[firecall999]

I first wanted a Porsche over anything else when then phrase "a super car you can use every day" or something similar, was being used in the car mags in the '80s. This really appealed to me. A car so tough and so fast that I can drive it to school and rip up Sierra Cosworths on the home and still have a car that looks like a super model.

I care about engineering and quality. I dont care about air cooled or water cooled. I like cars that have a heritage and purity. I like cars that count for something. And the 996 does and has all of that. It may not be to every ones taste, but so what??!!

I think with the design of the 996 they have actually tried to get back to basics. Anyone who moans about how plain it looks should look at the early 911. These cars have very clean straight lines. Its the later cars they have the add ons and flared wheel arches. The 996 is really a really clean and sharp piece of design. It has a purity of form that is seldom seen in cars nowadays. Ok, so it looks a bit like the Boxster, which for some people cheapens it, and that may have been a mistake, but it is still a piece of automotive art.

The 996 may not be a 911, but it doesnt have to be, to us (i.e. owners of the earlier cars), its a marketing tool. Its a brand, the name Porsche 911 must be up there with Marboro and Mcdonalds for brand recognition.
It doesnt have to be a real 911because Porsche dont make *real* 911s anymore. So move on and foget about it. Accept the 966 for what it is and appreciate that. In a few years you might be saying "they dont make 996s like they used to".

On a personal level I dont think the 911 has ever looked like a 911 since 1973.5.
The early cars rule. Anything else just isnt a 911. The design was ruined at that point.

And to remake my point at the start - Porsche still make useable everyday super cars, and that is what Porsche is about.
My little brothers dream of owning Porsches today. Because Porsche still makes cars that do that for people. They may be different people than you or me, but Porsche still do it. for them

When I turned up at my Parents house with my 911, my whole family came out to see. I took my 18 brother for a ride. He was intially a little disapointed because he though it would look like some massive tarmac monster, but it looked almost dainty in his opinion. But as soon as I dumped the clutch at the lights and he looked back and saw how far away everyone was and he heard that "sound" he knew just how cool the car was. At the end of the trip he said "There needs to be cars like this".
I think he was almost afraid that governement would outlaw *real* sports cars and he would never get to drive one.

The 996 is a sports car and it is an everyday super car. But maybe cars are just too clean these days. Maybe they dont smell of oil or petrol anymore.

I think I confused my argument there a little, but I guess at the end of the day, I just dont know....

Alex "loads of Wine drunk tonight" Counsell.