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eBay Find of the Day: 1996 Porsche 959 Speedster
Filed under: Aftermarket, Time Warp, Auction Action, Porsche 
Click above to view more of the Porsche 959 Speedster
Not all German supercars are the same. For instance, not every Teutonic exotic bred the plethora of derivatives that the Mercedes SLR McLaren has. Case in point, the Porsche 959. There was no 722 version, no roadster and certainly no chop-top speedster. But that's where the aftermarket comes into the picture. Well, sorta. What you see here is not a 959 supercar with the roof hacked off. Nor is it an original 356, either. All it appears to be is a kit car combining the retro styling of the original Porsche with...
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Porsche Cayenne Diesel finally confirmed
Filed under: SUVs, Green, Porsche 
Various news outlets have speculated that Porsche's first-ever diesel engine would be installed in the Cayenne SUV for 2009, and now Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking has confirmed it. As previously reported, the oil-burner will be snatched from the Audi parts bin and reportedly be essentially unchanged in Porsche guise. That means 240 horsepower and 406 lb.-ft. of torque, plenty to get the hefty Cayenne out of its own way. Instead of spending development money on a Porsche-specific diesel engine, Zuffenhausen has instead invested in a hybrid system, which will also see duty in the Cayenne around 2010. By then, a lithium-ion...
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Porsche No. 1 sets out for Pebble Beach
Filed under: Time Warp, Sports/GTs, Porsche, Misc. Auto Shows 
Click above to view Porsche No. 1 in hi-res
If you're a regular Autoblog reader, you'll be familiar with the saga of Porsche's take-over of Volkswagen. But back in the late '40s when Germany lay in post-war shambles with its industry crippled, VW had been re-commissioned by the allies and Porsche was just getting started. Based on the mechanics designed by his father, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche led a team that crafted the very first Porsche, the original 356. That first prototype is still around, known to enthusiasts as Porsche No. 1 and destined to become the centerpiece of the factory's...
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VW, Porsche talks stumbling over labor issues?
Filed under: Government/Legal, Porsche, Volkswagen, UAW/Unions 
Porsche wants to purchase Volkswagen, this much we know. But before that happens, the huge labor union at VW needs to agree on terms with Porsche management. This, as you may imagine, is proving a bit more difficult than Porsche had hoped, prompting the automaker's senior labor leader Uwe Hueck to lash out at the heads at VW. Not surprisingly, his initial attack received a response from Bernd Osterloh, the head of VW's labor union. It seems that some major sticking points exist that the organized Volkswagen employees are not too keen on, causing them to believe that they would be...
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Second Drive: Porsche Boxster RS60 Spyder
Filed under: Convertibles, Coupes, Sports/GTs, Porsche, First Drive, Special/Limited Editions 
Click the image above for a hi-res gallery of the Porsche Boxster RS 60
Our colleague Chris Tutor recently took the Porsche Boxster RS 60 Spyder for a few quick turns around Barber Motorsports. A tad more powerful than the Boxster S, and filled with red leather, he discovered it was plenty of car on the closed circuit. We recently had a chance to get the special edition RS 60 off the track and onto the back roads of Rhode Island and Connecticut, and got to see what the...
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Porsche releases new special edition Boxster and Cayman S
Filed under: Convertibles, Sports/GTs, Porsche, Special/Limited Editions 
Click above for high-res gallery of the new special ed Boxster
With both the Boxster RS 60 Spyder and Cayman S Porsche Design Edition 1 already sold out, Porsche is moving on to its next pair of special edition mid-engine sportscars. Both of the new exclusive models feature a boost of a modest eight horsepower, but what differentiates them from their standard stablemates is more in the trim. The Boxster S Porsche Design Edition 2 is now decked out in Carrara White, from the exterior body color and the 19" SportDesign wheels to the center console and instrument faces. Grey...
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Road to Race: Porsche RS Spyder gets direct injection
Filed under: Motorsports, Porsche 
Click above for a high-res gallery.
Porsche has already introduced direct injection on the Cayenne and 911 Carrera, and the Turbo, GT2 and GT3 all stand to benefit from the technology next year. While it's normal for most automakers to take the lessons learned from motorsports and apply them to their road cars, Porsche is doing it the other way around.
The 3.4-liter V8 in the Porsche RS Spyder campaigning in the ALMS LMP2 class will be fitted with direct injection, bringing power levels up while reducing fuel consumption. While the old mill put out 476 hp at 10,000 RPM and 273 lb.-ft. of torque beginning...
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No Surprise: Porsche 911 Turbo, GT2 and GT3 getting direct-injection
Filed under: Coupes, Supercars, Porsche 
Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2008 Porsche 911 GT2.
Porsche's commitment to the KISS philosophy of exterior design won't extend to the engine of the facelifted 911 Turbo, GT2 and GT3 when they're released early next year. All three models will dispatch with the legendary M97 powerplant in favor of the new, direct-injected A91 flat-six that's equipped on the recently updated 911 Carrera.
The two turbocharged 911s will be packing 3.6-liters of displacement, with a 97 mm bore and an 81.5 mm stroke (the outgoing engine was sized 100 mm x 76.4 mm), along with revised turbochargers and intercoolers....
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Audi A4, Q5 could be built Stateside
Filed under: Sedans/Saloons, Plants/Manufacturing, Crossovers/CUVs, Audi, Porsche, Volkswagen 
Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2009 Audi Q5.
Taking a lesson from BMW, who have been successfully manufacturing cars and SUVs in Spartanburg, South Carolina for more than a decade, Audi may seek manufacturing capabilities for their A4 sedan and Q5 SUV in the States. The new Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, just announced last week, may be tasked with building upwards of 200,000 vehicles per year -- including the two Audis. Estimated to cost $973.5 million, the 1,359 acre plant is large enough to handle the domestic production...
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Porsche opens up the new 911 Targa 4 & Targa 4S
Filed under: Convertibles, Sports/GTs, Porsche 
Click for a hi-res gallery of the new Porsche 911 Targa 4S
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. That seems to be the motto of the newest iteration of the latest generation of the Porsche 911. The new 911 Targa is available exclusively with all-wheel-drive, in either Targa 4 or Targa 4S guise, bearing the 911 Turbo-derived electronic four-wheel-drive system that replaces the viscous mechanical system on the previous generation, and coupled to Stuttgart's new PDK dual-clutch transmission. What sets the Targa model apart, though, is its sixteen-and-a-half-square-foot glass sliding roof, specially treated to filter out UV rays that can be opened...
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