That, or more likely something to do with exchange rates between DM and USD. Porsche struggled with that issue a lot.

Labor costs. 993s were still handmade, as 911s had been since the ‘60s, and you can tell. But that kind of craftsmanship has continually gotten more expensive which prompted the shift to automation with the 996.

More than double. Clean SCs start in the mid-$40s for a Targa and mid-$50s for a coupe these days.

Yeah I similarly assumed this had to do with restrictions caused by either the intake or exhaust routing since it’s a tighter location.

Porsche gearing is always ridiculous, even my ancient 3.2 Carrera is good for about 60mph in second.

Seriously. I feel much more mortal driving my ‘80s 911 than I do in modern cars. It’s surprisingly thick metal, but it’s just a beautiful tin can.

I’ll also be leery of any used vehicle in to 2021-2022 year range down the road as who knows what it’ll be missing.

On a new car invoice destination is a line-item, but noticing that requires the buyer to... y’know... actually read it. Salesmen will often just attempt the “sign here” maneuver unless you ask to look it over.

Glad to help! Given the history (example link below) I’d assume this applies on both sides of the pond.

Yeah I’d never be able to look past that gauge cluster. I’m not one of those “full screen gauges” evangelists either, my Giulia has normal gauges and I love them, but the styling and execution in this LS are laughably terrible.

I didn’t learn this until my late 20s. It’s a good one to keep in your pocket for when you feel like being pedantic... even good writers/intelligent people like Mercedes mess that up alllll the time.

Grammar nerd note for paragraph 4: fiancé is masculine, fiancée is feminine. One of the few gendered words in English (blond/blonde being another notable one).

Two Rogers don’t make a right!

The LS was definitely the most common back in the day, by a long way. The old Integra was right during my high school era and I’m not even sure I ever saw a GS-R, let alone an actual R, way back when.

There will be some, albeit very few, that weren’t beaten on. My late father bought a 2008 STi brand new in his late 50s and daily drove it until he passed a few years back. 70,000 miles, bone stock, and always dealer-maintained.

People did them on minitrucks and small SUVs like the Geo Tracker, too. Granted,  it could be argued that these are a subset of lowriders.

I’ve always hated these, they came out when I was in high school, but somehow that turbo cab is actually starting to look... interesting? I mean it’s shit, I’d never buy one, but somehow that specific configuration has become slightly cool in its own weird way.

Agreed... with the one yesterday I disagreed with at least 2/3 of the points raised.

Alfa Romeo also has some fantastic color options, and the best part is that people actually buy them.

My fiancee, who wanted the higher driving position and practicality but also wanted something fast. Her SQ5 (with the adaptive suspension, S-sport package, and sports diff) is legitimately quick and also handles far better than an SUV has any right to. From an engineering perspecitve it’s a huge achievement.