Attn: Cayenne & Targa Haters .....

[cegerer]

Soon, you may be able to get twice the hate packaged all in one vehicle!!!

http://www.stern.de/sport-motor/autowelt/erlkoenige/porsche/index.html?id=504847&nv=fs&cp=1

[pwd72s]

Oh wow...how absolutely (un) COOL My prediction? They'll sell like hotcakes. Just not to me. Curt, hate to tell you this...but I went on a PCA winery tour last weekend. The Cayenne Turbo that was there has me sending off cards & letters, offering my car for sale. Not the Cayenne as much as all those who drove the newer cars. PCA sure isn't what it used to be. I'm done. Apologies to Orwell, but with such wonderous creations out there? It's time for this dinosaur to hit the boneyard. First, I'll take a dime or two to the bank. Then...I'm outahere!

[billwagnon]

oh wait! did I say that out loud?

[ZAMIRZ]

The first turbo targa since 1989? Love it, absolutely love it, now I gotta figure out how long it'll take me to make 90 grand working 15 hours a week at 7/hour.......awww ****, life's over. =)

[Neilk]

Paul,

I have heard you recently say more than once recently that you are ready to sell your car because the new Porsche owners make you sick. Just wondering... but why are you so concerned about the new Porsche owners that you would sell your car? Who cares about them? Will the financial reward of selling your car ever overcome the regret?

[Jack Olsen]

Well, in its defense, the Targa treatment doesn't ruin the lines of the B, C, or D pillars, such that they are. The 'Audi Station Wagon' lines are unbroken.

[CarreraS2]

I think that most of us can agree that Porsche had great focus during the '70s and 80's, and produced really what are the world's best sportscars during that time.

These days? Well, lets just say the glory has faded a little.

I wondered why, so I broke out my 1978 Porsche brochure that came with my SC to get some insight.

Lo and behold, the answer was right there, on the first page!

[CarreraS2]

Although some things haven't changed. The Cayenne does still "speak of its owners style and taste." Particularly the one I saw today outfitted with "Khrome dubs."

I'd also like to submit to Porsche a revision of the '78 brochure:

"Porsche is no longer respected in the sports car world because they have focused all of their efforts on building a station wagon to take advantage of the tail end of a silly trend. For almost fifty years, the cars they've chosen to produce themselves and identify with the Porsche name has been sports cars. But now for attempted short term financial gain, they have decided to produce a VW station wagon to sell to soccer moms and other rich people who have no real interest in automobiles. By no longer concentrating on what they at one time knew best and at one time loved most, the Porsche product planners and accountants have ensured that Porsche will no longer be the world's largest independent makers of sports cars."

[fryardds]

Originally posted by pwd72s
Oh wow...how absolutely (un) COOL My prediction? They'll sell like hotcakes. Just not to me. Curt, hate to tell you this...but I went on a PCA winery tour last weekend. The Cayenne Turbo that was there has me sending off cards & letters, offering my car for sale. Not the Cayenne as much as all those who drove the newer cars. PCA sure isn't what it used to be. I'm done. Apologies to Orwell, but with such wonderous creations out there? It's time for this dinosaur to hit the boneyard. First, I'll take a dime or two to the bank. Then...I'm outahere!

Paul,

Didn't you write not too long ago that you would send your car to the crusher before you would sell it? Just curious.

[jazzbass]

Originally posted by SoCal911SC
But now for attempted short term financial gain, they have decided to produce a VW station wagon to sell to soccer moms and other rich people who have no real interest in automobiles.

Yeah... because your average new 996/Boxster owner is a car addict and not some image conscious yuppie, right .

Case in point - I was at Home Depot yesterday and a guy pulls in the space next to me and gets out of his Boxster S. No badge on the trunk. I say "Nice car. Its an 'S' right" while pointing to the red calipers. "No - its a Porsche" was the answer. Sigh...

[cegerer]

Not to worry guys - Porsche are having "rigidity" problems with the chassis of this Cayenne Targa prototype - sound familiar? - so it's far from production.

And for those interested in real information on the Pepper, this is the place to go:

http://forums1.roadfly.org/porsche/forums/cayenne/

-- Curt

[Jim Richards]

I saw a VW Touareg for the first time yesterday. Does it's introduction into the US mean that we can call it and the Cayenne "VoPo's"?

[thrown_hammer]

Doom on you...Doom on you...Doom on you...
Lighten up Francis.

[RickM]

only making what they make best......

