Porsche has received a lot of criticism for building a truck. The New York Times, America's 'newspaper of record', recently weighed in. They ran an article pegged to a Porsche owner so disillusioned by the Cayenne's appearance you half expected him to run his 911 into a wall. If that wasn't enough to depress Porsche's stock price (it was), USA Today revealed the company's claims that they'd sold the Cayenne's first year's production run were a tad misleading; the assertion was based on 'expressions of interest' rather than deposits.

Of course, the pundits and purists are right: Porsche has no more business building an SUV than McDonald's has serving burgers by candlelight. So what? Once the novelty wears off, Cayenne sales will wither, profits will dip, and the company will return to basics. They'll build something small and sporty that enthusiasts will lust after with hormonal fury. They did it in the 80's with the Boxster. They can do it again. At worst, the Cayenne will turn out to be an expensive distraction, a bizarre footnote in the company's illustrious history. Other German manufacturers will not be so lucky.

I recently read the official "preview" of the Continental GT. It was catatonically comprehensive, written in the stuffy style one associates with one's Bentley. From the outset, the anonymous PR flack claimed the new GT would bring Bentley ownership to "a wider audience of discerning enthusiasts than ever before." Considering the magazine that printed the puff piece, it's hard to argue the point.