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Porsche Boxster spied in the buff

Porsche is preparing a significant update to its entry level Boxster convertible, and while visually this might appear to be a simple refresh, the changes are more than skin deep. Following a number of rumors, Porsche will finally make the jump to turbocharged engines on a broad scale, and it starts with this new Boxster. According to our spies, it's the larger side intakes featured on this prototype that give away its smaller, force-induced flat-four engine. The dual exhaust pipes, meanwhile, say Boxster S to us, rather than just the basic model. Beyond the mechanical changes, this marks the first time we've seen the new Boxster completely free of camouflage. We can see that Porsche's stylists – famous for revolutionary designs slowly tweaking the same style for decads on end – adjusted the look of the front and rear fascias. We like the more aggressively canted headlights, which get the same four-pointed LEDs as its big brother, the 911. The slimmer taillights are a minor improvement on the inoffensive lamps fitted to the current car, and serve to take some attention off the all-plastic exhaust surround, which is much more simply styled than the current car's. It should also be noted that the aesthetics featured on the new Boxster are very, very likely to be transferred directly onto the new Cayman. You can check out our full gallery of shots of the all-new, totally undisguised Boxster in the gallery up top. Expect to see the new roadster around this time next year, with a debut at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show likely. Related Video:

Preserving automotive history costs big bucks

$1.8 million is spent each year to maintain GM's fleet of 600 production and concept cars.
When at least two of the Detroit Three were on the verge of death a few years back, one of the tough questions that was asked of Ford, General Motors and Chrysler execs - outside of why execs were still taking private planes to meetings - was why each company maintained huge archives of old production and concept vehicles. GM, for example, had an 1,100-vehicle collection when talk of a federal bailout began.

Winterkorn remains CEO of Volkswagen's majority shareholder

Martin Winterkorn may have stepped down as the chief executive of Volkswagen in the wake of the diesel emissions scandal, but he's not out from under the company's large umbrella just yet. In fact, according to a report from Reuters, he still holds four top-level positions not only within the industrial giant's bureaucracy, but at the top of it. And one of those is as CEO of the company's largest shareholder. That holding company is Porsche SE, the investment arm of the Piech and Porsche families (Ferdinand Porsche's descendants) which holds over 50 percent of VW's shares. In 2008, Porsche SE acquired majority interest in the Volkswagen Group which in turn acquired Porsche the automaker – and placed VW's Winterkorn at the head of the executive board of the holding company. Though Winterkorn has resigned from his position as chairman of VW's management board, he has apparently yet to step down from running Porsche SE. That's not the only job that Winterkorn still retains in VW's senior management. He also continues to serve as chairman of Audi, as well as truck manufacturer Scania, and the new Truck & Bus GmbH into which Scania has been grouped together with Man. It remains unclear if or when Winterkorn might resign from those positions as well, or how his tenure in those posts might affect the company's effort to start over in the aftermath of the scandal in which it is currently embroiled. Also unclear, Reuters reports, is how much, exactly, Winterkorn will receive in compensation after having stepped down from his chair at the head of the VW executive board. His pension is reported at over $30 million, but he could be awarded a large severance package as well amounting to as much as two years' worth of his annual compensation, which amounted to around $18 million last year. Whether he receives the severance pay or not is expected to depend on whether his resignation is considered by the supervisory board to have been the result of his own missteps or independent of the situation that resulted in his resignation. One way or another, he's not likely to go poor anytime soon.