By Tim Harris · February 4, 2026
“Where horsepower meets conversation”
This isn’t a debate anymore.
It’s a civil war.
And the battlefield is your garage.
Because after publishing "Porsche Is Forgetting What Made It Porsche", your responses made one thing impossible to deny:
Porsche isn’t one cult anymore.
It’s two.
And these two tribes are not buying the same thing — even when they’re buying the same car.
The Porsche community has bifurcated
Let’s name it clearly:
Old Porsche
The Porsche you bought because you love driving.
analog feel
lightness
mechanical honesty
engagement
engineering purity
“built to do a job” energy
a feeling that Porsche tried to earn your respect
And then…
New Porsche
The Porsche you buy because you love what it says about you.
status
scarcity
social signaling
allocation culture
luxury-ification
spec-sheet flexing
the quiet understanding that the badge matters more than the drive
And just so we’re clear:
This isn’t a moral judgment.
It’s not even an insult.
It’s a reality.
And your comments proved it.
Quick Quiz: Which Porsche Person Are You?
Be honest.
A) Old Porsche Person
you’d take a clean long-hood over a new Turbo S
steering feel > touchscreen speed
you care more about weight than horsepower
you’d rather drive than flex
the spec sheet is NOT the story
B) New Porsche Person
you want the latest model and latest tech
you like refinement + luxury + speed
you want the badge and usability
you want comfort and “best of everything”
the market decides
No essays required. Pick your tribe.
The comments that hit hardest (because they’re honest)
One reader nailed the “Porsche grief” feeling perfectly:
“All strong points, both in Brian and Tim’s writings. For me it’s kinda like being jilted by a lover.”
That line is so accurate it hurts.
Because enthusiasts don’t just dislike what Porsche is becoming…
They feel like they’re watching something they once trusted become unrecognizable.
That’s not anger.
That’s heartbreak.
And it showed up again and again.
“I’m a Porsche guy… and I’m done.”
This one stopped me cold:
“As a Porsche guy, owner, I agree with you guys 100%. I get the PCA weekly letter, and it seems all they talk about is a new Porsche with more power and a higher price. I might change to a Benz GT or Ferrari, never know.”
Think about what that means.
This isn’t an outsider taking shots.
This is someone inside the church, turning around mid-sermon and saying:
“Yeah… this isn’t my religion anymore.”
That’s the moment brands should fear most.
Not criticism from haters.
But disappointment from loyalists.
“It’s all electronic. It’s all expensive. I won’t do it again.”
Another reader described modern Porsche ownership better than I ever could:
“I just bought a 2026 911s and it’s all electronic and was so expensive. Over 200k and a 10k dealer markup. I will not be buying another Porsche. At least not a new one.”
This is the modern Porsche experience in one paragraph:
insanely expensive
markups as the norm
electronics everywhere
the “luxury experience” layered on top
and the customer walking away thinking:
“That wasn’t fun… that was a transaction.”
That isn’t how people used to describe buying a 911.
They used to describe it like buying a dream.
Now it sounds like buying a Rolex… from a dealer that hates you.
Hot Take (and yes, I mean it)
Here’s the truth that’s driving a lot of this:
Porsche didn’t betray enthusiasts.
Enthusiasts were outbid.
And once Porsche saw it could sell cars for Ferrari money…
it started behaving like Ferrari.
Which brings us to the real villain.
The biggest villain isn’t Porsche. It’s the allocation mafia.
People can forgive Porsche.
They cannot forgive dealers.
Because what changed Porsche culture the most wasn’t horsepower.
It was:
ADM markups
“build a relationship with us”
being forced to buy SUVs to earn GT cars
low-mileage flipping culture
“exclusive access” theater
This isn’t sports car culture.
It’s handbag culture.
And it’s one of the biggest reasons the old tribe is leaving.
The EV era: Porsche didn’t listen to the tribe that built the brand
This reader basically wrote the post-mortem for the Taycan era:
“We (enthusiasts) told them EVs are a lost cause, but still they pressed on. We told them China is not going to save you. Still they pressed on. Now they’re billions in the hole and desperate to keep the money flowing.”
