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The 911's not a bad car at all, but its symbolic of the lack of progression that is anathema to the values of its founders. It's a great car, just not what Porsche was founded on and that so-called Porschephiles freak out at the thought of Porsche being anything but 911s is the reason they're in such a design quagmire today (and why I argue that they are not true fans of Porsche as they completely misunderstand its founders thirst for advancement and unique ideas), afraid to make anything that doesn't look like they stretched 911 sheet-metal over everything. Morgans are great (though I wish they'd still make a Trike), but retro is their thing. Ferdinand and Ferry Porsche never looked to the past, always innovated. It's amazing how far they've developed a bad design (rear engine sports car), but that's a triumph of engineering within the severe restrictions of marketing. If left unencumbered by such artificial constraints, and accepting that Ferry is long gone, I'd love to see what their engineers and designers would be able to do (which I'd bet wouldn't be a rear-engined car as a start). At least let the Cayman kick the 911 as it naturally would if not, once again, hobbled by marketing too scared to let the king be naturally dethroned as its standard bearer. Keep the 911 for the midlife-crisis doctors (it IS still very efficient for what it is and a great car), but I'd like to see a return to the original values of efficiency and performance through careful engineering, light weight, and small engines. Why not a direct-injection 4-cyl. sports car under the Cayman capable of at least 40 mpg? I'm sure Ferry would have done it and he brought the 911 into the world in the first place. Most of all, I'd like to see them find some damned design direction divorced from the 911! A front-engined SUV and a sedan with looks based on a small rear-engined sports car. Really, WTF. Look at Porsche's history and the great variance of the cars throughout their history (for an even more interesting time, go back to the old man's stuff from before he started his engineering company) and how they've stagnated the last 15 years. They're managing a brand now without understanding what made the brand so valuable to begin with.
Lucky for Bugatti's memory that the company died soon after the unfortunate deaths of Jean and Ettore and before it could really violate their values of a technical creation only being perfect when it is perfect from the point of view of aesthetics... Oh wait. If I had an archenemy, VW would be it. And yet, all would be forgiven if they produced the one-litre or the trike they built a few years ago.
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