My, one man's, opinion is that the essence is being diluted, rather than disappearing. Porsche is producing some great hardware for the die-hards, along with some ho-hum stuff intended to appeal to the masses.
If we simply look at the enthusiast side of the equation, we find Porsche is more productive than ever before offering such greats as the Carrera 4S, Turbo, GT3, GT2, GT3RS, Carrera GT and (dare I say) even the Boxster S. Has Porsche ever offered as many enthusiast models to the market at the same time before? I think not!
While I am very worried about dilution of the image, I am even more worried that commecial success with incredibly average models, such as the upcoming Cayenne V6, will encourage Porsche to focus scarce engineering and design resources on even more mass-market models. Yuk!
If they come out with a 2900 pound Boxster Coupe with a 315 hp 996 engine with a track-ready oil sump/pump, all for $45k, I'll forgive all past and (most) future marketing sins!!!!
It's nice to dream. 8)
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-- John
Slowly shopping for a 991 or 981...
'20 RAM 1500 Laramie
'19 X3
'16 Camaro RS
'00 Boxster S
'86 Carrera Coupe
'85 Jaguar XJS v12
'88 Integra RS
'74 Toyota Celica GT
'69 Camaro
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