Conference terri::cars_uk

633.0. "Appreciating Skodas ?????" by FLOCON::KENNEDY_C (Handles like a Skoda) Wed Jun 07 1989 12:05

    Scanning the Sunday Times car section over the past few weeks, it
    appears that something 'crazy' is going on with Porsche prices.
    It appears that Porsche 911 Turbos have just leapt up in price,
    from around �60,000 to in excess of �150,000. The new Speedsters
    are also fetching crazy prices, as indeed are late model Cabriolets
    (esp ones with Turbo bodies). 
    
    Having spoken to a few dealers, it turns out that 911 Turbos have
    been out of production for a few months, but only RHD ones, as I
    know LHD are still available in Germany. The dealers said that the
    new 964, or Carrera 4, is cheaper to produce, and it will soon be
    followed by the Carrera 2, so the 'current' shape is going out.
    The problem with current Carreras is that they lose too much power
    converting to lead free/catalistic converters. Figures are 231 PS
    for none cat, and 211 PS for cat versions. The Carrera 4 gives 250
    with cat, and increased capacity to 3.6 litres.
    
    From the amount of LHD cars for sale, it seems like a lot of people
    are going over to Germany to buy Turbos/Cabrios/Speedsters. 
    
    One dealer said that cars were not shifting for the big money, but
    that doesn't seem to stop the others from trying.
    
    Having paid �X for mine, I've seen an identical one advertised for
    �58,000, and I can't wait to see the next Sunday Times.
                                                    
    The question is, have we got a potential Ferrari death price hike,
    or is this just a temporary situation? What's the feeling in the
    UK, am I sitting on a gold mine?

    Just seen the following article on the back of last week's Computing :-
    
    	Eat humble pie with a banger
    
    Memory upgrade supplier Datrontech has taken drastic action to purge
    its salesforce of the boy-racer element.
    Following a spate of company car crashes and soaring insurance
    premiums, the management decided to enough was enough.
    It has raided the petty-cash box and forked out �900 for a second-hand
    Skoda.
    The mean machine has gone straight into the Aldershot=based company's
    car pool.
    And employees who manage to smash up their cars have the dubious honour
    of driving the Czechoslovakian-built classic for a month while their
    flash model is being repaired.
    The Skoda is currently being used by Datrontech sales executive Andy
    Holmes, who has just managed to write off his two-day old, �15,000
    Volkswagen Corrado.
    Unfortunately for Datrontech's PR and advertising agent, George Shaw,
    the Skoda is not available while his car is in dry dock.
    Shaw deposited the hard top of his Mercedes convertible somewhere on
    the M40 while burning rubber to see a slient based in Oxford.
    
    
    
    Entered without permission, etc.
    
    J.R.

It's not a new story.  Some company in the coty was said to have done a
similar thing a few years ago - they had a Lada.  It seems that in that
case the people "sentenced" to the Lada really quite liked it.