Road & Track - September 2009

Show me a guy who's read every page of this book, and I'll show you someone with a bad case of insomnia. Not that Porsche: Excellence Was Expected is boring. It's just that the latest version of Karl Ludvigsen's weighty tome (the three-volume set tips the scales at 20 lb.) boasts five new chapters with 257 new or revised pages and 230 new photos, bringing the total page count to nearly 1700.

In updating the 2003 edition, the author has included chapters on the RS Spyder, Cayman, Type 997, 997-based racing variants and the Panamera, while examining the business acumen of Porsche's boss Wendelin Wiedeking, who turned a small sports-car company into a major player in the automotive world.

A must for those who can never have enough Porsche, Excellence Was Expected is the gold standard of automotive books. A historical portrait of every Porsche road and racing car ever built, the three meticulously researched volumes are filled with the sort of interesting information and delightful esoterica that you won't find on the web. And, unlike much of the web, it's as accurate as any mere mortal can make it. - Joe Rusz

Review of Porsche: Excellence Was Expected from Road & Track - September 2009