Never Go Unnoticed at Night

Several visible changes have been made in the car for ‘68 so that they will comply with the federal government’s safety and exhaust emission standards. The windshield wiper arms are now flat black and, for some reason, come to rest in front of the driver instead of on the passenger side as on earli­er 911s. Porsche styling has generally been way ahead of the pack, particularly in the lighting department. The car’s parking and tail lights are of wrap-around design which makes them visible from the sides as well as the front and rear. Even so, Porsche has added reflectors on the sides of both front and rear fenders—and the result is that a Porsche will never go unnoticed at night. Besides, what better way to tell a ‘68 from a pre-federal safety standard 911?

Another, sadder, change is the absence of the 911S. The 180 hp car is no longer available in this country thanks to the benevolent legislators and the smog laws. Porsche engineers weren’t able to strain enough carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbons out of the exhaust and still have 180 horsepower left for the customer, so they’ve concentrated their efforts on the 148 hp version. Porsche has used the typi­cally European approach to the exhaust emission control problem, choosing the afterburning process in which fresh air is pumped into the exhaust manifold resulting in rapid oxidation of large clouds of evil gasses. Installation of all the required plumbing has made the engine compartment crowded, but aside from the clutter no un­desirable effects resulted. Besides, whatever the virtues of previous Porsches, service accessibility was never among them and, like dueling scars, burns and skinned knuck­les have always been a badge of merit among true Porsche lovers.

For any GT car in the $6000 range to be worth its salt, consideration must be given to the driver. After all, these are supposed to be drivers’ cars and not family barges. In this area the Porsche really shines. A few hours behind the wheel gives the impression that a driver could set off for the end of the world and still be fresh enough for a return trip without ever getting out. The luxurious bucket seats support just the right portions of the anatomy while the woodrim steering wheel is the proper arms-reach away. Unfortunately, the rim of the wheel obscures the driver’s view of the oil level on the left and the clock on the right. This is the only serious flaw in an otherwise well layed-out interior. Since there is no clutch pedal with the Sportomatic, the designers have thought­fully provided a platform for the driver to rest his left foot. Other manufacturers please copy.

Air-cooled cars are not famous for having the most powerful heaters in the world so auxiliary heaters of some sort are frequent­ly provided. Our test car was equipped with such a device of extraordinary capacity. We fully expect that the interior of this car could be maintained at a comfortably warm temperature in an Alaskan winter even with the doors open.

How, then, does the Sportomatic Porsche fit into the luxury GT car market? Me­chanically, we question the wisdom of circulating engine oil and torque converter oil from the same sump even though we know Porsche engineers don’t make many mis­takes. A definite problem area exists when the clutch can be disengaged by accidental contact with the shift lever even though this is an essential part of the whole automatic clutch system. Still, we grudgingly admit that Porsche has probably increased their market appeal. Any territory gained would be in the non-enthusiast area since we can’t conceive of any current Porsche buyers de­nying themselves the joy of using its fault­less 4- or optional 5-speed gearbox or just giving up part of the precision feel of the pre-Sportomatic 911. Non-enthusiasts who could appreciate the Porsche as a fine tour­ing car but have no desire for total involvement in driving technique will be potential customers for the Sportomatic. Somehow, it just seems that Porsche has compromised themselves and this is hard to swallow. Like finding out that your mother is taking in laundry just to put you through school.

We’ve tested 911s before and come away glowing with admiration. We are still glow­ing. Unless there are some changes made in the Sportomatic, however, the 911s we will choose in the future will have foot-operated clutches and no torque converters, thank you.

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