[86 911]

Not exactly poetry, but a cool essay that ZAMRZ wrote:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?threadid=85072

For almost forty years the shape has been the same. The silhouette roughly resembling the stance of the Volkswagen Beetle, a little lower, a little sleeker. Those unmistakable, twin round headlamps and low sloping rear. The gauges in the same position they have been since the beginning with the large tachometer taking center stage behind the 3-spoke sport steering wheel. The Porsche 911 epitomizes what every sports car should be. Powerful, innovative, unique, unmatched in handling and dynamics and a car you can live with on a daily basis.

This particular model, a 911SC rolled off the production line in July of 1983 and was originally delivered to one of Porsche’s network of dealerships in Germany. After two months of sitting unsold it was privately imported to the United States and purchased by the author’s father new for a sticker price in the neighborhood of $32,000.

Walking up to it, even from a mile away it is obvious this car is a 911. The shape is completely recognizable, kind of like an old friend. The steel unit body construction built with such tight tolerances there is barely any seams between the various panels. The metallic hue on this car, identified by the factory as Venetian blue still shines with a luster like it just rolled off the production line. Taking a closer look, the forged aluminum alloy wheels, the first of their kind on a road car, with their traditional 5-spoke design and black centers wrapped in slightly worn Bridgestone rubber echo a hint of nostalgia and classic design. Unlocking the door and opening it up, the rich smell of leather still stirs in the cabin. Sliding inside is a bit hard with an odd torso twist but one easily becomes used to it. The door closes with a reassuring thud that only the finest pieces of European machinery possess. First impressions are that the interior accommodations are surprisingly Spartan. No cup holders in this car. Center console? Don’t even think about it, you’re banging elbows with your riding companion. Somehow though, the arms just seem to fall in the right place, hands on 9 and 3 for more control and a better grip of the small-diameter leather-wrapped wheel. Reach for the ignition with your right hand and you’ll only be grabbing for empty real estate. All Porsche racecars had their ignition on the left, so this trickled down into the street cars. Turn the key clockwise 90 degrees and fire the engine, with a whiff of white smoke the 3.0 liter flat six roars to life and settles into a steady idle just under 1000 rpm. Glaring at you from between the wheel you watch the giant tachometer as it takes center stage letting you know how fast the power plant is spinning.

The driving experience is unparalleled, with all the weight out back it makes for some interesting and sometimes scary handling characteristics. Snick the short-throw gear lever into first gear and ease off the clutch while simultaneously bringing the engine speed up and it’ll roll away without much drama. Desire a bit more acceleration? Open up the throttle a bit more, sink the clutch quick and you’ll be rewarded with a neck-snapping punch in the back as the cars rear-end drops and rockets the German rocket forward. Almost instantly you’ll need to reach for another gear. Grab second and the same sequence of events awaits. Bring it up to third and now you’re really gaining momentum with the engine roaring from behind, wind noise slowly engulfing the cabin as the speedometer needle streaks past 100mph there’s no hint of even the slightest delay in acceleration. Shift to fourth and at about 120mph the car begins to even out, but now at almost twice the speed limit things are happening fast, and if not cautious one can easily meet their ultimate demise in this car. However, even at this speed, the 911 is rock steady with no wandering or unfamiliar feedback from the wheel or pedal. Highway curves aren’t a problem and as long as the driver keeps the car at a steady velocity through the corners there’s no drama. Only when there is a sudden lift of throttle is the driver met with the sort of nightmarish handling characteristic this car has been known to exhibit. The problem isn’t with the engineering, but with the simple laws of Physics. With all that weight in the back and all the weight transfer going to the front under sudden deceleration the rear acts as a pendulum swinging around wildly and often carrying the car and passengers into a frightening if not life-threatening situation. This is all the 911 driving experience though, one must know how to handle such a capable machine and it isn’t for the faint of heart.

There have been others. For instance, Ferrari is the other most prominent player in the high-buck sports car market. Both companies, Ferrari and Porsche, were established in 1948 and both of them have a storied racing past. Much of both companies development work comes from racing as well, however they follow two very different philosophies. For Porsche it has always been a sort of a treat to race, the boys from Stuttgart feel that racing is to further the technology and advancement they put into the road cars, racing is for the sole purpose of development into cars that customers can buy. Ferrari however has always been a racing-based company. Enzo Ferrari himself had been known to say “the street car sales are only to fund the race team” and this is evident in the type of racing they do. Ferrari has been extensively involved in Formula 1 non-production car based racing. This difference in philosophy is why you see so many more Porsches on the streets than Ferraris, simply because the development Porsches have gone through has allowed them to be easier and much more enjoyable on a day to day basis. The lower-volume Italian machinery might have more “wow” factor and mystique but they are not cars you take to pick up a few groceries. Oil changes and basic tune-ups on a Ferrari start at about $1,500, every 7,000 miles (about half what the average Californian drives every year) there is a mandatory service which costs roughly $3,000. These exorbitant costs make the Ferrari all but impossible to live with on a day-to-day basis unless one has a comfortable amount of disposable income they’re willing to part with.

The design has stood the test of time and it’s still the same with those two round headlights a basic shape almost 40 years old. The newest 911s still employ some of the same technology the very first cars did when they rolled off the production line in 1965 and even though the 2002 models include such creature comforts as cup-holders and armrests the cars’ soul hasn’t changed one bit. The refinement over the years has only served to make the 911 only easier to live with on a daily basis and enhance its already stunning performance. Porsche, there is no substitute.