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Porsche unlocks secrets of its mid-engine 911

Porsche is beginning to realize that it's sitting on a goldmine of automotive history with its secret vault full of rare cars. Autoblog toured it a few months ago, and we were amazed at all of the curiosities hidden inside. Now, it's starting to let more folks in thanks to a new series of YouTube videos. The first covered the 965 prototype that shoved a water-cooled, Audi V8 into one of its cars. Next up, a mid-engine 911 that acted as the powertrain test mule for the Boxster.
The Porsche 911 is inextricably linked to its rear-engine layout. They go together like peanut butter and jelly. However, at the time Porsche was developing the Boxster, the company didn't want to lay all of its cards out of the table during testing. As opposed to using camouflage, it put a whole different car on top. The prototype looked just like any other 911 Targa of the day, but the biggest giveaway that something was amiss was the heavily tinted rear window. By obscuring it, inquisitive journalists couldn't peak at the new engine that replaced the backseat.
It might not look like anything too important on the outside, but this is a major piece of Porsche Boxster history underneath. Scroll down to watch the video about this fascinating prototype.

Top Gear drag races VW Golf R against McLaren 675LT and Porsche 911

Top Gear's latest quarter-mile drag race in the collects three very different performance vehicles: the 296-horsepower Volkswagen Golf R, 424-hp Porsche 911 Carrera GTS, and 666-hp McLaren 675LT. While each of these cars sit near the top of their segment, they each come from totally different rungs of the sports car price ladder. Spoiler alert, the Golf R doesn't win. But the final results illustrate the diminishing returns of price and performance. For example, the McLaren is only about a second quicker than the Porsche to 60 miles per hour, but the 675LT costs over 2.5 times more that the GTS. Related Video:

Jay Leno chats with Magnus Walker about his 1972 Porsche 911 72STR

Magnus Walker has stopped by the Big Dog Garage again to pay Jay Leno a visit in the latest episode of Jay Leno's Garage. This time, the Porsche builder brought along his 1972 911 72STR 002. Walker calls the machine his best build to date, and the car is a rolling "best of" from Porsches past, rocking some of the more attractive elements pulled from a wide arc of 911 model years. Of course, the machine also wears a few signature Walker touches, including flush-mount turning indicators, a center-hood fuel filler and plenty of louver work.
Unlike some of Walker's other creations, the 72STR 002 is clean enough to lick. Leno seems suitably impressed with the creation, and while apparently isn't typically a fan of Porsche models in general, Walker's tastefully modified 911 has him singing a different tune. You can check out the car in the video below.