I don’t watch much TV these days. I suspect it’s the same for most of you reading this: fun work & online life means less time for the gogglebox. I’m happy with that.

The advantage of not watching lots of TV is I’m not sufficiently addicted to sit through bad content. When I do sit down to watch it, I search for quality.

I watched a bit last night: the Top Gear on electric cars (excellent, watched with my 7 YO), then a really great documentary on Rankin with the Life magazine photographers and finally guitarist Les Paul, live in NY on his 90th birthday with some great jazz performers. The evening rounded off a good day’s work, including my first visit to Porscheshop.

Based in Halesowen, West Mids, Porscheshop is run by Ian Heward. I’ve read lots of stories on Ian over the years, but I didn’t know that he has a degree in product design, used to bang doorhandles in BTCC versus Menu et al, and recently raced the Bathurst 1000.

We were talking about the new products Ian is bringing to market: CarBand and some interesting brake offerings for later Porsche cars, when I spotted a Marmite mouse mat and computer mouse. “That’s part of Motormouse,” said Ian, “we supported David and Patti Bailey when they first got going, with a prototype that looked like a Porsche. They ended up on Dragon’s Den (above): did you see it?

Thanks to watching no TV, I hadn’t seen it but sought it out on YouTube when I got home. What a great success story: their products are selling like hot cakes and the classic Mini mouse is cool! Check this out if you’re a fellow TV avoider. Note, I don’t use mice and am not pushing you to buy one – I just like the story!

Every now and then, I get a hankering to sell every car I own bar the 911 and buy a Porsche Cayenne. Yes, I know hardly a classic and to some people not even a Porsche, but I like the cut of the Cayenne’s jib.

Admittedly there are many reasons NOT to buy a Cayenne. Maybe not enough ‘many’s there.

• It’s not the prettiest thing in the world
• Only the Space Shuttle has worse mpg
• Colours available mostly more boring than housepaint
• Eats tyres like a thirsty, boring-coloured, tyre-eating thing
• Volkswagen V6 or cylinder-scoring V8
• Manual transmission is only available with the VW engine
• Precious little space for LPG, especially in the Turbo and even on gas only 15mpg (albeit at a lower fuel price)

On the plus side:

• Huge
• Fast
• Sexy V8 noise
• Deserves its Porsche badge
• Decent 4×4 system, not joke setup
• Air suspension rocks
• Replaces everything I own except the 911

So, if it has rubbish MPG and is either slow-ish and not that great on MPG compared to the faster one (V6) or prone to chucking pistons through the cylinder walls (V8), why the desire to own one? I don’t know – it’s a regular thing with me. If I could find a nice non-silver/black colour, circa 55-plate with under 90k miles for £10K*, I think I might pull the trigger. That despite the fact that it would probably be an exceptionally bad idea turning up at home with a ten grand Cayenne, when I already have five cars and am in the middle of building a cash-sapping house extension. Not that that ever stopped me…

The plan would be to sell the other cars, though. Newly-restored E36 M3 saloon, classic Landcruiser 80 series, Subaru Outback on new LPG kit and Mk 2 Golf GTi would all go, replaced by just one Cayenne S. Alternatively, can you say “V6 diesel conversion”? Aaargh, that is full-on man maths talking: *la la la I’m not listening*

Cayenne drivers – share your experiences!

Porsche Consulting is setting up a subsidiary in the US, and recruiting up to 50 people in Germany. Founded in 1994, the company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Porsche AG and employs 250 people. Revenue for fiscal year 2009/10 was just under  €56 million.

I know there are a lot of talented engineers and process management people in Europe who read the blog, so I thought I would share the information. You can get more information from www.porsche-consulting.com. US guys: get your CVs in for their records! And someone tell them to zing up their website a bit…

Excerpt from the press release:

Porsche Consulting is setting up a subsidiary in the USA. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Porsche Consulting Inc. will commence operations in October with ten consultants. It will be the third foreign subsidiary after Milan in Italy and Sao Paulo in Brazil. “In the past five years we have generated income of approximately 20 million US dollars with local customers in the USA. That is positively crying out for a local presence,” says Norman Firchau, President and CEO of the new subsidiary Porsche Consulting Inc. in the USA.

