Do you think of your 997 as an "exotic"?
12-10-2010, 07:32 PM
#1
Racer
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 450
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Do you think of your 997 as an "exotic"?
I was out to dinner last night and pulled into a swanky place and was confronted by a couple of Gallardos, R8s and a Maserati GranTurismo and thought "wow - nice cars!"
I love my Porsche (my first) but looking at those others cars, I get the "wow" feeling - I think of those cars as more special than mine. Price wise, they are in the same ballpark (ish) and Porsches are not all that common around here so there is probably no logical reason for this feeling.
What about you?
I love my Porsche (my first) but looking at those others cars, I get the "wow" feeling - I think of those cars as more special than mine. Price wise, they are in the same ballpark (ish) and Porsches are not all that common around here so there is probably no logical reason for this feeling.
What about you?
12-10-2010, 07:41 PM
#2
Rennlist Member
Modern Porsches are wonderful, beautiful automobiles, but there are far too many of them on the road for them to be considered "exotics."
In Southern California you also see lot of P-cars being driven daily to-and-from work, further debunking the whole "exotic" deal.
I actually like the fact that Porsches are real cars, not super-special, big-bling cars.
In Southern California you also see lot of P-cars being driven daily to-and-from work, further debunking the whole "exotic" deal.
I actually like the fact that Porsches are real cars, not super-special, big-bling cars.
12-10-2010, 07:41 PM
#3
Rennlist Member
I think the only versions in 997 lineup that qualify for exotic is GT2RS and maybe GT3RS. GT2, GT3, and turbo are botherline cases.
Almost all Ferrari and Lambo are exotic. Maserati GT is not exotic at all.
Almost all Ferrari and Lambo are exotic. Maserati GT is not exotic at all.
12-10-2010, 07:58 PM
#7
Race Director
I think 98% of the population would consider a $100K+ automobile with basically two seats and minimal luggage capacity as an exotic. Those of us who own these cars are probably a little desensitized as to what most people think is normal or even rational to spend on a vehicle.
That said, call me irrational, because I don't consider my car an exotic, at least not in the same sense as a Ferrari or Lambo.
That said, call me irrational, because I don't consider my car an exotic, at least not in the same sense as a Ferrari or Lambo.
Trending Topics
12-10-2010, 08:04 PM
#8
i agree with mike. since we own these cars we have become desensitized. for those who do not own one they would think it as a "wow its a porsche". everything is relative. one thing going against our porsches is the relative number of cars around. fortunately for me where i am there is still very few going around and everywhere i go i get wows. fewer even are the lambos and ferraris, but people here think its stupid to get one because you cant really drive one without overheating the thing or what not..
12-10-2010, 08:08 PM
#9
just got back from taking my 997 to the UPS store to mail some packages, parked it between two SUV's.
on the way, was stopped at a light next to an identical 997.
on the way home, I did a double-take at the 360 Spider going the other way.
so no, it's not an exotic, at least not in my mind (or zip code
)
on the way, was stopped at a light next to an identical 997.
on the way home, I did a double-take at the 360 Spider going the other way.
so no, it's not an exotic, at least not in my mind (or zip code
)
12-10-2010, 08:24 PM
#12
Rennlist Member
12-10-2010, 08:25 PM
#13
12-10-2010, 08:28 PM
#14
Rennlist Member
Fair point. Back in the day, the 94 Flachbau (sp?) and 92 US Cups were certainly exotic... Today, it is more a marketing gimmick.
How about this - "limited production 911s with significant performance or visual enhancements"
(I can't write that with a straight face... I keep thinking of Vanilla Ice's 1989 Gambella travesty....)
To that point though - is a a Ruf or Gambella an exotic?
-B
How about this - "limited production 911s with significant performance or visual enhancements"
(I can't write that with a straight face... I keep thinking of Vanilla Ice's 1989 Gambella travesty....)
To that point though - is a a Ruf or Gambella an exotic?
-B
12-10-2010, 08:56 PM
#15
Rennlist Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Southern California
Posts: 1,429
Likes: 0
Received 15 Likes
on
15 Posts
I think 98% of the population would consider a $100K+ automobile with basically two seats and minimal luggage capacity as an exotic. Those of us who own these cars are probably a little desensitized as to what most people think is normal or even rational to spend on a vehicle.
That said, call me irrational, because I don't consider my car an exotic, at least not in the same sense as a Ferrari or Lambo.
That said, call me irrational, because I don't consider my car an exotic, at least not in the same sense as a Ferrari or Lambo.
Some insurance companies consider the 997 an exotic. Mine does not because of that fifty-year thingie. They can find top quality shops who understand how to work on a Porsche without going to outrageous lengths if someone crashes into mine. They consider a car exotic (and charge appropriately) when they have to truck it a hundred miles to a specialty shop just to repair a minor scrape.
On the other hand, at another discussion group, someone of the marginally hostile personality type answered one of my notes on a completely unrelated subject by remarking that I was no one to talk [about something I've completely forgotten] since I was willing to drive a car that required tires costing $300 each. He being a person I'd as soon never spoke to me in the first place, I responded that I wish he'd tell me where he found them for that bargain price. But that's not relevant. My point is he was the obnoxious tip of a pretty general feeling I suspect. Absent the hostility, I'm sure most people feel that way about those of us who own Porsches.
Cindy and I grew up in Newport Beach where Ferraris and Maseratis and Astons indeed were three to the parking lot. On Balboa and Lido Islands anyway. Now we live in a rural part of California and I guarantee you the people here consider the 997 to be an exotic. Hell, I think they feel that way about the 35-year-old 911 models that predominate in the local PCA chapter. They love our car and I get flattering comments regularly in parking lots, and even at lights, but it certainly is not an ordinary car in their minds. It is not merely expensive, which they see all the time. It is special in that way that means different and exciting. At grocery stores, those kids who bag vie to be the one who gets to load our car.
My grandmother used to say "There's always somebody taller, smarter, or richer. Don't get full of yourself." So our attitude is a healthy one by her standards (and they haven't failed me yet). Nevertheless, I'm pretty sure the rest of the world has to look so far up the car ladder to see the rungs holding Porsches and Ferraris and Lambos that they consider them all clumped together as a bunch of wildly exciting and impractical cars by their own standards.
So yeah, I'd say ours are 'exotics'. Even though my gut agrees with several comments already. Even 'ordinary' Ferraris don't seem that exotic to me. I grew up around them. That Ferrari you buy and leave with the factory to be shipped to tracks occasionally for your diversion, or a Gump[?] or a Panoz or a Fiddlebangermeister... Those are the only cars my gut immediately shouts 'exotic' about.
Gary