When a person buys a $400,000 vehicle the initial purchase price has little to do with the actual purchase. Porsche has never played in the arena of super car pricing and it will take a special buyer to be a sacraficial lamb. I bought and sold a CGT promptly after release. I paid MSRP and lost a little bit getting out. I can tell you the market is not there and what is, is very soft on a car like the CGT.

Buying a high dollar vehcile is as much an ego trip as it is a purchase based on smart decision making.

In 6 to 9 months from now when dealers are sitting with 2004 and 2005 CGT's on their lot the pricie frenzy will begin!!!

 

QUOTE]I only drove it through the twisties/highway/city and was driven by LeMans winners in it around Porsche Leipzig track instead of read magazines about it like flatsixnut. So what do I know"...period".[/QUOTE]
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This is probaly a repost, but a dissenting view from someone who has driven two of them and wouldn't want the third.

Comic Relief: Jay Leno talks about his new Supercars
MARK VAUGHN
Published Date: 8/30/04

There aren’t very many of us who could ever hope to own a supercar, especially a new supercar. The number of people who could buy three of them at once�the Mercedes SLR, Porsche Carrera GT and Ford GT�is even smaller. But of that group, those who will actually drive them, and happily talk to you about the experience, it comes down to one guy�Jay Leno. ¡ At one point Leno was supposed to take delivery of all three of those cars on the same September day. What a day that would have been. Which one do you drive? The Ford came early, though, and as of press time the Carrera GT and SLR are still on their way. ¡ Leno has already driven all three at various venues around the world. Mercedes let him loose with an SLR on the (unfortunately named) Idiada test track in Spain, Ford had him driving the GT at Laguna Seca, and Porsche gave him a Carrera GT for a few days in Los Angeles. We spoke to him recently by phone.

Q: What, no Enzo?

A: It doesn’t interest me. I don’t like the paddle shifter. I like to
shift myself.

Q: You still have the Carrera GT loaner, how do you like that?

A: I put 500 miles on it. I bought it because of the clutch. What is it, a 60,000-mile clutch? The McLaren clutch [Leno also owns a McLaren F1] is 3000 or 4000 miles. I love the fact that [the Carrera GT] has no paddle shifter. I have not met anyone who loves paddle shifters. I think there’s a great deal of satisfaction in mastering the proper shift of a car. If it’s going to shift for you, get the video.

Q: Wasn’t the Carrera GT clutch difficult to get used to?

A: I didn’t have any problems. I read one road test that said, "Oh, it’ll really build up your thigh muscles." Well, how lazy are we getting? I have a Hispano-Suiza and that thing has a clutch�you operate that for a few blocks and you’re sweating. But this car, it’s like, "Oh shut up, are you really mentally and physically exhausted from shifting?"

The real trick to driving the car is you put it in gear, don’t give it any gas, release the clutch and it goes. I find it’s one of those things that gives a car character. Just as it was mastering the earlier 911’s handling characteristics.

I have a number of W.O. Bentleys and that is a hard car to shift. You grind gears. I called the guy I bought the first one from and he says, "You’ll get the hang of it," and he was right. You just feel a great amount of satisfaction from learning and performing the mechanical process of shifting.

Q: You really love that carbon clutch, don’t you?

A: It doesn’t smoke, it doesn’t smell. Any other car, you do a burnout and, "Sniff, sniff, uh oh." Let’s face it, if you’ve got a Countach and some kid comes up to you in a ’57 Chevy, you say, "Yeah, I could beat this kid but it’ll cost me $4,700 in clutch repairs." With the Porsche it’s not like that.

Q: How’s it handle?

A: It’s rear-drive, you give it a little gas on an on-ramp or someplace and the tail end comes around. You’re not endangering anyone, you’re just having fun.

Q: Have you had other Porsches?

A: This is the first Porsche I’ve ever bought. I didn’t come to it as this huge Porsche enthusiast and, "Let’s help the home team."Most supercars are sort of old-fashioned, they have a tube frame and a big engine. And this is a [with dramatic, newscaster tone] technological tour de force.

Q: How does it compare to the Mercedes SLR?

A: The Porsche is a sports car. With the Porsche you can go from point A to point B, assuming you have a locked garage at each point. With the Mercedes you can drive it as you would any Mercedes. The SLR is 95 percent sports car. With that extra 5 percent you can park it, you can get in and out of it, you can drive down the street. With the GT you can’t park, you can’t see and you don’t want to scrape the wheels on the curb.

The Porsche is extremely rewarding. Getting in and out of the Porsche is not as easy as the other cars. On a racetrack the Porsche would probably win. The SLR would be an all-around road car. You could give the valet the SLR. You couldn’t give the valet the Porsche.

Q: How was it to drive the SLR?

A: It feels very much like a sports car. I drove the SLR at over 200 mph in Spain and you couldn’t break it. We had 12 guys there beating the s*** out of it; you’d be going 212, 213 mph on the speedometer and you’re thinking, "Hmmm, let me turn the air conditioning down."

One of the guys pulled into the pits and the brakes were on fire. The Germans were like, [Schwarzenegger voice] "That is okay, that is normal, they will cool down."

The SLR is probably the more real-world, everyday driver car, [though] I commuted every day with the Carrera.

Q: How’s the Ford GT?

A: The Ford GT, to me, is just like an emotional experience. I am not a big sports guy, and I am told the greatest moment in sports history is when the U.S. team beat the Russians in hockey at the Olympics. For me [the greatest moment] was the Ford GT40 winning Le Mans. The idea that my mom’s Fairlane had the same DNA as the car that just won Le Mans was amazing.

