By Paul Kramer · January 23, 2026
“Where horsepower meets conversation”
🎧 Did you catch our recent episode about Magnus Walker and Porsche yet?
Every once in a while, a reader emails something so passionate, so well-written, and so slightly grumpy that it deserves public airtime.
This week’s note, paraphrased:
Porsche has veered away from real Porsches. SUVs are a limp endorsement. The lineup panders to deep-pocketed posers. Just build a proper 911 or 718, and call it a day.
First of all:
Respect. This is not a troll. This is a properly aged Porsche take from one of our followers/listeners. Thank you for sharing.
And honestly? I get it.
MY KNEE-JERK AGREEMENT
In a perfect world, Porsche would:
Rebuild the 964 RS
Reissue the 996 GT3
Make a mechanical, loud, simple 911
Offer it in three trims and go racing
Boom. Done.
Sign me up yesterday.
But here’s the inconvenient part...
REALITY CHECK (BROUGHT TO YOU BY GOVERNMENTS, LAWYERS & ACCOUNTANTS)
Modern Porsche doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It exists in a world that demands:
Safety regulations
Emissions compliance
Noise restrictions
And lawsuits waiting to happen
Those constraints make building light, loud, analog sports cars nearly impossible unless Porsche also builds… the “un-real” ones.
Here’s the number nobody likes but everyone needs to hear:
Nearly 75% of Porsche’s global sales are four-door vehicles.
Macan. Cayenne. Panamera. Taycan.
Those cars don’t replace 911s — they subsidize them.
No SUVs?
No GT3s.
Full stop.
THE CAYENNE SAVED PORSCHE (AND YES, IT STILL STINGS)
The Cayenne didn’t dilute Porsche.
It kept it alive.
Without it, Porsche would either:
Be gone entirely, or
Be a sad badge on a terrible VW product
Instead, we still get:
Naturally aspirated GT cars
Manual transmissions
Sub-3,300-lb unicorns
That’s not selling out.
That’s survival.
A PERSONAL NOTE (AND A SOBERING ONE)
My 82-year-old father just sold his manual 996 Turbo — a car he bought new almost 25 years ago.
What’s next for him?
A CPO Macan GTS.
Is it an air-cooled 911 with no nannies?
No.
But it:
Handles
Stops
Communicates
And lets him keep driving safely a little longer
Otherwise, he’d be in some floaty luxo-barge that can’t turn or stop, headed toward the desert like every other octogenarian in a Cadillac.
That Macan lets him stay a Porsche guy. It lets him enjoy driving for a tad bit longer.
That matters.
THE UNPOPULAR TRUTH
If you haven’t driven a Macan, Cayenne, or Panamera hard, on a real road, in anger…
You’re missing the point.
They aren’t 911s.
They were never meant to be.
But the handling, steering, and braking DNA is still there — and that’s not an accident.
THE TAKEAWAY
You can love air-cooled 911s and understand why Porsche builds SUVs.
You can hate the optics and appreciate the engineering.
And you can mourn what’s gone without ignoring what made it possible to survive.
I’ll keep selling, driving, and defending the “real” Porsches.
But I’m also thankful the others exist —
because without them, there wouldn’t be anything left to argue about.
And honestly?
A Porsche that keeps someone driving longer in life still feels pretty real to me.
— Paul Kramer
Paul Kramer is the voice behind AutoKennel, decoding car culture one European sports car at a time. For his takes on all things fast, rare, or slightly unhinged, visit AutoKennel.com or follow @autokennel.
You can reach Paul via voice, text, or WhatsApp at 714-335-4911.
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