Porsche cars were special. Sure, they effed-up with the original 924, but every company has it's flops. The resulting 944 and 944 turbo were worth the few years of 924's though.
What made them so special when I was in my automotive formative years was that they were only for people "in the know." The 911 was not a status symbol, and priced similar to a Corvette, wasn't cheap, but most people earning a decent living could scratch together the dough for one if they really wanted to.
Today the 911 has become the choice of Hollywood starlets and AIG bonus recipients and others with fat wallets. The prices are very high and the cars are laden with gadgets and technology. For most of its first 20 years, the 911 ignored the goings-on in terms of "luxury features" and cared not a whisp what other makers were doing. Interiors were sparse, purposeful places designed for drivers that were, well, driving.
The late 1980's brought this to an end. The go-go 80's discovered the 911, and the Yuppies used it as status symbol. Porsche began to add content and raise prices. It nearly did them in, as they teetered on the edge of bankruptcy by 1992. Mercedes farmed out the production of the E500 to them to help keep them from going under, and there was a time when it looked pretty bleak.
The Boxster saved the company. In some ways, it was what the 911 was in 1979. Priced like a Corvette, people could reach for it, and they did. The economy recovered and sales boomed. Porsche's "secret car lovers brand" status had still been supplanted with "status seekers galore" but now a "real" Porsche (not a rebadged anything) was for sale and the price was decent.
Today, Porsche has bought into Toyota's desire to be everything to everyone, well, at least everyone that has a decent income. Sedans, SUV's, and god only know what else. The newest generations have no idea of what Porsche once was, and probably don't care, and Porsche today couldn't care less about their amazing heritage and the loyalty they once created among "those in the know."
