Carl Fogel writes:
>>> For what it is worth, Porsche was headed towards bankruptcy a few years back, but was saved by
>>> changes suggested by a consulting firm formed of retired Toyota executives.
>> That's a lot of myth and lore. The company was saved by actions by Ferdinand Piech, grandson of
>> Ferdiand Porsche and CEO of VW-Audi, who was instrumental in getting Wendelin Wiedeking to take
>> over the company:
>> Piech was the man who developed the Porsche 917 and later the fastest, most powerful car on the
>> production GT market with 1003hp and 400km/h, the Bugatti Veyron:
http://members.fortunecity.com/freecarwallpapers/bugatti_01.htm http://www.car-
data.com/xpage.preview/pre.template.asp?mfg=bugatti&model=veyron
>> Bugatti Veyron 16/4
>> -----------------------------
>> Year: 2001 Power: 1001 HP Cylinders: 16 Displacement: 7993 ccm Top speed: 406 km/h -62 mph: 3.2
>> sec. Gears: 7 Price: EUR 750,000
> How nice to see someone who's not fascinated by image![1]
The whole Porsche business thrives mostly on an image based on its history in competition with high
performance cars. Some people like to own such vehicles, the point here is that the company was not
a fabrication of Toyota but rather one man's business and technical acumen. Under Piech, VW-Audi
came from the Golf/Rabbit to a leading auto maker competing in all catagories from Polo to Audi to
Bently and Bugatti.
Whether you want to own an expensive two seaters or not is yor prerogative. I can do wothout it.
However, I found working at Porsche, designing a formula-1 car, challenging and educational for my
engineering carreer. I learned a lot and had the pleasure of working with talented people. Our car,
Driven by Dan Gurney, won a GP before
Mr. Porsche decided the sport was too expensive for the small company.
http://www.gpracing.net192.com/cars/data/496.cfm
> This sensible little commuter car looks infinitely more practical than the posturing, useless
> SUV's that seem to haunt your nightmares.[2]
> A thousand-and-one horsepower sounds like just the thing for sitting in rush-hour traffic!
> Carl Fogel
> P.S. I want one, too.
So having done such a great research on the web, I see you found no inconsistencies in my
appraisal of truck owners. What does this have to do with Toyota advising Porsche on how to run
their business?
> [1]"The machismo of shifting gears has lost favor in most civilized places. It has nothing to do
> with usefulness or economy. Today, most large SUV's and long haul trucks (you know "18-
> wheelers") are automatic, as are of course, formula race cars. That these drivers use
> automatics has muted the common axiom that automatics are for women (who can't master the
> mechanics), the common explanation when the subject of sporty driving (a man's thing) arises.
> Heel-and-toe, double clutching and all that gratuitous hand-and foot-work of the initiated.
> Give me a break. I am amazed how many men cannot get over these juvenile ideas about
> manliness." --Jobst Brandt
> [2]"It's like the black SUV with black windows. It's the IN thing." --Jobst Brandt
> "The SUV folks can defend the superiority of their vehicles with the same rhetoric we see here
> defending fashionable bicycles and their equipment." --Jobst Brandt
> "Currently black is beautiful, be that rims, tires, or SUV's (with blackened windows." --
> Jobst Brandt
> "The reason for using these frame materials IS to get lighter and lighter... and more expensive to
> increase boasting rights. It runs parallel to the larger and larger SUV with black everything
> offset by chrome." --Jobst Brandt
> "Forget it and just get a bigger (black) SUV with blackened windows, jacked up chassis, rumble
> pipes, and spotlights." --Jobst Brandt
> "The point is that driving truck is IN, and how SUV's are designed is much like any fashion item,
> it can be as frivolous as hell, and not make any difference." --Jobst Brandt
> "Because you are considering a vehicle where image is all and gimmicks are the routine. If I took
> these vehicles as a model, I would have six inch diameter chrome exhaust pipes on my car. They
> must be good, I saw them on a Jimmy!" --Jobst Brandt
> "You probably drive an SUV with chromed jungle grills over the front with bumper bars to help you
> get to the real rough stuff to ride bike." --Jobst Brandt
> "Around here there are huge traffic jams of SUV's at schools." --Jobst Brandt
> "Many of them seem to believe the sales pitch that are common on TV and radio for BMW and MB cars
> and play the role of snobs admirably. The whole "drive truck" craze is a poor symbol of our
> society. Image is everything, substance nothing for these folks." --Jobst Brandt
> "These people are the ones most susceptible to advertising for things they don't need but buy
> anyway, convinced they will enhance their stature, be that a monster SUV or a car with pseudo
> aerodynamic appendages." --Jobst Brandt
> "By the way, this is the excuse given for all the SUV's with knobby tires and 4WD we see in the
> shopping malls and among other things, buzzing bicyclists on the road." --Jobst Brandt
> "Hey, you're catching on. The jacked up monster truck with oversized tires was once in the domain
> of the macho guys that put padding in their jock strap or tape a salami onto their leg. Today, the
> closet admirers of thes vehicles have come out of the closet and join the bunch, now that you can
> buy them off the shelf, with darkened windows if you want. "Git outta mah way, peon! Ah've go a
> big tough Jimmy!" if you haven't noticed."
> "Posturing is IN! No need for substance, when appearances are taken in lieu of." --Jobst Brandt
> "Many ride MTB's for the same reason they drive truck. SUV for you and me! "Me and my Jimmy can go
> anywhere." I'm tough! What??? You don't drive truck? Who do you think you are anyway? Besides, my
> truck is diesel and has duals and a long cab and a Knaak toolbox. You ought to hear it rumble.
> Even the tires make more noise than a motorcycle. My truck is so tall I have a step ladder for
> passengers and the bumper is higher than a Miyata's roof. Me and Arnold Schw. understand big
> cars." --Jobst Brandt
Jobst Brandt
[email protected]