Porsche, Dedication To A Car

Ferdinand Porsche played an important role in the development of airplanes and racing cars, as well as the construction of tanks for the Wehrmacht. He was an automobile engineer with more than one thousand patents to his name. He was nominated as chief engineer at Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart in the 1920s. Subsequently, he founded his own engineering workshop and designed besides others the Volkswagen. At the plant in Wolfsburg, where the Volkswagen was built, he was chief of operations and at the end of the war he was interned by the Allies.

A few years later he was released and started building his first car together with his son, Ferry Porsche. The car, a sports car an a reminiscent of the Volkswagen, was named Porsche 356. It had the same four-cylinder boxer engine that was rear-mounted, exactly like the VW and it was fara way from being a powerful sports car, developing just 40 bhp and a maximum speed of 87 mph (140 km/h). First just produced as a convertible and later as a hard top it distinguished by the very elegant and innovative body. The car was developed in the workshop of Erwin Komenda, a master of guarded streamlining who had been in charge of sheet metal and design techniques at Porsche since the early VW Beetle. The new style of closed coupe was designed by Komenda and it soon became the incarnation of the sports car, cheers to its fastback.

This tradition was continued by Komenda and Ferdinand "Butzi" Porsche, the founder's grandson, with the 911.

The 911 became easily recognizable: it had attractive sloping hood and what later became characteristic "frog eye" headlights, curves running from the top edge of the windshield to the rear bumper and a straight waistline. From the operational and technical viewpoint it was more similar to the BMW 1500, while it retained the stylistic characteristics of the original Porsche. The new 911 became the foundation stone of Porsche's identity, even though the design was not appreciated all of the time. During the 1970`s and 1980`s, the designers attempts to distance Porsche from its fabled design brought the company to the edge of disaster. The more advanced 924 model, "a people's Porsche", developed together with Volkswagen, as well as the 928 were far away from carrying out the expectations.

In the 1990`s, the company understood that what for over twenty years was perceived as a straitjacket, it was in fact a market advantage. During the 1990`s, Porsche became extremely fruitful as they now recognized that the typical Porsche characteristics were timeless. Almost forty people now worked in the design department on additional developments of the long-running 911. These developments included the 911 GTI, a powerful compounding of sports and racing car, put forward by the in-house designer Anthony R. Hatter. In 1999 the chief designer proudly presented the new Boxster which enabled Porshe to establish a second independent range of models.

The Porsche 356 is the first automobile produced by Porsche and it was sold from 1948 until 1965. Although a lot of poeple consider the Porsche 64 as being the first automobile produced by the German company, it was never mass-produced and only a drivable test-mule. The 364 was created by Ferdinand Porsche and his son, Ferry Porsche, designed by Erwin Komenda and its engine features derived from the early Volkswagen Beetle, designed by Mr. Porsche Senior.

The initially available models were coupe, cabriolet (luxury convertible) and a roadster (a stripped down convertible). Before being withdrawn in 1965, it passed several changes. The most desirable versions were 356 "Carrera" (often sold for more than $150,000), "Super 90" and "Speedster". In the late 50`s, the original selling price for a Porsche was $4,000.

In 1954, Max Hoffman, the only importer of Porsche into the United States required a lower cost, racier version for the American market. Therefore, the company created 356 "Speedster" that became a instant hit thanks to the low, raked windshield (easily removable for weekend racing), bucket seats, and minimal folding top. These days, this car is still very treasured as it is sold for more than $100,000. It has been used in several films, including 48 Hours, its sequel - Another 48 Hours and Top Gun. In 1957, the production of Speedster peaked at 1,171 cars. In 1959 it was substituted by the Convertible D model, which had a taller and more practical windshield, glass side windows, and much more comfortable seats.

Year after year, the basic shape of Porsche 356 stayed the same and it was easily recognized and noticed, although alterations were made, particularly in the mechanical area. Coupe and cabriolet models were produced every year until 1965, with the last 356B Roadster built in early 1963. The final model build was 356 C that featured disc brakes and the most powerful Porsche pushrod engine so far: the 95HP "SC".

In the year that Porsche launched 911, 1964, Porsche 356 production peaked at 14,151 cars. Still, the company continued to sell the 356C in North America through the end of 1965 as a lower-cost vehicle. As customers complained about the higher price for 911 (it was nearly twice the price of the 356), Porsche began producing the 912, using the 356 engine. The 912 model was sold between 1965 and 1969.

56 years after the beginning of the production, Sports Car International named 356C is number ten on the list of Top Sports cars of the 60`s. Nowadays, the 356 is a honoured car amongst collectors, as it stood the test of time. Worldwide, several thousand of 356 owners keep up with the tradition, preserving their cars and driving them on a regular basis.

The Porsche Boxster as well as the Boxster S are fast and powerful cars, but most of all the best-handling production roadsters on the planet. Introduced in 1996, it stayed basically unchanged, other than moderate horsepower and interior fine-tunes. That's what Porsche usually does with the successful models: it continues car look and configuration for ages.

A more powerful second-generation Boxster was introduced in 2005 and it keeps Porsche's conservative evolutionary path. Like its precedent, it is a mid-engine, six-cylinder two-seater that looks almost like a Porsche Spyder. Still, more than half of Boxster`body structure as well as electronics are adopted from the 911 Carrera.

