John930,

[quote]I had/have 2 SUVs, so according to you, i must be hanged!!<hr></blockquote>

Umm, err, well, ah, never mind...

Dranon,

[quote]People can't see the practicality of things if they don't have the NEED for them!!!!<hr></blockquote>

I can only imagine what you need with 5 kids, our 3 dogs require a big boot.

 

You guys have got to be kidding me. All this snobbery because Porsche can no longer in some of your opinions be considered a sports car company. Tell me something...did it bother you when Toyota came in and showed em how to do things better if not more profitably and efficiently? Does it bother you that todays 996TT's and Boxsters, though fast and great handling and all that, have none of the personality of the older cars they replace? When I sit in any of the new Porsche's I can't help but think of Japanese cars and you know what? It doesn't bother me one bit.

That's life. Things change. As long as they're building something sporty then suck it up, buy it and drive. Why all this endless worry about the brand name?

Wasn't it Lamborgini that originally built tractors? Do you think all the farmers sat on the fence all day to bitch and moan about his entering the sports car market against Ferrari?
A Lamborghini tractor won't be special anymore when some young rich lazy idiot is driving one too.

Good grief. Get over it or invent a time machine and hop in it.

 

[quote]Originally posted by LastV8:
[QB]...Does it bother you that todays 996TT's and Boxsters, though fast and great handling and all that, have none of the personality of the older cars they replace? When I sit in any of the new Porsche's I can't help but think of Japanese cars and you know what? It doesn't bother me one bit...QB]<hr></blockquote>

It bothers me, that's why I have 993 instead of 996 or Boxster. Great cars they are (especially -02 model, certainly better) but that lack of 'personaility' bothers me, but those are still great cars, and more importanly, spotscars, however, a truck..?

[quote]Originally posted by LastV8:
[QB]...That's life. Things change. As long as they're building something sporty then suck it up, buy it and drive...QB]<hr></blockquote>

Things change, which is good, but when you see a great, unique product turning into a mass product (no matter what kind of product it is), that is not good thing, not at all.

If everything in the world was made by same company, every car was the same color, same shape etc. then you'd be happy?

 

Finn,

Glad mine is hand built, but I am tempted to upgrade...to a '97 TT of course

 

Ah, TT, you're tempted, well who isn't?!

If I only had the money... <img src="graemlins/r.gif" border="0" alt="[king]" />
But some day... Welcome RS or TT!

 

U have a good point and funny. The only reason i dont like the 996TT is because i cant afford it.

[quote]Originally posted by LastV8:
<strong>Tell me something...did it bother you when Toyota came in and showed em how to do things better if not more profitably and efficiently? Does it bother you ....</strong><hr></blockquote>

 

Finn, no I wouldn't be happy if everything were made by the same company, same shape, color etc...but you know what I found out when I went shopping for a new car in February? That a lot more crap than you or I would like to imagine are made by the same people. If not the whole car then certainly the parts underneath and it's not getting any better. There are hardly any more independent design houses anymore and everyone seems to be buying the same designs only to alter them slightly before they put whatever it is they're trying to come up with into production. This is why one can hardly tell anything apart out there anymore. Have you seen pictures of the new Honda S2000, I mean Corvette, oh sorry wait a minute, excuse me, Viper???? Good googly moogly.

Finn, I don't have an answer for you but the blame for this lies far deeper than Porsche. Not that I was ever a big fan or owned one but I wasn't crazy about Ford's takeover of Jaguar or them messing with Volvo for that matter. BMW engines in British cars? What is the world coming to?

It is corporate culture if not just plain capitalism at work. Look, I'm not trying to slam anyone on the board, it's just that I not only see the writing on the wall, there's a big graffiti artist up there with no shortage of spray paint cans. My solution? Keep my 928 up and running as long as possible, and spend money on engine upgrades. Wait, wasn't that Porsche guy blaming the companies predicament on me holding on to my old 928? No, he was blaming 911 owners....that's right. (flame shield up)

Hey Mr. Ceo, you just make sure that V8 bolts up in my 928 properly, kick in some electronics and you'll have bought my silence...at least until the next vehicular experiment is pronounced.

<img src="graemlins/roflmao.gif" border="0" alt="[hiha]" />

 

V8,

I totally agree about all that corporate crap that world is full of, but you said, that doesn't bother you? Obviously it does, and your plan is to stick with your 928 like you said.

