2002 Porsche 911 Turbo 6 Speed on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Infiniti cribs new US boss from Porsche

Just weeks before he was supposed to become CEO of Porsche Cars Australia, Infiniti has apparently offered Porsche COO and Executive Vice President Michael Bartsch a deal he couldn't refuse. Thus, Bartsch has join the company as Vice President of Infiniti Americas, the luxury marque's top North American post. Bartsch replaces Ben Poore, who has been with the automaker since 2008, having led both a 22-percent sales surge in 2012 and the brand's current sales slough, Automotive News reports.
Bartsch, Porsche's No. 2 US executive, has held the COO and Executive Vice President positions at Porsche since 2005 and was scheduled to become CEO of Porsche's Oz division on September 1. Infiniti has experienced a number of recent personnel changes in the past week: it named Vincent Gillet, formerly an executive for Starwood Hotels & Resorts, to lead its marketing efforts worldwide and Simon Cox, a former designer for automakers including Ford and Peugeot, to head a new design studio in London.
Poore reportedly will pursue other interests outside of the auto industry. Read more about the personnel change in the press release below.

Jay Leno chats with Magnus Walker about his 1972 Porsche 911 72STR

Magnus Walker has stopped by the Big Dog Garage again to pay Jay Leno a visit in the latest episode of Jay Leno's Garage. This time, the Porsche builder brought along his 1972 911 72STR 002. Walker calls the machine his best build to date, and the car is a rolling "best of" from Porsches past, rocking some of the more attractive elements pulled from a wide arc of 911 model years. Of course, the machine also wears a few signature Walker touches, including flush-mount turning indicators, a center-hood fuel filler and plenty of louver work.
Unlike some of Walker's other creations, the 72STR 002 is clean enough to lick. Leno seems suitably impressed with the creation, and while apparently isn't typically a fan of Porsche models in general, Walker's tastefully modified 911 has him singing a different tune. You can check out the car in the video below.

Production Porsche 918 Spyder images leak out of Chinese patent office

A few images of what looks to be the production Porsche 918 Spyder are here to say hello, courtesy of a patent office in China. If these provide an accurate look at what the hybrid supercar will look like, there are a few differences between it and the latest examples of the pre-production prototypes our spy shooters have seen.
The jerry-rigged turn signals inside the headlight enclosures and on the front fenders on the prototype are replaced with more polished units inside the headlamps located underneath the main beams. Behind that, the door handles have been swapped from horizontal latches on the door to vertical openings located just behind the door shutline.
We've also seen a Martini-liveried version of the 918 Spyder that has extra carbon elements that don't appear on this car. It was at the Nürburgring with carbon lips on the front fenders and another carbon element that hung from the rear fenders and ran down to the rear diffuser. When we saw the car on our Deep Dive piece, the front lips were gone but that rear piece remained, and we can't tell from the brochure and options sheet that we've seen so far what it comes with. The wheels from the concept and the green brake calipers, minus the polycarbonate covers, should be the standard fitment while the ten-spoke magnesium wheels will be a 29,750-euro (about $39,000 US) option.