So, pick any car that sold 1m models, and count up the total value of those first million cars today.
Example:
500k neons at $2 each
300k mustangs at $7k each
1m 1964 Chevy top halfs at $700 each
Etc.
I bet the Porsche has created the most current value of any of them.
crankwalk wrote:wheels777 wrote: 1964 Chevrolet Full size car 1,381,600......1 year. Half of them are still on the road. Just sayin'.And that's a cool piece of trivia but numbers sold is zero indication on how "good" or significant a car is.
The numbers support the "good".
1961 1.022M
1962 1.037M
1963 1.373M
1964 1.381M
1965 1.216M
Having owned 15 in the past, I am very comfortable stating they were great for service life, dependability, resale, always drew a steady number of folks at the shows and performed well at the drag strip.
"Significant" is purely subjective.
6.029M in 5 years is significant for multiple reasons.
1.0M in 52 years is significant for multiple reasons.
Bringing up the production numbers for the Chevy was a friendly poke at the VW and Neon folks who brought up their numbers in a thread celebrating a great milestone for the 911, not a knock on the 911 milestone. I'd love to own one. My reality...in addition to the 15 Chevys, I've also owned 5 VWs and 3 Neons, zero 911. FWIW, if I could find the right 928, I'd make room in the barn very quickly.
Sorry if I hurt your feelings. I know how sensitive everyone's feelings are, and how loyal everyone is to their beloved brands and models. My intentions were not to "one-up" anyone. I like all makes and models, so its fun/easy to poke at brand loyal enthusiasts. We own 5 Studebakers, 3 VW, 1 Datsun, 1 Fiat, 1 Star, 3 Ford Pick-up, 1 Pontiac, 1 Volvo, 1 Vette, 1 Monza, 2 Novas, 1 Camaro, 1 Chevy and 1 Cadillac. What more do you need to poke back?
I thaught Porsche had passed this milestone years ago. Interesting.
Keep in mind that the Neon was redesigned at least once, the Impala several times, the Miata is on it's 4th or 5th gen. The 911 design was so good, they only had to do it once.
(quote credited to Elliott, a funny guy I race with)
The Miata is on the third main generation. The NA and NB were as much alike as most 911 aircooled variants 
The Corvette reached the one million mark in 1992 after 39 years.
Edited for math fail.
It took Ford about 7 years to make 1,000,000 Model Ts.....
A little off-topic, but it always annoyed me when the Toyota Corolla surpassed the A/C VW Beetle as the "Most Sold Car in History". The Corolla had several design changes, and basically it was six or seven different cars, that were sold under the Corolla name. The Beetle was pretty much the same damn thing, from the early 50's all the way into the late 70's. Not a very fair comparison IMHO.
Joe,
Don't you mean till the mid-2000's?
See the 2004 Mexican Beetle:
wheels777 wrote:crankwalk wrote:The numbers support the "good". 1961 1.022M 1962 1.037M 1963 1.373M 1964 1.381M 1965 1.216M Having owned 15 in the past, I am very comfortable stating they were great for service life, dependability, resale, always drew a steady number of folks at the shows and performed well at the drag strip. "Significant" is purely subjective. 6.029M in 5 years is significant for multiple reasons. 1.0M in 52 years is significant for multiple reasons. Bringing up the production numbers for the Chevy was a friendly poke at the VW and Neon folks who brought up their numbers in a thread celebrating a great milestone for the 911, not a knock on the 911 milestone. I'd love to own one. My reality...in addition to the 15 Chevys, I've also owned 5 VWs and 3 Neons, zero 911. FWIW, if I could find the right 928, I'd make room in the barn very quickly. Sorry if I hurt your feelings. I know how sensitive everyone's feelings are, and how loyal everyone is to their beloved brands and models. My intentions were not to "one-up" anyone. I like all makes and models, so its fun/easy to poke at brand loyal enthusiasts. We own 5 Studebakers, 3 VW, 1 Datsun, 1 Fiat, 1 Star, 3 Ford Pick-up, 1 Pontiac, 1 Volvo, 1 Vette, 1 Monza, 2 Novas, 1 Camaro, 1 Chevy and 1 Cadillac. What more do you need to poke back?wheels777 wrote: 1964 Chevrolet Full size car 1,381,600......1 year. Half of them are still on the road. Just sayin'.And that's a cool piece of trivia but numbers sold is zero indication on how "good" or significant a car is.
