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2015 Porsche 918 Spyder: Touring the factory

Willy Wonka granted just five lucky Golden Ticket holders access to his incredible chocolate factory, yet we consider ourselves just as fortunate, as Porsche invited us to be among the first of just four American journalists to see behind the closed doors of its 918 Spyder assembly plant in Zuffenhausen, Germany. Of course, there were no Oompa Loompas or flowing chocolate rivers, but the vast white hall tasked with producing only 918 examples of the automaker's limited-production flagship revealed details that make Wonka's Golden Egg sorting room seem rather mundane in comparison. Unlike a traditional automobile manufacturing plant, which often encompass all processes of making a vehicle (e.g., stamping steel panels, welding components and painting), the 918 Spyder is built in an assembly plant. This means that hundreds of already manufactured parts, each crafted by Porsche offsite suppliers, are brought under one roof to be assembled into a perfectly finished product that is much sweeter – and far more expensive – than any candy delicacy. Our tour guide was Michael Drolshagen, Porsche's Director of Production, Logistics and Quality - a walking encyclopedia when it comes to the engineering and assembly of the 918 Spyder. Drolshagen generously offered us unrestricted access to walk among the factory's 110 workers – and a couple-dozen vehicles in process – to photograph everything. This is a story best told with pictures, so we've put together a raft of our best images in a high-resolution gallery and captioned each with a detailed description. If you've still got questions, please voice them in Comments section and we'll do our best to answer.

Porsche Macan spied, all lit up and dodging flurries

We've seen the upcoming Porsche Macan testing on surface roads and even on the Nürburgring, but here we have our first spy shots showing a disguised prototype doing some winter testing in snowy conditions. Still obscured by plenty of camouflage attempting to mimic its larger Cayenne sibling, we still can't get a clear look at what the Macan's face and rump are going to look like, although it does appear that some details for the front lighting are starting to emerge.
Below the headlights, those are obviously decals trying to look like turn signal lenses, but it appears that there is still some sort of lighting being hidden judging by the small circles cut into the camo. Lower in the fascia, we can also see there are LED running lights not revealed on past prototypes. The entire rear end of this Macan prototype still appears to be tacked-on camo, but the side view appears to be in production form save for the poorly disguised rear quarter windows.
As we've seen in the past, Porsche engineers are still testing the Macan alongside the Audi Q5 with which it shares its platform. There has been no word as to when we could expect to see the Macan in production or concept form, but we'd have to guess that this compact crossover is getting ready to shed its camo very soon.

Porsche Australia racing chief dies in crash

The motor racing community in Australia was saddened today to learn of the passing of Jamey Blaikie, a longtime racing administrator and former motorsport director for Porsche in Australia. A former racing driver in his own right, Blaikie was better known for his instrumental role in starting the Porsche Carrera Cup in Australia back in 2003. He left Porsche Cars Australia just last year to pursue other interests, including running an Aston Martin entry in the GT Asia series. Blaikie was in Fiji reportedly undertaking charity work there when his rental car collided with a truck, prematurely ending his life at just 52 years old. Our condolences go out to his family, friends and the motorsport community Down Under, where he'll surely be missed.