Good for you, I'm doing the same thing with my 993 (& 911).

But seriously, even though I wasn't happy with the direction Porsche was going with their current line up, you know, having cupholders in a sportscar, more luxury items, less 'true Porsche', making it to every man's car, not so much 'drivers car' as it used to be etc, but I never could imagine them building a truck! <img src="graemlins/cussing.gif" border="0" alt="[grrrrrrr]" />

Maybe the reason was to take people like me from complaining their sportscars!

 

Actually I should say that it just doesn't bother me that much. As much as cars seem to be converging into one thing there are plenty of tuners out there striving to make things interesting and different.

To me it seems that it's simply becoming more involved or challenging to get some individuality out of ones car. For instance, look at CJV's car, or the 996TT he had built, looks like there's plenty of personality and individuality there.

Anyway, like I said, it's not so much that it does or does not bother me, but I'd like to think of myself as flexible.

K <img src="graemlins/yltype.gif" border="0" alt="[typing]" />

 

[quote]Originally posted by LastV8:
<strong>Wasn't it Lamborgini that originally built tractors? Do you think all the farmers sat on the fence all day to bitch and moan about his entering the sports car market against Ferrari?
A Lamborghini tractor won't be special anymore when some young rich lazy idiot is driving one too.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Ah...
I don't know about Lamborghini, but Porsche definitely built tractors.

 

I think I remember reading that somewhere as well Icat. The thing I read about Lamborghini was that he decided to build a sports car when he became disatisfied with this Ferrari. He felt he could do it better or something to that effect.

 

Story goes...

Mr. Lamborghini said to his engineers:

"...I want you to build a car that when I say to my wife I'm going out to buy cigarettes, is so good looking that first good looking lady will come with me to the hotel, and is so fast that when I'll come back, my wife says: "that was fast honey!..."

Little different than what boys at Stuttgart told to their designers...

"...we want to have a car, that rolls over easily, every soccer mom likes, but 25 years old hotties couldn't care less and has so much cargo space that we can fit 30 grocery bags in there easily, oh! You can take all the Porsche badges from the racing department, we don't need them anymore..."

Voila! Instead of a sportscar, we now have a trcuk!

 

Yu know, that conversation could've gone very differently. As someone who's been involved in the sports of skiing and soccer I can assure you that there is nothing more neglected or quite as willing than a "soccer mom".

Hmmm. I'd say when you consider all the pent up energy there, you'll find that the average soccer mom will find the size, shape and suspension settings quite to her liking.

Then she'll drive home in relaxed comfort.

 

I'm sure every soccer mom is very happy with Cayenne, I have no doubt about that. Or anyone who wants an SUV, I'm sure will be happy with Cayenne.

But what's you point? Instead of sportscars, Porsche should start building only trucks?

Then again, how about those 18-wheel truckers out there, who is thinking about them?

Why Porsche isn't building 18 wheelers too? I'm sure many trucker would be happy with 'Porsche quality engineered' 18 wheeler...
Think about it, that connolly leather horn wire, forged aluminum horns on the roof and best of all, 10" tall badge...

Hey, now I got it! New phrase for Porsche!
Instead of that "every Porsche is a sportscar" which obviously is unusable soon, they can now change it to...

"KEEP ON TRUCKIN'!"

(can you guys hear Willie singing "... on the road again...) <img src="graemlins/roflmao.gif" border="0" alt="[hiha]" />

 

Finn, I'm sorry, I wasn't making any point in particular, just jokes.

However, now that you mention it, I don't see why not. Why shouldn't Porsche build all manner of things machine. Long as there's a sportscar division I truly don't see the problem. Does that really make a difference in the way your particular car performs. Is a Corvette any faster or slower because of the Tahoe? I mean really? Why go through life so inflexible? So resistant to change? They're building a Cayenne, they didn't say we're gonna stop building everything else and make trucks and Porsche people are going to end up buying it to drive when the sportscar should stay in the garage.

Look, far as I know Panoz is making only sports cars, Ferrari, McLaren, well, I don't know about McLaren, they make a lot of stuff, but you get the point.

The cheese and crackers are on me. Do you want salted or are you watching your blood pressure? <img src="graemlins/bigok.gif" border="0" alt="[thumbsup]" />