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Revel in the glory of the Porsche 911 engine factory

A flat-six engine pumping away behind the driver defines the Porsche brand for many people, whether they are buying a Boxster, Cayman or 911. If you want to appreciate the sound and fury concentrated in the rear of these German sports cars even more, then take a tour of the company's 911 engine factory in Zuffenhausen, Germany, to see the work that goes into each one. We're long past the days of automotive assembly lines being deafening, dirty affairs, but it's still somewhat shocking to see just how sterile the plant in Zuffenhausen is. Each person wears a matching gray jumpsuit and gloves, and there's not a drop of grease of them. While the components are constantly coming down the line, there doesn't appear to be much of a rush. It's just a slow, steady movement that gives workers time to complete their appointed tasks. At least in this video, the employees don't even seem to talk to each other; the only sound is the hum of the plant or whir of tools. It's transfixing to watch these famous engine slowly come together largely from human hands. News Source: Cars via YouTube Plants/Manufacturing Porsche Technology Performance Videos engine

Porsche 911 driven by McQueen on Le Mans set for auction

Another piece of Porsche memorabilia from the movie Le Mans is going up for auction with Christie's at The Exceptional Sale on Nov. 4 in Paris. This is a 1971 911 T that Steve McQueen used as his personal car during filming - it is not the 1970 911 S seen in the movie's opening sequence. It is one of the Porsches provided by two-time Le Mans winner and stunt driving double Jo Siffert. McQueen's production company CBS Solar Films bought the 911 T from Siffert, one of four 911s CBS Solar bought from the Swiss driver for use in and during filming. McQueen gifted the car to co-star and leading lady Elga Andersen. When she died in 1994 she willed it to her best friend, and the friend sold it to the current owner, who put it up for sale. None of them put the car to much use, as it has only 28,637 miles on the odometer, which is fewer than 55 miles per month for the last 44 years. The pre-sale estimate for this car is $284,000 to $397,000. By comparison, the 911 S used in the movie's opening sequence sold at auction in 2011 at Monterey for $1,375,000. In addition to being a relative bargain in that case, it comes with a scan of the original contract from Siffert to Anderson giving her the car, and a picture of McQueen and his son Chad with the coupe. Related Video: News Source: Christie's [1], [2] Celebrities TV/Movies Porsche Auctions Coupe Luxury Performance Steve McQueen christies 1971 porsche 911t

Weekly Recap: Mercedes continues the pseudo-coupe craze with AMG-tuned CUV

But as BMW's X6 has demonstrated, sport sells in in the crossover segment, and Mercedes is giving the people what they want. BMW proved there is a market for crossover utility vehicles designed to look like coupes – as much as a vehicle with four doors and noticeable ground clearance can look like a coupe, anyway. Now comes the reply from Mercedes-Benz: the GLE Coupe. The rakish crossover is a harbinger of things to come from Mercedes, as it begins the company's transition to a new nomenclature and marks the debut of the AMG Sport line. It also continues the recent coupe craze. Designers from many automakers, like Nissan and Volkswagen, have increasingly turned to swoopy, dramatic styling to make utility vehicles and sedans seem more desirable. By revealing the GLE 450 AMG Sport model first, Mercedes is clearly hoping to cast the GLE Coupe as a sportier, lifestyle-oriented alternative in its lineup of beefy crossovers and SUVs. Mercedes used the word "sport," or a variation of it, 53 times in its press release, so uh yeah, it's sporty. It's not an empty promise: Benz means business with the AMG Sport line. This GLE Coupe gets a 3.0-liter biturbo V6 rated at 362 horsepower and 384 pound-feet of torque paired with Mercedes' new nine-speed automatic transmission, and it runs with 4Matic all-wheel drive. Specs on the other GLE Coupe models were not disclosed. But as BMW's X6 has demonstrated, sport sells in in the crossover segment, and Mercedes is giving the people what they want. After all, more than 260,000 people have bought X6s since 2008, and Mercedes wants a piece of that. From certain angles, the GLE Coupe even looks vaguely like an X6. "This is really a vehicle that is all about status," said Dave Sullivan, product analysis manager for research firm AutoPacific. "You can buy a SUV that doesn't have the inherent qualities of a SUV, such as cargo hauling. People will likely be drawn to the looks. Coupes are all the rage." BMW, however, isn't running from the fight, and the updated 2015 X6 is arriving in showrooms this month. It also added a smaller sibling, the X4, to its coupe-crossover stable in July. The GLE Coupe arrives next year, though Mercedes hasn't specified exactly when it will hit showrooms from the factory in Alabama, or specified details on the rest of the non-AMG Sport models. In 2008, it was surprising the X6 was a hit. In 2015, it will be even more surprising if the GLE Coupe isn't.