“The future of Porsche” was how Porsche President, Matthias Müller, described the Panamera Sport Turismo concept, just unveiled at the Paris motor show. Turismo features what Stuttgart calls e-hybrid: plug-in hybrid with a petrol engine.
“Today we’re taking a look at Porsche’s future,” said the President. “We’ve developed an entirely new vehicle concept, which did not exist so far. A very special sports car, which is perfectly in line and a perfect fit with our customers and the future of Porsche.
Transport Bulky Sports Equipment
“It’s become an uncompromising Porsche for active people who not only want to experience the fascination of power and dynamics on the road. This innovative vehicle design is tailored to our customers’ needs, like a bespoke suit. Customers who want very good everyday usability and flexibility, without renouncing the Porsche typical performance, who occasionally need sufficiently large luggage space to transport bulky sports equipment, however still appreciate the elegance of an exclusive Gran Turismo.
“Innovative: that is also the drivetrain. It’s a highly efficient plug-in hybrid system. Looking at our concept car is, at the same time, a look at the future of Porsche. Not just in terms of the drive; the design anticipates many of the things that our customers will find with Porsche in the future.”
Muller repeated his assertion of this as the future later in his presentation, so it’s clearly more than fantasy. How will Porsche fans greet the news that a five-door estate with a silent electric motor is the future? Or are shareholders’ reactions more important?
What do you think? Is it a sports car, or a big, fast Prius? Note: I am pro-Prius.
If you watch the English version, your sound will take until Müller exits the car to come on, so do not adjust your set. Note that the pop-up window for video is also titled “direction future”.
The superb EB Motorsport Porsche 911 RSR returns to Spa this weekend, to defend both its 2012 World Sportscar Masters title, and outright victory in the separate Top Hat Masters race at the epic Belgian track last year.
First qualifying today was for Top Hat Masters: a production car series that permits a wide range of cars to be entered. Mark Bates brought the Porsche home in fourth place on the grid: a result he is rightly pleased with.
“There’s a huge Top Hat grid here at Spa,” said Mark. “Must be 60 or 70 cars: everything from pre-’66 Minis to a 1970s NASCAR. I led the Yank tank up the Kemmel Straight in practice and even at 145 mph, the force of air coming off the NASCAR was enough to push the 911 around.
“Fourth on the grid is fine. Last year we had pole with a 2:49, which some said couldn’t be done. Pole this year went to an Escort at 2:44, but that car is quite radical: rose-jointed suspension with solid bushes, 6-pot brakes: even the rain gutters either side of the windscreen are filled. Other cars up front are quick enough in qualifying, but can they keep that pace up for a 61-minute race?
“Fuelling at Spa is a headache, so I like to come here with fresh rubber and a full tank of fuel, go out and take it steady. That way, we gain speed through the whole weekend as the fuel burns off. I don’t know how others will play it: we’ll see how it all works out.”
World Sportscar Masters qualifying gets under way shortly – I’ll find out how that went and add the results to this post.
SHARE • EXPLORE • SUPPORT
Ferdinand blogs my freelance adventure with Porsche at the centre. To support the blog or engage with me in other ways, you can:
Porsche has been beavering away on its 918 Spyder Nürburgring programme. Two days ago, a 918 Spyder prototype set a 7:14 (minutes:seconds) on the Nürburgring, which Porsche says is amongst the best for a street-legal vehicle on production tyres.
In fact, it’s just 4 seconds faster than the time Porsche claimed for test driver Timo Kluck in a 911 GT2 RS on Michelins back in 2010, but almost 30 seconds slower than road-legal Radicals. If you’ve ever experienced a Radical, you’ll know it is hardly the same. Still, half a minute’s a bit of a gap.
With this lap time set one year ahead of the Spyder’s launch date, Stuttgart delights in the 918’s progress. “By turning in this fabulous time, the 918 Spyder prototype fully confirms the viability of its future concept, after just a few months on the road,” said Dr. Frank Walliser, overall 918 project leader.
Surprisingly, Porsche notes that, as they only had one clear lap available, the time was set from a standstill. It also notes the Michelin tyres and an optional Weissach package, which “integrates modifications to boost driving performance”. I don’t know why the über-Porsche to beat all others has a standard non-sport configuration, but it just goes to prove that everything’s an option on a Porsche price list.
There’s a ton of Youtube video of the 918 at the ‘Ring. Here are two of my favourites, starting with a some video of a 918 unload, and shots of Walter Röhrl driving EVO’s Harry Metcalfe et al ’round the track. The second has some great tracking footage of the 918 in motion on the lanes around the circuit, including one of my favourite routes out.
Youtube vids show how every notable European pressman has run ’round the ‘Ring in this now. It’s not due out for a year and it’s already everywhere. By the time it gets interesting and heads to Le Mans, we’ll be burnt out on Spyder.
“Some of the earlier Boxsters were build in Finland and no one seems to care about that,” was pointed out by Jeroen B on the Ferdinand Facebook page.
Andrew D also picked up on that thread. “Is this so bad? Does this not mean that its essentially what was Karmann of Osnabruck building it? I used to own a Karmann-built Porsche and didn’t think it was bad. Porsche did farm production of SWB 911 bodies out to Karmann, and it’s the I-Ching. So it doesn’t bother me. If they’re now owned by VW group they could be even better!” Fair points, but not the point. The point is how people will talk about it.
After twenty-five years in the motor trade, and ten years with Europe’s largest car valuation company, I don’t doubt that VW ownership means “last of the proper all-Porsche Porsches” is a line we are about to see more of in classifieds.
Something is always ‘the last of’. 356 guys made “Real Carreras have four cams” t-shirts when the 2.7 Carrera RS first came out. “Last of the proper 911s” runs all the way from ads for SWB cars, to the end of ’73, to the Carrera 3.2, to the narrow-body 964, to the air-cooled 993. ‘Last of the proper/Metzger 911s’ is how GT3 RS 4.0 buyers were sold their cars.
Pitching cars as a one-off opportunity never stops, and some Porsche owners can be super sniffy about Volkswagen associations: witness the market’s regard for 914/924 and 944 models, and the speed with which 944 owners will now email me, saying their cars do not have a van engine.
I’ve owned enough Mk2 Golfs to go down as a Volkswagen fan and am proud of my 924/944 ownership. But, let’s say in ten years time, you’ve got two identical Boxsters: same colour, mileage and options. One is Volkswagen assisted, one is completely from Stuttgart. Which one will you go for? I think the answer is obvious.
A press release came through from Porsche this morning, announcing the partial relocation of Boxster production to Volkswagen Osnabrück. This potentially creates a gap in residual value between Porsche-built and VW-built Boxster models.
Stuttgart has shifted as the home plant allegedly does not have sufficient capacity to cope with demand, which sounds slightly dubious to me. Perhaps it is more important to keep 911 production in Stuttgart from a heritage point of view, while the less historic Boxster and Cayman ranges can be built anywhere. I might be wrong.
The first vehicle to roll off the line was an Indian Red Porsche Boxster S. This classic Porsche colour is known as Guards Red in the UK market, but the colour code (80K) is called Indischrot/Indian Red in German.
Car manufacturers don’t think much beyond typical model change cycles when it comes to used cars, so I doubt there’s been great consideration of the effect of this change on residual value. I wonder if, in years to come, fully Porsche-built Boxsters will fetch slightly more than the part-VW ones? You can guarantee some anorak will have that in an Autotrader ad, five years from now.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
