Today, I need your help in answering a question. It's about cars. Feel free to click "back" on your browser. Or read down to my last political post.
Long-time readers of The Misanthropologist will know that I'm a little obsessed with the Porsche 356. Mostly, because it looks like a VW bug
while also being sporty and fun to drive. But here's a question for us all. Which is better:the coupe, the convertible, or the Notchback?
The first two are pretty easy to differentiate. The last one, the Notchback, is so called because the Karmann factory welded hard-tops onto the convertible (aka "cabriolet") bodies. So instead of the gentle slope of the regular fast-backed 356 coupe, there is a "notch," where the body hits the hard-top.
Some collectors prefer the Notchback, because it's rare, but also because it's really easy to un-weld the hard-top, and turn it into a (more-rare) convertible. Others just think it looks weird, disrupting the natural flowy lines of the car.
I'm not sure what I think. Here are two pics:
The regular:
The Notchback:
I think that the Notch looks more like a family sedan, whereas the regular looks like a race car. But then again, the Notch looks like it could have a removable roof. And, with some work, it could. Which would be pretty fly.
Yes, I'm thinking about this over-much. So what. It's not like I don't read the news or listen to Opera in the park or keep up with politics or read philosophy. I do all these high-brow things, plus I worry about whether I should covet a regular or a Notchback.
And I want to know what you think. Plus, as an aesthetic decision, all I have to go on are other peoples' opinions. All distinctions are social, as we well know. What's your choice? PLEASE vote on the top right side of the blog.
(ps: That blue is totally the color of my future car. With a charcoal grey interior.)
4 comments:
After some 40 years, I just bought my first 356 - the 1965 C coupe. Love the lines. I also love the cabriolet, but that car is now too expensive. Mine's red with a black interior. Good luck in getting your dream car!
You know, I really have to say I strongly prefer the Notchback, although your use of the phrase "more of a family sedan" to describe it gave me significant pause (I once declared to my own family that I would no longer be accompanying them to any restaurant with the word "family" in its name - it just gives me the quivers). But yes, I prefer the Notchback. I love classic Porsches, but the other one still reminds me a bit of a turtle. I like turtles too, don't get me wrong, but a break in that line from top to tail suits me just fine.
Alright, so I voted and now I'm going tell you why (because I'm just that kind of person).
I like the Notchback because it looks like the Jetson's car. I can just imagine you in it, driving around San Fran, making the sound the Jetson's car makes that can't really be produced with text (maybe... brrrrbbbbb?!). It would be funny and fly (for a sociologist anyway)... just like you.
(i love ellipses and parentheses)
Anyone over six feet tall will need to buy the Notchback so that, when they move the front seat back, their head will not hit the roof. Sportiness be damned. Anyway, more practical people go to Heaven than not. Besides, the notchback looks a lot like a the original Citroen DS and nothing beats a French car, especially
"The Goddess".
Post a Comment