(Porsche images)
Editor-in-Chief's Note: This is the new Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid Sport Turismo (catchy name, that). It has a 4.0L twin-turbo 550HP V8 and a 136HP electric motor, which delivers a total system power output of 680HP and 626 lb.-ft. of torque. Porsche says that it goes zero to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds with a top track speed of 192 mph. Porsche executives are bullish on this thing and are said to be very encouraged by the advanced orders placed by U.S. dealers. We, on the other hand, are not. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as they say, but with a base MSRP of $188,400, you'd have to squint real hard to make this thing look good. If you just have to be the first on your block to have one it is expected to arrive here next spring. Good night and good luck. -PMD
Editor-in-Chief's Note: This is the new Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid Sport Turismo (catchy name, that). It has a 4.0L twin-turbo 550HP V8 and a 136HP electric motor, which delivers a total system power output of 680HP and 626 lb.-ft. of torque. Porsche says that it goes zero to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds with a top track speed of 192 mph. Porsche executives are bullish on this thing and are said to be very encouraged by the advanced orders placed by U.S. dealers. We, on the other hand, are not. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as they say, but with a base MSRP of $188,400, you'd have to squint real hard to make this thing look good. If you just have to be the first on your block to have one it is expected to arrive here next spring. Good night and good luck. -PMD
(Lexus images)
This is the 2018 Lexus LS. It has a new platform, a new twin-turbo V6 with 416HP, a 10-speed automatic transmission and new safety stuff galore. We stopped reading, however, after Lexus PR minions came up with this gem: "Longer, Lower, Wider - and More Exciting." It will be here in February starting around $75,000.
This is the 2018 Lexus LS. It has a new platform, a new twin-turbo V6 with 416HP, a 10-speed automatic transmission and new safety stuff galore. We stopped reading, however, after Lexus PR minions came up with this gem: "Longer, Lower, Wider - and More Exciting." It will be here in February starting around $75,000.
(PPG images)
Cars featuring PPG paint took home major awards at the recent Shades of the Past 35th annual Hot Rod Roundup and the Goodguys 31st West Coast Nationals. Both events attract some of the nation’s best custom car builds, making for highly spirited awards contests. At Shades of the Past, held September 8–9 at Dollywood’s Splash Country in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., the Street Rodder Triple Crown of Rodding — consisting of three prestigious honors: Best Street Rod, Best Street Machine and Best Street Cruiser — drew a competitive field with PPG-painted cars claiming two of the three major awards. The Best Street Rod award went to a 1932 Ford Tudor Sedan owned by George Poteet, Memphis, Tenn., and built by the capable craftsmen at Johnson’s Hot Road Shop in Gadsden, Ala. The car is no stranger to recognition, having been a recent Detroit Autorama Ridler Award contender. “Inferno,” a bright yellow 1969 Camaro owned by John Wilkus of Lakeville, Minn., captured the Best Street Machine title. The Camaro was built and painted by the talented team at the Roadster Shop, Mundelein, Ill., under the direction of owners Jeremy and Phil Gerber. The car has appeared on the cover of Hot Rod and taken awards at Goodguys events. A 1933 Ford Roadster dubbed “Renaissance Roadster” took home the top prize at the Goodguys 31st West Coast Nationals, held in Pleasanton, Calif., at the Alameda County Fairgrounds, August 25–27. It was also named America’s Most Beautiful Street Rod. The car is owned by Buddy Jordan of San Antonio, Texas, and was built by Steve Frisbie and his team at Steve’s Auto Restorations in Portland, Ore. It was the Ridler Award winner at the 2017 Detroit Autorama. The original design for the roadster came from a rendering by designer Chris Ito with additional inspiration from Frisbie and another team member, designer David Brost. Painter Jay Spencer gave the Ford its dazzling candy-apple red and black appearance.
