Keeping up with the Hurleys
By BankersBall on Nov 21, 2006 in Cube Life, Famous Bankers, Lifestyle
“James Hong, a co-founder of Hotornot.com, a dating site, found that his $55,000 Porsche Boxster had come to symbolize the trap he often saw others in Silicon Valley fall into. Mr. Hong, 33, says Hotornot’s success allowed him ‘a very comfortable life without ever needing to get a job — freedom money, as they call it.’
But he nonetheless saw himself succumbing to the envy malaise. After all, his best friend, Max Levchin, was a founder of PayPal and has a net worth probably in the tens of millions. So in a conspicuous move to get out of the game, Mr. Hong has decided to sell his sports car and has bought a Toyota Prius. ‘I don’t want to live the life of a Boxster, because when you get a Boxster you wish you had a 911,’ he said, referring to a much more expensive Porsche. ‘And you know what people who have 911s wish they had? They wish they had a Ferrari.‘”
– New York Times, “In the Web World, The Rich Now Envy the Superrich”
On Nov 21, 2006, Anonymous said:
The Boxster is a piece of shit
On Dec 4, 2006, Anonymous said:
911’s will never get toppled by any model, that’s how Porsche has it set marketing wise (check the Cayman, which is a Boxster squared). Even though the Boxster has a superior platform (mid-engined)…check the Carrera GT, the Porsche “supercar” (read: nicer than any 911) is a mid-engine config as are Formula 1 cars, ALMS, etc, the 911 will always have that mystique.
Mid-engine cars are more balanced as compared to an antiquated practice of putting the engine behind the rear axle (tendency to swing out on curves, counter balanced only by a throttle-mash maneuver).
Anyone who has driven a Boxster knows how great the car is, it’s the people that can’t afford one that look at one from behind the window, looking at prices and social appearance to judge a car that is consistently a Top 10 with Car and Driver. If the car had more power (which with Porsche marketing, it never will) it would whoop a 911 into submission and that’s a fact.
And if you have a 911, why would you want a Ferrari? A car that purposely charges over MSRP to create “Exclusivity” and cars that are known to explode into flames while driving? I’ll take a Porsche over any Fiat thank you very much (if you have to ask, you’re helpless). I have a 911, and the next car I want is a Carrera GT…there are only 16 left (as of today). Unfortunately, I don’t have 400K to just spend on a car. So I’ll stick to my Turbo.
On Dec 2, 2008, Anonymous said:
I think you’ve both missed the point of the article.