<VV> Words of Wisdom!!! a little LATE!!! ggg

[Bill Elliott]

>In 1965, Motor Trend road tested the new GM line, including the 
>Corvair.    On a skid pad during cornering tests, the Corvair 
>cornered harder than the Corvette, generated a bit more cornering 
>g-force without breaking loose.


>Funny how nobody seems to ever talk about that.    Are the Vette 
>freaks embarrassed or something?   Or was it GM who wasn't all that 
>pleased that something else did something better than their 
>"flagship" car?   

This is an old subject in the car world. Any time a company has a longstanding "icon" car, they protect it 
all all costs.

I had always been told that when you equalled the tires on the Corvair and Corvette, the Corvair won 
every time... that the Corvette only won by the margin it did due strictly to more rubber.

When the Porsche 914 was released, Porsche was VERY careful to never allow more than their 
weakest 911T engine to be installed...because it was clear that the car was much more capable than 
the 911 (with the 911 at several times the 914 price).

Then when the Porsche 944 was released, they carefully made sure the power was strictly limited. Even 
so the Porsche 944 Turbo S remains just about the best "normal production" car that Porsche ever built 
to that point...bettering the 911 in almost every way...except price.

At both of these points, the 911 was not an overly impressive car and easy to better...similar to the 
Corvette of the era.

Even today, Porsche is taking a HUGE risk with their new Cayman... arguably a better, more focused car 
than the 911 at a fraction of the price. But at least the Cayman is not at the bottom of the Porsche pile, 
like the Corvair and Chevette were deemed to be.... even more embarrassing when your "worst" car can 
better your "best" one.

Bill