The 2005 Boxster looks sprightlier than its 2004 equivalent, thanks to the alteration of the torsion, the 15 additional hp and the extra power coming on strongly between 2000rpm and 4000 rpm. The 2005 Boxster S literally rivals the speedup and top-speed performance of Porsche's more expensive 911 Carrera. The Boxster exhaust has been tuned up to play a identifying tromboning wail like no other car. It is an amazing thing considering that both engines are smaller adaptations of the six-cylinder in the Carrera.

The transmission for base Boxsters is five-speed manual but the optional variant offers a six-speed. Both models can also be fitted with a five-speed Tiptronic, the brilliant Porsche-designed automatic drive that started the trend towards manually shifted automatics.

The bodywork and the interior of the Boxster are of high quality, but regarding that there is nothing tricky or purely decorative, you can unquestionably say that these are not deluxe cars. However, the interior has been improved since the older model was frequently criticized for being to cheap-looking. The center console has been upgraded with a revised switch-gear and a titanium look paneling. The seats are now more supportive and body-shaped, making them look absolutely superb in the new version. Different than other roadsters, the Boxster has no problem storing luggage for a long trip: it has two trunks, a small one in the rear and another, amply deep one under the front hood.

One of The Boxster`s best qualities is the powered convertible top, very quick to retract or re-erect. In the new Boxster, the top can be engaged at speeds up to 30 mph. The triple-layer padded cloth tops (with a heated-glass rear window) is as weather-tight and quiet as most metal roofs.

The Boxster is called a mid engine-car. The reason is that the sweet six-cylinder engine is mounted just behind the seats, in front of the rear axle. So if you would like to see what is under the hood once in while, well... you can not do that with The Boxster. The only way to see the engine is from underneath or by meticulously removing body panels, which mechanics must do to service the engine. Anyway, the good news is that having the engine mounted closer to the center of the car brings in better weight distribution. And this is what makes the car handle so well.

In comparing the engines, The Porsche Cayman is positioned between the Porsche Boxster and the Porsche 911. Nevertheless, it has its own different personality. It is livelier, easier, and not effected by heavy weight hanging out the back and the call for managing the burden of that weight.

The Cayman is a strictly two-seater because of the engine sitting where the rear seats would normally be. This means that the engine is not quite easily accessible, although there is a way into the oil filler via the boot. That long tailgate uncovers a generous luggage area to supplement the front 911/Boxster-sized boot. Like all other Porsche, the Cayman is not very big, which makes it very practical and functional. And for all its visible Boxster genes, the Cayman is very much a car for its own, with its curvy rear wings and tasteful fastback roof. As with other Porsches, the Cayman has a movable rear spoiler, which deploys above 120km/h.

Returning to the engine, the Cayman has 3.4 litres, a mix of the cylinder barrels of a 911 with the crankshaft of a Boxster. A 911 engine is of 3.6 or 3.8 liters and a Boxster S has a 3.2-litre engine. It is a strange thing, although nowadays Porsche engines are water-cooled, they still overlay their intake and exhaust notes with a breathy whine like that of the giant air-cooling fans of old.

Essentially, the Cayman is a mix and it does not have an immense amount of new and unique parts. In short, the Cayman is a structure two and a half times more besotted because it is simply a Boxster with a roof. Successively, that means that the driving experience gets much more focused because its suspension can have tighter, sportier setting.

Porsche Cayman reaches a maximum speed of 275 km/h and gets from zero to 100 km/h in 5.3 seconds, even if the fuel thirst is low for such pace. The Cayman is particularly fine with the optional Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM), but different than a 911, it works comfortably enough without it. PASM makes the Cayman sit 10mm lower, and in its Sport mode it tightens the damping.

Bottom line, Porsche Cayman is a remarkable example of a stiff, solid-roofed bodyshell's advantages. The Cayman S has all the favorable Porsche attributes you could want, and none of the snags. It's not the fastest Porsche, not the most furious and not the most breathtaking. It is a pooling of other Porsche parts, which means that the Cayman is not expensive to develop but it will bring in big profits. The car, by the way, takes its name not from the tax-haven archipelago, but from a type of crocodile.

A decade ago, the idea of a Porsche S.U.V. (sport utility vehicle) would have appeared ridiculous. And the reason is not that it misses experience with off-road cars since their engineers have developed all-wheel-drive military vehicles. It's more that, equated to General Motors, Toyota or Daimler-Chrysler, the automotive giants, Porsche represents a tiny fraction of the production volume. For more than fifty years, the company has developed quick, agile and small sports cars, or put differently, the exactly opposite of the SUV's. When Porsche decided to invest in an S.U.V. and a new factory to build it, it got clear that times, as well as our taste, have changed.

And immediately after creating the most looked-for new Porsche in decades, the company is proud that its S.U.V. is what most expected it would be: technically crafty and outstandingly fast, with on-road handling that contradicts its mass. Also, the Cayenne offers what most S.U.V. buyers ask for, including adequate loading space, more than decent capability for casual off-road use, and impressive towing capacity.

When it touches pricing, the Cayenne is a true Porsche, a very expensive Porsche. With tax and license, a loaded Cayenne Turbo can easily pass the $100,000 barrier, and just that will knock it off most shopping lists. But for the connoisseurs, the Porsche Cayenne will be truly appreciated for its performance and driving satisfaction.