Reflections on "Not a Real Porsche Syndrome"
 

For some reason, this morning I've had on my mind what I call "Not a Real Porsche Syndrome" (NaRPS). What I mean by this is that when I was growing up until fairly recently, the response by many automotive enthusiasts (usually know-it-alls who had never actually driven a Porsche) to seeing any P-car that wasn't a 911 or 356 was, "yeah, but it's not a real Porsche." This attitude seems to have diminished in recent years, at least as far as I've noticed, and I'm curious as to what ya'll think the reasons might be.

As near as I can tell (but correct me if I'm wrong), the first cars that suffered from NaRPS was the 914. Now respected within and without the Porsche community, it had the unfortunate luck to be sold in some places as a VW-Porsche (actually, wasn't the 4-cyllinder model sold as the VW 914 in Europe?). Although the 914-6 and 916 came with the adored flat-six, I do remember a snobbish attitude toward 914s when I was young.

NaRPS really intensified with the 924, which was designed for VW in mind and was built with many VW-Audi components. A front-engined car with a transaxle and water-cooled inline-four? That can't possibly be a real Porsche, right?

For whatever reason, despite sharing many traits with the 924, the 928 seemed fairly immune to NaRPS. Maybe it was due to the high-performance (and high price tag)? Or maybe its starring roles in Scarface, Weird Science, Risky Business, etc., helped its reputation? In any case, people always seemed to take the 928 seriously enough, even though it always got short shrift next to the venerable 911.

The 944 and 968 also suffered a bit from NaRPS, undoubtedly due to its lineage and the fact that the 924 DNA was obvious and undeniable. Even though the 944 Turbo outperformed the 911 Carrera of the day in many respects, one can't deny that many automotive wanna-bes looked at it and shrugged, "yeah, but it's not a real Porsche."

Along came the Boxster, which was released while the 911 still had an air-cooled engine. Although the automotive press raved about its manners (as they had with the 944 and 968 models), its water-cooled flat-six was seen by many in the 1990s as underpowered, and the fact that it was water-cooled was often cited as evidence that it wasn't a "real Porsche" -- maybe to a lesser-degree than the front-engined cars, but it still got short shrift compared to the 911.

Surprisingly (?), NaRPS doesn't seem to be an issue that inflicts the new generation of cars. I've never heard of anyone pointing to a Cayman GTS or Panamera Turbo and saying, in a know-it-all tone, "yeah, but it's not a real Porsche." Which makes me wonder why this is the case. Is it because even the 911 comes with a water-cooled engine these days, and the 911, Boxster, and Cayman all have very similar engines (at least for the time-being)? Is it because the brand-resemblance -- the "face" of the cars -- is so strong that many non-Porschephiles have trouble telling them apart? Is it because every model in the line has some kind of special, high-performance variant (Cayman GT4, Boxster Spyder, Cayenne Turbo S) to lend it some credibility? Or am I simply in denial -- does NaRPS still afflict every non-911, and I'm just in denial because I drive a Cayman S?

Anyhow, that's what's on my mind today. Intrigued to find out the thoughts of the Pelican brain-trust.

Actually NaRPS started when the 911 was released. 356 owners would not always flash or wave to owners of those newfangled cars. They were too big and the styling was too different.
These days there are so many cars carrying the Porsche badge that I suspect most folks DGAS
Best
Les

Good point! And for that matter, some of the R-Gruppe types (although not all) frown on any P-car built after... I dunno: 1974? I guess we all draw a line somewhere?

The Cayan and the Macan( and possibly the Panamera, not sure) share many Volksagen or Audi parts,even platforms.
The 914 and 924 were such a radical departure from the 356 architecture( based on the Beetle and the early ones used modified Beetle engines) that diehard 356 and 911 owners probably felt threatened that their beloved cramped noisy tail happy cars were obsolete. And then there came the bar room lawyer comments about the 924 engine being from a VW van, when in fact the short engine was a Mercedes design inherited by VW when they took over Audi from MB, and the 924 got a Porsche designed head( and was a good enough design to have survived 24 hours of Le Mans producing exactly 3 times its production power, 375bhp vs 125bhp)

Based on nothing but memory of once-read articles, I do believe that the Panamera is based on an Audi sedan platform.

Snobs are going to be snobs, it's only a question of what they choose to be snobbish about.

I'm venturing my own guess, but NaRPS is in relation to something not being an aircooled early bloodline piece of Porsche hardware. Because, a 924 is clearly not an air-cooled rear-engined unit, makes sense to me...those owners likely felt betrayed by the deviation away from the initial design and heritage of the early cars.

The early 356 and 911 lines were high end cars that few people could afford. They were special, few produced and prestigous.

BUT NOW...Now, IMHO, the entire brand has been watered down in the name of shareholder profits and being mainstream. Anyone who wants another mortgage payment can walk into a dealership and sign up for payments...simply choose your payment flavor.

Get a Macan, for what, Zero to Latte in 4.2 seconds? Or the utterly useless luxo-barge Maranara Turbo Executive that they can't sell... Better yet, a Cayenne Hybrid. If a sports-car SUV wasn't enough, now it has gimmick BS government pushed Hybrid system powering a stay at home mom from Yoga to Starbucks then to an afternoon at the mall.

