It was Mark Webber’s birthday during the week. He turned 39 and, according to Porsche, he “gave himself” a new 918 Spyder.
You can see it pictured here in its sexy Salzburg red paint scheme, based on the 1970 Le Mans winning 917. Obviously, it looks sensational, we’re sure you’ll all agree.
Follow the link below for a brief video. And, if Mark bought himself a 918 for his 39th, how is he going to top that for his 40th?!
[Source: Porsche]
Success breeds success and Porsche is hoping to live that mantra after extending its LMP1 program until at least the end of the 2018 season.
The news follows the company’s 17th Le Mans victory in June and ahead of this weekend 6 Hours of Nürburgring.
“Motorsport is an important part of Porsche’s brand identity—but not an end in itself,” said Matthias Müller, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG. “Racing has got to help the technology of future road going sports cars. It was the revolutionary efficiency regulations that convinced us to return to top-level motorsport for the 2014 season.
“That we have managed to take the crown jewels of endurance racing in only our second year, with a one-two result in Le Mans in 2015 with our highly innovative and complex 919, is an outstanding testimony to the people in the Weissach research and development centre.
“The competition bears fruits and we see further potential for future synergy between the racing and road car programs. This is why we have extended the program.”
It’s been a bit over a month since we got an unhindered look at the facelifted Porsche 911 Carrera. Now, we’re getting a look at the 991.2 911 Turbo S, seen here driving around the Nürburgring.
There’s revised styling at the front compared with the 2013 911 Turbo (pictured below), along with updated styling and cooling vents at the rear.
The updated 991.2 range will make its public debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show (17–27 September). You can probably expect some official details from Porsche a few days or so before.
[Source: Autoblog]
Porsche had the indecency to release the new Boxster Spyder while I was in Germany, so here’s a bit of a catch up. After the break there’s a host of videos, a big gallery of photos and the official press kit.
The roof on the 981 Spyder is still made from lightweight fabric and it’s still manual. While the roof still a bit cumbersome to operate, it now remains attached to the car at all times, which is a big improvement on the 987 Spyder.
A quick run down of the key stats before you sink your teeth into the full details.
Above you see a pretty good shot of the 981.2 Porsche Boxster. When it goes on sale in Australia mid-2016 it will move up the family food chain, demoting the hardtop Cayman to entry-level status.
Currently priced from $105,100 the 195kW/280Nm Boxster hits the market $1500 cheaper than the 202kW/290Nm Cayman ($106,600). The price gap increases to around $8000 for the more powerful S models.
The facelifted models will include the switch to downsized four-cylinder turbocharged engines, with the Cayman and Boxster to be fitted with a 2.0 litre and the S models to get a larger capacity 2.5 litre unit.
Once positioned above the Cayman, the convertible Boxster will also be the more powerful of the two, receiving modest power and torque increases compared with its fixed-roof sibling.
[Source: Motoring.com.au | Pic: Autocar | Thanks to John for the tip]
This Porsche 956 is up for sale at the forthcoming Gooding & Company Pebble Beach Auction (15–16 August). It’s chassis 956.003, the car that spectacularly won the 1983 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Astute readers will know there’s a strong Australian connection with this car as 1983 was the year Vern Schuppan won Le Mans, alongside American duo Hurley Haywood and Al Holbert. The car famously crossed the line with smoke pouring from its left side and stopped after crossing the finish line. There’s a brief video after the break showcasing the car’s crowning glory.
Chassis 956.003 holds an impressive record and is one of Porsche’s most successful racecars. In addition to its Le Mans victory it finished second at Le Mans in 1982. Over its competitive life the car racked up 1000km race wins at Spa, Fuji and Imola, as well as winning the 9 Hours of Kyalami.
And, according to the Gooding & Company price guide, it can be all yours for somewhere between US$7–9 million. It really is a car that Porsche should have in its own museum.
[Source: Gooding & Company]
UPDATE 18 August: The car sold for US$10,120,000!
Alexander Bermudez is a photographer and car guy. Actually make that Porsche guy. His 964 911 has been featured on Petrolicious twice now. The first time was back in 2013 in a static story and photoshoot; his own photos of course.
