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Porsche responds to PETA after tiger cub displays at Macan dealership events

Porsche has found itself in the good graces of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which is pretty odd considering it's the only brand we know of that offers leather-lined vents. The activist group is praising the sports car manufacturer's handling of reports that some of its dealerships were set to feature tigers or tiger cubs at the local launch events for the Macan. Apparently, "macan" is the Malay word for tiger, which explains the connection between a highly touted crossover and a jungle cat.
A Tampa, FL dealership already displayed some three-week-old cubs, with PETA saying tigers for display should be at least eight to 12 weeks old. Even then, the group argues that the animals can suffer due to stress, malnourishment, neglect and a lack of veterinary care. The group brings up legal concerns, as well, arguing that if one of the cubs bit a customer, the dealership could be held liable (we're no big cat experts, but it seems unlikely a three-week-old cub could do that much damage).
Porsche's PR department quickly reacted to PETA's claims, with Vice President of Marketing Andre Oosthuizen, telling the group that Porsche is concerned about the "welfare of any animal, large or small, wild or domesticated." Oosthuizen's statements were reported in an official PETA blog.

McLaren boss' exclusive Porsche 935 Street is worth three 911 Turbos

McLarens may be exclusive, but there are still hundreds - if not thousands - of people out there who can say they own one. Mansour Ojjeh is one of them, but he doesn't just own a McLaren - he owns McLaren. As in, the company that makes the racing and exotic supercars. Or 25 percent of it, anyway. As the head of Techniques d'Avant Garde, Ojjeh is one of the British outfit's largest shareholders, previously having owned Heuer watches (before selling it to luxury giant LVMH) and engineered Porsche's most successful foray into Formula One - winning the world drivers' championship three times in a row and the constructors' title twice with Alain Prost and Niki Lauda behind the wheel of McLarens with Porsche engines developed and branded by TAG.
In short, he probably could get any McLaren he wanted at the drop of a hat, but also had strong ties to Porsche in the 80s, and this is the car he wanted. It's called the Porsche 935 Street, and it's the only one ever made. Inspired by the 935 racer that won Le Mans and over 120 other races, Ojjeh contracted Porsche Exclusive when it was still in its infancy to make him one for the road. So they took a 930 bodyshell, slotted in the 3.3-liter turbo flat-six from the 934 but cranked output up to 375 horsepower, and gave it the brakes, suspension, BBS wheels and wide-body aero from the 935 racer. They painted it a deep metallic red and trimmed the interior with cream leather and wood veneer.
When all was said and done, a total of 550 modifications were performed, detailed on a seventeen-page invoice and costing as much as three new 911 Turbos at the time. Ojjeh only put 12,000 miles on the odometer, running up and down the French Riviera, and has now put it up for sale at the upcoming Bonhams auction at Spa where it's tipped to fetch upwards of 300,000 euros - equivalent to $410k at today's rates, or, once again, the price of about three new 911 Turbos.

Porsche ready to pick itself up after Le Mans failure

It's safe to say that things for Porsche didn't go quite as well at Le Mans this year as it might have hoped. After a sixteen-year gap, the winningest manufacturer in endurance racing history returned to the Circuit de la Sarthe this year hoping maybe not for outright victory in its first time back, but definitely a strong finish on which it could build on for next year. All the while it undoubtedly hoped its 911s would hold their own in the GT classes.
Unfortunately for Porsche, neither happened. After racing around the clock, and despite actually leading the festivities for some time, the best its 919 Hybrid could manage was an eleventh-place finish, lagging lamentably behind not only the other LMP1s (like the race-winning Audi) but also a handful of LMP2s. Meanwhile the LMGTE Pro and LMGTE Am titles went to the factory-backed teams of its arch-rivals Ferrari and Aston Martin, respectively.
Not a stellar result, in other words, but Porsche is taking it all in stride - accepting that it has a ways to go while congratulating its vanquishing rivals in the video below. It's good sportsmanship if we've ever seen it. Next year's race starts now.