I think they’ve done a wonderful job. It’s what, 13 percent bigger than the original? Hey, I’d like to be 13 percent bigger than I was in 1966; that’d be fine with me.

When I look at the three of them, emotionally the [Ford] GT has the strongest pull.

It was the last car you could drive at Le Mans and also, possibly, drive on the street. I think it’s the bargain of the century. Look, $150,000 is a lot of money, but when you realize that the Ford GT is within, what is it, a tenth of a second of the Enzo? And it’s a Ford! So you could fix it yourself if you had to.

Q: Anything else?

A: Do me a favor and don’t make me seem like some sort of rich-guy, showbiz a******, okay? I just like cars.

 

Leno might be a little tainted in that despite his never owning a Pcar before, he becomes the first to get a "loaner" CGT to drive until his arrives. My bet is Porsche GAVE him a CGT in exchange for this marketing. Hell, the rest of us who are actually Pcar customers who had a deposit up weren't even allowed to drive around the factory track in Leipzig despite traveling all the way there to do it. However, somehow Leno is able to drive one 500+ miles (and counting) in LA traffic with high theft rates? Hmmm.

 

If you have ever seen Leno do a review on a vehicle is goes something like this:

"The vehicle handles pretty well, but I don't like the color of it and the windows do not go up and down fast enough. Other than that I think it is OK."

This is the kind of review he gave when he drove the GT3. I thought he would be more of a "car" guy and less of a fruit.

Plus are any of you buying a vehicle because Jay Leno likes it. This is a guy who drive steam powered vehicles to work.

 

There are probably not even 10 SLRs in the country at this time. This, plus the fact that MB has a much wider market appeal is the reason for the ridiculous prices we're seeing for SLRs. Just wait to MB/Mclaren builds the 1,500 or so examples over the next 7 years. They'll quickly be as desirable as CGTs.

 

And this is to make me feel what? I prefer P-cars. What makes anything you say change that fact. You are no better than me nor does the fact that you can afford the car and I cant make "your" opinion change mine. I can and do own very nice Porsches, though.....just not in the 100+grand side. I have been on this board long enough to know every word you have posted and I am well aware of your stand on the CGT....I dont need special notification.

Ill say it again..."unoffically from a never have driven any of the above cars, with my under privledged opinion and love for P-cars" the CGT is the better automobile....period.

 

I just find closed minded opinions wholly absent the smallest amount of experience with that about which they are made while rendered as statements of fact to be laughable.

 

From a technical perspective I'd agree the CGT is the best (i.e. performance, design, durability etc) From a practical perspective the SLR wins. But IMO it's just a hyped up SL. I wouldn't feel so great buying that car then driving down the road and seeing the same front end on every new SLK with a yuppie mommy behind the wheel.

 

yes, and the same can be said about the rears of the Enzo and now F430.

 

Because of that, the SLR will always outsell the CGT. Most people that can afford to buy these cars are not enthusiasts. These are trophy cars. SL or SLR is the perfect trophy car for a trophy wife. Trophy wife doesn't have to know what the Ring is besides what goes on her finger(s).

 

An ENZO can warrant a premium, 399 cars made for a limited run, about 70 hit the U.S., Porsche and MB are building too many cars.

 

Part of the problem I think is that some! (not all) potential CGT buyers bought the Enzo. The CGT is a lot of car and at 400K you run out of buyers real fast! Most people who want a CGT have ordered one, with 1500 or so allocations people have the option of getting exactly what they want, at 400k the right color combination matters. I hear a lot of **** about how people that buy 200k of cars dont care about money, but thats not always true. I don't claim to know a pleathora of guys that can buy supercars, but I know that most rich people earned their money and arn't prepared to **** it away on a whim.

The Enzo is supposed to be the God of sports cars, it is plastered up on childrens rooms across the world, and everybody seems to want one (except for Jay Leno). With only a few hundred Enzos in the world rich people bought them and bought them fast. The Enzo was gaurenteed to go up in price too, something CGT owners have to worry about. Potential buyers had herd of the Enzo years ahead of its actuall arival, and they were ready to buy the second it hit the U.S. shores.

A CGT will never be an Enzo and I think that has plaqued it. As the cliche goes "there are no points for second place" and in a most peoples minds that is where the CGT stands, right behind the Enzo. If Porsche made 200-300 cars that would help. If the CGT was faster than the Enzo it would be the hottest item on the market. I love the CGT and I think I would buy one before I spent a million on an Enzo. I like the fact that its the only supercar produced right now with a 6-speed. Now if i could take either car for free or even the same price I would get the Enzo. Lets face it the Enzo is the ****, and if you lined up 100 people, 99 of them would take an Enzo over CGT anyday.

The last thing I have begun to notice is that the CGT buyers seem to be a different demographic than the Enzo buyers. I have herd of a lot of guys buying CGTs that are rich (obviously), but not crazy rich to the point where money means nothing. I can see the Tommy Hilfigers of the world pissing away an extra 200k to get their hands on an Enzo. There are a few hundred billionair car fans that will do whatever it takes to get a piece of Ferrari history, and those are the guys that are dropping insane amounts of money to buy them. If you subtract the Enzo buyers, subtract the guys that think the CGT is an enzo wannabee, then you realize your "insanely rich" market has been vastly reduced, oh and lets not forget the SLR guys!!! All of these things combined have led to a loss of potential CGT buyers and thus a soft market.

 

"If the CGT was faster than the Enzo it would be the hottest item on the market."

I don't recall the Enzo being able to best the CGT around any track, road etc.

 

True, but it´s only the acceleration & top speed figures that matter to most.

 

and looks, style and that certain brand mystique, that Porsche doesn't seem to have at this level. I agree, they did a horrible job with the PR and hyping of this car.