Bermudez’s 964 was nicknamed The Growler by one of his mates and when you watch this video you’ll soon learn why. This is a great clip. Not because there’s great technical detail; there’s none. It’s great because it captures the spirit and the simplicity of pure driving.
Watch Bermudez driving in the hills near his home. There’s no mucking about, just driving for driving’s sake.
This has also been captured well with Alexander’s own words: “Because it’s so light, it has the speed and acceleration you’d typically find in the water-cooled cars, and yet, because it’s slightly older and has automatic steering taken out of it, it has really good steering feel.
“The closer you get to the edge, it becomes more comfortable, because it’s telling you exactly what’s going on.”
Here’s two videos from Evo on the Porsche 911 GT3 RS. The first is all about the emotion, the sound and the speed. The second is Henry Catchpole’s first impressions on the road. You’re going to have a smile on your face after watching these two.
And you’ll probably find yourself buying a lotto ticket or two as well.
[Thanks to Richard for the tip]
If you know your Porsches you’ll know the reverence the 911 R nameplate holds. And we have it on good authority that Porsche is hatching a new special model, along the lines of the 997-based Sport Classic, that could well bring the 911 R badge back to the future. It won’t be a racing model like the original, but it will still be quite unique.
Based on the information we have learned a special prototype rolled off the Stuttgart production line earlier this week. This hitherto secret 911 features a Turbo S body, a 4.0 litre GT3 RS engine and suspension components from the GTS and GT3. The model has rear seats and Porsche is toying with the idea of badging it as a 911 R.
And, if you know your Porsches, you’ll also know that when they make limited-run models they don’t come cheap. It’s expected the 911 R will have a €250,000 base price. That’s close to €70,000 more than the list price of a GT3 RS, or around the price of a Cayman S.
At this stage we can’t say this is any more than a well-founded rumour based on information from sources AUSmotive has come to trust. We won’t mind at all if you bookmark this post and hold us to account.
In the menatime if you want to learn more about the original 911 R then take a look at these links: The Revs Institiute | Road Scholars | Butzi Squared
[Pic: The Revs Institiute ]
Silverstone Auctions has its big sale coming up this weekend, the Silverstone Classic. In the list of cars up for sale are this 1972 Porsche 911 2.4 S and 1991 Porsche 964 RS.
All round nice guy and classic car guru Harry Metcalfe has been commissioned to show you what to look out for when buying an old skool 911. We reckon a few of you out there will enjoy this clip.
We thank Tom Ford for commissioning this rendering of a new 911 GT3 RS branded with Pink Pig colours. It looks great and reminds us of a true icon. Thanks Tom!
The Porsche 917/20 “Pink Pig” is one of motorsport’s most iconic liveries. The 917/20 was an aerodynamic experiment designed in partnership with French company SERA and its broader than usual proportions earnt it the pig nickname from Porsche itself.
The car was entered in the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans and after team sponsor Martini refused to have its branding on the car the pig-themed livery was born. The Pink Pig failed to finish due to an accident and although its time as a competition vehicle was brief the livery has left an lasting mark on the history of the 917.
[Source: Twitter]
Following last week’s scooped images captured by Bridge to Gantry, Autocar brings us a gallery of images showing the Porsche 991.2 911 undergoing testing in South Africa. The images have been supplied by Porsche, although as yet not via their usual media outlets.
Technical details are being kept under wraps for now, even if the cars are not. So at this stage we can really only point to cosmetic changes to the front and rear bodywork, wing mirrors and the like.
We can bring your attention to the fact that a manual gearbox will still be available and that there will be (a no doubt optional) steering-wheel mounted controller to switch between four driving modes.
And, of course, we know the entry level Carrera and Carrera S models will be turbocharged. It appears as though there’s some debate over the capacity of the flat six engines.
We reckon it’ll be a 2.7 litre in the Carrera making something like 275kW (up from 257kW) and a 3.0 litre for the S with around 310kW (up from 294kW).
[Source: Autocar]