By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Personally, I find most of the traditional luxury cars at SEMA to be a little boring. I just really don’t care if somebody slapped a sweet set of wheels on a 7 Series BMW and rolled it on to the red carpet. Yawn. That said, I’d like to nominate the following cars for best luxury ride: the black Porsche Panamera (not everyone finds it as ill-proportioned as I do) ,  the killer widebody Bentley in the Nutek Wheels booth, the unreal House of Kolor Monte Carlo, this uber-tough diesel powered Caddy, and David Huang’s aggressively attired Lexus IS 300. Even if you think I’m totally high with these choices, vote for your favorite!

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By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Look, I know I’ve written a lot of less than charitable things about the styling of modern Porsches in this blog, but the truth is, I’ve actually started to come around. I don’t know what happened, but now I no longer find new 911s boring or ugly. And just as I start not reflexively hating everything Stuttgart touches, they go and drop the Panamera. What exactly inspired that back end? A rendering of Rosie O’Donnell in a thong? I know it’s capable and everything, but I just hate, hate, hate this car. Am I totally high? More pics after the jump.

Continue reading "Porsche Panamera: Ugly, With No Alibi." »

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Since the first spy photos were leaked, I’ve been saying I think Porsche’s Panamera looks pretty awful. And while I don’t think the finished product is totally hideous, I think Stuttgart fell well short of attractive with the design of it’s first four-door. What do I find hideous? The way that some media outlets title something a “car review,” and then deliver an infomercial. There’s nothing even remotely critical of the vehicle in Car News TV’s “review” of the new Porsche—not even the almost obligatory “while some purists might not like the idea of a Porsche sedan…”—and I swear I recognize the narrator’s voice from a detergent spot or something. I can just hear her saying “and just look at what it does to grass-stains!” That said, there are still some good shots of the Panamera in action here.

By 993C4S

Porsche Purist

The launch of the Panamera is getting closer and closer. In just a few weeks, the new five four door will be available to the general public at home in Germany. Not too long after that (September time frame) they should start showing up at a Porsche dealer near you hear in the States.

Not unexpectedly, and of great benefit to enthusiasts like me, Porsche is putting a big push behind the launch with press events, new Panamera pictures, videos, etc. The video below is the latest from Zuffenhausen that does a great job showcasing some of the incredible new technology offered in the Panamera. Can you pick out some of the new features that are prominently subtly displayed in the video below?