Dancing Angels and bandwidth wasting...

[Unka Bart <mendicant@buddhist.com>]

Geeze Louise, meine Dammen und Herren, was, exactly, ist los hier?

I go away for a couple of weeks and return to find the list arguing about
whether Porsche or BMW is the best car...???  (or am I simply hallucinating
again, and simply need to change my meds...?)

By the way, Mike, as much as I hate to correct anyone with an appreciation
of Porsches as you (wisely) share with yer kindly ol' Unka Bart; I must
reluctantly point out that you're confusing the words "objective" and
subjective here.  On the other hand, please allow me to compliment you on
your impeccable taste, dashing good looks, and otherwise obvious
perspicuity!

But alas, the plain truth is that there are no objective criteria by which
any determination may be made of *overall* superiority of any Marque; even
the determination itself, of the which set of criteria to use in judging
(from all the criteria available) is a *subjective* matter.

And Scott, while complimenting you equally on your obviously similar
superior qualities shared with Mike, and while I agree completely that the
993 is by any reasonable definition, a "supercar;" it's simply ludricrous
to say in the same breath that it is *not* a production car.  Perhaps you
meant the 993tt, but that, while understandable, would be equally mistaken;
given that it is produced on the same production line as the atmo 993s.
Not many of the tts made, for sure, but definitely a "production" car by
any reasonable definition that would include the BMW 540i.

I would *love* to have either a 540i or a 993 (any variant of either), but
alas, I would have to dispose of either my 911 or my V8Q to make room.
Hell, even if you give me one, there's simply no way I'd want to give up
the sheer sybarytic luxury, comfort and security of my V8Q for the
additional accelleration and top speed of the 540i which would cost me my
Quattrol and unless you'd make that 993 a rag-top like my 911, I couldn't
make that trade even-up either.

There are days when the sun is out, the climate balmy, the forest lush and
verdant and the roads narrow, twisty and free of traffic, that simply
demand to be experienced in an open sports car with a beautiful woman by
your side.

Try that back-to-back, between an open 911 and whatever sedan you choose
and then tell me about "the best car."

And there are days that you want to travel 800 miles but the weather is
cold, miserable, messy-wet and generally foul, the roads slick, the traffic
heavy and you want to make time and distance.  Make the same comparison
between an Audi Quattro and any non-Quattro sedan...

Certainly there are Quattros other than the V8Q that fit the scenario above
even better (on someone else's *subjective* basis) than my V8, but you get
my drift.  And that scenario describes exactly my recent trip to Dallas.
Frankly, I think the auto climate control system is wonderful, and the
heated seats delicious icing.  Being able to downshift to 4th at 85 to
blast by some mouthbreather in an SUV and not lose the rabbit running
bear-bait in front of me wasn't too shabby either, as all you turbo-Q
owners already know.  Making 1400 miles in 18 hrs of driving time, and
arriving as fresh and relaxed as after a drive down to the corner store,
has a charm of its own, as well.

Yeah, the "best car" is always going to be a *subjective* decision.  If you
ask yer kindly ol' Unka Bart which one is best, the answer will always be
"the one that I'm putting the key into right now!"  Fortunately, the
choices in his garage will always force him to carry a jug of vinegar as an
extra passenger...

YM, naturally, MV (and, BTW, I certainly hope it exceeds that delivered by
my V8Q...)