Rivarama

Imagine a commercial release of this beauty... the P-car brand would have been crushed forever

seriously who came up with:
1) that idea
2) that design
3) actually assembling a prototype... was it a joke or somthg?

perryinva

I'd guess a Photoshop...wheels are out of proportion to the rest of the car.

NNH

There was some bizarre rear-engined four door considered in the early 90s. Perhaps fortunately, Porsche AG didn't have the money to create a super-Skoda

Marc Gelefsky

Well, they did actually build the Cayenne so from a design standpoint nothing would surprise me!

gregorycarl

fake...

You can see where it was cut and put back together. Look at the rocker panel (shadow from door is not right, that dark strip was added). Also shadow on pavement right below is suspicious. Also rear window is too sharp in focus versus rest of roofline. Any good creative director or art director would send it back for more work.

p.s. - I've been a Creative Director for over 22 years.

Wellardmac

That's not a photoshop and not a fake, it's the Porsche 989 Concept car that many view as being the precursor to the Panamera.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_989
http://www.theautobahn.com/forum/sho...article_id=159
http://jalopnik.com/cars/retro/panam...und-122197.php
http://www.theautobahn.com/forum/sho...ar_model_id=42

I don't see why anyone would think that it is ugly - it's basically a stretched 911 with 4 doors... ahem, the same as the Panamera is going to be.

Marc Gelefsky

Not exactly, the Pana-scare-us is going to be front engined and not quite a 911 knockoff, I suspect it wont be that pleasing to the eye. Regardless I'm sure it will drive great!

Wellardmac

Okay, let me rephrase.

Cosmetically it will resemble a stretched 4 door 911.

A Cayenne resembles a 911 that has been stretched upwards and outwards to make an SUV box.

Basically it will cosmetically share the 911 DNA in the same way that all of Porsches designs are similar.

I would have bought the 989 in a heartbeat and will probably own a Panamera at some point. You have to consider that the 989 looked like a 996 before the 996 was created. A lot of the styling cues in our cars come from this concept car.

I just love those who scream fake without knowing the history of their beloved brand... research baby, research! I thought everyone knew about the 989.

perryinva

Ahem..ahh Porsche is not exactly my beloved brand..I like and love many things Porsche (and BMW) but both companies seem to really have trouble understanding the concept of cars we want in the US or North American market. I don't know much about Ferrari, but from what I've seen, I'd be leaning towards them as my beloved brand...but then again, I'm Italian...

Wellardmac

Speak for yourself.

Porsche doesn't design cars for North America. They design good, robust, speed machines for race enthusiasts.

Any company that designs for one market is doomed to failure.

I'm sure you can define what the people of North America want, but I cannot and I'm sure the are many others like me.

PS, are you real Italian, or fake wannabe italian? Many americans claim to be italian, irish, scottish, etc without having ever set foot in the country... that always cracks me up.

Marc Gelefsky

Well Porsche is my beloved brand and I was aware of the 989 but I must admit that I do not find the Cayenne to be a particularly good looking vehicle and I fear the same will happen with the Panamera.
I have no issue with Porsche building a "super sedan" I would just like to see it done right. I have enjoyed the look of every 911 ever made but stretch that into a sedan and its not going to look great or puff it up and make an SUV, not so hot
I am all for brand recognition but some of the spy shots I have seen are not pretty! Hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised because I would love to have a Porsche family hauler some day.
Just my .996 cents

JimB

I had dinner a few weeks ago with a factory driver. Of course he's sworn to secrecy but when we asked him about the Panamera he got a real big smile on his face. That's all I need to know.

Wellardmac

yeah, I've gotta admit that they made one ugly car when they stretched the 911 styling into a Cayenne.

I take heart that the original artist renderings of the Panamera are really nice. The photos we've seen so far of it are mules that are dressed up in camouflage and not really indicators of what the final car will looks like.

You have to give Porsche the benefit of doubt in that they're fairly predictable in their designs and you can bet that all of the design elements of the Panamera are already existing in the current product range.

...think about how there has always been design synergies in all of the recent cars... Boxster to 996, Boxster to Cayman, 911 to Cayenne.

Porsche is about evolution, not revolution. They will not debut a new design on a new car, it will be a Frankencar created out of the existing designs.

Wellardmac

..and that's all I need to know in order to put down my deposit.

JimB

I felt the same way about the Cayenne until I drove one. Say what you want about the styling, that's one fine SUV. If I didn't have to pull a car trailer I'd own one for sure.