“Some of the earlier Boxsters were build in Finland and no one seems to care about that,” was pointed out by Jeroen B on the Ferdinand Facebook page.
Andrew D also picked up on that thread. “Is this so bad? Does this not mean that its essentially what was Karmann of Osnabruck building it? I used to own a Karmann-built Porsche and didn’t think it was bad. Porsche did farm production of SWB 911 bodies out to Karmann, and it’s the I-Ching. So it doesn’t bother me. If they’re now owned by VW group they could be even better!” Fair points, but not the point. The point is how people will talk about it.
After twenty-five years in the motor trade, and ten years with Europe’s largest car valuation company, I don’t doubt that VW ownership means “last of the proper all-Porsche Porsches” is a line we are about to see more of in classifieds.
Something is always ‘the last of’. 356 guys made “Real Carreras have four cams” t-shirts when the 2.7 Carrera RS first came out. “Last of the proper 911s” runs all the way from ads for SWB cars, to the end of ’73, to the Carrera 3.2, to the narrow-body 964, to the air-cooled 993. ‘Last of the proper/Metzger 911s’ is how GT3 RS 4.0 buyers were sold their cars.
Pitching cars as a one-off opportunity never stops, and some Porsche owners can be super sniffy about Volkswagen associations: witness the market’s regard for 914/924 and 944 models, and the speed with which 944 owners will now email me, saying their cars do not have a van engine.
I’ve owned enough Mk2 Golfs to go down as a Volkswagen fan and am proud of my 924/944 ownership. But, let’s say in ten years time, you’ve got two identical Boxsters: same colour, mileage and options. One is Volkswagen assisted, one is completely from Stuttgart. Which one will you go for? I think the answer is obvious.
Young Porsche charger Marco Holzer has scored his first 911 pole position in ALMS, just one hundredth of a second ahead of respected works team mate, Joerg Bergmeister.
Bergmeister has one of the best CVs (and surnames) in the history of Porsche motorsport, but he couldn’t top twenty-four year-old Holzer’s times in the Flying Lizard RSR. Teamed with Lizards’ owner, Seth Neiman, this is the first pole position for Porsche in ALMS 2012, so things are looking good for a Porsche win at Road America.
What has changed? How are 911s suddenly first and second? Sad to say, as yet I don’t know. Perhaps some expert reading this will be able to enlighten us in the comments. I have emailed a man who might shed some light.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling to have clinched my first pole in the American Le Mans Series. I’m really pleased for the team that our number 44 car is at the very front of the grid,” says Marco. “This track is fantastic and great fun. With the race running over four hours, it’s very long and a great deal can happen in this time. Still, pole position is a great place to start.”
Further down the field, Falken hero and works driver, Wolf Henzler, set the eighth quickest time, in a GT3 R shared with US driver, Bryan Sellers.
Bryce Miller turned the tenth quickest time in Paul Miller Racing’s 911, shared with Sascha Maassen. Sascha is the lead mentor on the Porsche Junior programme, which we have been video-blogging for the last few days. More later!
Working as Mighty Motor Media promoting Porsche specialists gives me great access to some of the best Porsche workshops.
On my last visit, I was talked through a GT3 RS inspection (on lift behind this 911T). The car was a well-known track day ride, and the owner’s not known for sparing horses. After buying KW suspension for his GT3, the owner discovered the workshop was booked up three weeks in advance. So he took his car to a Porsche crew in Berkshire who claimed they could do the job. It did not work out so well.
As with the cracked ceramic disc episode that saved the owner fifty quid but cost fourteen grand to correct, the GT3 man collected his car from the other crowd, paid a big bill and instantly noted a steering issue. The garage brushed it off as dampers bedding in, but a few days’ driving led to urgent Porsche attention.
They found a series of problems: some potentially deadly. The struts had been installed the wrong way around, so left was right and right was left. The top bearings that should allow the assemblies to swivel with the steering were fitted wrongly, fixed with the wrong top nuts and trashed in short order, so the springs had started turning on their perches. The other garage had not tightened the grub screws holding the perches in position, so the car was unscrewing the ride height with every turn of the wheel, sinking 40mm in a week.