This comment matters because it reveals Porsche’s most dangerous shift:
Porsche isn’t led by enthusiasts anymore.
It’s led by strategists.
The tribe says:
“This isn’t the way.”
The board says:
“The spreadsheet says it is.”
And when the spreadsheet is wrong?
Porsche doesn’t just lose a quarter.
It loses part of its identity.
Enter Dave: the letter that explains EVERYTHING
Then I received an email from Dave — a Porsche owner for 56 years.
Not a “hot take.”
Something far better:
A generational explanation of how Porsche became Porsche… and what it’s turning into now.
Dave writes:
“We presently have two [long-nose cars], along with a 991 (my wife’s), and my 1973.5 911T is reliable and enjoyable in its role as my daily driver… From a technical standpoint, the 991 offers spectacular performance but in comparison to the ‘73 911 I do not find it very engaging to drive.”
That line is the Porsche civil war in one sentence.
Because Dave is acknowledging the uncomfortable truth:
Modern Porsches are objectively amazing.
But subjectively… many of them are not engaging.
They don’t feel like sports cars.
They feel like luxury rockets.
And those are not the same product.
Dave explains what Porsche used to be (and why it mattered)
This part is critical:
“When I first started owning Porsches, 56 years ago, they were expensive but very well built… My friends who bought their competitors ended up with hobbies, while I had a useful car.”
That’s Old Porsche.
A Porsche wasn’t a fragile exotic.
It wasn’t a “special occasion” status object.
It was:
something you drove hard
maintained intelligently
and could trust
That was Porsche’s unfair advantage for decades:
Racing credibility + real-world durability.
Not vibes.
Not scarcity.
Competence.
Porsche is becoming the thing it used to mock
Dave also explains why Porsche dominated:
“One way to perfect a product is to make it in significant numbers over a long period of time, improving it…”
Exactly.
The 911 wasn’t a fashion drop.
It was an evolving engineering weapon.
But now Porsche is drifting toward something else:
scarcity culture
high price signaling
“because it’s Porsche” logic
customers willing to tolerate nonsense
Or to quote the Ferrari world…
“It’s a Ferrari.”
And this is the line that should terrify Porsche enthusiasts:
Porsche buyers are becoming the kind of buyers Porsche owners used to laugh at.
Reader Court: who’s right?
Time to settle it.
Exhibit A:
“Porsche has lost its soul.”
Exhibit B:
“Stop whining — Porsche is better than ever.”
Exhibit C:
“I bought a new Porsche… never again.”
✅ Reply with: A / B / C
The next battle: will Porsche admit it’s a luxury brand now?
Dave put it perfectly:
“More recently Porsche seems to be included in the category of luxury car manufacturers rather than sports car makers…”
That’s the single most important sentence in this whole discussion.
Because Porsche is avoiding the real question:
Is Porsche still a sports car brand that also sells luxury products?
Or is Porsche now a luxury brand that still sells sports cars?
Those are radically different business models.
Radically different customers.
Radically different futures.
Garage Split (this will reveal everything)
If you had $250k today, what are you doing?
A) Brand new 992.2 Carrera S / GTS
B) 3.2 Carrera + 997 GT3 + money left over
C) 964 + tasteful resto build
D) “None — I’m buying a C8 Z06 and laughing”
✅ Reply with A / B / C / D
Final thought: Porsche may not be losing its soul… it may be trading it
Enthusiasts are hard to please.
They notice everything.
They demand authenticity.
Luxury buyers are easy.
They want comfort.
They want status.
They want something that confirms success.
So Porsche is doing what brands do when they “grow up”:
They stop chasing respect.
They start chasing margin.
Porsche can lose enthusiasts and still sell cars… for a while.
But if Porsche loses enthusiasts…
eventually Porsche loses what made people want the badge in the first place.
Reply with any of the following:
Which tribe are you? A or B
Should Porsche ban ADM? YES or NO
Which garage split are you choosing? A/B/C/D
What year Porsche “died” (if it did)?
“Porsche Is Becoming Ferrari (And That Should Terrify Enthusiasts)”
Including the GT3RS/turbo rumor and the “lipstick vs motorsports DNA” argument.
That one will light people on fire (in the best way).
— Tim Harris
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