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Porsche: Excellence Was Expected: The Comprehensive History of the Company, its Cars and its Racing Heritage - 2008 Update | 
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| Author: Karl E. Ludvigsen
Publisher: Bentley Publishers
Category: Book
List Price: $299.95
Buy New: $188.97
You Save: $110.98 (37%)
New (4) Used (2) from $188.97
Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 337646
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 2
Pages: 1688
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 22.5
Dimensions (in): 15 x 13.6 x 9.7
ISBN: 0837602351
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.72
EAN: 9780837602356
ASIN: 0837602351
Publication Date: December 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
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
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 Porsche Excellence March 19, 2006
TWM (Lafayette, LA)
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
The history of Porsche like no other. An absolute MUST HAVE for anyone who wants to everything about the Porsche cars. Wish the 964 chapter was more detailed (since I have one) but that is a minor issue.
The best automobile history ever written October 13, 2005
Peter Albrecht (Costa Mesa, CA United States)
19 out of 20 found this review helpful
"The best automobile history ever written" -- that's a big claim and is easily misunderstood. But I think it would be exceedingly difficult to find a more thorough, better researched, more comprehensive, and better written automobile history, regardless of topic or marque. One may argue that there are more "important" cars (or not); perhaps the story of Daimler and Maybach's pioneering efforts, or Henry Ford's, are more "important" in a larger historical context than the activities of a relatively small maker of specialist sports and racing cars, but that's not what I claim here. I claim that this is the best WRITTEN, most thorough autombile history ever. Porsche, as an automobile and an enterprise, is a very special phenomenon, and Ludvigsen's book presents both company and car to an audience that may otherwise never appreciate it. If you don't like Porsches, then that doesn't matter. If you do, you need this book. If you're not sure, then this book may be the beginning of a lifelong passion for all things Porsche.
That's how it was with me. I bought myself the much slimmer (but still hefty, at 860 pages) first edition of this book as a Christmas present in 1977. It was instrumental in changing my career path; it affected my choices in university engineering courses, and of a master's thesis. Eventually, six years later, I found myself working as an engineer at Porsche. Incidental to my regular engineering duties, I was often called upon to help some of the leading engineers in the company -- men whose stories I had once read about in Ludvigsen -- write English-language presentations and technical papers. This led to my career expanding to include automotive journalism, engineering writing and technical translation, but the passion for Porsche remains. I have three vintage 356s in the garage, and it was Ludvigsen's book that made me appreciate the virtues of these rolling historical documents.
Karl Ludvigsen is one of the few truly outstanding automotive writers of our time. I can think of only a handful of others who can compare in depth of knowledge and facility with the language (or several languages, in Ludvigsen's case) -- Paul Frere (also eminently multilingual, and a multilingual engineer) and LJK Setright come to mind. Being a bilingual engineer myself, I appreciate even more than most the job that Ludvigsen did in researching this book; his translations into English of many concepts and expressions from company-internal documents are faultless, and definitive. The subjects covered in Ludvigsen's other books include Mercedes, Ferrari, Jaguar, V12 engines, early history of Volkswagen, Indianapolis racers, and Can-Am -- all of which were done in the same outstanding manner. I mention this only because there is one overwhelmingly negative review for this book, posted by somebody who is very poorly informed indeed. That reviewer says "Mr. Ludvigsen glosses over the problems with the 356 and early 911 road cars..." Not true. When I went to work for Porsche, I found that I already had an excellent working knowledge of foibles and problems encountered with earlier Porsche cars, thanks to Ludvigsen's book. The reviewer also says "Mr. Ludvigsen glosses...the internal power struggles within the company and board, and so on." Again not true. The Porsche-Piech, and other, battles are well documented. And the reviewer says "If I'd realized Mr. Ludvigsen had a past history of writing for Automotive Quarterly, I would never have wasted this much money buying this set. Just like Automotive Quarterly (which never had a bad thing to say about any automobile)." As for "never had a bad thing to say about any automobile," I am an author who has also written for Automobile Quarterly, and I have to wonder if perhaps there is another publication of that name, because that's not the AQ that I know. I know this firsthand because among other things, I wrote what I think is a brutally honest history of the Chevrolet Cosworth Vega (AQ, 1989, Vol. 27 No. 3). Incidentally, the first, 1977 edition of "Excellence was Expected" was published by AQ.
Bottom line, Ludvigsen's "Porsche: Excellence was Expected" belongs in the automotive library of anyone who seeks the definitive history of the Porsche marque, the company, and a chronicle of more than a half century of sports car racing history as seen from the perspective of its most successful practitioners.
 Porsche Through Rose Glasses May 28, 2004
john r cibula (Madison, AL)
12 out of 27 found this review helpful
If I'd realized Mr. Ludvigsen had a past history of writing for Automotive Quarterly, I would never have wasted this much money buying this set. Just like Automotive Quarterly (which never had a bad thing to say about any automobile) Mr. Ludvigsen glosses over the problems with the 356 and early 911 road cars, the internal power struggles within the company and board, and so on.
This is probably the most complete "racing" history of Porsche ever done and is worth it if that is what you want to know. If you are interested in the road cars, don't waste your time reading this or your money buying it.
Simply Awesome -- and a Fantastic Value, Too January 14, 2004
Customer (USA)
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
It's expensive. And not for everyone. And to own it and enjoy it requires time and energy, with a substantial payoff in the form of a richer, deeper existence on our planet Earth.Am I talking about a Porsche? Yes, but also about Karl Ludvigsen's latest written masterpiece, Excellence was Expected. Simply put, this book is worth every penny, and more. Here's my advice: If you like Porsches, get this book. If you know someone who likes Porsches, get them this book. Get this book for that design afficionado you know -- even if they're not into cars.
Excellent January 6, 2004
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
Awesome book. Everything you could ever want to know about the company and it's cars. Very high quality and excellent writing. Buy this book, it's worth the money!
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