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Exclusive: The first Porsche 911 Targa restored by Singer

We love Singer. Frankly, if you're a Porsche guy, or just a car guy, and have seen any of the Porsche 911s that have been restored and "reimagined" by the Californian company, you probably do too. So you can imagine our excitement in getting an exclusive first full look at the latest Porsche 911 restored by Singer. The car you seen in the photographs above is a special thing beyond the obsessive Singer restoration treatment. It's the first Targa the company has ever restored. Plus, this car is one of the first with a modified 4.0-liter flat-six, making around 390 horsepower and 315 pound-feet of torque. With a body clad mostly in carbon fiber, the ultra-lightweight Targa is as modern under the skin as it is retro to the casual observer. The liquid-pewter beauty makes its debutant turn tomorrow at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. We sat down with Singer founder, Rob Dickinson, to pick his brain about the new Targa, where his love of Porsches started, and about the punk-rock car company he's building in SoCal. Autoblog: Tell us a little bit about the car. It's a 911 Targa, obviously, but tell us about what's special beyond that. Rob Dickinson: This is the first time one of our clients has requested that we restore his Targa rather than his coupe and so we did. We always had hopes that we could get our fingers on a Targa and it's the first of a few that are coming down the line now, such that you'll see the second one at Pebble Beach in August. It's basically a faithful rendition of the work that we do on the coupes. The Targa presents us with new challenges, but also an opportunity to add our jewelry to the car. Obviously, that iconic Targa hoop – that was rendered in stainless steel on the original 911s in '65 – we now render that in nickel, which is I guess part of our calling card, our signature. All the brightwork we do on the coupes is in nickel and we're following that principle with the Targas as well. Just for the sake of injecting a little bit of uniqueness into the Targa hoop, we render it with two cool, air-filtering louvers, rather than three, which the early 911 had. Which we thought was a cute little touch that is somewhat different from the early 911s and very different from the later 964, which didn't have any louvers in it at all. AB: That's Porsche nerdiness in the extreme. In a good way. RD: Thank you, yeah. It's one of those things that won't be noticed by many but will be noticed by a few, and that's an insider's thing.

The 10 car brands most expensive to maintain over 10 years

Car maintenance has got to be one of the least fun things you can do with your free time, right behind going to the dentist and filing your taxes. However, depending on the brand you buy, your time spent at the shop could be much more than you bargained for. Consumer Reports’ new study on the most- and least-expensive-to-maintain car brands found that European car companies are most likely to break your wallet with costs nearly five times that of the automakers at the other end of the spectrum. Land Rover had the highest ten-year maintenance costs, at an average of $19,250. Porsche was second worst with $14,090 in costs. 10 car brands most expensive to maintain over 10 years: Land Rover: $19,250 Porsche: $14,090 Mercedes-Benz: $10,525 Audi: $9,890 BMW: $9,500 Volvo: $9,285 Infiniti: $8,500 Acura: $7,800 Mini: $7,625 Subaru: $7,200 The Euro brands at the “top” of this list arenÂ’t all that surprising. Land Rover has consistently landed as one of the most expensive vehicle brands to maintain for years now, though Porsche is generally viewed as being one of the more solid performance brands. That could suggest that some models donÂ’t always require more repairs, but the fixes they do need are significantly more expensive. Tesla, Buick, and Toyota were the three cheapest to maintain car brands, with 10-year maintenance costs of $4,035, $4,900, and $4,900, respectively. Consumer Reports noted that these numbers could be slightly skewed due to the fact that some automakers offer free maintenance for the first few years of ownership, and all companies cover their new vehicles for at least a few years after the purchase. Routine maintenance is a great way to avoid costly repairs over time, as itÂ’s much cheaper to catch a problem before it starts causing other issues. Check your oil, rotate your tires, and avoid driving like a wild person, and youÂ’ll likely fare much better than others, even if you own one of the scarier-to-maintain brands.

2015 Porsche Macan Turbo

The misinformation first started back in May of 2007 - more than six years ago - when word came that Porsche was developing a compact utility vehicle to fill out its product line. Rumors swirled that the German automaker's future "Roxster" would be based on the then-upcoming Audi Q5. By September of 2010, the name had changed to "Cajun," but the vehicle was still expected to be "based heavily on the Audi Q5," said reports in the months that followed. One year later, the first test mules were spotted, the mechanics hidden beneath barely disguised Audi sheetmetal, which did nothing to give the upcoming model its own identity. And even after Porsche announced "Macan" as the vehicle's production name in early 2012, articles stated that it would "arrive on the same chassis as the Audi Q5, though with suspension, brake and engine tweaks suitable to the Porsche range."
It's no wonder that most still consider the all-new Porsche Macan nothing more than a heavily massaged Q5.
To help lift some of the mystery surrounding its latest release, Porsche hosted us in Germany for an in-depth look at its new crossover (while Europeans call it a "sport utility," its car platform allows us to call it a proper CUV). The technology workshop offered us insight to the design and mechanical execution, and it concluded with a short test ride. The trip was both enlightening and educational - and it left us with a whole new perspective on the Macan.