Loving the discussion on future Boxster values of Porsche-built cars versus Boxsters now built partly by Volkswagen, as announced yesterday.
“Some of the earlier Boxsters were build in Finland and no one seems to care about that,” was pointed out by Jeroen B on the Ferdinand Facebook page.
Andrew D also picked up on that thread. “Is this so bad? Does this not mean that its essentially what was Karmann of Osnabruck building it? I used to own a Karmann-built Porsche and didn’t think it was bad. Porsche did farm production of SWB 911 bodies out to Karmann, and it’s the I-Ching. So it doesn’t bother me. If they’re now owned by VW group they could be even better!” Fair points, but not the point. The point is how people will talk about it.
After twenty-five years in the motor trade, and ten years with Europe’s largest car valuation company, I don’t doubt that VW ownership means “last of the proper all-Porsche Porsches” is a line we are about to see more of in classifieds.
Something is always ‘the last of’. 356 guys made “Real Carreras have four cams” t-shirts when the 2.7 Carrera RS first came out. “Last of the proper 911s” runs all the way from ads for SWB cars, to the end of ’73, to the Carrera 3.2, to the narrow-body 964, to the air-cooled 993. ‘Last of the proper/Metzger 911s’ is how GT3 RS 4.0 buyers were sold their cars.
Pitching cars as a one-off opportunity never stops, and some Porsche owners can be super sniffy about Volkswagen associations: witness the market’s regard for 914/924 and 944 models, and the speed with which 944 owners will now email me, saying their cars do not have a van engine.
I’ve owned enough Mk2 Golfs to go down as a Volkswagen fan and am proud of my 924/944 ownership. But, let’s say in ten years time, you’ve got two identical Boxsters: same colour, mileage and options. One is Volkswagen assisted, one is completely from Stuttgart. Which one will you go for? I think the answer is obvious.
My 1999 Boxster, made in Finland, is the first Porsche I’ve owned. It had 74K miles on it when I purchased it and it just recently turned 104K. I’ve driven it hard on the track, in AX and back country roads and in the time I’ve owned it, other than my own mods, I’ve only done general maintenance. It has been the best, most fun car I’ve ever owned. Over the years I’ve owned a lot of VW’s from bugs to vans and in all the miles I’ve put on them not one ever broke down or left me stranded. The worst VW I owned was a 1980 Vanagon, that had a Porsche 2 liter motor, and even it ran on three cylinders and got me home once. There will always be snobs in the world who will want to distinguish what they have as better but my experience with both VW and Porsche has been 99% positive and I think the reliability of the new Boxster should be determined by its track record before it is condemned by where it’s made.
Of course you are right Ronald & my experience is the same. My VWs have always got me home! No one here is condemning, but you understand the nature of the world around Porsche. This changeover time is a very interesting period in Porsche history-to-be.