1984 Porsche 944 Red 30,800 Miles 2nd Owner Must Sell Always Garaged Kept ****** on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Porsche 912 is no longer the brand's black sheep

If you haven't looked recently, prices for many vintage Porsche 911s are now well out of the realm for mortal men to purchase. However, the growing values have their advantages because they mean that the 912 is being better accepted as a member of the Porsche family. In a new video, Petrolicious talks to one owner about his mildly modified example while the coupe zips through the backroads and city streets of France. Launched around the time of the 911, the 912 shared its body but retained the four-cylinder engine from the 356, rather than the new six. The older mill helped make the 912 cheaper to buy, but it also tarnished the coupe in the eyes of Porsche fans for years. Much like the four-cylinder 914 and 924, the 912 just seemed like a black sheep in the shadow of its more powerful brother. Following two massive changes to his life, Julien Borne bought a 1967 912 as a project to get back on the road. After hours of welding, wrenching and beating out panels by hand in his grandparents' neglected country house, he crafted this gorgeous example. Check out the video to hear his story, as Petrolicious shows why the model's stigma is wearing off.

'Faster. Farther.' dives into the history of Porsche racing tech

No doubt, Porsche has produced some of the best endurance racecars around, such as the turbocharged, slant-nose 935 of the 1970s and the ground-effects-enhanced 956 and 962 of the 1980s. But the company's most famous racecar, its first overall winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, was the 917.
The 917 embodied many of Porsche's technological achievements up to that point, such as the company's first 12- and 16-cylinder engines (the flat-16 was never used in competition), fiberglass bodies that implemented early aerodynamic practices and the use of new, exotic materials, such as magnesium and titanium.
The racecar was commissioned by the head of Porsche Motorsports, Ferdinand Piëch, to win overall at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970, after he realized a loophole in the rules that allowed cars to compete with engines up to five liters in the Sport category if they were also production models. Piëch saw opportunity: the top prototype class was restricted to three liters; the production minimum to compete in Sport was 25 cars. And so, with much effort, Porsche assembled 25 "production" 4.5-liter 917s and had them parked in a neat line for the race inspectors to verify their legitimacy. It didn't take long before people realized the new Porsches were much faster than the prototype racers, with a top speed approaching 250 miles per hour.

Porsche doesn't think autonomous cars fit brand

Porsche customers have no need to worry because the company has no intention of taking away driver control by introducing autonomous tech for its vehicles. "One wants to drive a Porsche by oneself," company CEO Oliver Blume told a German newspaper, Reuters reports. For the sports car maker, this is a sensible decision, as its owners are driving enthusiasts who desire an exciting experience behind the wheel. Blume also isn't a big fan of people using their phones in the car. "An iPhone belongs in your pocket, not on the road," he told the newspaper. While Blume doesn't like some cutting-edge automotive tech, he's no Luddite. The CEO eventually wants every Porsche to be available with a hybrid powertrain option, including the 911. A plug-in version of the famous sports coupe could be ready by 2018 and have a 31-mile EV range (presumably on the European cycle), according to Reuters. The evidence suggests that Porsche is very serious about electrifying the 911. A company exec admitted the automaker had PHEVs under discussion. Spy shots (above) already showed one testing that possibly had a charger on the passenger side rear fender. The 911 PHEV would also follow logically from Porsche's recent surge to electrify its models. The Panamera and Cayenne already offer plug-in versions, and the 918 Spyder proves the system can perform. Applying that battery knowledge to the 911 is a natural move, especially with the fully electric Mission E taking another technological step forward around 2020. Related Video: