How things change

What has happened to the P-car owner? I remember when it was such a blasphemy, an unheard of insult to the marque, that a P-car would have cupholders. Now, I see questions about how to hardwire an i-Pod, best aftermarket sound system, lot's of posts on "bling" mods, best way to hook up phones, etc, etc, etc. Not a negative comment, just an observation about how life and car marketing moves on.

I personally removed the cup holders from both my Porsches However, I can say that as a consumer I expect more from a car costing $100,000. I want performance, with creature comforts. I spend 4 hours a day driving 110 miles in my Porsche, I certainly like all the goodies to make my time more comfortable.

Well it's all been said before but......this company made decisions to shift it's target demo in the mid 90s.......and succeeded. The 996 and the beginning of the truck project were the obvious indicators we could observe. Also.......AG having no problem admitting that the main reason they would stop racing was to devote all resources to the truck.......that press release was proof positive that addressing their then-loyal following would be taking a back seat to the marketing shift. This different buyer expects different things. There you have it. They even expect the cars to be dependable & service free . I'm old enough to know when that was not really top-of-the-page for the 911 buyer. The upside is........they've come out the other side..........succeeding with the new demo (and some of the old).........they are still iin business, independent......and golly, because all this, they are the most profitable car company on the planet.

with the prices in the 20's for a modern Porsche (996) you are going to see a whole new breed of P-Car owner. More non performance mods along with bling.

One way to look at the trend is that Porsche has upped the bar in performance, while simultaneously upping the bar on creature comforts. A great achievement, when you think about it. Case in point is the 996. It's a great GT car, with cupholders, Bose sound systems, navigation, etc, without giving up any performance points away to the 993, if not actually improving on it. Then comes the 997, with additional steps towards creature comforts and bling, and still improving on track performance. How about the much boooed Cayenne? The twin turbo version will blast away some performance cars on the road, yet it's also a luxury SUV. There's something to be said about the "raw" performace car. I guess that era of Porsche will be missed by a lot of fans. Let's be honest, though. Would we want Porsche to go back to purely "raw" performance cars for the day to day? I will miss the raw ambiance of the "old" Porsche, but I think I prefer the "new" Porsche. I had a choice recently between the "raw" track toy Elise, and the "new" Porsche 987S. You can see the choice I made. Mkaes me part of the "new" Porsche customer base I guess.

Everybody has their own interpretation I guess would not classify 911, 964, 993 as raw performance cars. They were sports cars........they were road cars. Yep the Cayenne can definately out-drag many oncomers........however, in the corners, trucks do tend to roll-over where a sports car may not The mid-e 968/987/Caymen almost needs a different thread as they're quite a departure from 911....(a very good departure IMHO). I was on 2 1/2 year wait list for one of the 1st 986s in this market........thoroughly enjoyed the car.

Thats why I have the GT3 console delete and short shift kit installed......raw performance. But I still need a place for my cell phone

Like every carmaker, Porsche has understandably succumbed to the increasing demands for creature comforts. With the internet boom and the general prosperity of this country over the past decade, Porsche has greatly expanded its customer base and appeals to a wider range of audiences than ever before. I'd surmise the new customer base is not only pursuing the reknown Porsche excellence, but also the bells and whistles which typically come standard in other luxury marques, especially given the price point. As long as doing so hasn't compromised their mission of building outstanding sports cars, then it's all right by me. Personally, I think NAV, cupholders, memory seats, aftermarket sound system, Bluetooth and iPod hookup, etc. are out of place in a pure sports car. This isn't a knock on anyone who wants the additional creature comforts; it's just one man's opinion on how he wants his legendary 911.

Funny! Damn those peasants! Wait, you guys are serious..

True it is an interesting observation. And if you look at how society has changed in the last 40 yrs, you can pretty much see how P-cars have adjusted to the societal changes as well. As an example when the 911 was born, the coolest home entertainment gadget was probably some sort of hi-fi stereo with vacuum tubes -- today it's all about HDTV 1080i screens with a gazillion sound channels. Another example, the average size of a typical walk-in closet in a typical new home built today is probably as large or larger than a kids bedroom of a typical home built in the 60's... So in other words we've done this to ourselves. And we can thank the need for cupholders on our need for Starbucks, Jamba Juice, bottled water and Big Gulps.

If it makes you feel better when I go looking for a newer Porsche I'll be getting the bare-bones model. It'll probably be a $20K 1999 996, silver over black with partial leather...stock rims... Hopefully on it's 10th motor with over 100k miles. I'm gonna drive the car, right? Into the ground baby. Then restore it. I don't need no stinkin' cupholders!!! ...or power windows or sunroof or a bose sound system. By the way, power steering is over-rated! Purist? No...but I do like my coffee black. The Kid,

But you will need a sunvisor mirror so you can check your eyebrow make-up!

Sunvisors? Screw those! It's called cardboard, vinyl, and spray glue! And FYI, there's actually no makeup on in that picture, it's edited in the Kodak picture editor that I got with my camera. There's an option for a "cartoon" finish, and it looked flattering so I chose it and I haven't looked back! Cross-dresser for life! Now...back to our regularly scheduled worshipping: P.S. There are eyebrow pencils IIRC, there are also eyeliners, and then mascara (eyelashes). "Eyebrow make-up"? Please be more specific. The Kid,

My only complaint is that it seems to be impossible to leave stuff off. No cup holders No sun roof No PS-Whatever No tire air pressure monitors etc...