Cars featuring PPG paint took home major awards at the recent Shades of the Past 35th annual Hot Rod Roundup and the Goodguys 31st West Coast Nationals. Both events attract some of the nation’s best custom car builds, making for highly spirited awards contests. At Shades of the Past, held September 8–9 at Dollywood’s Splash Country in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., the Street Rodder Triple Crown of Rodding — consisting of three prestigious honors: Best Street Rod, Best Street Machine and Best Street Cruiser — drew a competitive field with PPG-painted cars claiming two of the three major awards. The Best Street Rod award went to a 1932 Ford Tudor Sedan owned by George Poteet, Memphis, Tenn., and built by the capable craftsmen at Johnson’s Hot Road Shop in Gadsden, Ala. The car is no stranger to recognition, having been a recent Detroit Autorama Ridler Award contender. “Inferno,” a bright yellow 1969 Camaro owned by John Wilkus of Lakeville, Minn., captured the Best Street Machine title. The Camaro was built and painted by the talented team at the Roadster Shop, Mundelein, Ill., under the direction of owners Jeremy and Phil Gerber. The car has appeared on the cover of Hot Rod and taken awards at Goodguys events. A 1933 Ford Roadster dubbed “Renaissance Roadster” took home the top prize at the Goodguys 31st West Coast Nationals, held in Pleasanton, Calif., at the Alameda County Fairgrounds, August 25–27. It was also named America’s Most Beautiful Street Rod. The car is owned by Buddy Jordan of San Antonio, Texas, and was built by Steve Frisbie and his team at Steve’s Auto Restorations in Portland, Ore. It was the Ridler Award winner at the 2017 Detroit Autorama. The original design for the roadster came from a rendering by designer Chris Ito with additional inspiration from Frisbie and another team member, designer David Brost. Painter Jay Spencer gave the Ford its dazzling candy-apple red and black appearance.
(Porsche)
Porsche has set a new lap record for street legal sports cars on the 12.8 mile (20.6 kilometer) Nürburgring-Nordschleife with the 2018 911 GT2 RS. Recorded and officially timed on September 20th, the best lap time of 6:47.3 minutes even surpassed internal expectations. The record lap was not just a single occurrence: Lars Kern of Germany and Nick Tandy from Great Britain broke the previous record for street legal sports cars (6:52.01 minutes) immediately and proceeded to lap the track in under 6:50 minutes on five separate laps. Porsche factory driver Nick Tandy traveled directly from competing in the WEC six-hour race in Austin, Texas, in the Porsche 919 Hybrid to the Ring and adapted quickly to the 700HP 911 GT2 RS fitted with standard N-spec Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. Lars Kern, Porsche test driver by trade and a passionate race car driver in his own right, was the one to set the fastest final time. Frank-Steffen Walliser, Head of Motorsport and GT Cars for Porsche AG, said ”At the start of the development process, we set ourselves a lap time target for the GT2 RS of less than 7 minutes and 5 seconds. The credit for beating this target by 17.7 seconds goes to our development engineers, mechanics and drivers, who demonstrated an exceptionally strong team performance. This result makes it official: The GT2 RS is not only the most powerful, but also the fastest 911 model ever built.” Editor-in-Chief's Note: As I've said many, many times on this website I think the whole "set a fast time at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife" idea for manufacturers has been played out. It's time to move on. -PMD
Porsche has set a new lap record for street legal sports cars on the 12.8 mile (20.6 kilometer) Nürburgring-Nordschleife with the 2018 911 GT2 RS. Recorded and officially timed on September 20th, the best lap time of 6:47.3 minutes even surpassed internal expectations. The record lap was not just a single occurrence: Lars Kern of Germany and Nick Tandy from Great Britain broke the previous record for street legal sports cars (6:52.01 minutes) immediately and proceeded to lap the track in under 6:50 minutes on five separate laps. Porsche factory driver Nick Tandy traveled directly from competing in the WEC six-hour race in Austin, Texas, in the Porsche 919 Hybrid to the Ring and adapted quickly to the 700HP 911 GT2 RS fitted with standard N-spec Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. Lars Kern, Porsche test driver by trade and a passionate race car driver in his own right, was the one to set the fastest final time. Frank-Steffen Walliser, Head of Motorsport and GT Cars for Porsche AG, said ”At the start of the development process, we set ourselves a lap time target for the GT2 RS of less than 7 minutes and 5 seconds. The credit for beating this target by 17.7 seconds goes to our development engineers, mechanics and drivers, who demonstrated an exceptionally strong team performance. This result makes it official: The GT2 RS is not only the most powerful, but also the fastest 911 model ever built.” Editor-in-Chief's Note: As I've said many, many times on this website I think the whole "set a fast time at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife" idea for manufacturers has been played out. It's time to move on. -PMD