A new Cargraphic silencer had been fitted slightly sideways and wiring for one O2 sensor was cut to fit around it. The wires are heat-resistant stainless which cannot be soldered, so were extended by wrapping copper strands in. The ‘fix’ had not worked and, as these sensors operate in a range of less than one volt, the car was running terribly. Truth is, the wire did not need cutting to fit: it fits without modification.
A simultaneous service had lost the bungs for the airbox, but most worryingly of all, the mechanic had repaced the brake pad pins incorrectly, and the pins were falling out. At some stage, this GT3 was going to have no brakes.When I arrived, the guys had just started stripping it. The work would take at least two days and some new parts to fix.
Two big bills and many new parts, versus a three-week wait with the chance of a cancellation? OK, it’s aided by hindsight but I probably would have waited. Ever had a similar experience? I am always interested in hearing how good garages are, or not.
I’ve been watching a lot of racing lately. Not just Nurburgring 24, VLN, Porsche Supercup and Carrera Cup, but Blancpain Endurance and the ALMS series.
Blancpain from Silverstone on Motors TV the other night was interesting. In the wet, the little old 911 GT3 RS racecars were setting respectable times versus the latest McLarens and Mercedes SLS.
It made me wonder: how fast is the GT3 RS road car (sweet GT3 pic above) on a dry, twisty circuit versus the McLaren MP4-12C? Thankfully, my former clients at Autocar magazine have provided the answer in video.
It’s tempting to dismiss a review that starts: “venerable” Porsche 911 versus “dizzying” new McLaren. But this is Steve Sutcliffe, who has more than a clue. The results might surprise you, especially when considering the respective purchase prices: £193,000 approx for the McLaren.
Anyone reading road test reviews of the new Porsche 911 will have noted claims that the longer-wheelbase, wider-track 911 is now more grand tourer than sports car. If the new Cayman will now be Porsche’s truest sports car, why don’t Porsche take it to the max?
Motor Trend Editor Angus MacKenzie recently put this directly to Porsche CEO Matthias Muller. I’m sure he’d considered his response at length: what to do about Cayman must be a hot topic in Stuttgart. The model is the most undermarketed Porsche I’ve ever seen, and yet remains one of the best sports cars the company has built.
Will there never be a Cayman that will outperform a 911? “If I look at pure performance numbers,” says Muller thoughtfully, “then maybe.” But then he quickly adds he believes Porsche’s two sports cars are aimed at two entirely different customers — substitution between the two cars is less than five percent in the United States. And with Turbo and Turbo S versions of the new 911 still to come — as well as GT3 and GT2 variants — you can bet there will always be at least one 911 variant that will be faster than even the hottest Cayman in the future.”
Watching the privateer Caymans circulating at Nurburgring 24, it’s clear that the chassis has plenty of headroom. The cars looked much lighter on their feet compared to heavier GT3 cars in switchback direction changes, making Cayman the perfect base for a good power-to-weight race platform that could be up there on efficency, speed and reliability. Translate that to a road car that wasn’t too stiff and you get something like the Cayman R, but with added marketing mojo.
Boxster Spyder ticked the box for everyone who took it out wanting to drive. James May’s Spyder review (video below) will go down as one of the great Top Gear Porsche product tests. The only downside – certainly for the UK – was that convoluted canvas top. So why not a Cayman R Carrera: same ethos as Boxster Spyder, but with a solid roof? We would finally have a daily drivable Porsche sports car, raceable for not much money, marketed as a drivers piece and sold at a sensible price (we hope).
New Boxster is into UK £60k when specced to the hilt and Cayman is likely to be similar. I guess we’ll see how the Cayman plan works out, but it would be nice to see more on the road, taking it to the Porsche-is-911 brigade and speaking to prospective buyers who view PDK 911 as expensive pipe and slippers.
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