Some thoughts on "Porsche Purism"
 

I remember reading in the news in 1998 when the New Beetle was released...some guy broke into a dealer and smashed up a bunch of them with a hammer or bat. Apparently he did this because he was angry that VW had ruined his perception of what the Beetle was supposed to represent. If I recall, the fellow was of a distinctly hippie persuasion, trapped in time. With all the passion of the Beetle-smasher, "Porsche purists" are still freaking out about the changes in Porsche.

And I've been there right along with them, beating my hippie drum. But gradually I've come to appreciate the wisdom of change, and as of this week, with the purchase of my 97 Boxster, I've become a bona fide fan of new Porsche.

About a dozen years ago when I was driving my 964 C4, I came to the conclusion that "all cars should be like a Porsche." One of the most striking things for me was how safe I felt in the car. I remember thinking, who needs airbags when you car is so nimble you can place it anywhere on the road in an instant, and stop on a dime? And when I sold it, I remember feeling very unsafe at first in the Integra that replaced it.

The bottom line is I think I got my wish, and it has everything to do with the new Porsche. I bought my Boxster for $4k in great condition. Now I'm going to look into replacing my wife's car with a used Cayenne, which are beginning to approach the $10k mark. Even after buying these 2 cars, I'll still have plenty of headroom to fix them when they break, and continue to save big stacks for my classic 911. In a short time I'll have a Porsche for every occasion.

So I give Porsche a long-overdue thumbs-up for the new diggs!

A word of caution...
Of course I would never recommend such a lineup of Porsches, if you're uncomfortable with or can't afford the inevitable cost of repair and maintenance, fuel, and tires. Buying used Porsches, anticipate that over time maintaining it may exceed your original purchase price. Case-in-point, my Boxster was only $4k, but is going to need new brakes and tires soon. My guess is, from past experience, that this will cost me a minimum of $2000...half my purchase price. But consider...the original owner flushed tens of thousands of dollars down the toilet to be first. Kudos to those who have the spare change to do this without care, but most of us are compelled to be a bit more strategic about our spending habits.

Just like the boxster do you due diligence on the Cayenne, there are plenty of known issues, and most likely the reason they are so inexpensive. Been there done that, lol.

Congratulations on the new, to you, cars

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Only thing is, the boxster isn't old porsche but it also is not new porsche. We are at a turning age again, go on an lump the SUVs and panamera in with new porsche. Middle Is the 9x6 9x7 and depending on your fancy the 9x1 cars. The 9x1 cars are changing though, of course still getting much faster, but imagine how someone would have felt if he test drove a 996 in 2000 and it turned itself off at each red light.

The next generation of porsche sports cars will likely have 4 cylinder options at the least, turbo is going to quickly just be a trim level of a full line of turbocharged cars, and porsches are gradually becoming luxury cars with a spotty edge.

Now are any of the porshes, new, old, or middle bad? I think they all have redeeming qualities, but it'll be very interesting to see where new Porsche goes, the 918 makes me excited to find out.

Congrats on your new-to-you Boxster! I'm not too far behind you, buying my wife's car in October. And like you, I am a huge fan of the older Porsches. Get the book 101 Projects for Your Porsche Boxster, and do the brakes yourself. Also, no need to spend big bucks on tires for your 97', depending on how to plan on driving. I plan on getting Sumitomo HTR Z II's in the spring, should be just over $300 shipped. Best of luck!

As much as I dislike SUVs, mini SUVs, and 4 dr sedans in the Porsche line-up, I realize that's what butters our bread. These mainstream vehicles keep Porsche viable so they can provide us with great sports cars. I can live with that.

I think VW missed a great mktg ad when they came out with the new Beetle. Back in the 60's, they had an ad where a guy had a confused look on his face as he looked for the engine in the front. They could have had a guy looking in the back for the engine with the new Beetle. I tried Googling the 60's ad but nothing came up with my search, so you youngins will have to trust me.

Every Porsche that I buy for myself is older than the one(s) that I owned before it. That pretty well sums up where I stand.

I was recently looking to buy an SUV for my younger son who is in college so we test drove a number of first gen Cayenne's. When we started looking, he and I were both set (biased) towards buying the Cayenne so I thought it would just be a simple matter of finding a decent car at a decent price. What we didn't expect is that we both preferred the first gen BMW X5 in almost every way! My 20 yr old son was a bit incredulous when he said, "Dad, I hate to say this, and I can't believe that I am saying this, but I don't want you to buy me the Porsche".

Speaking of my mini-Porsche collection, I am waiting to get the 944 Turbo back from the shop and then I plan to take a few nice photos of my collection of Porsche's Best Everyday Drivers!

Yup, it's kinda getting too old to call my Boxster a "new Porsche." That's just my general term for cars that preceded 97-99. One of the things I like about my Boxster is it's simplicity, which is a sign of it's age. Porsches are getting progressively more luxurious, and this is where my "Porsche purism" begins to re-assert itself.

Here's one where the gas attendants are trying to figure out where the gas goes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnqMpNSBjG4

They should be air cooled, they should me manual transmissions, then should be silver, they should be short on options, they should be driven hard, they should only use Porsche parts, the 914 wasn't really a Porsche...

Heard them all.

Your money, your car. Do what pleases you.