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2014 Porsche 911 Targa

I've watched the electro-hydraulic roof panel open and close about 73 times in the past hour, but its fascinatingly complicated operation still has me mesmerized. I've concluded that only a German automaker - Porsche, to be more specific - would go through the trouble of engineering a roof system that essentially lifts the entire greenhouse off a vehicle, rearranges its components like a sliding-tile puzzle, and then reassembles all of them seamlessly (sans roof panel) to accurately recreate one of its most famed bodystyles.
The 2014 Porsche 911 Targa is a near-perfect modern interpretation of the automaker's 1965 911 Targa, a semi-convertible bodystyle that represents nearly 13 percent of all 911 models sold since production started 50 years ago. While the early car's roof was purely manual in operation - that's the period-correct way of saying that the driver did all of the muscle work - today's Targa is a completely automated transformation that requires only that the driver hold down a cabin-mounted switch for a mere 19 seconds to let the captivating show run its course.
After studying the Targa's elaborate roof operation at its launch at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this year, I was sufficiently intrigued. To that end, I traveled one-third of the way around the planet to southern Italy, hoping that the Mediterranean climate would reveal a bit more about the reintroduction of the automaker's iconic sports car.

Porsche Pajun to go all-electric as Tesla rival

Porsche has been rumored to be working on a smaller counterpart to the Panamera for nearly four years now, but we have yet to see any sign of the model dubbed Pajun coming to fruition beyond a digital rendering hidden in the background of another Porsche design. Apparently Stuttgart has been having trouble making the business case in an already crowded market segment. But that doesn't mean the project is completely off the table. According to the latest from Germany's own Auto Motor und Sport, Porsche is now planning to launch the so-called Pajun (shorthand for Panamera Junior just like the Macan project was previously called Cajun) purely as an electric vehicle. With an eye evidently fixed on how dedicated hybrids and EVs are gaining traction in the marketplace (to say nothing of actual tarmac), the electric Pajun - almost certain to carry a different name to the showroom – would be different enough to distinguish itself from existing four-doors of that size like the Mercedes E-Class, BMW 5 Series, Audi A6, et al. Word has it that Porsche believes that battery technologies will advance enough over the next four years to give its four-door EV a range of nearly 250 miles on a single charge. The model's arrival would be just the latest in a series of environmental concessions made by the company with the broadest range of plug-in hybrids on the market. Aside from the E-Hybrid versions of the Panamera and Cayenne, Porsche arguably led the charge (so to speak) towards hybrid hypercars with the 918 Spyder, is downsizing many of its engines and is turbocharging almost the entirety of the 911 range.

Porsche Cayenne diesel V8 may not be long for this world

Goodbye, Porsche Cayenne V8 Diesel. We hardly knew ye. Nor did the Europeans, apparently. Porsche's V8 oil burner is still on the European model list for the Cayenne SUV, but the mill won't go through the likely pricey process of being updated to adhere to new and stricter European emissions standards, Just-Auto says. A Porsche spokesman confirmed to the publication that it's a fairly complicated process to update the diesel V8 to be so-called "Euro-6 compliant." With Cayenne diesels selling in relatively low volumes anyways, the German automaker might just dump the V8 diesel altogether, as it'd be quite cost-ineffective to make the necessary upgrades. The V8 diesel was a 4.1-liter engine that delivered 385 horsepower in addition to what sounds like a little too much exhaust for European clean-air regulators. While that's a pretty powerful profile, the most recent gas-powered V8 for the Cayenne delivers about 570 horsepower, so the diesel engine won't likely be missed by European auto enthusiasts. Besides, there's still the V6 diesel that's also sold in the US. That's a 4,800-pound beast that moves from 0 to 60 miles per hour in about seven seconds and gets a relatively (for diesels) modest 20 miles per gallon city. For those who are curious, Autoblog's First Drive review of that model can be found here.