See where I'm going with this? The reason NaRPS isn't really a thing anymore is because the brand went from being very specific, race bread machines to pedestrian...starting with the turd 924? IDK. You know dang well that here in CT you can see any of the model lines cruise by if your out and about for 10 minutes. This is where and how NaRPS has diminished. The owners of these models have no idea about the heritage of Porsche, the key on the left is a "strange" thing and if they notice another Porsche they wonder why they didn't get that package or color.

My mother in law has a '16 Cayenne S, becuase the "interior reminder her of her Hermes bags. The Range Rover just didn't." These are people who have no idea, appreciation or care...

The cars I would say are true Porsche today, derived from early blood and Porsche focus:
GT3RS
911R (991)
911 Turbo S
Carerra GT
918
Cayman GT4

IDFK, maybe I've got it all wrong.

Interesting perspective. I will say that when I'm driving my Porsche, I flash and/or wave to every Porsche I see except the Cayennes, Macans, and Panameras... not out of disdain for those models, but because I've NEVER received a wave back from these drivers. Similarly, drivers of new 911s are hit-and-miss in terms of waves, but I will say that every GT3 I've ever seen on the road gives me a wave. Every Cayman I've ever seen gives me a wave. Most Boxster-drivers do, too, as do drivers of classic 911s as well as the transaxle cars.

the greatness of Porsche is, to me, entirely founded in their competition history. hillclimbs, rallys, road racing.....cars that were campaigned in those venues 'back in the day' are what made it special.

and the 911 was just a beast of a car for its time. tight, strong, fantastic greenhouse, great seating position, no BS dash layout and that '***** yeah!' feeling you got powering out of a tight turn in 2nd gear.

lastly was the OMFG sound. particularly with the MFI system. mine had webers which were very very nice but MFI had that resonance where you thought someone put headphones on you and played excerpts from Le Mans.

it's not that the others are bad cars, but they are just cars.

That's an interesting point. Your post reminds me of how much the nature of my Cayman S has changed since I've upgraded the exhaust, tune, etc. It's really a truly exciting car now -- that exhaust note at 7000RPM makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up -- whereas it was a fun luxury GT when I bought it.

I don't know about that. Although you will need a new acronym, I have heard plenty of people utter words to the effect of, "Yeah, but it's a Boxster."

And that's a real shame because the Boxster can outrun just about every other Porsche built before 1978.

[QUOTE] "The reason NaRPS isn't really a thing anymore is because the brand went from being very specific, race bread machines to pedestrian...starting with the turd 924? "

ROW 924's had 125 bhp and was an OK sportscar for its time(the just obsolete TR6 had 124bhp, Fiats had 118, Alfas 122). US models only had from 95-110 bhp and often with 3 speed auto hence were sluggish when filled with WASP Americans constantly snacking on race bread.

I definitely encountered this attitude when the 986 and early 987 were new, but the release of the Boxster Spyder and Cayman seems to have diminished this a bit. Have you experienced otherwise?

^ have to disagree a bit on this point. At least as far as I'm concerned, and I can see I'm not alone based on some other posters, but Macan/Cayenne/Panamera are not "real Porsches" as far as I am concerned. Great vehicles? Perhaps. I generally loathe crossover SUVs but really like the look/size of the Macan. If I were shopping in that segment it would be top of my list. Panamera is an abomination. The Pontiac Aztec is more interesting.

My opinion: real Porsches are sports/GT cars with only room for 2 adults, and not much else. Class III receiver? Not a real Porsche...sorry.

Yes -- I see what you're saying. But do you think the automotive public on the whole feels the same way? It seems to me that the Panamera gets plenty of respect, as does the Macan. The Cayenne was despised by many when it was released, but that seems to have cooled a bit in recent years.

Of course, it might also be the case that I'm just not exposed to that attitude as much any more.

Modern Porsches don't suffer from NARPS as much

because our culture is moving away from "cars as identity" in general.

Most Americans under 30 could give a s**t about cars at all, much less what kind of cars.


Personally, when I jam down an on-ramp in the Panamera making crazy noises and laughing like an idiot I don't think about NARPS much!

No doubt. My brother's father-in-law bought a Panamera 4 to replace his 911SC (which is another story in and of itself; I told him to let me know if he ever considered selling it, and then I found out one day that he sold it and bought the Panamera; when I reminded him that I would have been interested, he said "Oh, I wouldn't sell that car to you. It needs a little work." WHICH IS EXACTLY THE KIND OF CAR I WAS LOOKING FOR. Turns out he let it go for under $12K).

But anyhow, that Panamera 4 was plenty fun. I wouldn't turn one down.

My dentist has a Panamera-gorgeous car in my opinion.

A lot of people comment on my old rattty 914 when they come through the shop . ( not all those comments are good )
But it seems as if car guys in general have some interest in any older p car now especially if it is air cooled

If you are sick of the negative comments, I'll take it off your hands... SmileWavy