Hmmm, Sounds like Isuzu when they failed miserably in the US car market. Then come out saying all they make are trucks. Like they make them that much better.


"...twice the hate packaged all in one vehicle.."

ROFL

[Todd Simpson]

Here's a quote from this months Pano from Hans-Peter Porsche...

"The spirit of our products is that they don't blindly follow short term fashion trends-they seamlessly fit into the timeless, classic forms of their historic predecessors."

no, I didn't make that up.

Some other random thoughts...

One local Porsche dealer, Don Rosen, is advertising "30 Cayennes in stock, all on sale!" this week.

"Independent Porsche" is BS. Cayenne Platforms and Boxster transmissions are already shared with VW/Audi, right? At least if VAG bought Porsche they'd have cash to race. Ferrari still makes some nice cars, :-) and they compete at the top of motorsports.

My prediction on when Porsche will return to racing...when they have pi$$ed away all their reputation and goodwill, the Cayenne is dead, the new factory sold off and they're back to selling a few thousand cars a year. Then they will see the value in racing.

Now that I think about it, who cares. I'm not their target market anyway.

[pbs911]

Please don't use the word "Cayenne" in the same paragraph as "Targa."

[Don Z.]

You know, I have to admit I'm a little baffled by this "Hate the Cayenne" thesis... Let me tell you why.

My first Porsche was a 1974 911. I loved that car. Shouldn't have sold it, but there were some tech issues that were beyond my talent, and this was pre-internet... It was much easier to buy a different car than to fix it.

I replaced it with an '87 924S. Great car, I don't care what anyone says. I could throttle steer, got about 26 MPG, and it never let me down. Not once.

I sold it for a new Corvette. I couldn't afford the Boxster, but got a great deal on the Vette. I loved how the Vette handled, and loved all the power, but I couldn't tolerate the attitudes of several of the dealers I took it to for service. Why dealers? Warrantee work. So... I traded it in on an eight year old 911 Targa. Should have never sold that one either, but where do you put a Saint Bernard in a 911? I had two Saints, and wouldn't give them up for anything... After trying for a while, I realized two cars were not an option, so...

For me, an SUV was the answer. Plenty of room for the dogs and anything else I needed to carry. I saved money along the way, so I could buy another 74, this one a Carrera Targa. The Land Rover I had as a puppy mover? It now has over 200,000 miles on it... and it's getting just a little tired. Time to replace it.

What do I replace it with? Hmmm... Let's see. I need something that I can put two very large dogs in. Even if I didn't cart them everywhere with me, you still need to get them to the vet. Also, there's the flatbed trailer, which has been really convenient to move cars around on as part of the car hobby... Then there's the horse trailer... And all the sails for the boat. Yes, another truck or SUV is about the only thing that will answer the mail, unless I can find a perfectly mint 57 Chevy Nomad, or a 68 Olds Vista Cruiser with a Rocket 455.

So: I need to tow at least 3,500 pounds, preferrably 5,500. I need to have a lot of interior room, which rules out most pick-ups. Lower than average ride height is also a good idea, because it's difficult for an older Saint to jump over three feet (by ride height, I don't mean ground to lowest chassis part, I mean ground to lift gate/tail gate height) and it's more than a little exercise to lift a 180 pound dog. I also don't want excessively wide, because I'm used to driving a small car, and the first time I got in a Chevy Tahoe, I thought I was taking up two lanes... so what does that leave me with?

I could get another Land Rover... but I can't say I like what Ford has done.

A pickup doesn't meet the interior requirements, though a fifth wheel is a good way to tow a horse.

Audi all road? Maybe, but $42K?
Volvo XC?
Tuareg?

You know... a Porsche SUV would give me everything I need, and give me a manufacturer that I understand and can work with... I can't afford a new one... maybe in three to five years, there'll be some used ones out there. How much was that V-6 model going to sell for?

[Randy Webb]

You guys are gonna riot when PAG introduces its new electric hybrid...

[Jim Garfield]

Todsimpson, ok, ok, you've made your point! jeez

[Rick Lee]

Originally posted by jazzbass
Yeah... because your average new 996/Boxster owner is a car addict and not some image conscious yuppie, right .

Case in point - I was at Home Depot yesterday and a guy pulls in the space next to me and gets out of his Boxster S. No badge on the trunk. I say "Nice car. Its an 'S' right" while pointing to the red calipers. "No - its a Porsche" was the answer. Sigh...

Oh man, this one kills me. You should have keyed an "S" logo onto his rear decklid after he walked away.