Uhh, You didn't hurt my feelings and in fact I'm not sure what you are going on about?
I've owned '64 Chevys and a 75 911 and a million other makes and models. It's not about brand loyalty, I just have no idea why you'd bring up how many cars Chevrolet sold and compare it to the 911.
Apples and Oranges.
Many people bought Chevrolets for their families and people didn't do that for 911s so....yeah they are going to sell more cheaper practical Chevrolets. What does how fast and many more Chevy's (or any other car) sold than 911s prove?
Nothing really. You just read way too much in to that.
In reply to Keith Tanner:
That would actually be 39 years, or really 38 since no 1983 models escaped the factory - but who's counting? 
The Corvette is a good comparison, though, given its position in the marketplace.
First Corvette: 1953. 1M Corvette: 1992. Right, 39 years. 1983 still counts, we're not looking at model years but elapsed time.
bmw88rider wrote: Joe, Don't you mean till the mid-2000's? See the 2004 Mexican Beetle:
Great point! Can't believe I forgot about the South of the border Beetles. I'll have another one day, love me some A/C VW!
crankwalk wrote:wheels777 wrote:Uhh, You didn't hurt my feelings and in fact I'm not sure what you are going on about? I've owned '64 Chevys and a 75 911 and a million other makes and models. It's not about brand loyalty, I just have no idea why you'd bring up how many cars Chevrolet sold and compare it to the 911. Apples and Oranges. Many people bought Chevrolets for their families and people didn't do that for 911s so....yeah they are going to sell more cheaper practical Chevrolets. What does how fast and many more Chevy's (or any other car) sold than 911s prove? Nothing really. You just read way too much in to that.crankwalk wrote:The numbers support the "good". 1961 1.022M 1962 1.037M 1963 1.373M 1964 1.381M 1965 1.216M Having owned 15 in the past, I am very comfortable stating they were great for service life, dependability, resale, always drew a steady number of folks at the shows and performed well at the drag strip. "Significant" is purely subjective. 6.029M in 5 years is significant for multiple reasons. 1.0M in 52 years is significant for multiple reasons. Bringing up the production numbers for the Chevy was a friendly poke at the VW and Neon folks who brought up their numbers in a thread celebrating a great milestone for the 911, not a knock on the 911 milestone. I'd love to own one. My reality...in addition to the 15 Chevys, I've also owned 5 VWs and 3 Neons, zero 911. FWIW, if I could find the right 928, I'd make room in the barn very quickly. Sorry if I hurt your feelings. I know how sensitive everyone's feelings are, and how loyal everyone is to their beloved brands and models. My intentions were not to "one-up" anyone. I like all makes and models, so its fun/easy to poke at brand loyal enthusiasts. We own 5 Studebakers, 3 VW, 1 Datsun, 1 Fiat, 1 Star, 3 Ford Pick-up, 1 Pontiac, 1 Volvo, 1 Vette, 1 Monza, 2 Novas, 1 Camaro, 1 Chevy and 1 Cadillac. What more do you need to poke back?wheels777 wrote: 1964 Chevrolet Full size car 1,381,600......1 year. Half of them are still on the road. Just sayin'.And that's a cool piece of trivia but numbers sold is zero indication on how "good" or significant a car is.
I italicized and bolded the important parts in my original post at the top of this page. You quoted "good", so I knew if I poked there would be a reaction .... thank you.
