsche buffs were nuts about this untidy technique; they prided themselves on their ability to 'wischen' around corners as sideways as the tires would permit. It looked fabulous to the racy set, but scared the bejeezus out of all of those timid souls standing around, cash in hand, ready to buy something less dicey.....

Renovation brought about a car that has virtually neutral steering characteristics; handling so safe that only the most hapless, witless, inept driver could let the car get away from him."

I wasn't reading about the latest 987 or 997, though - this passage appeared in an older road test. The first water-cooled 911 of 1998? Nope.

1977's 928 V8? Sorry - these words are found in C/D's review of a 356 1600S in its October, 1963 issue. The issue is full of observations turned into jems by hindsight. Take build quality, for instance:

"Of course Porsches are no longer built by hand; the kindly-faced Old World mechanic is no longer responsible for each engine bearing his personal stamp. In fact, [the] facilities are among the most 'rationalized,' modern and integrated in Europe. This has had a slightly detrimental effect, mainly on bodywork, which was hitherto done by outside firms"

Has time rendered C/D's observations in 1963 invalid? No. Having driven a '51 356 back to back with a '64 model, I can see how that '63 356 must have felt very advanced in 1963. The writer just didn't have the "advantage" of the perspective we can apply today. Time and Porsches have moved on, as have our expectations. Myriad innovations in comfort and safety have allowed Porsches to remain truly usable as daily transportation in the eyes of the company's clientele - while tire advances, fuel injection, multi-link suspension, electronics, and much more have made them perform better than anyone could have imagined in 1963. Or 1980, when Porschephiles feared the 911 would be replaced by the 928.

And what did C/D say then? Opined one staffer: "The 911SC is as good as it can be made. Porsche has massaged, refined, reworked, and improved on until the car is as near perfection as it can be. And that's why it will go away. Innovation and challenge are very important to Porsche. The 911 no longer provides either." Thankfully, the 911 has come a long way since.

As it always has been, today's Porsche is a product of technological advances, market demands, and government regulations. A 997 or 987 nay bear little resemblance to the 356 C/D saw as "too sophisticated," but there's a common thread when each is compared to its contemporary competition. All three Porsches manage more with less, in a package designed to make daily use a joy. In my mind, that is what has always separated Porsches from every other sports car on the planet. PGS

gota911

Interesting reading, Ray. Thanks for posting.

You should post this over on the 993 Forum!

ls911

like Lions and Hyenas

Interesting, that was good reading Ray, sums thing up nicely.