1993 Porsche Carrera 4 Cabriolet on 2040-cars

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2015 Porsche Macan Turbo

I knew it was a softball question, but I asked it anyway. It's pretty standard for automakers to offer up some examples of competitors when they invite the media to drive a new vehicle for the first time. If not stated outright, it's just as standard for some journalist to query about the competitive set as soon as the Q&A begins. I knew full well that Porsche believes it has a valuable new niche to itself with the 2015 Macan (and especially with the Macan Turbo), but I wanted to hear the answer to the competitor cars question anyway.
Porsche CEO Matthias Müller didn't hesitate for a second to respond. With a half-smirk appropriate to an executive that is about to launch the (very probably) most profitable and best-selling product in his brand's lineup he chuckled, "Of course, I could be arrogant and say this car has no competitors..."
Arrogant? Well, the grinning Müller certainly didn't give off a humble vibe as he proceeded to count down a list of German and British utility vehicles from various classes that are clearly behind the pace of the Macan in either looks, luxury, or sporting prowess - Range Rover Sport, BMW X3 and Mercedes-Benz GLK among them.

Wandering the Chopard Heritage Tent at Rennsport Reunion V

Porsche has a ton to celebrate at its Rennsport Reunion V being held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca this weekend. While some other luxury carmakers are hurting, Porsche sales are up. The 919 Hybrid won Le Mans in only its second year of competition, then came to America and won the World Endurance Championship race at Lone Star Le Mans in Austin, Texas the weekend before Rennsport Reunion. It just introduced its 2017 911 Carrera with a turbocharged engine for the first time ever for the line, and our initial impressions from the passenger's seat are that it's pretty good. And humor us while we have this out for the conspiracy theorists, but one can imagine some back-room celebrations since with Porsche Chairman Matthias Muller's promotion on Friday, September 26, Porsche completed its takeover of Volkswagen. Remember when that was a thing, when 16-year Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking tried to work the stock market to get control of VW but failed, so VW swallowed up Porsche instead? More concretely, around 50,000 people have come to the Reunion, and there are 1,400 Porsches parked in all the corrals. This year's event is devoted to Le Mans, with eight of the brand's 17 winners in attendance. We spent most of our time on the penultimate day in the Chopard Heritage Display, though, wandering through four rows of vintage machinery. The vehicles were even more instructive than they were beautiful - the Spyders, the RS editions, the Abarth-bodied racers, the company's first flat-eight race car, the 911 SCRS rally cars that led to the shows-topping 959, all help explain in metal what Porsche is referring to in its press releases and when it puts out special editions. They teach the history of personnel inside and outside of Porsche, too: like that Ferdinand Piech led the team that created the famous-on-sight 1968 917K at the same time as he was leading development of the Porsche 914; and that one of our own colleagues, the late Denise McCluggage, drove to victory in the 1957 Watkins Glen Grand Prix in a 1954 Porsche 550 Spyder 1500RS. There's a huge, captioned gallery above of just some of the wares parked in the Chopard Heritage Display. Have a look and a read, and the next time a Porsche rolls out a commemorative limited edition, one of these could be the car they're looking back at. Related Video:

Editors' Choice: Top Five 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show Debuts

Consider the 2015-16 auto show season officially kicked off. The Frankfurt Motor Show offered a great look at the newest crop of production cars and conceptual machines, and brought some old favorites back into the spotlight for a closer look. (The Alfa Romeo Giulia, for example, debuted in June, but this was the first time most of us saw it.) Now that the dust has settled and we're all on flights back to the US, our editors cast their votes for their personal favorites from the Frankfurt show. These are the cars we truly loved seeing the most. But unlike other shows, there was no one runaway winner – all of the Top Five received positive praise from our team. We won't spoil the results, though. Scroll down to see what we liked most from this year's Frankfurt expo. 5th Place – MERCEDES-BENZ IAA CONCEPT View 12 Photos MIKE AUSTIN: The clean lines on this concept have me excited for a more elegant beauty to future Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Next to the Concept IAA, the lovely S-Class Coupe looks like an overstyled barge. DAVID GLUCKMAN: Yeah, the extendable rear is neat and all, but I'm more interested in the front-end styling of this one. It looks like the Tron version of a 300SL, in a good way. I'm hopeful it portends the future of Mercedes design. STEVEN EWING: I was super impressed when Mercedes said that, with the rear end extended, this concept has a drag coefficient of just 0.19. That's crazy aerodynamic. I'm not head-over-heels about the styling, but I think the lessons learned from this concept are really important, and will play a huge role in the future of Mercedes' products. 4th Place – ALFA ROMEO GIULIA View 15 Photos SEYTH MIERSMA: I can hardly express how in love with this car I am. The styling feels creative, modern, and evocative, without going over the top. The proposed performance is spectacular. And the Alfa badge speaks to a legacy of romantic motoring. DAVID GLUCKMAN: Pretty Italian car makes big promises and will probably deliver on about three quarters of them. I think that will still be enough for me. JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I'm really intrigued by the Giulia. It looks great, sounds awesome, and I'm expecting it to have a load more character than its German rivals. I hope I'm not disappointed. 3rd Place – JAGUAR F-PACE View 15 Photos GREG MIGLIORE: It's the first SUV for Jaguar, and I think they nailed the design, capability, and electronics. It's the right car at the right time.