In reply to KyAllroad:
Well, yeah, I guess one did escape the factory. It made it all the way across the street to the museum!
aircooled wrote:Vigo wrote: ...If Porsche made anything analogous to the 1st gen Neon it would have been an extremely significant and well received car...I think they did: Did the the 924 have "back seat"?
You know, i thought about that when i was posting (did i mention i also owned a 924?). I don't think they're truly comparable. The Neon was an economical family car first that just happened to have a high level of performance (for the time) cooked into it. Porsche has never really sold anything like that. Lotus has hinted at it more than once, and each time i got excited until i realized they didnt have the resources to pull it off.
I'm not trying to make it sound ridiculously awesome or anything, but there's really very little that's comparable to what the 1g neon was. As long as it had a manual trans, there really wasn't a slow or totally un-sporting version of it. It was very light and very fuel efficient. Certain trims were very race competitive in bone stock form. They're really a bright spot in motoring history where a car had huge crossover appeal to both car/racing enthusiasts and John Doe scraping at the bottom of the new car barrel for a frugal commuter car.
I don't even know if Datsun sedans and euro Escorts hold up in comparison, and look at how well liked and valued those are today.
You're making the 1g Neon sound like a classic Mini.
Too bad neons are utter crap, build quality wise. Actually, I drove some new. Never was impressed. Really not a drivers car. How in the world did a thread about Porsche become pne about one of the worst cars made?
I've already said my piece. I also happen to know another 'prominent' board member who owns a 911 and owned a Neon who said the manual steering in the Neon was about the best feeling steering he could remember.
I guess if i just wanted to stir the pot i could add that in 1994 a base trim Porsche 911 and Dodge Neon made the exact same HP/liter. 
And the neon would pop it's engine and tranny at about 60k where the "exotic" porsche would go 300k on the engine and indefinitely on the tranny. And I would always find suspect anyone who finds the steering on any fwd car the best feeling. I personally think an a1 and s2 vw feels better. Of all the cars I've driven, a bugeye is best. Followed by an early 911 with turbo tie rods.
Blaise wrote:Keith Tanner wrote: I sat in the back seat of a base model first gen Neon at the dealership. I think bare plywood with splinters would have been more comfortable. Never took the rest of the car's engineering seriously after that.I went across the country in that very back seat several times. It was discontinued after '96 bc nobody bought one with one. Except my dad of course, who paid I believe $9900 for his brand new. No rear defrost, no passenger mirror. Base as they come.
I had the same car for a couple of years. Drove to Alaska and back with my sister and a friend. We always figured the lack of infrastructure helped reliability.
And the neon would pop it's engine and tranny at about 60k
"And some, i assume, are good Neons."
I've never owned a Neon with LESS than 200k miles on it. I guess i'm glad i'm not 'too good' for a Neon. Id hate to be propping up some stereotype of Porsche owners turning their noses up at lesser-born breeds... of automobile.
Unless, you know, the headstuds broke.
Put me down as a multiple high mileage trouble free ACR neon owner and now 911 owner. My last neon had no trouble with gearbox longevity despite nearly 400ft-lb of TQ. No need to put down cars that you're ignorant of.
markwemple wrote: And the neon would pop it's engine and tranny at about 60k where the "exotic" porsche would go 300k on the engine and indefinitely on the tranny. And I would always find suspect anyone who finds the steering on any fwd car the best feeling. I personally think an a1 and s2 vw feels better. Of all the cars I've driven, a bugeye is best. Followed by an early 911 with turbo tie rods.
As far as I'm concerned, they stopped making 911's after the the last air cooled one left the factory.
In reply to TR8owner:
If you want to go hard core why not stop it at 2wd, or automatic, or power brakes, or longhood? I hate that air cooled stuff. Going water was inevitable. Plus, the last 901 base was 89. There was a reason why it changed to 964.
You'll need to log in to post.
