Ahhh, perception is a wonderful thing.
The perception of SM is slammed Hondas, DSMs, and the like driven/owned by
those of Asian descent. The reality is many *very* Caucasian driver/owners
in Camaros (and slammed Hondas and DSMs). Here's what I just pulled from
CACARS.com:
1989, Porsche 944, 26,800 miles, $ 12,900, Wilmington, DE
Off of cars.com prices are from a high of $18,995 for a 944S2 cabriolet down
to $1,300.
Sounds in the same price league as a DSM or Supra.
Hey, Fedja, ya wanna co-driver so I can whup DG's DSM? :^)
And just so no one misconstrues this, I consider this healthy discussion
with Kent, Dennis, and others (including Karl :^) ).
Matt Murray
mattm@optonline.net
----- Original Message -----
> "Matt Murray" <mattm@optonline.net>
>
> > Thanks for the sensible reply. But one thing still puzzles me. When did
> 944s
> > walk all over the rest of SM? They were never given a chance to come up
> to
> > bat. Where as the Supra got the Alex Rodriguez treatment. :^)
>
> The problem here is the word "Porsche". As in "super-expensive,
> purpose-built, factory sportscars/supercars, mentioned in the same breath
> as marques like "Ferrari" and "Lamborgini""
>
> Now you and I may agree or disagree on each and every one of the terms
> above, both as applicable to Porsches in general, and the 944 in
> particular. The real-world cost and/or performance of the Porsches is not
> as big an issue here as the Porsche image, and what it communicates to our
> typical SM-member. Is it fair to expect modified Civics and Mustangs to
> compete against "supercars from Stuttgart"? Will the drivers of said
> Mustangs and Civics feel that it's fair?
>
> When it comes to class participation, feelings and perceptions are often
> more important than objective reality. And at this point in SM's
evolution,
> we must be very careful not to step on the seedling before it grows roots.
>
> That's not to say that all Porsches will *always* be verboten in SM, and
> there's a group within SM that feels they should be allowed, someday. But
> until we have more data and a little more resistance to fear, the safe
> option is to keep them out for now.
>
> If a local region decides to adopt SM2 (as they are highly encouraged to
> do), the Porsches will be welcome to run there, and if data from these
> classes suggests that the 944 does not present a problem, then it may well
> be brought into SM at a later date.
>
> OK, so how about the Supra and M3? Shades of grey. The Supra, M3, and 944
> all live in the same general area, a line had to be drawn, and the Supra
> and M3 wound up on one side, and the 944 wound up on the other. It's
> entirely possible that had we done it over again, any or all of those cars
> could have wound up on either side of the line.
>
> DG
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