European vs Japanese CARS

[Mark_Bishop@ipc.co.uk (Mark Bishop)]

Charles E Love Jr <cel14@cornell.edu> wrote:
>And Porsche came very close to bankruptcy, knocked down by Japanese cars that 
>looked and performed as well and cost half as much.   

As a former motoring journalist, I beg to differ. Porsche came perilously close
to bankruptcy in the mid-late 1970s, because the large expenditure on R&D which
led to the front-engined 928 model was not matched by sales, especially in the
post-oil crisis market. Had it stuck to building 911s, it would have continued
to prosper at that time (a lesson for Leica, perhaps - stick to what you're good
at, ie M6, and you prosper, spend a lot of money developing something more
advanced [CL, rumoured G1 competitor] and you could go under).

Also, I seriously question whether there is *any* Japanese car, at any period in
history, which can give the equivalent Porsche anything to worry about. They are
pastiches, built to a price not a specification, and not one of them offers the
driving pleasure or lasting engineering integrity of a Porsche.