Ah, yes, the good old days, when Porsche was an "exclusive" nameplate and didn't make cheap cars. That must have been when they were making cars like the 914, 924, and 944 (what I have). Porsche has ALWAYS been in a very different class then Ferrari with respect to prestige and price. It is no contest. Ferrari's have always much more exotic and extroverted styling as well. If you are disappointed that Porsche's are less exclusive now, well, it never really was much different. True, Porsche does make more cars now, but a 911 was never a rare, exotic car like almost all Ferraris are.

Porsche is an independent company that needs to make a profit. Ferrari is the boutique crown jewel of Fiat. Maybe if Porsche did get bought up by MB in the early nineties they too could be a hyper-exclusive marque and not have to make the "cheap" cars that people like me aspire to.

They are two very different companies that have to deal with two very different sets of circumstances.

If I had the choice though, I would pick a 996 GT3 RS over all. That is a real driver's car IMO. The F430 and 997TT are more GT to me.