Porsche: Excellence Was Expected : The Complete History of Porsche Sports and Racing Cars (An Automobile Quarterly Library Series Book)

Since 1977 Karl Ludvigsen's Porsche: Excellence Was Expected has been regarded as the definitive work on Porsche history. In this masterwork Ludvigsen presents the inner workings, masterpieces and failures of an independent automaker that has exerted a disproportionately powerful influence on the automotive industry. Remarkable both for its breadth of coverage and its technical depth, Excellence Was Expected covers every Porsche road and racing car from the company's beginnings through the development of the 2009 Panamera.

In this first revision since 2003, Ludvigsen has updated the three-volume set through 2008, including five augmented chapters, five completely new chapters, and 230 new images. The five new chapters feature full-color artwork throughout and cover the RS Spyder, the Cayman, the Type 997, the 997-based GT racers and the Panamera. He also looks closely at Wendelin Wiedeking's financially savvy stewardship of the Porsche company through the first decade of the twenty-first century.

With this new edition, Excellence Was Expected remains "the definitive archetypal marque history" (Autocar) that it was in its first edition. And Karl Ludvigsen continues to set the bar high for automotive historians, just as the company he chronicles continues to shape our very definition of the term "sports car."

New for the 2008 edition

* 257 new or revised pages and 230 new photos

* Five new full color chapters covering the RS Spyder, the Cayman, the Type 997 production and GT cars, and the Panamera

* Updated coverage of the Boxster, the Type 996, the Cayenne and the Carrera GT

* Updated Competition Victories appendix