Porsche Consulting is also growing in Germany. Approximately 50 new consultants are to be taken on in the current year. The recruitment focus is on (industrial) engineers having majored in vehicle and automotive technology, mechanical engineering, manufacturing industry or aerospace but also economists having majored in production, logistics, procurement and purchasing, development or sales.

In addition to Lean Management, namely the reduction of activities that do not add value, the elimination of waste and the rise of value creation, the US subsidiary will focus on Supply Chain Management and on optimising research and development processes. In the process, Porsche Consulting Inc. aims to generate 20% of its revenue with Porsche and Volkswagen and 80% with existing and new customers in the USA. Previously, management consultancy in the USA catered first and foremost for customers from the automotive industry, aviation, electrical engineering and tourism sectors.

Life is full of coincidences. No sooner had I blogged that piece about the 911 SC RS in Donegal, than we get a sneak picture of the incoming Boxster testing in the wilds of Donegal this morning. Blog reader, 930 owner and spy shot snapper John Phelan describes the scene.

“Driving through one of the most barren parts of Europe this morning in North West County Donegal on business, I happened to spot an unusual sight for that part if the world. Two white Audi Q7′s: one in front of and one behind a heavily disguised Boxster, with a huge crew of techs about to plug a diagnostics computer into a port under the bonnet. Things got exciting when I pulled up; they started shouting “no photo” in thick German accents. I asked if that was the new Boxster and they ran to cover it with umbrellas and towels. I got one photo – I should probably try sell it to a magazine or something but I’d rather just share it with the collective. If I never come back on here you can take it their hit squad has caught up with me!”

Autocar ran spy shots of the Boxster in April last year, and this might even be the same car, which means it has done mega test miles. Still looks good, even with those US-spec rear bumper pads. Liking the black, and the waist line and roof profile fit well together. The little flares on the rear arches are also very nicely done. The whole thing just looks more up to date.

The choice of Donegal as a road car development patch is no surprise. As Billy Coleman showed with my earlier SC RS post, the county is epic for drivers, and remains largely empty. The accomodation and hospitality up there is possibly the best in Ireland. I love Donegal and have a number of favourite haunts up there. Maybe I should fly over and show the boys around.

The test team managed to get the sought-after detail areas of the car covered up quickly, so well done them. Nice work John – better luck next time

I read an interesting item on PetaPixel the other day. Neil Burgess, 25 years a photojournalist, head of London-based photo agency NB Pictures, former head of Network Photographers and Magnum Photos, and twice Chairman of World Press Photo, reckons photojournalism is dead.

“I believe we owe it to our children to tell them that the profession of ‘photojournalist’ no longer exists,” says Burgess. “There are thousands of the poor bastards, creating massive debt for themselves hoping to graduate and get a job which no-one is prepared to pay for anymore. Even when photographers create brilliant stories and the magazine editors really want to publish them, they cannot pay a realistic price for the work.”

As someone who packed in working 9-5 to concentrate on being one of the “poor bastards…hoping to get a job which no one is prepared to pay for anymore”, this is disappointing news, assuming it is accurate.

I recently took a trip to the Porsche Museum, where I shot a few hundred frames on my Leica D-Lux 4 compact camera. Some are seen here. I had intended the pics for blog and library use but, as I was pleased with the quality, I decided to pitch them to Phil Raby, editor at Total 911 magazine.

“What about people who take once-in-a-lifetime trips to the Porsche Museum, Schlumpf Collection, Spa Francorchamps Museum and so on?” I asked Phil. “Why don’t we run a feature with the pics taken on a compact camera, like most folks will use on these trips? Let’s get Leica involved. I’ll go to London and talk to Brett, the Leica M photographer, get some critique on my pics, and ideas for myself and those coming after me to take with them to the museum.”

Phil, a keen photographer and fan of alternative visual projects for Total 911 magazine’s iPhone and iPad applications, liked the idea. I went to the Leica Akademie in Bruton Place, London to meet with Brett, and the piece is in this month’s issue of Total 911. It’s not the perfect manifestation of the concept, but I’m sure it’s not the last piece of this nature we three will do together, and reaction so far has been positive.

My first words and pics feature was the R Gruppe Bergmeister Tour in 911 and Porsche World magazine: it made the cover. I’ve since done a few more and they are steadily improving in my eyes, as is the copy that accompanies the pictures. What matters to me is exactly what mattered to every photojournalist that has gone before: that the vision is actualised and presented to a wider audience.

