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Le Mans-winning Porsche 956 up for auction at Pebble Beach

Collectors looking to get their hands on a piece of racing history will want to be in Monterey this August. That's where Gooding & Company will be auctioning off the genuine Le Mans winner you see here. One of the finest examples of the Group C era, this 1982 Porsche 956 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1983 – the eighth time the German marque won the legendary French endurance race, en route to the record seventeenth win it racked up at La Sarthe this year. This 956 was the third of only ten examples made, complete with Rothmans livery and unimpeachable history. It debuted at Le Mans in 1982, where it placed second behind another Rothmans-liveried 956, and went on to win the next four races it entered. The following year, the two Porsches switched places in the winner's circle at Le Mans, securing this car's place in the annals of racing history. Now set to cross the auction block at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, Gooding projects this most historically significant Porsche to fetch between $7,000,000 and $9,000,000 once the gavel drops. According to the Sports Car Market database, that would make this the most valuable Porsche ever sold at auction, eclipsing the 1972 Porsche 917/10 Can-Am racer that Mecum sold for $5.83 million in Monterey three years ago. It would also far exceed the ˆ2.35 million ($3.15m) paid at RM's auction in Paris last year for another Rothmans-liveried 956 that completed the 1-2-3 finish at Le Mans in '82. That is, assuming 956 #003 sells this time: the last time it crossed the auction block, it failed to sell after a high bid of $2 million. Le Mans-Winning Rothmans Porsche 956 Roars its Way to Gooding & Company's Pebble Beach Auctions SANTA MONICA, Calif. (June 19, 2015) – Gooding & Company, the official auction house of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance®, is thrilled to announce the addition of one of the most important and desirable competition cars of all time to its Pebble Beach Auctions. The 1982 Porsche 956, chassis 003, was the outright winner of the 1983 24 Hours of Le Mans and the most successful example of this revolutionary and dominating series of Group C cars. The sale of this factory Porsche racing machine presents an incredible opportunity to own a significant piece of motorsport history and it is sure to be a highlight of Gooding & Company's internationally renowned auction, taking place on August 15 and 16, 2015 in Pebble Beach, California.

Porsche 911 GT spied streaking at the Nurburgring

At any given moment, you can bet that Porsche is testing some new version of the 911. When we see those prototypes undergoing testing, they're typically camouflaged, at least in part, to keep us from seeing what Zuffenhausen (or Weissach) is up to. But this particular example is completely undisguised. So what are we looking at, exactly? Well, for starters, it's likely the upcoming facelifted version of the current 911. The current 991 generation has been on the market now for four years, so the 991.2 (or 991.5, perhaps?) will likely be tasked with keeping Porsche's iconic sports car current for several more years to come. This version can be seen with front air intakes similar to those on the Cayman GT4, along with updated headlights, LED strips, new door handles, ventilated rear engine cover, reprofiled rear bumper, fresh taillights, and a new exhaust. The far bigger development is that the updated 911 is expected to ditch natural aspiration in favor of downsized turbocharged engines across almost the entire range – not just in the 911 Turbo. This particular version we see here, however, could be one of the few hold-outs for atmospheric pressure. That's because what we're looking at could be the upcoming back-to-basics version being prepared by the GT division – the same outfit responsible for the 911 GT3, GT3 RS, and Cayman GT4. Possibly adopting the name GT5, this new version of the 911 is anticipated to be the purist's choice: naturally aspirated flat-six, three-pedal manual transmission, skinny tires, no frills. This undisguised prototype appears to be packing a production roll cage and thin, leather-clad bucket seats – splitting the difference between racing buckets and the usual, thicker thrones. We'll have to wait a bit longer until Porsche is ready to release all the details of the refreshed 911, hopefully to include that GT version. But for an unadulterated taste of what's to come, look no further than the spy shots in the image gallery above. Related Video:

2014 Porsche Panamera Turbo S is a 911 Turbo for the family man

In the event that the Porsche Panamera Turbo's 520 horsepower and 189-mile-per-hour top speed aren't enough to sate the appetite of the speed freak, Porsche has just given the auto show debut to the faster, more powerful Panamera Turbo S.
With 570 horsepower being pumped from a 4.8-liter, twin-turbocharged V8, the Panamera Turbo S promises even faster acceleration, hitting 60 mph in 3.6 seconds, a 0.3-second improvement over the standard Turbo. The top speed, meanwhile, climbs to 192 mph, which is kind of ridiculous for a car with four doors and a trunk.
Other enhancements that come with this Panamera's extra syllable include carbon-ceramic brakes and the entirety of Porsche's active chassis systems, including Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control and Porsche Active Suspension Management. The performance goodies come standard, but that doesn't mean the Panamera Turbo S is cheap.