Porsches are just an accessory

[JCF]

Any one who likes cars and wouldn't want an F430 doesn't like cars.
As my brother called the one we saw last week - "a rolling museum for a beautiful engine"

Paul, I love you man but this Porsche bitterness must end here.
Porsche is still - maybe now more than any time since the very begining - the most impressive car maker of them all.
C'mon - the most profitable for one.
No, no longer hand built and a bit overstuffed (not to mention water cooled) but those days are not coming back.
SUV ? Sure, and it saved the company from ending up like Jaguar, etc.
That "pig" is what made the Spyder possible. And THAT car is in the best Porsche tradition - Challenging and beating the Giant Audi. Go figure.
And the GT3RS ? I think I would prefer that to the original RS (as long as I get to keep my SWB as well)

As for people who think they are just cars ?
They are not wrong, just un-enlightened.

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by Gogar

Do you think all those rich Dentists and doctors bought these cars in the mid '80s because of the "legacy", or the "provenance?" The History? C'mon.

Well, from this not-so-rich doctor, I have to say that my car was originally purchased by some builder/construction guy 21 years ago. I'm guessing not so much of a purist, as there's a receipt or two from Jiffy Lube along the way. Crimony.

[72doug2,2S]

Originally Posted by scottbombedout

Started a big refurb today.

The client, a nice guy, had a beautiful late model 996 targa.

I said to him " Is that your 996?". He looks at me totally confused and said "No, I've got a 911!"

Hmm, I just smiled and said as a total joke "Us air cooled guys dont call the watercooled ones 911's"

He said "Whats an aircooled 911?"

All this guy wanted was an accessory. Maybe its just me, but I lost a bit of respect for the Porsche brand today.

Philistine!

[Rot 911]

Mine was bought by a Dr. in Maryland.

[id10t]

I had the same experience in my 356, when a new Boxster pulled in next to me to get gas... "What is it?".

I told him "This is your car's grandfather"

Originally Posted by Hugh R

Before I sold the DB4, I was on a Sunday drive with the wifey. We stopped at the Malibu Seafood (I think it's called) just north of Pepperdine University. A guy in a new DB9 parked a few spaces from me and as he walked by my car said "Nice car, what is it?)

[grudk]

[QUOTE=JCF;3887142]Any one who likes cars and wouldn't want an F430 doesn't like cars.
As my brother called the one we saw last week - "a rolling museum for a beautiful engine"
QUOTE]

Really? I see the F430 as vulgar. Like a fat man in a g-string at the beach, it screams 'look at me,' but it's out of place and kind of pointless on the modern road.

And I do love cars, including other Ferraris. For me, nothing much of interest after Enzo died, though. 550 being an exception, as an understated GT that is a joy to drive.

[ejames19]

I had the EXACT same run in last summer... This guy had a very nice all black 996. Told him it was a great looking 996, how long you had it? He responds, snarkingly, it's a 911 carrera!!! Had to have been in his early sixties, retirement gift to self i would guess...I turned around and left in the familly truckster, kids in tow....WHat a waste. Wonder if he changes his own oil????

[onewhippedpuppy]

Next time, just say "thank you". These are the people taking the HUGE depreciation hit, so that ten years later, normal enthusiasts can enjoy the cars. The original buyer of a 996 easily saved the next enthusiast buyer $50k.

It's funny, because I saw it in the BMW world as well. The buyers of the new cars tended to be more concerned about brand of wax and expensive wheels. The owners of the older models were far more prone to modify, repair, and track their cars.

[scottbombedout]

This is what makes me smile about the 'Why dont they wave at us threads'.

The reason is, they probably dont even know that you are driving a Porsche

[Bruce Brown]

I look at all the "P" suv and boxters as lease rides.

[scottbombedout]

Originally Posted by Gogar

Do you think all those rich Dentists and doctors bought these cars in the mid '80s because of the "legacy", or the "provenance?" The History? C'mon.

I agree, I think the people buying new in the mid '80s were possibly similar to the majority buying new today.

But when I was growing up, the people buying always seemed to be enthusiasts first and foremost. People that you could approach on the street and who would be only too willing to tell you about their car.

Then again, nowadays they would probably think they were going to be carjacked

[David]

I work with a guy with a 997S. I was showing him pictures of my car at a DE and what was his response? "that paint job looks nice, what kind of wax do you use?"

