1974 Porsche 911 on 2040-cars

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Hot Wheels goes Outlaw with Magnus Walker Porsches

Magnus Walker, of Urban Outlaw fame, insists his story is just like that of any kid. But instead of becoming a fireman or an astronaut, Walker's childhood dream was to have a specific car. A Porsche 911 Turbo just like the one he fell in love with at the 1977 Earls Court Motor Show in London, to be exact. Today, he's famous both for having an eye-catching collection of 911s, as well as a compelling story behind them. Walker collaborated with Hot Wheels so a new generation of kids can find their dream, just like he did with that Porsche. Today, Walker and Hot Wheels will unveil the line of diminutive Porsches he helped to create, starting with the company's beginnings: a Porsche 356A. "There was something about this car, the Porsche," Walker told Autoblog last week in his Downtown Los Angeles garage. "You either had the Ferrari Boxer on the wall, a Lamborghini Countach on the wall, or a Porsche Turbo. There was something that attracted me to this car. That dream never went away." Jun Imai, Design Manager at Hot Wheels, said Walker's story and ties to the Porsche name were a match for the maker of toys that are commonly found on a living room rug. "All Hot Wheels cars have a story, just like all the cars in his collection," Imai said. The partnership with Waker, Imai said, is a product of the way Hot Wheels now gauges the pulse of car culture, with inspiration coming from what's parked out on the streets, printed in magazines and being shared on the internet. There was something that attracted me to this car. That dream never went away. "Up until five years ago, we were a V8 muscle car brand," Imai said. "Now it's, 'What is the modern hot rod?' It could be a Porsche or an E30 BMW. Everyone's into something different, so we take that into consideration." Imai said that Walker's collaboration is just that, rather than slapping his name onto a new series of products. "We're not just doing replicas of his car, that's almost obvious and easy," he said. "We thought, let's have him come in, let's have him actually design graphics for the cars where he's an integral process." For Walker, though, the Hot Wheels cars reflect the growing accessibility of car culture. Despite the modern popularity of video games - Magnus made an appearance in the latest Need for Speed game - Walker says the appeal of Hot Wheels spans from the youngest budding enthusiasts to people older than the original 356.

Porsche Cayenne diesel V8 may not be long for this world

Goodbye, Porsche Cayenne V8 Diesel. We hardly knew ye. Nor did the Europeans, apparently. Porsche's V8 oil burner is still on the European model list for the Cayenne SUV, but the mill won't go through the likely pricey process of being updated to adhere to new and stricter European emissions standards, Just-Auto says. A Porsche spokesman confirmed to the publication that it's a fairly complicated process to update the diesel V8 to be so-called "Euro-6 compliant." With Cayenne diesels selling in relatively low volumes anyways, the German automaker might just dump the V8 diesel altogether, as it'd be quite cost-ineffective to make the necessary upgrades. The V8 diesel was a 4.1-liter engine that delivered 385 horsepower in addition to what sounds like a little too much exhaust for European clean-air regulators. While that's a pretty powerful profile, the most recent gas-powered V8 for the Cayenne delivers about 570 horsepower, so the diesel engine won't likely be missed by European auto enthusiasts. Besides, there's still the V6 diesel that's also sold in the US. That's a 4,800-pound beast that moves from 0 to 60 miles per hour in about seven seconds and gets a relatively (for diesels) modest 20 miles per gallon city. For those who are curious, Autoblog's First Drive review of that model can be found here.

Former Porsche execs acquitted of stock manipulation charges

A German court acquitted former Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking and former CFO Holger Harter of stock manipulation charges, according to Bloomberg. Prosecutors alleged the men hid plans to takeover Volkswagen while publicly denying their intentions to investors. The presiding judge didn't find any merit to those claims, though. "There is nothing to the allegations, absolutely nothing," Judge Frank Maurer said, according to Bloomberg. "There was no secret plan to take over VW." Rather than Porsche taking over VW, the exact opposite eventually happened, and both execs stepped down. Investigators first indicted Wiedeking and Harter for alleged stock manipulation in late 2012. A court in Stuttgart dismissed the case in 2014 because of a lack of evidence, but an appeals court later overruled that decision. The current trial finally began in October 2015. If convicted, Wiedeking faced up to 30 months in prison, and Harter could have received up to 27 months, Bloomberg reported. Prosecutors also wanted one million euro ($1.1 million) fines from them and 807 million euros ($910 million) from Porsche. The acquittal might not be the end of this long-running case, though. In Germany, prosecutors have the right to appeal a ruling, and the lawyer hasn't made a final decision yet. If the court thinks there's a reason, the former execs could be back in front of a judge at some point in the future.