Read Sam Smith's comments on driving the 2008 Porsche 911 Carrera S.
Once again, I step into a 911, and I'm reminded of just how much Porsche does right. Once again, I get out of a 911, and I start thinking about how much I'd have to sell in order to own one. (A lot, as it turns out.) And once again, every other car on the planet just seems a little...wrong.
Funny, isn't it? Funny that one man's weirdo science experiment - Ve put ze motor in ze rear! Und ve never change it, not for fifty years! - grew into such an enduring piece of genius. The fabulous steering. The fabulous-sounding, fabulously linear, fabulously toe-tingling engine. The fabulously adjustable balance. The quirks (all but engineered out in the 997, but there are still a few left to love). The history.
As a car, as a driving tool, as an emotional outlet, it's not quite perfect... but it's very, very close. Do I need one? Hmm. I think early-'70s 911Es are just about the price of a new 3-series...