1956 Porsche 356 Speedster All Original Not A Replica!!! Full Documentation!! on 2040-cars

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Porsche GT division rules out AWD, SUVs

Any German automaker worth its lap times needs a performance division. Mercedes has AMG, BMW has the M division, Audi has Quattro GmbH with its S and RS models... even Volkswagen has its R line of hot hatches. And though Porsche is a performance automaker unto itself, even it has a performance division. It's called Porsche GT, and though it's been branching outside the 911 range lately, don't expect it to wander too far. According to Car and Driver, which spoke recently with Porsche GT boss Andreas Preuninger and R&D chief Wolfgang Hatz, there are limits to what the division will do. And while those limits may have been broadened to include technologies like turbocharging and dual-clutch transmissions, they won't stretch as far as all-wheel drive. Take a look at the previous-generation 997 and what separated the 911 GT2 from the 911 Turbo was principally its all-wheel-drive system. Porsche GT isn't planning on doing a GT2 this time around – the new GT3 RS occupying that territory on its own – but the next generation (whether it wears the number 2 or 3) will likely go turbo along with most of the rest of the 911 family. The exclusion of all-wheel drive from the Porsche GT parts bin also means that the division won't be taking on the company's SUVs like the Cayenne and Macan. So the Cayenne GTS will be as extreme as it gets, taking on the likes of the BMW X5 M, Mercedes GL63 and Audi SQ5 without the help of Zuffenhausen's racing department. We can't expect the PDK to stick around though, so to speak. Though the new Cayman GT4 packs a manual transmission, the 911 GT3 and GT3 RS have dual-clutch gearboxes. Moving forward, Preuninger says they'll leave it up to prospective customers to decide which type of transmission they'll build into their most extreme performance models.

Porsche 356 Outlaw is the other Continental

In Porsche parlance, 'outlaw' basically means 'hot rod,' and that definition can vary from person to person. For Jack Griffin and his 1955 Porsche 356 Continental, it means taking a great car to start with and reworking it to become a classic coupe that fits its driver perfectly. The latest video from Petrolicious highlights Griffin's 356 and all of the personalization he has in the beautiful ride.
Griffin acquired this 356 in 1994, but it came in rough shape. That made it the perfect canvas to transform the coupe into the Porsche of his dreams. On the outside, only things like the hood-mounted fuel filler, louvered decklid and Fuchs wheels give it away as something special, but underneath, it is modernized to be a faster, more robust car. Griffin considers it "a piece of art on wheels."
Hearing the Continental name associated with Griffin's Porsche might be throwing you, since it's normally more associated with Lincoln, but Griffin tells the whole story of what makes it so special on his '55 in the video. Scroll down to get an automotive history lesson and check out this fantastic 356 hot rod.

Porsche 911 Reimagined by Singer First Drive [w/video]

"There's still a couple hundred rpm left," coaxes the voice from the passenger seat. Though I'm wailing down a mercilessly knotted up Southern California canyon road in someone else's half-million dollar coupe, my manic pace apparently isn't sufficient for the Singer Vehicle Design rep in the right seat. On one hand, my Irish co-pilot with more than a passing resemblance to Bruce Willis is playfully ribbing me because I've been driving hard, but haven't yet hit the 4.0-liter engine's 7,200-rpm rev limiter. On the other hand, if you've never heard of an Irish bloke who doesn't drink because he's got control issues – well, now you have, because the dude's stocky paws are white knuckling the car's rain gutter like his life depends on it. Within my microcosm of itinerant auto writing some days are odder than others; this particular Monday is beginning to look like one of the weirder ones. Rolling, In My Four-Point-Oh The car in question, according to a release I've signed prior to the drive, is a "Porsche 911," a "Porsche," or a "911," but certainly not a "Singer Porsche," a "Singer 911," or any number of variants thereafter. Sigh. I suppose "Porsche 911 reimagined by Singer Vehicle Design" will suffice? Oh, legal department. Nomenclature aside, what started life as a 1990 Porsche 911 has been dismantled and rebodied with a carbon fiber skin that makes it more closely resemble a small-bumpered, wide-hipped 1960s-era 911 than it does its melted bumper donor car. According to company founder (and former Catherine Wheel vocalist) Rob Dickinson, the decision to source a 964-series 911 was based on its delicate foothold between the model's combination of heritage and drivability. "I think the 964 is in the sweet spot of having one foot in old school 911 thinking with the [semi-trailing] rear suspension, which honors every earlier 911, while having a front end which is very much of the modern era and allows the car not to feel like an antique," he tells Autoblog. The specimen I'm driving is the latest evolution of Singer's vision of the reinterpreted 911, distinguished by a 4.0-liter powerplant that's been heavily modified by Ed Pink Racing (and, in Singer tradition, the serial number matches the donor car's chassis). The Van Nuys, California-based firm knows a thing or two about high-strung Porsche mills: the tuner has a long history of rebuilding such mechanical exotica such as 917, 935, and 962 race engines.