[RKC]

Wow! This thread reminds me of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" - when Pirsig used a small shim of aluminum made from a beer can and was flabbergasted by the response from his friend....the fellow was offended by the idea that such a cheap material was to be placed on his BMW bike.....no matter that it made sense in a mechanical way.....there was just too much human emotion connected to his conception of fine German machinery to deal with his bike as a complicated piece of metal...

Pirsig seemed to think that both views were valid, and sought a way to unify them. I don't know that I can do that. But I know that my allegiance to Porsche is a product of the racing of 2 or 3 decades ago. So tomorrow's legends are being created today. If today's Z06 will win races more easily than current 911's, then how it drives and feels - no matter what it's shortcomings - will be remembered romantically. After all, I've heard 917's (the Doyen of cars to me) didn't drive at all well early on. And the handling of 911's was..... well ...tricky.....before it mellowed in memory to something remembered fondly.

I would honestly love for my son to have a good feeling about Porsche in 30 years. But wishing is no guarantee. Where is Alfa Romeo? or Auburn? or Duesenberg? In the dustbin of history. Porsche needs to take threats seriously.....

But beyond that - beyond the "cool" factor and mystery and wealth and good taste and all the other intangibles that a 911 brings with it (and I feel all of those too) there is a part of me that is really, really PROUD that America can make a world class car. Proud - and also ashamed to hear so many laugh and deride the Corvette - and ashamed of myself for having some of the same jealous feelings that were expressed here against the new Z06.

Especially when I think logically - after all, why WOULDN'T the richest and most technologically advanced country on earth be able to make a world-beating, serious sports car? Just because it hasn't lately is no proof that it can't.

I for one would like to drive one and see for myself. I like beauty and grace and history and romance. But I don't drive a horseless carriage. A cloth tent seems stupid to me. So do cloth sails on ships. So why not believe that aluminium is a good thing, even if it isn't pounded out over wooden frames in Modena, or calculated on a slide rule in Stuttgart? Even if it is hydroformed or CNC'd or whatever in a Detroit suburb......after all, according to Pirsig, Quality does exist.....