1991 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 Targa on 2040-cars

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Malaise Era All-Stars

A few weeks ago, we bid a fond happy 40th anniversary to the automotive dark ages of 1973-84 that have come to be known as "The Malaise Era" - the performance ice-age when 160 horsepower was a lot and a 0-60 time of under 10 seconds was remarkable. Like music in the 1980s, everything in automobiledom didn't suck, however. There were a few bright spots. Here are five of our favorites:
1976-79 Porsche 930, aka 911 Turbo Carrera (above)
Photo Credit: Dorotheum

Motor Trend hits Laguna Seca with Ferrari F12, Chevy Corvette, Porsche 911

According to the crew at Motor Trend, we should think of the video below "as an addendum to Best Driver's Car," a test the magazine put together that elevated the 2013 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S above all others in the category of driving joy. It seems the brand-new 2014 Chevy Corvette Stingray wasn't able to take part in the magazine's official test, and neither was the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta.
And so Motor Trend did the only logical thing: It procured both the 'Vette and Prancing Horse as soon as it could, and put them both on track with the Driver's Car-winning 911. Of course, these cars don't actually compete against each other - the Ferrari offers up 731 horsepower and wears an asking price of $434,144 as tested, which means you could buy four loaded Corvettes for the price of one F12, and still have money left for a garage to store them in - but that's not the point of this particular test.
The point of this test isn't to listen to the beautiful sounds coming from the Porsche's flat-six-cylinder, the Corvette's pushrod V8 or the Ferrari's luscious V12, either, but the video below is worth watching for those three reasons alone. You know what to do.

Is Porsche planning a GT5?

A trademark application filed in Europe suggests Porsche could be planning a GT5 model to slot at the bottom of its track-focused sports car lineup. The German automaker's GT skunkworks division in Weissach earned its reputation with enthusiasts producing the GT3 and GT3 RS versions of the 911, and previously offered GT2 and even GT1 models as well (although the latter was a limited homologation special). It recently extended itself slightly downmarket with the launch of the Cayman GT4, but this trademark application – already reportedly accepted in Germany and currently being reviewed by the European office – suggests an even more accessible model could be on its way, Autocar reports. Just what form a GT5 would take, however, remains a mystery. The numerical progression would suggest that Porsche is planning a hardcore version of an even smaller sports car, if such a project ever got off the ground to slot in below the Boxster and Cayman. Given that the 911 has bred both GT2 and GT3 versions, Weissach could alternatively be planning an additional GT version of the Cayman, or planning a hardcore version of the Boxster. The prospect of a GT5 version of the Macan, Cayenne, or Panamera seems unlikely as the alphanumeric designation has never been applied to anything other than a two-door coupe, but then we never really know what the future will bring: Before 2002 Porsche had never done anything with more than two doors altogether. These designations are typically borrowed from their corresponding racing class, and of course there is no GT5 category. But then most of these racing classes have been amalgamated into GT3 anyway, unless Porsche is planning on using the name for its own entry-level spec racing series. But at this point we're just spitballing. It's just as likely that the company has simply filed the trademark application to keep its options open for the future. Related Video: