1987 Porsche 944 Base Coupe 2-door 2.5l Turbo Rims 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:

Porsche 911 celebrates 50 years of iconic motoring

Back in 1963, Porsche debuted the very first 911 at the Frankfurt Motor Show. And over the last 50 years, that coupe has grown to become one of the most iconic sports cars of all time. That in mind, you could easily chalk up this 50th Anniversary model as just one of the many special edition 911s that have graced our roads over the years, but dig a bit deeper and you'll see that this one is far more than just some unique paint and different wheels.
For starters, the 911 50th Anniversary Edition utilizes the wider Carrera 4/4S body, but retains its standard rear-wheel-drive configuration. Power comes from the Carrera S' 3.8-liter flat-six engine, but features a Powerkit upgrade that includes the Sport Chrono package and ups overall output to 400 horsepower and 430 pound-feet of torque. Hitting 60 miles per hour takes just 3.8 seconds if the car is fitted with Porsche's dual-clutch PDK gearbox, or 4.2 seconds if you choose the row-your-own seven-speed manual. Talk about going Over The Hill with a quickness.
Despite looking pretty tame, we're really hot on the appearance of this special 911, with its throwback flat gray paint job and new 20-inch wheels that look remarkably similar to the original Fuchs alloys of the 1963 model. Inside, you'll find green lettering on the instrument displays, white pointer needles and silver accents, and the leather seats have a fabric insert that's similar to the Pepita cloth from the original 911.

Watch Jeff Zwart drive his Porsche GT3 Cup Turbo at Pikes Peak in 4K

There are always fantastic videos documenting the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb, but 2015 is giving us an embarrassment of riches. After seeing clips from some of the record-breaking runs this year, possibly the very best is here somewhat belatedly after the rally. Watching master Porsche pilot Jeff Zwart wind his fire-breathing 911 GT3 Cup Turbo up the mountain was definitely worth the wait. Already no stranger to success at Pikes Peak, this year Zwart won the Time Attack 1 Class with a run of 9:46.243. To make the feat more exciting, his Porsche was outfitted with cameras to perfectly capture his entire race up the course. The external shots truly convey a sense of speed and show how the mountain goes from tree-lined at the bottom to rocky with patches of snow at the top. The film's sublime production shouldn't be too big of a surprise, though, because Will Roegge was director, editor, and among the camera operators for the video. In 2014, he put together a great, short documentary about Zwart's preparation for the mountain and the run, as well. This year was yet another success. At a breezy 4.5 minutes, this clip is definitely a must-see, and the entire thing looks and sounds fantastic no matter how your experience it. However, if you have the capability, the video is also available in 4K. Switching over to the high resolution really makes it possible to pick out all of the gorgeous details. Related Video: