Porsche 924 1979. 3.0 Liter Engine on 2040-cars

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Petrolicious profiles the rare Italian Porschephile

If you're Italian, you love Ferrari. It's almost a national requirement. If not Ferrari, then Lamborghini, or if you're a bit contrarian, perhaps Alfa Romeo or Maserati. This common belief, though, flies in the face of Rosita Corato's devotion to a certain unique Porsche. Despite growing up around cars from Italy's most treasured automakers, Rosita's family of coachbuilders had a passion for Porsche. This love was fostered by her father, who made a living repairing Ferraris. Despite his work, he'd longed for a rear-engined German, finally picking up a 1959 356 Speedster that was in desperate need of restoration. Rosita describes it as "practically a heap of metal" before her masterful metalworking father got to work on it. While it was originally meant to be a racer, it could best be described today as a restomod, and Rosita still uses it regularly on rallies. The engine and brakes have been upgraded, while the ratios on the manual transmission have been tightened up for improved performance. To save weight – remember, Rosita's father wanted a racer – the doors and hood were replaced with aluminum units, while other aesthetic upgrades were made as well, such as moving the fuel access up onto the hood. Check out Rosita's gorgeous 356 Speedster in the very latest episode from the team at Petrolicious. Related Video:

A beastly 1979 Porsche 930 is unleashed by Petrolicious

The 911 Turbo held a special place in Porsche's lineup for decades. Much of the mystique came from its performance potential, but that huge capability also required a deft hand and foot to keep things in check. These days even the most basic 911 packs turbos, but Grant Karnes and his 1979 Porsche 930 demonstrate why the early models remain classics in the latest video from Petrolicious. Karnes says he gets attention from everyone he passes in his 930, and it's easy to understand why. Even before the coupe comes into view, the upgraded, turbocharged engine pops and crackles with a wonderfully raw sound. People then see the Porsche's classic combination of wide fenders and a big rear spoiler. Karnes also adds a vintage racing vibe with Martini decals on the hood and doors, and his license plate tells folks exactly what kind of machine this is. Plus, if you happen to spot this car at night, the exhaust can shoot bursts of flames. Porsches are a fairly common subject in Petrolicious' videos, and they run the gamut from well-worn classics to heavily modded canyon carvers. Karnes' 930 leans more in the latter direction but still maintains a vintage look. He promises the coupe is always exciting to drive, and this clip does a fantastic job of showing why. Related Video:

Porsche 918 Spyder gets tiny recall for rear control arms

As the recent US recall of a single Koenigsegg Agera shows, even low-production supercars aren't immune from safety campaigns. Now, there's another example that even the fastest cars can have their faults. The Porsche 918 Spyder is a pretty fantastic vehicle for its ability to mix hybrid fuel economy and incredible amounts of power, but Porsche has a problem on a few units of its halo model.
According to the recall document from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Porsche needs to inspect and possibly repair five 918s in the US because the rear axle control arms may break, which could cause a loss of control while driving. In the full defect notice, Porsche says that it first noticed the problem on June 26 when the parts failed during "heavy duty durability testing (extreme race conditions)" at the Nardo test track in Italy. It transported the components back to the company's lab for inspection, and on July 18 it issued a stop-sale to inspect the suspension parts on the supercar. The automaker also contacted owners by phone to warn them not to use the car on track, until repaired.
The affected 918s will be inspected, and if the cars have the bad parts, the control arms are will be replaced. Obviously, this will be done at no cost to owners. According to a Porsche spokesperson speaking to Autoblog, in addition to the five US cars potentially affected, there were 45 worldwide. All of the cars have now been checked. Scroll down to read the report from the regulator or download the full defect notice as a PDF, here.