Well you see, I own a Cayman. I bought it brand new in Nov 2006, one of the very first 2.7 cars in the country, and 60,000 miles later I still have it. I have maintained throughout that it is the best car I have ever owned, possibly the best car I have ever driven, and certainly the best car in the Porsche product line up. Porsche built their original reputation by building small, light, agile cars, which could outpace the bigger engined behemoths, simply by being more cleverly engineered, even though they often had less power. In this respect, my Cayman is a very old-school Porsche product. It drives like a scalpel, not a meat cleaver.

I have driven every other iteration of Cayman since, including the 981 versions, some observations here and appreciated all of them, so the GTS should have automatically gone to the head of the class. Or should it? Even without driving it, a look at the figures suggest that this is one seriously quick car (340 bhp, 4.8 sec 0-60, 177 mph). A reasonably specced version is also going to cost nearly twice as much as I spent on my one, so is the GTS really in the same market place as my original? I think not.

Every modern Porsche that I driven recently, on the road at least, has both worried and frustrated me. They now all pack enormous firepower, and to really get them "on the plane" (to use a yachting expression) you have to be doing speeds which are going to get you into trouble. The Macan S, 991 S, (both of which I’ve just driven) and no doubt this Cayman GTS are now so fast as to be a liability on our camera festooned, speed limit obsessed roads. Sure, the throttle goes both ways, and you don’t need to drive fast, but then what is the point of toting round all that power, and petrol consumption? A really fast car, driven slowly, simply isn’t fun. It is just expensive jewellery.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Porsches, but in the light of what BMW and others are doing, it seems to me that Porsche has got itself stuck in a cul-de-sac, producing cars that are increasingly turning into dinosaurs, out of step with the changing demands of modern transport. Porsche would no doubt reply that it can easily sell every car they make, and are the most profitable manufacturer on earth, and all of this is true, but I worry that it could be heading for a fall.

Remember the early 90’s when Porsche were still making the largely hand-built, air cooled 993, and the good but obsolete 968? It was only saved from extinction by the foresight of Wendelin Wiedeking, who radically overhauled the designs, brought in water-cooled engines, and completely transformed the build process to slash costs. It was radical surgery, and the purists were horrified at the time, but in retrospect Herr Wiedeking saved Porsche in the nick of time, even though he fell from grace later. It strikes me that this is precisely what BMW are presently doing right now, totally re-thinking their whole approach to car building. It is a gamble of course, but my money is on BMW.

So, shall I drive the Cayman GTS? Yes probably, and I imagine I will enjoy it and be prepared to say so in print. Will I revere it the way I do my simple 2006 original model? I rather doubt it, as I fear it has out-grown its purpose as a road car by simply offering way more speed and grip than can be safely exploited on today’s roads. It has also put on expensive bells and whistles that I don’t need, and don’t wish to pay for either. Sorry, but the world has changed.

Wake up Porsche!