"basically a volkswagen"

[SP2]

"basically a volkswagen"

I live in Seattle, and often when patients hear I like to work on old Porsches, they say this alot to me. Do you all in other regions hear this too? It used to annoy me. I guess it still does, but in a different way now. I guess because at first I thought they were trying to annoy me. But over time I realized that most of the time that's what they really thought and they weren't trying to irritate me. So I usually just smile it off now.

[McLovin]

maybe when you say you like working on "old Porsches" they are thinking 914 or 912e.

[fanaudical]

I heard this from a buddy at work when I first got my car. He's a muscle-car-motorhead and didn't have any experience with Porsche. I invited him over to view my partially-disassembled motor and the rest of the car; his response:

"Holy s#!* - that's no Volkswagen."

I think most people who say this just don't have a clue how different they are.

[Leland Pate]

Well... actually... basically.... it is a volkswagen. Isn't it?

[McLovin]

A 911?

No, not at all.

[CorsePerVita]

I always take it as a joke. I'm in a euro club locally. We always give each other crap about our cars. I even joke saying "My Volkswagen" sometimes. I mean in essence... your engine is in the back... for the most part they still drop out the bottom pretty easily....

Agreed with Fanaudical - any total air cooled fanatic that knows the cars knows all too well there's a whole lot more to them Or perhaps they aren't a fanatic and really DON'T know and just need a little guidance.

Sometimes I think people still associate that with "basically a volkswagen" - although I do often feel my 914 is as easy as a volkswagen to work on..... wait a minute....

LOL

But seriously, don't sweat it.

If they're joking, roll with it. If they're hating? They're just jealous. If they're saying it from a technical standpoint they probably just aren't familiar. I always offer to let them look if they really want to (car folk almost never turn down a chance to look at an engine!).

At first the jokers irked me, but after a while I just think it's funny. As to the haters... it always seems I get a "different attitude" aimed at me depending on what I was driving. In the 914 it always seems to be "MAN that's a cool old car! What is it?" and when you tell them it's a Porsche 914 they just want to talk about old classic cars.

The 944 was always "Those aren't a real Porsche!" and the 911 I've got "Did your dad buy that for you?" a few times which always gives me a good laugh.

[DRACO A5OG]

Well Guilty here Doc,

When I Young Dum and Full of C*m, I had a choice of a 944S or 911 Targa. I had a VW Super Beetle as a teen. I sat in the Targa and the first thing I saw was the Damn Red Heater Levers, I said to myself I did not want another "VW". Boy was I IGNORANT No clue of the engines 6 vs 4 cylinders.

Ironic I ended up many years later with my Targa.

My clients get a kick when they found out I work on my Porsche.

Jim

[sc_rufctr]

IMO People are displaying their ignorance when they say "Basically a Volkswagen".
So what? It's never worried me. I just go about my business and let them think whatever they like.

[Steve@Rennsport]

Originally Posted by SP2

So I usually just smile it off now.

Hi James,

Thats the best tactic to use.

I hear that one from time to time and I do the very same thing. If can show them a 935, 962, or 908 motor, they usually have an epiphany,...

[DanielDudley]

It's like a Volkswagen - On Steroids.

Eh, it's an analogy. I have also said it's like a Volkswagen with a 10,000.00 motor. That usually gets them thinking. But do you want your patients thinking like that ?

[doublestuff]

I think of it as something like Acura to Honda, or maybe Ferrari to Fiat. As I understand it, Porsche AG started when Ferry Porsche took the Volkswagen design his father did (as commissioned by Hitler) and used it as the base for an upscale sports car. So my '79 targa and a '79 Beetle aren't the same car at all, but they certainly share a common ancestor. I'm OK with that, and I like VW bugs et al. However, I do usually go through a brief explanation of this history and evolution to anyone who says my car is basically a VW, because I'm kind of an a$$.
Recently a new co-worker and I had this discussion, then left work headed in the same direction - me in my targa, him in his '72 Beetle. He hasn't made that comment since...

[LakeCleElum]

Same kind of people that think a Harley is the best motorcycle out there...

[304065]

I usually launch into a five minute dissertation about how, in fact, they are CORRECT, it IS basically a volkswagen, and then explain the entire history of fow-vay going back to its roots before WWII, Dr. Porsche's early involvement with the KDF-wagen, Porsche's split from fow-vay after the War, the development of the 356, the early 911, the parallel development of the sports cars and prototypes, and the fact that Porsche has won more races than just about anyone.

By the time we get to discussing the crankshaft bearing clearances, their ears bleeding, the listener has learned not to make unflattering comparisons between the world's premier sports car brand and a well-built economy car.

[slow&rusty]

I am the first to admit that "it is a basically a volkswagen", hard to say where the fate of the 911 would be without the old man's connection to VW before the war.

[ben parrish]

Well, it doesn't bother me at all.
Flat engine; rear mounted, air/oil cooled, heat exchanger heating system, poor if any A/C, bug eyes in the front, made in Germany, designed by the same man....yep..my 911 is at the basic essence, a Volkswagen.

[Tspringer]

I usually tell people who say that (and its fairly common) that they are correct and that it makes engine maintenance really easy just being able to swap things like sprockets, space cams and kugelbinder clips back and forth.

[psalt]

"basically a volkswagen"


This is historically correct and a compliment considering it is still the most successful car design ever. What is more interesting is that most of the things that make a 911 a 911, are not Porsche ideas.

[914efi]

Years ago I had a '72 VW van, the first year with the type 4 engine. Some commented that it was cool because it had a 'Porsche' engine. When I had a 914, they told me it had a crappy VW engine.

VWs are cool and fun, nothing wrong with the comparison in my book, take it as a compliment.

[ivangene]

Hi James - neighbor to the north

you can always offer to give them a ride.... that normally shuts them up - or in some cases makes them scream

[Noel]

I actually tell people this myself...last week, in fact.

I think it's because it really is a VW Bug at the core...granted it's evolved to more than that...just take a look at the 356, this is much more similar to a VW, but still in the lineage of our cars.