Pricing for the Porsche Panamera Announced

July 23, 2008

I’m usually not one for making predictions. However, if the pricing for the upcoming Porsche Panamera, being reported by German car magazine Autobild, is to be believed then I’m thinking sales may move slightly slower than a rusted out Yugo. According to Autobild, pricing ranges from $127,000 for the base V6 model, to just shy of $200,000 for the all-wheel drive 520-hp turbo flavored one. That’s some serious cash for what is arguably one of the ugliest models to come off the Porsche line ever (well, at least since the Cayenne if you listen to some.)

But wait, with an anticipated launch of sometime in early 2009, only the 405-hp V8 and the super-charged/priced turbo will be available for resale. If you want to become a member of the Panamera family on the cheap (it’s all relative), you’ll have to wait until 2010 when the 300-hp V6 version is available at the low, low price of $127,000. Please Porsche say it isn’t so. Give us a press release and tell us this is a bad joke.

Is the Porsche Panamera ugly? Or, is it just me?

I could be wrong, God knows it won’t be the first or last time, but when introducing a car this ugly and this controversial, wouldn’t you want to provide some pricing incentive? I’m pretty much a fan of all things Porsche, but unless the Panamera starts to grow on me (or the car looks significantly different from the spy shots I’ve seen), it could be the first Porsche designed car, ever, that I’m not impressed with. To me, the Panamera took the worst parts of a 996, mated it with a badly copied 928 rear-end and threw four doors from a Pontiac Grand-Am in the middle for spite.

On a positive note, for those with even more disposable income than taste, it is rumored that the V10 from the Carrera GT will be available as a power plant option as well as the ridiculously powerful 12 cylinder TDI from Audi (should customers demand it.) As it stands now, the Turbo variant will reach Carrera S like top end speeds (186 MPH) at close to a GT2 price tag.

[Source: Autobild.de; Photo by KGP Photography]

Written by 993C4S · Filed Under Porsche Panamera | 5 Comments

Porsche 356: My First Porsche (Part II of II)

July 21, 2008

Last week I presented the first part of Porsche 356: My First Porsche by Wilhelm (Billy) Roedenbeck. Today’s post is part II of that story. As a reminder, Billy was born in Lima, Peru. He bought his first Porsche in 1973 and never looked back. He resides in Miami, Fl. with his wife and her Boxster.

My First Porsche 356: Part II

It turned out the cars had been purchased by another lawyer. The gentleman had purchased both the 1952 Cadillac and the Porsche. I contacted the new owner immediately. The Porsche was a 1963 356 S-90 Cabriolet, he told me.

The Cadillac Limo was being used by his widowed mother (with a driver of course). As for the Porsche, he had given it to his wife, who was not too happy about it because she thought it was too small and, to make matters worse, manual. He gave me his home phone number and said, “you can talk to her and see if she wants to sell it.”

Needless to say, I called her the minute I arrived home, and she seemed amenable to the idea of selling. She told me to come over anytime and look at the car. When I arrived at her house about 15 minutes later, I was speechless: the Porsche was in perfect shape, the odometer showing only 32,000 km. The car was flawless, down to its huge fabric soft top, a tiny rear window, gorgeous red leather upholstery, optional wooden steering wheel and an FM Blaupunkt radio. The only “problem” was a slipping clutch (probably brought about by the good lady, wistfully wishing the car had been one of those lovely automatics).

The Porsche came with a lot of spare parts, mostly the ones that could be easily damaged or stolen, like trim and plastic lenses. It also came with 12
original German oil filters and 2 cases of Penzoil (imported) oil. A complete set of workshop manuals was included, as well as a new leather bound tool set. The only thing it lacked was the custom cover needed to cover the top when it was down.

I purchased the car on the spot for 120,000 Peruvian Soles, which back then was equivalent to about $3,000. My daughter and son got rides in it well before they could speak and eventually grew to love Porsches, too.

Sadly, I did not own this Porsche for very long. In 1974, work took us to Costa Rica and I had to sell the 356. Importing a car like this to Costa Rica would have cost me about $10,000 in import duties alone. Before we left, I sold it to a famous race car pilot (he raced an Allard Chrysler for many years) for $6,000. The picture below was taken just a few weeks after I sold the car.

1963-Porsche-356-gray

Nearly four decades later, I’ve once again lost track of my first Porsche. I hear in the early nineties it made the journey from Peru to California, where it was lovingly restored and sold. Like me, the Porsche emigrated to the U.S. and ended up staying. Even if I were to find it again, I know I could no longer afford it. But that grey 356 will always mark the beginning of my family’s enduring love of all things Porsche.

I want to thank Billy very much for his contribution with this story and give a special thank you to his daughter Valerie who has been a fantastic supporter of 993C4S.com since she found it (or it found her.) As it turns out, since this story was written, Billy and Valerie were able to track down the car to its present owner in Peru. As I understand it, Billy will be making a trip to Peru in the coming weeks and this story may have a different ending. More to follow…

Written by 993C4S · Filed Under Culture | Leave a Comment

Porsche Doppelkupplung (double clutch) or PDK Explained

July 18, 2008

If you can’t pronounce the name of Porsche’s new double clutch, seven speed transmission technology, you’re not alone. Not to worry, the Porsche marketing folks were kind enough to add to the growing list of alphabet soup options by providing the Porsche Doppelkupplung with its very own acronym: PDK. Originally developed for Porsche Motorsports, over two decades ago, this seven speed, advanced transmission has finally made its way (as an option) into the Porsche 911 line-up for the first time.

What’s the Biggest Benefit of the Porsche PDK

Simple: SPEED. The dual clutch provides barely perceptible shift points with little to no power loss. This translates into more speed and faster lap times, much faster. The latest reports I’ve seen show a 911 Carrera S (equipped with PDK) shaving 8 seconds from the lap time, clocked by the manually equipped model on, “the Ring,” not to mention a few tenths of a second off the zero to sixty time.

Surprisingly, given today’s economic and environmental climate, you would think that Porsche would be pushing some of the other benefits of the PDK transmission. Namely, its ability to provide up to 14% better fuel economy over the manual version. With all the heat Porsche has been taking in the press in recent months about emissions, CAFE regulations, etc. the PR department at Porsche should be all over this aspect of the seven-speed transmission.

How Does Porsche PDK Work?

This video below, produced by Porsche and available on the Porsche microsite, does a great job of breaking down the dual-clutch technology into every day language so even non-gearheads, like me, can understand. My only question is: “When will Porsche make the switch to more standardized paddles vs. those little bitty thumb-shifters?”