This month’s Total 911 magazine features an ImpactBumpers.com forum member’s car, in a focus on the 3.2 Carrera. IB regular Chris Hak’s Grand Prix White beauty is detailed in a set of studio pictures shot by Tom Wood, and very nice it is too. Good work Chris!
It’s pretty depressing when established magazines like Classic and Sportscar et al begin their buyers’ guides off with reference to yuppies and red braces. Kicking off on such a same old/same old tone sets the feature in an ordinary light that the pieces rarely recover from. It’s doubly bad when it is the magazine that is devoted to the cars doing the hackneying. Come on Phil – you can do better than this!
Though the T911 Buyers’ Guide offers little that experienced owners won’t already know, and one or two puzzling notes on what to watch out for (the 3.2 never had inner rear wings?!), it features some classic quotes from IB.com members, talking about how they relate to their machines. Particularly noteworthy words from Fred who, in typical ‘Swiss Tony’ style, compares his 911 to a beautiful woman.
“It’s like a beautiful girl who enters a room and makes all the others look like mingers!” laughs Fred. If we could some supporting pics of Fred’s beautiful girl, the comment would be all the more amusing! No matter – our Fred loves his IB and that’s what counts.
I started my freelance career writing for Total 911 and, back then, we were winging it. The mag has since come a long way and nowadays looks great.
As a 911, 924 and 944 owner, and a 914, Boxster and Cayenne fan as well as a classic P0rsche motorsport devotee, I gravitate towards the wider scope of 911 & Porsche World magazine. I would seek out Porsche World for a quick flick to see what was happening even if I wasn’t a regular contributor. But, if you’ve not seen a copy of Total 911 for a while, it’s worth catching up with what those guys are up to.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the mention, John.
With regard to the yuppy intro, that's just a bit of fun and, like it or not, does put the car into an historical context which was, to an extent, true.
Of course, the guide isn't aimed at experienced owners but rather newcomers to the model. OK, the inner wings comment I should have spotted – it should, of course, say inner wing liners.
Cheers
Phil
JG, this post has given me a great idea for a website… I just can't work out whether it should be called Yuppies Reunited or 911 Reunited – although I'm sure many current 911 owners would be horrified at the people who originally owned their cars and what they were wearing at the time! Anyone else who watched the Sport Relief 'Ashes to Ashes' will have the right mental imagery.
JG Be nice to Phil – deadlines are the harshest of task masters!
And finally, I was just reading a little about flags in F1 over at F1B – I never knew that the use of the chequered flag in motor racing is possibly/probably an American invention… funny to look at Chris's Carrera and think it's got a little bit of Detroit stuck to it's flanks…
Love you both v much, but not feeling the 'cliché as context' pitch!
Context would be the rise of aspirational brands, privatisation and the fiery decline of indigenous industry in Britain, in favour of financial services and where that has left us today. Context would also discuss the 3.2 Carrera as the last in a long line that was introduced in 1974, not 1984. It is also worth mentioning that good ones are breaking thirty grand.
I seem to remember Porsche market research from around the time showed that most 911 owners were self employed, in their 40s, had owned a Porsche previously and aspired to 911 ownership. The percentage of city boys buying them new might even have been lower than it is today.
Red braces represent just a tiny part of Porsche's customer base in a two-year window of the model's history: negative association these classics don't deserve. It's time those inaccuracies met an overdue end, and it is reasonable to expect the solus 911 title to lead the way on that process
All that said, the look of the T911 Buyers' Guides is the best out there, so that side has been nailed!
Yuppies bought 944's, Porsche released a lot of sales data at the time to illustrate it. But don't let that get in the way of a bit of good stereotyping!
SS7