Hey. Sorry for the silence. Was a little bummed out about Porsche blocking my latest endeavor but that’s ok. That’s life!

Anyway, in the process of selling my Range Rover, cleaning up my apartment, doing some consulting work, etc. But some Porsche and general car market thoughts are on my mind so here goes...

With the recent economic meltdown, and it is a meltdown that will affect all of us, what is the effect going to be on the car market? Well, we have seen a general softening in certain areas. In the hot area of American muscle, there has been a lot of troubling indications. Clones, replicas, and just-not-there cars have taken a dive. Your SS, Eleanor, ‘Cuda ‘recreation’ isn’t getting a fraction of what it did at the height of the market a couple of years ago. But what’s more troubling is the softening of the Hemi-market. No more do these four letters spell extreme bucks any more. Your car has to be extremely special to achieve the ridiculous prices that were achieved before. While auctions like Barrett-Jackson and others are doing well, albeit in lower numbers than even last year, the drop in total numbers are a harbinger of the future.

And this before we have truly felt the effects of the Wall Street, housing, and other indicators. Scary.

As to Porsches, well, so far they’re doing well. Big Dealers, especially in Europe, who used to deal strictly with the top echelon of classics (Bugattis, Dellahayes, W.O Bentleys, old Alfas, etc.) have been featuring Porsches. True, ‘special’ ones. RS Spyders, 356 Carreras, racing cars, etc. When they take out full page ads in the top mags and instead of an Invicta feature a Porsche that’s a good sign.

Prices have been strong, and moving upward. But there are troubling signs. A beautiful RS Carrers Touring went for around $140,000 in a British top auction recently, about 50-100K less than was hoped. Hey, some dealers are trying to get $250K and more for them lately. What was that about?

I’m seeing some lag in sales. It’s taking longer to sell some very nice cars. True, the asking prices might be very optimistic, but most dealers aren’t so inflexible that they won’t bargain.

There are always going to be some remarkable sales numbers, such as the 12 million that Chris Evans paid for the California Spyder (but I think someone was pushing him on there, a dealer). But again, that was a few months ago. I wonder how many millions Chris lost last week?

I do think we’re going to see a big drop in final numbers at Barrett in January, as well as RM, and Brit houses as well. If you have money, might be a good time to buy. On the other hand, if I had money I’d hold on. What goes up must come down. The rationale for this market has been that is less speculators as in the Eighties, and now more collectors. Trust me, ‘collectors’, unless they have silly money, are going to be more careful in the next year. You are going to see a drop in auction prices, followed by a realization by dealers that they have to adjust or, perhaps, close up shop.

Hopefully, if the market softens it means that we can buy that cherry 356C Cab for non-Speedster money, or a 993 Turbo without the premium. Well, one can look on the bright side of things, can’t one?

Had started to do tee shirts with a Porsche theme on Cafe Press. No Porsche logo, just some words and drawings. Was contacted by the overzealous legal team from Porsche that I had to remove them. Talked to them, offered to do a license, etc. No go. Removed the ‘store’ from Cafe Press. May I say how disappointed in Porsche’s reaction. I made NO money from this. I did it for my love of the marque. I had offered to compromise in any way I could. I wonder how all the other companies, people, etc. manage to produce Porsche-related merchandise from tee shirts to autoparts, non-Porsche authorized car sales, etc.?

Isn’t our society litigious enough without it hurting the people that help boost the product that you’re supposed to be protecting. Very disappointing.

(Note: Decided to buy them. Thanks for the great price, Alloyrus!)

I’m looking to get new wheels to replace my Anteras (which I will have re-trued and shod with winter tires). Personally I like BBS-style Sport Classic II (I think). But the 997 style is also nice .

Also, strength is my main consideration, not just lightness. Living amongst New York City’s potholes, I know there isn’t much I can do (other than more careful driving) so I had thought forged wheels would be stronger. But they also more expensive.

Saw these wheels, and got back this considerate reply from the seller.

“Our wheels are made from counter pressure casting method to ensure superior strength and to be cost effective. Antera was made from Gravity Casting method. The major different between Gravity Cast, Counter Pressure Cast and Forged wheels is only the weight factor. The reason I?m saying that is because when a cast wheel was built it requires more aluminum in order to achieve the testing requirement due to the lower density. The forged wheel requires less aluminum to achieve the same testing requirement due to the higher density. So which is the reason why Forged wheel is always lighter than a cast wheel. Even though the strength is higher on the forged but due to the removal of the material, the strength is now much closer. Out of round was typically due to heavy impact from potholes. I can assure you that all wheels regardless of how it was constructed will run into the same problem. One major cause for out of round is tire pressure. Tire pressure fluctuates considerably as temperature changes. When you have a low profile tire the fluctuation magnifies. On the low profile tire you actually have a very small cushioning between the road and the pothole so as you can imagine if low pressure / low profile tire meets a pothole...here comes the out of round. I hope I?ve been able to explain the true cause of out of round wheel.”

What I liked was that he didn’t give the obvious sales spiel but noted the pros and cons.

Any opinions? Since these are not a wheels and tire set I’ll probably put on my rear Proxes and buy new Toyos for the fronts which are too worn for my tastes. Am looking at other brands, perhaps Contis, Sumis, or whatever.

Thanks,

Billy

billyATporscheplayground.com

Zeintec-USA has finally brought the stunning Zeintop hardtop for the 986 Boxsters to the US with one for the 987 to follow later this year.

Beautifully finished in your choice of factory or custom colors, it really changes the appearance of the Boxster while leaving you the option of open cabriolet or closed coupe. I had seen an earlier version in Europe last year and wondered why it wasn’t available here. Well, it’s here now and reasonably priced, basically under five thousand dollars plus freight.

Tell you the truth, considering the prices used Boxsters are getting compared to a used Cayman, the addition of the hardtop seems a pretty great value. Imagine, get a used Boxster in the $20,000 - $30,000 range, add the hardtop and you have an ‘almost’ Cayman while saving $10-15,000 or more. It might not be as stiff as a Cayman, but it has to help.

If I didn’t have my 911 I’d think about that deal.

In addition to the Zeintop, they also have other nice custom pieces including nice vents and a spoiler for the Boxster.

Their website is at:

www.zeintec-usa.com

also,

http://www.zeintec-usa.com/Gallery.html

Here are some shots...