Porsche: 911 Carrera 4 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.

Ferdinand Piech (1937-2019): The man who made VW global

Towering among his peers, a giant of the auto industry died Sunday night in Rosenheim/Upper Bavaria, Germany. Ferdinand Piech, a grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, who conceived the original Volkswagen in the 1930s, was the most polarizing automotive executive of our times. And one who brought automotive technology further than anyone else. Ferdinand Porsche had a son, Ferdinand (called "Ferry"), and a daughter, Louise, who married the Viennese lawyer Anton Piech. They gave birth to Ferdinand Piech, and his proximity to two Alfa Romeo sports cars — Porsche had done some work for the Italians — and the "Berlin-Rome-Berlin" race car, developed by Porsche himself, gave birth to Piech's interest in cars. After his teachers in Salzburg told his mother he was "too stupid" to attend school there, Piech, who was open about his dyslexia, was sent to a boarding school in Switzerland. He subsequently moved on to Porsche, where he fixed issues with the 904 race car and did major work on the 911. But his greatest project was the Le Mans-winning 917 race car, developed at breathtaking financial cost. It annihilated the competition, but the family had had enough: Amid growing tension among the four cousins working at Porsche and Piech's uncle Ferry, the family decided to pull every family member, except for Ferry, out of their management positions. Piech started his own consultancy business, where he designed the famous five-cylinder diesel for Mercedes-Benz, but quickly moved on to Audi, first as an engineer and then as CEO, where he set out to transform the dull brand into a technology leader. Piech killed the Wankel engine and hammered out a number of ambitious and sophisticated technologies. Among them: The five-cylinder gasoline engine; Quattro all-wheel drive and Audi's fantastic rally successes; and turbocharging, developed with Fritz Indra, whom Piech recruited from Alpina. The Audi 100/200/5000 became the world's fastest production sedan, thanks to their superior aerodynamics. Piech also launched zinc-coated bodies for longevity — and gave diesel technology a decisive boost with the advent of the fast and ultra-efficient TDI engines. Less known: Piech also decided to put larger gas tanks into cars. Customers loved it. Piech's first-generation Audi V8 was met with derision by competitors; it was too obviously based on the 200/5000.

2017 Porsche Panamera Debut | Autoblog Minute

The 2017 Porsche Panamera made its official debut this week. Porsche Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video