I started photography to support storytelling, and still see my pictures as helping to tell a story in three dimensions. Will my photography ever be as good as a full-blown professional’s work? In most applications, it doesn’t need to be; one way that photojournalism is evolving.

I feel the incredible buzz that surrounds these pieces, so I say photojournalism is far from dead: it is just assuming new forms in new media. After years of neglect, the art is waking up to endless potential, thanks to the rise of blogging, personal publishing, the iPad and all like it. To anyone who thinks they can make a living at it, I say you can.

Burgess’ career points call to mind a friend of mine who can make people laugh at a party feeling like she’s a natural born stand up, or another friend who once bluffed his way past customs, believing that he was a great actor in the making. Both are beautifully talented and both chased their dreams, only to discover that the commitment needed to transform that talent into a career is enormous; well beyond what either had imagined. The same is true of photojournalism in modern media.

Believe me, taking a salary from your vision is hugely challenging, but doable if you commit to it absolutely. Get ready to fall over a lot, and to be off the pace of many of your peers. If you don’t think you can turn that into something worthwhile that an audience will pay for, stay with the 9-5. But be sure the choice is yours: no one else’s.

It’s been a long time since I was awake at 4.30 AM on Christmas Day! After lying in bed for a while, I decided it was time to get up and do some work – opening presents can wait.

Before I fire up Word for Mac, here’s a little picture I found last night in an Internet trawl. It’s an artists’s eye view of Santa’s Porsche.

I can see why Santa might drive a Panamera that looked like this. Loving the very pointy front, the two-tone hint on the bonnet and that punchy swage line. It reminds me of this artist’s impression. Now that is a look.

Following up on yesterday’s Boxster heated windscreen post, here’s some pics of the ‘screen working in the frost. This is after under two minutes switched on. They’re good!

Contact Dominic on 01299 251152 or email dominic@specialistvehiclepreparations.com. Click this link to go to the Specialist Vehicle Preparations website.

Just scouting Youtube for something else and I came across this short photo-montage-video of a Ruf Dakara and a beautiful 959, shot on the hop in a Dusseldorf car park.

The video is not going to set the world alight, but the pics are interesting. I see what looks like a very smart Mercedes W123 estate in there also: another fun classic I once owned.

It’s good of the photographer to post the material. I always love seeing a 959 in use in Europe; they are still a big favourite of mine. Hard to understand what it is about them until you’ve had a go in one.

I must admit, I’ve never heard of a Ruf Dakara until now. It looks right up my street! That front plate mount seems a little on the about-to-fall-off/afterthought side, but regardless, it’s attractive and done in a good strong colour. Not that there’s much wrong with the Cayenne as it rolls off the line though: having seen a few at Silverstone a few months ago, I think they’re very handsome.

I may have to put a Cayenne on my 2012 birthday present list – definitely got some Porsche 4x4ing in my future and early Cayenne is crying out for a set of Cibies and some BFG All Terrains. Wonder if I can get 15″ wheels over the brakes…

Video for the new Cayman R is currently being rolled out across Porsche’s Youtube and Facebook pages.

I like the look, especially in this wicked launch colour of Peridot Metallic, which is hugely reminiscent of Lind Green (on the 928 below).

I was on a road trip with Autocar magazine this week, doing a two-day feature in Wales. On day two, the photographer shared his enthusiasm for Porsche cars, and how, together with his girlfriend, he was planning to buy a Cayman S: “the best car Porsche have ever made”, as he put it.

There’s no doubt that the current crop of new Porsche cars are the best in recent memory. Thing is, stars of the classic Porsche show have dropped all depreciation, and are offered at the same money as cars like the Cayman R, that have yet to turn a wheel.

UK prices start at £51,000 including current VAT at 17.5%, more or less the same price as the 33,000-mile 964 RS I have for sale on consignment at the minute.

Say you’re a slightly younger Porsche fan with £50k to spend. What do you choose – a Cayman R or a 964 RS? There’s a line in the sand. For old boys like me, it’s an easy decision to make, but for youngsters who only see the 964 bumpers and 20 years of wear and tear?

ps: First one to take me for a ride in their new Cayman R wins an Impact Bumpers t-shirt!

Just researching a piece and came across this little bit of eye candy for a Thursday afternoon. It’s a Porsche video advertising the Panamera.

Watch it. When you’ve seen it through, watch it again and read the text.

Very nice work.