I feel ya, man! Great pictures, by the way...

To be honest, I never felt Porsche was ever on the "same" level as Ferrari, Lamborghini, or Maserati, interior material quality wise until recently (compare same model year 1960's and 1970's Porsche with Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini...it can be excused with "but look at the price difference" but that's a red herring, the point is, it WAS different, on a different level.) and to the extent that "luxury market" demands the "best" materials, on top of "performance" that was my point in the original post.

The 928 was the first step, arguably, up that "quality" ladder (even the original Turbo felt "cheap" in comparison, if memory serves; it's been years since I've been inside a 1970's first or second gen Porsche Turbo) and today, it can be reasonably argued that higher end models, including the Panamera, is on par, fit and finish wise.

Great pics, Bimb! Love that GT3RS...a true PuristS' car.

Porsche: when did they start to move to the "high end"?

By: ThomasM : December 11th, 2012-08:12

Porsche was always competitive in motorsports. They were also always popular among sports car enthusiasts. In the early days, there was much technology and parts sharing with VW and in the US, distribution was, in the 1970's and some of the 1980's, almost...

Reagan

By: aaronm : December 12th, 2012-10:21

(background, I'm not at all a car guy, so I only see reputation of the brands, I know nothing about performance or quality) I feel like Porsche, and possibly BMW as well, became "luxury" cars in the Reagan years. Looking at movies, I seem to recall one of...

Thanks, Aaron! Always useful to get another perspective...

By: ThomasM : December 12th, 2012-11:11

Too frequently, "enthusiasts" (and the boundaries can range from category enthusiasts - "car guys" or "watch guys" in general; to brand enthusiasts and "fan boys") are dismissive of non-enthusiasts' point of view, but that ignores the very important syndr...

I think Porsche ...

By: bimbeano : December 12th, 2012-12:19

... is and has always been at a level on its own, pricewise cheaper than a Ferrari or Lambo (except for some limited run models) ... . Porsche has always had a high level of finish ... okay a Maserati had a far nicer interior but a Ferrari-interior wasn't...

I feel ya, man! Great pictures, by the way...

By: ThomasM : December 12th, 2012-12:41

I'm with you Bim...

By: DonCorson : December 13th, 2012-11:47

but I have to admit that one of the initial goals of my first job in Germany, late '70s, was to earn enough money to buy a 914. I never did, the money dispursed itself between my fingers, but in retrospect that 914 was one of the big steps toward corporat...

Hahahaha , Grandma ....

By: bimbeano : December 13th, 2012-12:51

You know which 914 is ultracool? The one with the flat six built in ... I saw one a couple of months ago when i was hunting a P1800 for Nicolas, the seller of that P1800 suddenly told me; hey, i ve got a nice 914... wanna see it? The guy pulled the cover ...

My memories ...

By: AndrewD : December 13th, 2012-02:54

My memories of Porsche here in the 1970’s were of a company that made practical drivers cars, ones that you could drive reliably every day. And cars that required a little skill because of that ‘sting’ in the tail (of the 911) that could catch you unaware...

One perspective: It started with the Boxster.

By: BDLJ : December 13th, 2012-16:16

By dropping the front engined cars and introducing the baby-911 Boxster below the 993 with the first fresh interior for years, it gave Porsche some inpetus to move the 911 up-spec . Then came the Cayenne...and an austere/functional interior on a 911 would...