I was thinking of responding, "I don't wax it, I drive it" but I bit my tongue and said nothing .

It is nice of them to take the hit since I'm thinking of buying a 996 instead of a new truck.

[daepp]

When did most current early car owners learn their car was actually a 901? While I agree the P-Cars for many are just an accessory rather than a passion, I wonder how many of our cars were originally treated as same?

[daepp]

What really annoys me is that I get more looks at my kid's high school when I pick her up in my soul-less Lexus than in my 911 (ne 901).

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by JCF

Paul, I love you man but this Porsche bitterness must end here.
Porsche is still - maybe now more than any time since the very begining - the most impressive car maker of them all.

John, love you too...please keep in mind that I was already driving a Porsche during the year your car was built. I don't know that I would call it bitterness as much as disappointment.

Ronald Reagan was once asked why he left the Democrat party. He responded that he didn't leave the party, it left him.

I kind of feel that way about Porsche...You're right...the Porsche, and the cars I grew to love, are no more.

(edit) FWIW, the original owner of my old '72S was a doctor...

[speeder]

WTF wouldn't you just say, "nice car, buddy"...? Some kind of on-the-spot knowledge test to see if some total stranger is a real, internet board OCD car nut?

I'm sorry, but some of you guys don't realise what a bunch of geeks we are. Or what absolute geeks all hobbiests are. Some people have lives and really don't give 2 schits about cars. A lot of them are people who can afford new Porsches. It was exactly the same when I sold them new in the '80s. Lots of guys who made 6+ figures running entertainment companies, doctors/lawyers/other professionals.

Then of course there were the drug dealers, euro-trash nobodies+ toupee-wearing, dick-challenged posers who lived on credit cards and lifted weights at the gym who bought most of the "pre-owned" 911s on the used car lot.

Whoops, that was a terrible stereotype and generalisation. Forgot that we don't do that here.

Next time you see some poor bastard driving an old hooptie 911, pull up next to him/her/shim and ask how they like their "964". Huh?? If it's a long-hood, ask them whether it's a B/C/D/etc. car. Huh? You guys don't know the difference? Posers if you don't. Ask people whether their 911SCs have Nikasil or Alusil cylinder liners and expect them to quote the production date at the gas pump. Then argue with them and prove they are wrong, using the pocket tech guide that you keep for each model in your glove box at all times.

If only geeks who cared about this schit were allowed to buy Porsches, the company would have gone under long before PWD's beloved 911S was built. You'd be walking with your little kid and see a 356, he'd ask what it was and you would have to explain that it was a long-extinct brand of car from immediately after WW2 when there were hundreds of car companies in the world that no longer exist, like Packard, Studebaker, Allard, DeSoto, Borgward and Porsche in Germany, etc...

I've been a gearhead for 40+ years and a Porsche nut for 30+, I know WAY too much about the production cars and I've owned half a dozen from '60s/'70s/'80s/'90s. I've never enjoyed one half as much as my modded 996. It's the best car I've ever owned, hands down. All drivey/no workey on, and the handling is sick. It would shed any of my earlier 911s or 914s on a twisty road like they were rocks on the end of a string.

Some of you guys need to quit worrying about what strangers know about their cars and get busy making $$ so that you can buy a new 911 and improve the average. And for some strange reason, people on this board manage to find the biggest douche Porsche-owners on a regular basis. I have about a half-dozen friends w/ 997s and they are all long-time Porsche-owners or at least really nice guys.

From my other thread, here's a *poser* in his brand new 997 S:

[porsche356a]

Well, as a 997 owner maybe some of you disappointed purists can educate me...

Where the hell is the engine on this thing?

I assume it is under the DVD player in the trunk, but I can't get to it.

[DaveE]

Originally Posted by porsche356a

Well, as 997 owner maybe some of you disappointed purists can educate me...

Where the hell is the engine on this thing?

I assume it is under the DVD player in the trunk, but I can't get to it.

Still looking for the engine in my Boxster also (986???).

[speeder]

I've never had to open the hood on my car, not really sure what's under there. Feels like a lot of squirrels peddling when I crack the whip, though.

[onewhippedpuppy]

The only thing keeping me from buying a 997 is $80k to blow. Maybe enthusiast = poor.