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A friend sent me a link for a 1/18th scale metal car. It is the 1948 356-1 which was the first car for Ferry Porsche. Not cheap but it is pretty cool.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/194...by-Autoart/101064151

https://youtu.be/h3bF38tDWcM

Porsche 1Porsche 2Porsche 3Porsche 4

 

If you're not living life on the edge, you're taking up too much space!

 

 

 

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Last edited by Robert M
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Stan Galat posted:
Art posted:

I wonder why Porsche went from this highly effective mid engine mount to the hanging the engine off the a$$  end?  Serious automotive engineering mistake.

The 911 doesn't appear to have suffered for it.

Agree with Stan.

You just have to have the ability to learn how to drive a rear engined car.  Lots of cars have quirks, and a few hundred pounds hanging out the rear end certainly qualifies.  I can think of many front engined cars with large masses of engine that cause the same - but different - effect.  

It makes driving more interesting and more engaging.  You actually have to be mentally involved in what you and the car are doing.

We could all drive Miatas, but that gets boring after a while, and I have been there and done that.

 

The reality is that all cars have issues do to their design and flaws due to the limitations from the technology used in them.   I mean a 4 cyl doing what 8 cyl cars were doing and being enjoyed.

Also the mechanicals being a mixture of up to 59 year old tech brings noises and a different Raw feeling to the smooth driving of a dd.

That is part of the curse or fun depending on your perspective.

A huge part of why I climbed out on this tiny little branch of the automotive tree at all was the dead-end nature of it.

An air-cooled, rear-engine vehicle with very little in the way of comfort accouterments makes these cars the Neanderthals of automotive progress-- very developed in specificity, but ultimately compromised by an engineering Achilles heel. The limits are baked in the cake, but with enough engineering work-arounds , the limits are stretched beyond my own abilities as a driver. 

The 911 points to just how far one can take an imperfect architecture. It retains the imperfection of layout, but remains one of the sharpest, quickest, and most desirable automobiles manufactured and sold in 2019. The limits are out there, but with every successive generation, Porsche seems to keep stretching out what is possible. The 911 may ultimately be defeated, but the evolution of a platform that has been declared dead for 40 years has been astounding.

I love that-- because I find in myself a fundamentally flawed package, easily written off as inferior to those with better raw material. And yet, with refinement and steady improvement, I can hope to become more than I ever should have been. Sure, it would be easier to build a sporty, fast mid-engine car-- just like it would be easier to have built a good life with a less abrasive personality, or better looks, or a higher intellect.

I very much like that my speedster is an imperfect thing to start with-- but that as it sits, it can perform well beyond what it ought to be able to do. It reminds me to never give up on my own ability to be refined and improved.

Last edited by Stan Galat

Working on a front or rear engine car is far easier than mid-engine.  I had a 914 mid-engine that was just barely accessible - I was tall and skinny then.  Look at the Boxster - you can barely even see the engine from above! Fortunately engines more dependable now.  I remember in college a roommate had a Dodge van - you could work on engine from inside the spacious van as the engine was set back behind the front axle.  Guess the Spyder has the right solution - just fold the tail back out of the way! Curious to see a mid-engine 2020 Corvette. 

Last edited by WOLFGANG

Not many comments about a mid-engine configuration taking away from the already limited baggage space.   In my Vintage, with the top up for highway travel I have a generous amount of baggage space behind the seats and can get two mid-sized rolling suitcases plus again as much  stuff here and there but with the SAS cars and other similar ones I've seen, all that space is used for the engine with precious little baggage space where the engine "used to be". Of course the front baggage space is the same for either configuration. 

For my long range travel---mostly straight down the interstates, a mid-engine seems to be a big negative.  My car does fine at the speeds I enjoy in the mountain twisties  such as the Tail of the Dragon and I don't plan to track i, so mid engine doesn't seem to offer any plusses for the way I use my VS.

Plus, what Wolfgang posted above about servicing a mid engine.  

 

The new Corvette will have an msrp of about 20-25k below the "regular" Corvettes.  I'm sure the dealers will mark them up.  I have read that it will be automatic xmission only.  I was never a Corvette guy---too many geezers  who finally made a buck driving them around  is my perception.  (I'm sure I look the same in my Speedster---but at least it's not red.) 

I do admire the Cayman a lot.  

 

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