Evolution of Porsche

[Janusz1]

" I wanted to build cars that are not something to everyone but everything to some"
Ferry Porsche

I am pondering over this sentence and wonder how very true it was.

But is it now?

What are your thoughts?

[Noah930]

I think the current lineup is more of the former, and less of the latter.

[Unobtainium]

Simplicity.
Form follows function.

"Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

[Groovie Ghoulie]

I think the spiritual successor to the true DNA are the GT cars, GT2, GT3, GT3RS etc. But in today's economic world, Porsche has to offer the bland models go generate enough sales to have the loony ones like ours.

So I think the company has evolved to survive.

[timc]

Originally Posted by Groovie Ghoulie

I think the spiritual successor to the true DNA are the GT cars, GT2, GT3, GT3RS etc. But in today's economic world, Porsche has to offer the bland models go generate enough sales to have the loony ones like ours.

So I think the company has evolved to survive.

+1. If Porsche had not "redefined" their production strategy with the introduction of the Boxster/996/997 cars, I don't think they would be around today. So, those "blah" cars have served a purpose.....

[Norm K]

[QUOTE=So I think the company has evolved to survive.[/QUOTE]

I think they evolved far less in the interest of survival than in good old market share. Lesser "blah" cars moved them downward in the marketplace where more (most) of us shop. An SUV got upscale soccer moms interested in the marque. And a four door helped to justify a Porsche as a company car. Yet they still offer the world what the world, in the end, knows them for and expects from them.

Oh, Porsche would've survived alright, for there still is no substitute ...

[M5guy]

Believe me, there are Porsche enthusiasts out there who still believe that the 356 is the True Porsche.

[Tippy]

The 996's maybe considered blah cars to many, but you can't ignore the technological and performance advancements it brought to the car world.

[Norm K]

Originally Posted by M5guy

Believe me, there are Porsche enthusiasts out there who still believe that the 356 is the True Porsche.

Maybe, but it seems to me that the OP used Dr. Porsche's quote in order to stir up a debate as to whether the company's recent (say, the last fifteen years or so) offerings are worthy decendants of the original design. Stating that the 356 is the "true" Porsche appears to be a tacit indictment of every Porsche that followed it. And that's just plain silly. If the 356 could talk, there's little doubt that it would still be shouting from the mountaintops, after some 35-odd years, the praises of it's younger brother, the 930.

[Les Paul]

Having driven my 50 year old 356 all over the country the last couple years has been a revelation. People get just plain goofy over it. 930 gets plenty of love but not like the old 356.

[Novelty Fashion]

I'll just leave this here:

"Now, to put a water-cooled engine in the rear and to have a radiator in the front, that's not very intelligent."
-Ferry Porsche (PANO, Oct. '73)

[Speedy Squirrel]

Did Porsche survive? Nope. Just not dead yet. Not family owned any more. That means something. Take it from somebody that works for a big auto concern.

[alwaysflat6s]

Don't forget who is actually in charge of the whole thing and his very long term relationship. The mad Dr!

Oh, and the quote. Good old days.

All the recent patting on back about profit margins while fleecing new buyers and ignoring serious issues with engines etc.... Honestly, I will never buy another new Porsche. I will probably buy a few more used ones when I have figured out which ones are less likely to self-detonate. I have 2 late model ones and you better have studied computers if you want to be able to DIY. It gets scary and I am trying to imagine what they will be like in another 20 or so years.

356. Cute and driving real history. But using one in the Bay Area traffic? Ever tried to keep up on I-5 at 90 in a 356? With a big car pushing you to go faster? If I still lived in a quiet area where I could enjoy cruising at moderate speeds but they don't thrash well like most 911s do. They are wonder cars in their own way. Have you been schussing in it? That used to be "the" way enthusiasts used them. [Please don't think I am putting down 356s. I have owned several and still have a Beck 550 to remind me of old time fun.]

Meanwhile, it is nice to remember what a genuine enthusiast company it used to be.

JR

[ej911]

I don't think they are even close. That is why real 911s are going up in value.

[oh snap]

I think you have to consider cars in the context of what else is being made at the time. Porsche still makes very well made sports cars that are among the most desirable on the road. They haven't lost their way so much as moved with the market.

[patina]

A quote taken from a friend of mine on similar context, hope this doesn't offend anyone but I could not agree more.

I'm around, and communicate with, many crazy, radical Porsche nuts and their reaction to cars like the Panamera and the 991 is so nauseating that I'm almost ashamed to consider myself a Porsche nut.

For so many of them, any Porsche that's not a 356 or early short wheelbase 911 isn't pure. These are people captured in a span of time that memorializes all the great happenings in their lives. They don't want to admit anything is good after the arab oil crisis and they probably still listen to their beloved Blaupunkt radios with the city and highway buttons.

Guys that think their heat should still work through cryptic and unmarked levers that operate flap doors through rusty cables will never understand that it's precisely the same engineering that made Porsche what it was, is still at work in cars like the 991.

Yeah, it's bigger and more complicated (sometimes needlessly so), but it's also a radically high expression of sports car engineering and that's precisely what the 356 and the 911 were as well in the glory days that those guys all hark back to.

I think, mostly, that these "purists" are simply bitter that they cannot afford the newest stuff. They are always the ones putting down the "new money" types just buy what's available. After being around so many of these guys that rub on their rust soaked early 70's model, I am confident that if anyone gifted them with a 997.2, they would treat it with just as much love.

It's hard, as a purist, to have one foot so firmly planted in their neighborhood, yet being able to love and cherish and appreciate what's being made now. My loyalty is only to me and what I find enthralling. It could have been produced in any year. It's just all about what I like and not who I may try to impress.

[voitureltd]

Originally Posted by timc

+1. If Porsche had not "redefined" their production strategy with the introduction of the Boxster/996/997 cars, I don't think they would be around today. So, those "blah" cars have served a purpose.....

As Mr Ferrari once said ( to the dismay of many F owners who choose to ignore it ) I build street cars only to be able to build race cars. Sounds familiar. Maybe not as much anymore but there are still some in Porsche that think that way. Obviously takes a lot of $$$$ to go racing.

[fredT]

Meh.. top ten most boring internet topic of all times (not this one specifically but all these threads about how Porsche lost their way)

[spence88mph]

Originally Posted by fredt

meh.. Top ten most boring internet topic of all times (not this one specifically but all these threads about how porsche lost their way)

lol +1