2007 Porsche 911 Turbo on 2040-cars

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Porsche revisits its remarkable SC East African Safari rally car

Porsche and motorsports just seem to go hand-in-hand. The brand has defined itself by its ability to compete on the track with the concept that racing bred better road cars. While we are used to seeing 911s speeding along circuits around the world, the rear-engine icon's success in rallying is somewhat less well known. The Porsche Museum aims to fix that by highlighting a 911 SC that competed in the 1978 East African Safari Rally.
The 911 rally car definitely projects a '70s vibe. You wouldn't see too many racecars with a pink brush bar sliding through the stages these days, but it looks amazing. Its bank of spotlights and two, giant, hood-mounted horns definitely give away the car's purpose. Best of all, that fantastic Martini livery defines the looks of Porsche racers from this era.
The 911 SC performed well in the East African Safari Rally, but some suspension damage meant that this particular one never raced again. It's been a part of the Porsche Museum ever since. Scroll down to learn a little more about one part of the brand's off-road legacy.

Porsche announces works team for United Sportscar Championship

Porsche is undoubtedly the most successful manufacturer in sportscar racing, and it's only upping its game. The German marque is launching its new LMP1 racer for Le Mans in pursuit of overall victory once again, and now that sportscar racing in North America is coming together under one banner in the United Sportscar Championship, Porsche has announced it is entering the fray with a works team here as well.
The new Porsche North America racing team will field two cars in the entire inaugural season of the Tudor United Sportscar Championship that's been formed out of the former Grand-Am and American Le Mans Series. The team will be based out of the Porsche Motorsport North America facility in Santa Ana, California, and will partner with three-time ALMS LMPC winners Core Autosport in getting a pair of the latest 911 RSR racecars to the front of the GT Le Mans class.
Drivers have yet to be announced, but are projected to be drawn out of Porsche's factory driver program, which includes such talents as Patrick Long, Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Neel Jani. Keep reading below for the official announcement.

Porsche employees take pay cuts so they can build Mission E

Porsche's 13,000 workers in Zuffenhausen, Germany, agreed to work more and at adjusted wages to ensure that the factory can build the production version the Mission E electric performance sedan. Their sacrifices could save the German sports car maker several hundred million euros, according to Reuters. The Zuffenhausen site was possibly in danger of losing the Mission E because workers there receive higher wages than Porsche's other factories. The specific savings from these concessions reportedly include increasing the workweek by one hour to 35 hours and eliminating portions of pay increases between 2016 and 2025. Porsche didn't officially confirm the precise cuts, but a spokesperson told Reuters: "Employer and employees have jointly drawn up measures that have led to the decision of producing the Mission E model at Zuffenhausen." Porsche plans to invest about $768 million into the Zuffenhausen factory over the coming years. That money will help create over 1,000 new jobs and will build a new paint shop, assembly plant, and upgrade the engine factory to produce electric motors. The expansion will also allow the company to move all production of the Cayman and Boxster to Zuffenhausen by August 2016 rather than the current strategy of outsourcing some of the models' assembly to Osnabruck, Germany. The Mission E should enter production by 2020, and Porsche Executive Board Chairman Dr. Oliver Blume promises it to be the "most sophisticated model in this market segment." The concept at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show offered a glimpse at the next-gen technology by presenting a swoopy EV sport sedan with all-wheel drive and a total of 590 horsepower from two electric motors. Porsche claimed the concept could reach 62 miles per hour in just 3.5 seconds and go nearly 311 miles on the European testing cycle.