[speeder]

Originally Posted by Dottore

Speeder: I've owned a 997 before, and I'm not so sure there is such a huge delta between quality and construction of a Porsche and a new Mustang. I think there is a huge engineering gap between the two—but not so much in the quality of the construction. These things are both built by robots, and both have acres of plastic in them.

I am basing my statement on laying hands on several newer Mustangs since the re-design in '06(?). I actually really like them, nobody does retro like Ford, IMO. The Mustang, the T-bird, the GT,...they all rock. The styling is great and I love the interior.

I've owned newer Ford trucks in the past few years and spent time in dealers buying parts, getting warranty work done, etc. Several times, I've been admiring the new Shelbys, Mustang GTs, Roushes, etc., in the showroom. We have the largest Ford dealer in the world here and they sell all variants. When you close the door of one of those cars, you can hear an echo as things waver and vibrate inside the door shell. It's like a big, hollow canoe.

I've also spent time @ the Porsche dealer buying parts and visiting guys that I worked with decades ago. The 997s and other models seem to be made of granite in comparison. Yes, they have soft plastic bumper covers like all new cars these days, including zillion-dollar Ferraris. The metal/rubber/leather/glass parts are a big cut above anything made in my country, I'm afraid. The engineering and overall performance, which includes toughness and how it will perform in 10 years, is legions above a Mustang or a Corvette.

This argument is as old as cars and there were people in 1968 who insisted that a Corvette or other American car was superior to a Porsche as a performance car. They could never back it up with endurance or sports car racing victories but goddamn it, it's worth fighting over after enough beer has been consumed. I could show some people the difference between a new Mustang and [Iany new Porsche and they still would not "get it". I guess it's an unwinnable argument.