CCM dreams....

[polypal]

No this is not about a new development in sensor technology it is about cameras, cars and motorcycles.

There is a strong parallel development in those.

Some 30 years ago a very talented man decided Porsche was about to give the world a new completely
redesigned car that would in no way be related to the familiar 911 with its rear aircooled engine.
The 928 was presented to the public and seemed to become a succes in sales.
Porsche fans were not happy because this car was much more complicated
a lot thirstier and more expensive to maintain.

A little later BMW decided it was time to say goodbye to the old flat twin motorcycles and presented the K 75 motorcycle.
This was based on a design from a young student who saw his dream come through as the engineers from BMW opted
for his design for the new K series.
Sure the K series sold well but after some years sales figures dropped and something had to be done.

Both Porsche and BMW returned for a large part to their old concept and released the 911 based watercooled 993/996 series cars while BMW surprised us with a new range of flat twins.

The only one missing here is Hasselblad.
We are still waiting for a new 500 series body that will have a large sensor and some other goodies.
Maybe if Mr. Poulsen likes Porsche cars and or BMW motorcycles there is a chance this dream will come through.
Two other succesfull leading manufacturers have proved it can be done.

Paul

 

[simonpg]

Very well put Paul!! I'm sorry that I have only just seen this interesting post today.

While I owned a Porsche 928 S4 for 6 years and a 911 for 8 years and Hasselblads for similar times, I have never owned a motorbike.

The 928 was a sensational motor vehicle but yes it was unbelievably expensive as a new car and horribly expensive on fuel and broken parts. BUT, this is the price we pay for state of the art brilliant engineering. I adored my 928. It is also recognised as one of the great industrial designs of all time - once describes as "perfect form following function"!

Then I had a 911 which I equally adored for a variety of other reasons. One was not better than the other; they were different and both enduring masterpieces.

Alas a sick pancreas forced me to sell the 911 and step into a comfort car - too much pain to feel road bumps and bend down to get in an out of a car. That I regret.

The release of the 993 model 911 was a positive turning point for Porsche; but, the real nirvana was the Boxster - opening another market segment to Porsche - women!!

Why, in part the brilliant design and entry price. But in most it is this - the Porsche legacy is the 911. For many decades Porsche released other fine cars like the 944, 968 and 928 and none were really truly successful and just prior to the Boxster's release Porsche AG was in quite serious trouble.

The secret to the Boxster's success was just that!!! ??? Yes it was "Boxster" - rather than 9XX thy company finally understood its legacy and customer psyche - NO 9XX WILL BE GOOD ENOUGH - NONE IS WORTHY OF 9XX, ONLY 911 IS worthy of such nomenclature. From that day on the Porsche company profits and share values have sky-rocketed.

So, by moving away from numerate model nomenclature and using names a whole new world opened up for Porsche. This paved the way for a successful Cayenne and now Cayman.

There was never anything really wrong with the 944 or 928 etc except they just did not get market acceptance - they just were not a 911!!!

Now we should ask ourselves: "do we think the next "new" Porsche will be a 9xx or a name??!!"

If you find this hard to believe, then ask yourself if the next new Porsche (a 4 door car) will have a name or a number??