Doug DeMuro

They wanted to get into the sports realm because that's where a lot of money was being made. And so Audi came to Porsche and said, can you help us develop a car? And it was called the RS2. And I actually had one and just sold it last year. It was a station wagon. And that was the conditions under which Porsche agreed to build the car.

They wanted to get into the sports realm because that's where a lot of money was being made. And so Audi came to Porsche and said, can you help us develop a car? And it was called the RS2. And I actually had one and just sold it last year. It was a station wagon. And that was the conditions under which Porsche agreed to build the car.

They said, we'll do it, but we don't want to compete with our cars as a coupe, you know, a sports car. So we build it if you build a station wagon, which essentially touched off the like high performance station wagon thing, which Audi is still known for to this day more than almost any other thing.

They said, we'll do it, but we don't want to compete with our cars as a coupe, you know, a sports car. So we build it if you build a station wagon, which essentially touched off the like high performance station wagon thing, which Audi is still known for to this day more than almost any other thing.

But Porsche was so desperate, they even allowed Audi to license their name and put it on those cars. So the RS2 had Porsche brakes that branded Porsche. The Porsche logo appears in the badge, like the literal emblem on the side of the car. Porsche was just like, yeah, fine, because it literally kept the lights on in Stuttgart at Zuffenhausen.

But Porsche was so desperate, they even allowed Audi to license their name and put it on those cars. So the RS2 had Porsche brakes that branded Porsche. The Porsche logo appears in the badge, like the literal emblem on the side of the car. Porsche was just like, yeah, fine, because it literally kept the lights on in Stuttgart at Zuffenhausen.

They were desperate. They were completely desperate. So when you mentioned like the Porsche-Mercedes-Benz relationship, that 500e was an interesting thing because- Around Porsche at the time, there were a lot of ways that it could have gone totally wrong. And I went there and I did a factory tour a couple years ago.

They were desperate. They were completely desperate. So when you mentioned like the Porsche-Mercedes-Benz relationship, that 500e was an interesting thing because- Around Porsche at the time, there were a lot of ways that it could have gone totally wrong. And I went there and I did a factory tour a couple years ago.

And the guy who gave the tour had worked there for like 25, 30 years through this time period. And he said that in his mind and in the mind of a lot of Porsche employees at the time, Mercedes-Benz helped save Porsche. Mercedes could have built that car. But their brothers in Stuttgart down the street were having really tough times.

And the guy who gave the tour had worked there for like 25, 30 years through this time period. And he said that in his mind and in the mind of a lot of Porsche employees at the time, Mercedes-Benz helped save Porsche. Mercedes could have built that car. But their brothers in Stuttgart down the street were having really tough times.

Here's a project that you can work on to keep the factory workers going.

Here's a project that you can work on to keep the factory workers going.

Yeah. Like when you have union contracts, maybe this was part of the circumstance, you have union contracts, you get to pay these people, whatever, you're not going to make money. But like, we're doing it. Wow. And it's something. It's a project for you. We'll keep your lines going.

Yeah. Like when you have union contracts, maybe this was part of the circumstance, you have union contracts, you get to pay these people, whatever, you're not going to make money. But like, we're doing it. Wow. And it's something. It's a project for you. We'll keep your lines going.

Wow. It was a tough era. It was like indescribably tough. And I think this is lost on a lot of younger people who have only seen Porsche in the world of crazy expensive cars and all the money they charge for colors now and all that. There was a period where it almost all came to.

Wow. It was a tough era. It was like indescribably tough. And I think this is lost on a lot of younger people who have only seen Porsche in the world of crazy expensive cars and all the money they charge for colors now and all that. There was a period where it almost all came to.

Not that long ago.

Not that long ago.

Like we were alive. This was real stuff.

Like we were alive. This was real stuff.