[lowesguy]

So went to an antique shop, told my son find some Benz stuff, and my son finds this for $4,its a Hofbauer Crystal 911,not bad! not one Mercedes thing in this huge place!

 

[wlb50]

The 911 shape is a classic - wouldn't mind having a 911SC

 

[lowesguy]

I once had a 1975 911S,engine blew up at 35k! sucked a valve and the engine exploded!

 

[wlb50]

I wonder if the chain tensioner gave way? Porsche with all of their engineering couldn't solve that until 1984. Then too didn't that year have those thermal reactors - similar to a cat converter - that cooked the engine?

Just like the 450SL - used to cook the wiring

 

[lowesguy]

Yep! was the thermal reactors ,the heads heated so much ,it weakens the valve stems,the 911 has that iconic shape ,so does the r129,just pleasing to the eye! I wonder how they figure that out? a monkey?

 

[Ian S500]

I've always preferred the 928 over the 911...

 

[lowesguy]

928S awesome,was going to get a 944 or 928, those can be had for cheap! but parts were crazy! funny how some world super cars can be had so cheap! but Porsche? really? my heater took 20 minutes to warm up! and had no a/c,I like the early 911's with performance exhaust,the sound is killer,new ones,no thanks! unless I had money to throw away! 912? why? get a bug same thing.

 

[Pete S]

...the 911 has that iconic shape ,so does the r129...

Do you really believe the R129 is an iconic design? I love it but there are few cars that have iconic designs ones that with a simple silhouette people can identify the 911, Beetle and the possibly the Mini. The R129 although nice will never be described as an iconic design.

BTW anything under a 928S4 is a dog.

 

[lowesguy]

Ohhhh,don't tell my wife that!

 

[Ian S500]

 

[Pete S]

like I said I bet you 2 in 100 people will be able to identify the merc 80 out of 100 will recognize the other 2

 

[wlb50]

Yep! was the thermal reactors ,the heads heated so much ,it weakens the valve stems,the 911 has that iconic shape ,so does the r129,just pleasing to the eye! I wonder how they figure that out? a monkey?

I remember a quote that truly great cars always had 1 champion behind them - Rudi Ulenhaut - the 300SL, Zora Duntov - the Corvette, as to the R129 it was Bruno Sacco all the way. 911 - Butzi Porsche.

A lot of the car design these days - I would call it a homogenization - is due to 2 reasons - many designers move from car maker to car maker like musical chairs - look at Chris Bangle and his controversial BMW designs - and since all are desperate to get every ounce of fuel economy out there's only so many variations a wind tunnel can provide.

The 911 is a car that will look as good in the next 50 years as it has in the past 50 years - although the way Porsche has been tweaking it - changing the front and rear ends - we may not recognize it.

But the classic 911/912 is timeless.