What car would TM drive today?

[Pahonu]

Another way to look at it. I just grabbed some numbers for median income in the US 1979 vs. 2012. It went from just under 15K to almost 50K, unadjusted for inflation. I don't think someone making 15K in 1980 was going to get a car worth almost three times there annual salary. Ferraris were pretty out of reach to most in 1980 as well. On the up side, if I did spend 3x my annual salary...I'd have myself a brand new 458 Spyder parked downstairs right now!

I'm not trying to say that the 308 was affordable. It was, however, intentionally aimed at stealing some of the market away from the Porsche 911. An entry level 911 was and still is more "doable" for more people than a Ferrari. Yes, there's the nutso GT3 and others that are in that ballpark, but there really isn't an entry level Ferrari to match what Porsche has to offer. If you think back to that time, there were tons of 308s on the road - at least where I lived. They've moved to being a more "exclusive" brand since then.

I totally agree an entry level 911 is more doable than a Ferrari, both past and present. Porche has always had lower price point cars, though. The 914 and 944 are examples, and the Boxster more recently. Anything like this level has always been absent from Ferrari's lineup. Perhaps it's hard to judge these things. When I was a kid a never saw Ferraris around because I grew up in a working class neighborhood. Today, I see alot more Ferraris around because I live at the coast in Socal. It's kind of relative. For the last two weeks the neighbor in the parking spot next to me has had a Bentley parked there. It's quite a pairing, my 26-year old VW camper van next to a shiny new black Bentley! I don't even know the model.

[Styles Bitchley]

I totally agree an entry level 911 is more doable than a Ferrari, both past and present. Porche has always had lower price point cars, though. The 914 and 944 are examples, and the Boxster more recently. Anything like this level has always been absent from Ferrari's lineup. Perhaps it's hard to judge these things. When I was a kid a never saw Ferraris around because I grew up in a working class neighborhood. Today, I see alot more Ferraris around because I live at the coast in Socal. It's kind of relative. For the last two weeks the neighbor in the parking spot next to me has had a Bentley parked there. It's quite a pairing, my 26-year old VW camper van next to a shiny new black Bentley! I don't even know the model.

I'd take a VeeDub camper over a Bentley any day.

[Doc Ibold]

I totally agree an entry level 911 is more doable than a Ferrari, both past and present. Porche has always had lower price point cars, though. The 914 and 944 are examples, and the Boxster more recently. Anything like this level has always been absent from Ferrari's lineup. Perhaps it's hard to judge these things. When I was a kid a never saw Ferraris around because I grew up in a working class neighborhood. Today, I see alot more Ferraris around because I live at the coast in Socal. It's kind of relative. For the last two weeks the neighbor in the parking spot next to me has had a Bentley parked there. It's quite a pairing, my 26-year old VW camper van next to a shiny new black Bentley! I don't even know the model.

I'd take a VeeDub camper over a Bentley any day.

Agreed

[Pahonu]

I totally agree an entry level 911 is more doable than a Ferrari, both past and present. Porche has always had lower price point cars, though. The 914 and 944 are examples, and the Boxster more recently. Anything like this level has always been absent from Ferrari's lineup. Perhaps it's hard to judge these things. When I was a kid a never saw Ferraris around because I grew up in a working class neighborhood. Today, I see alot more Ferraris around because I live at the coast in Socal. It's kind of relative. For the last two weeks the neighbor in the parking spot next to me has had a Bentley parked there. It's quite a pairing, my 26-year old VW camper van next to a shiny new black Bentley! I don't even know the model.

I'd take a VeeDub camper over a Bentley any day.

Agreed