Mark Huntley, general manager at the Fairmont Hotel, drives the latest Porsche 911, the brand he’s driven for 15 years. He praises the newest car’s balance, its ease of operation. He feels it’s not as hardcore (noisy, hard-riding, uncompromising) as previous models, while still retaining its integrity. Looking back 25 years, Mark was living in Central London, working with the Savoy Hotel, and driving a Renault 5 Turbo Gordini, which he recalls as the perfect quick city car, one that could elude anything but rust!

Bill Bacigalupi, general sales manager at KGO-TV, was driving a BMW 2002 in 1978. He kept that car for 25 years, and replaced it with his current Toyota Land Cruiser, which he’s already owned for 12 years. Good thing for the business that most of us, unlike Bill, tire of our cars long before they’re worn out, and trade them for something new and shiny.

Mike Shumann, Channel 7 Sportscaster, had a Porsche in 78. Now, to accomodate his young family, he has a Volvo S80. He says that although it’s spacious, it’s quite agile.

Restaurateur Larry Mindel is another Porsche fan. His 78 Porsche was a 911 SC Targa, but his current love is a Porsche 911 C4S. He’s drifted off to a Mercedes from time to time, but always seems to come back to his favorite. "The Porsche has achieved a blend of size, power, integrity of construction, and predictability that I can’t find elsewhere," he says with passion.

Two other restaurateurs have different tastes. Al Scoma had a Mercedes 450SL in 1978, but by 2003, he decided to try a Jaguar XK8 convertible. He reports it’s every bit as reliable as the Mercedes, but looks even handsomer. Lorenzo Petroni pays almost as much attention to his cars as to his wines. When he first came to the U.S. in 1959, he had a Chevy Wagon. A year later he had a VW, and in 1963 he bought his first Mercedes, a 190 sedan. By 1978 he had both a Mercedes and a Cadillac. Today, he loves driving the superb new Audi A8L.

Law student Sharon Owsley bought my favorite new car, an Infiniti FX35, Nissan’s startlingly modern interpretation of a luxury sport utility. She liked some Jaguars from the 70s, but when it came to choosing her current car, the Infiniti spoke to her. "All its competitors look like last year’s model," she says. "The new Infinitis have a fresh, stylish look that’s entirely original."

Back at Stanford, in 1978, noted plastic surgeon Dr. Issa Eshima drove a $600 Chevy Vega with 8-track stereo. Today, he tootles around in his Ferrari 355 Fiorano F-1 Spider. Not bad! As Eshima points out, "Driving a Ferrari is emotional and exciting, with a blend of visual, aural and driving sensations unique in the world of automobiles."

Stockbroker Dick Gale is a vintage car racer whose "practical" cars are those he buys for his wife, Luisiana. In the late 70s, he bought her what he describes as their worst car ever, a 1958 Ferrari California Spider. He had a hard time selling it for $5000 in the late 70s (a $1 million car now) so he could buy what he remembers as their best car ever, a 1968 Cadillac convertible.

Dick describes it as the perfect city car because it was big and strong; it didn’t dent easily. So he kept it for eight or nine years. Today, he drives a supercharged Jaguar XKR that’s turning out to be as good as the Cadillac – probably for different reasons. Even he has a hard time explaining how the elegant race-bred Jaguar, with its delicate feline style, can do the same job as the heavy and unwieldy Cadillac.

What does all this suggest? For one thing, it’s quite a feat for Porsche, a tiny company by industry standards, to maintain such a strong attraction and position at the high end of the marketplace. They’ve shown an understanding of their customers, and amazing, carefully-honed product development. Let’s see if they can be as successful with their Cayenne sport utility.

Mercedes, BMW, Audi, and Jaguar had the US luxury market cornered until Lexus, Infiniti and Acura came along. Now it would be nice to see Cadillac tempt us with some new offerings to give these other makers a run – or ride – for their money. In any case, we have choice as never before, and plenty of competition to temper prices. Happy car shopping!