1986 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet on 2040-cars

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Porsche kicks off Macan production at revamped Leipzig plant

After over two years of construction and roughly 500 million euros ($684 million at current rates) invested, Porsche finally opened its Leipzig, Germany, factory expansion on February 11. The improvements to the plant are dedicated to building the Macan and include a new body shop, paint shop and assembly line that are advancing Porsche's goal to sell 50,000 Macan's per year. The company believes that the new model is going to push it to over 200,000 annual sales 3 years ahead of schedule, and the enlarged branch can support even more Macan production, if there is demand.
"We are totally convinced in the qualities of this location and that the Macan will be a marketing success," said Porsche Chairman Matthias Müller during the opening celebration. The company opened its Leipzig factory in 2002 to build the Cayenne and added Panamera production in 2009.
The Macan models are due to launch in the US this summer with prices starting at $49,900. Scroll down to learn all of the details about the Macan's Leipzig assembly plant.

DP Motorsport tries to turn a vintage Porsche 911 into a sleeper

Once you get past the fact that it's hard to call a car a sleeper when it has race-product stickers on its quarter panel, and the script across the back panel reads "Porsche 911 3.2 Sleeper," it's fun to imagine what this car can do. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Porsche 911, Germany's DP Motorsport took a model from 1986, stripped it of everything - including the paint and undercoating - then replaced everything with lightweight and race-ready parts.
In went race cams and ported cylinder heads, a lightweight flywheel, an RSR titanium racing exhaust, 935-style lollipop seats and RSR carpeting, a lightweight battery, perforated and galvanized hinges and brackets, hardened perspex windows. The 3.2-liter engine puts out 270 horsepower - 70 hp above the stock 911 on sale here in 1986 - and 226 pound-feet of torque through a limited slip differential to staggered wheels. The exterior color is metallic rock-green lacquer.
If you want one, $120,00 is where the part starts, but DP Motorsport says it offers the parts individually if you don't need your vintage Porsche to sleep this hard. On a side note, for a chucklesome journey back in time, check out this review of the 1986 911 that gets things going with this line: "First off, the Porsche 911 is very expensive - how does about 40 thou grab you?" Back on topic, there's a press release below that tells the rest of the story of the 3.2 Sleeper.

China may surpass US as Porsche's largest market this year thanks to Cayenne

China has already surpassed the United States as the world's largest automotive market, so it's no surprise that one day soon it will be the world's largest Porsche market.
In fact, that day may already be here, as the PRC's Porschephiles outbought their American counterparts in September. Porsche's Chinese dealers sold 4,344 cars last month to America's 3,607. Through all of 2014 so far, though, the US is still the larger market for the German brand.
"The U.S. performed very well this year, after a great year in 2013, but China is growing fast, thanks to the Cayenne which is our best seller there," Porsche's sales and marketing boss, Bernhard Maier, told Automotive News Europe.