2008 - Porsche Cayenne on 2040-cars

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Singer's latest Porsche 911 has the most amazingly retro interior we've ever seen

Singer Vehicle Design doesn't just restore classic Porsche 911 models. The company says it "reimagines" the iconic sportscar for a reason – these are fully customized vehicles made specifically for owners who want something different than what rolled out of the factory floor. The latest twins to come from Singer debuted at the Quail Motorsports Gathering, and they are exquisite. Both the orange Targa (nicknamed Luxemburg) and the gunmetal gray coupe (nicknamed Minnesota) belong to the same owner, but they are very different in execution. Whereas the dark silver coupe is lovely and understated, the orange Targa is much more audacious. Luxemburg's (and yes, we do feel a bit silly using these names) most eye-catching feature has to be the multi-color leather seats. Large portions of the interior are swathed in deep blue leather, but the seats are covered in a unique seven-color leather weave pattern (two oranges, four shades of blue and one cream). The weave extends to the dash and door panels, and we absolutely love it. The removable roof panel is carbon fiber on the outside and blue canvas inside, but we'd have a hard time leaving it attached. Open air motoring is great, and better to enjoy the lovely sounds of the rear-mounted, 4.0-liter, air-cooled, flat-six engine. Minnesota looks almost looks mundane next to its orange sibling, but it's equally beautiful with its deep paint job and brown leather interior. Power for the coupe comes from a 350-horsepower, 3.8-liter, air-cooled engine built by Cosworth. Check out both Singer recreations in our galleries above and below. Related Video: Featured Gallery Singer Vehicle Design at the 2016 Quail View 23 Photos Related Gallery Porsche 911 Targa Reimagined by Singer Vehicle Design View 11 Photos Image Credit: Live photos copyright 2016 Drew Phillips / Autoblog Design/Style Misc. Auto Shows Porsche Automotive History Convertible Coupe Luxury Special and Limited Editions Performance Classics

Weekly Recap: Ferrari, Ford and Porsche power up for Geneva

Monday was Groundhog Day. Tuesday, apparently, was Sports Car Day. The Ferrari 488 GTB, the Ford Focus RS and the Porsche Cayman GT4 all debuted within hours of each other ahead of their rollouts at the Geneva Motor Show. Three sporty machines, three vastly different approaches – and a lot of implications for enthusiasts. That's a day worth repeating. It also illustrates the opportunities automakers see in the performance market, which is expected to grow in the coming years. Ford estimates the segment has expanded 14 percent in Europe and surged 70 percent in North America since 2009. The Detroit Auto Show was evidence of this, and performance cars of every stripe debuted, including the Acura NSX, Ford GT, Alfa Romeo 4C Spider and several others. This isn't a fad. Performance cars aren't going away. The question is why? Stricter CAFE standards are looming in the United States, as are tighter emissions regulations in Europe. And no one expects gas prices to remain low in America. None of this matters for sports cars, and automakers are increasingly using them to elevate their images. That's why Dodge rolled out two 707-horsepower Hellcats last year. It's why Ford has decided to resurrect the GT for road and track. It's why in the depths of bankruptcy, General Motors continued work on the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, not to mention the Z06. "Great brands are made one car at a time," Ford of Europe president Jim Farley said at the reveal of the Focus RS. Still, companies make those cars for different reasons. View 5 Photos Mainstream brands like Ford and Dodge want to build cars that get people talking, excite their bases and drive more potential customers into the showroom. They probably don't buy a Focus RS or a Hellcat, but suddenly the regular Focus hatch looks a bit hotter, and that V6 Charger seems to be just a touch more muscular. The halo of performance is alive and well in the eyes of automakers and their customers. "It's one of the most effective catalysts for ingenuity and innovation," said Joe Bakaj, vice president of product development for Ford of Europe. That also leads to a trickle-down effect. Some of the technologies inevitably make their way to other products. It's hard to think the new all-wheel-drive system in the Focus RS that distributes torque front to rear and side to side won't be used in other vehicles. It's different for Ferrari and Porsche.

Porsche Australia price cuts in excess of $36,000 irks customers

Have you ever gone to the store, only to become irked after learning that the new [*insert widget here*] that you bought just last week has gone through a price drop? If you're particularly thrifty, even if it's only a couple of bucks, you probably brought in your receipt to see if the store would issue you a credit for the difference. Now, imagine that the widget in question isn't a minor purchase, it's a Porsche - and the price drop isn't just a few bucks - it's thousands.
That's the unhappy scenario that recently faced a number of Australian luxury car buyers and the uncomfortable conversation awaiting the German automaker. According to GoAuto, Porsche Australia recently whacked up to $36,000 off the price of its models in order to jumpstart sales Down Under - the Panamera range itself saw cuts between $5,500 and more than $36,000. The aggressive price cut was a strategy designed to drive sales of more than 3,000 cars locally, a yearly goal originally set for 2018, but now hoped for as early as 2016.
Australia is known for its comparatively high car prices, so the dramatic price cuts were undoubtedly welcome news to potential Porsche shoppers. However, around 50 existing customers were understandably agitated by the reductions because they purchased their cars just before the adjustments took effect. Not only did they stand to lose out on the deals, they also had good reason to fear that their new cars' residual values would take a beating.