Certified, One Owner, Florida Car, Pdk, Bose, Infotainment, 544 Miles on 2040-cars

Auto blog

The dream of the '90s is alive in Porsche 968 retro review

Only a month after Porsche confirmed that the next-generation Boxster and Cayman will get four-cylinder engines, it is apt that we have a MotorWeek retro review of the 1992 Porsche 968. Porsche hoped the 968 – nee 944 – and its naturally-aspirated, 3.0-liter, four-cylinder would revive sales of its entry-level line, but that didn't happen: going on sale in 1992, 1995 was its last year on the market. This was at a time when a stock 968 coupe cost $39,850, surpassing the out-the-door price of a loaded Chevrolet Corvette. The 968 convertible cost $51,000. That didn't stop MotorWeek's unanimous support of the 968, praising its design, the delivery of its 236 horsepower and 225 pound-feet of torque, and its handling - MotorWeek called it "Pure 90s performance," in spite of some fiddly switchgear and a noisy, firm ride. You can watch the review above. We have a feeling Porsche's four-cylinder fortunes will go much better this time around.

Vintage 911 sacrificed in the name of fashion

People routinely suffer in the name of looking good, whether through a pair of uncomfortable, stylish shoes or a nice shirt that doesn't breathe in the summer heat. Rarely is a vintage sports car the recipient of this sartorial pain, though. In a bizarre, short video from the fashion label Rag & Bone, an old Porsche 911 is the one taking all of the damage in the name of being chic. And it's really painful to watch. Give this video a few seconds to get going because it starts very weird (fashion!). Black smoke billows up through a hole in a harshly lit white room, and a woman keeps switching outfits. If the attempt at being artsy isn't painful enough, things get really traumatic for Porsche fans once the 911 appears on screen. Seeing a classic car get destroyed hasn't been this harrowing since the government publicly destroyed an illegally imported, classic Mini last winter. Thankfully, this 911 was reportedly just a shell, according to Jalopnik. Although even if that's the case, the body looks to be in great shape, and from the tiny glimpse through the windows, the interior even looks largely intact. This coupe might have been a pretty good restoration candidate if not for the massive hunk of concrete crashing through the roof to make a fashion video.

Porsche GT division rules out AWD, SUVs

Any German automaker worth its lap times needs a performance division. Mercedes has AMG, BMW has the M division, Audi has Quattro GmbH with its S and RS models... even Volkswagen has its R line of hot hatches. And though Porsche is a performance automaker unto itself, even it has a performance division. It's called Porsche GT, and though it's been branching outside the 911 range lately, don't expect it to wander too far. According to Car and Driver, which spoke recently with Porsche GT boss Andreas Preuninger and R&D chief Wolfgang Hatz, there are limits to what the division will do. And while those limits may have been broadened to include technologies like turbocharging and dual-clutch transmissions, they won't stretch as far as all-wheel drive. Take a look at the previous-generation 997 and what separated the 911 GT2 from the 911 Turbo was principally its all-wheel-drive system. Porsche GT isn't planning on doing a GT2 this time around – the new GT3 RS occupying that territory on its own – but the next generation (whether it wears the number 2 or 3) will likely go turbo along with most of the rest of the 911 family. The exclusion of all-wheel drive from the Porsche GT parts bin also means that the division won't be taking on the company's SUVs like the Cayenne and Macan. So the Cayenne GTS will be as extreme as it gets, taking on the likes of the BMW X5 M, Mercedes GL63 and Audi SQ5 without the help of Zuffenhausen's racing department. We can't expect the PDK to stick around though, so to speak. Though the new Cayman GT4 packs a manual transmission, the 911 GT3 and GT3 RS have dual-clutch gearboxes. Moving forward, Preuninger says they'll leave it up to prospective customers to decide which type of transmission they'll build into their most extreme performance models.