928 Gts, Polar Silver, 5 Speed, 47,000 Miles, All Service History, As New! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Porsche-Piech buy 10% stake in VW's holding company

In August, 2009, as the scuttled merger of Porsche and Volkswagen had gone bad and Porsche was backed up against the ropes, Porsche Automobil Holding SE (PAHSE) relinquished a ten-percent stake in itself to Qatar Holdings as well as options it held on 17 percent of VW shares. The sale meant that, for the first time since the founding of the company 61 years before, an entity outside the Porsche and Piech families had a say in the running of PAHSE.
Buying that ten-percent stake back returns full ownership to the two families, the holding company's sole possession being ownership of 50.7 percent of VW's common shares. The price paid wasn't disclosed, but at market rates the purchase would be worth close to $1.25 billion. Qatar intends to hold onto the 17-percent stake it has in Volkswagen.

The 1994 Porsche 911 Speedster only looks weirder with age

The 1994 Porsche 911 Speedster is undoubtedly a rare car, and it's even rather quick by the standards of the era. However, the designers weren't at their best when they created the odd shape at this model's rear. MotorWeek remembers this classic Porsche's exciting performance and weird look in its latest Retro Review. The Speedster's design isn't all bad. The front end still looks fantastic thanks to the nose of the 964-generation 911 and a steeply raked windshield. We can even live with the body color wheels. However, things get much worse at the rear where the hard cover, which hides the roof, gives the convertible a hunchback. As MotorWeek shows, fitting the manual top is quite fiddly. Porsche might have been better off from a styling perspective by leaving the back smooth and completely ditching the complicated roof. You can't get a good look at the weird rear from the driver's seat, and MotorWeek says that the Speedster excels once you're behind the wheel. The handling and braking are reportedly especially good. Sport seats grip the driver closely, and even with 247 horsepower, the convertible gets to 60 miles per hour in 5.4 seconds. With the weather starting to warm up, it sounds like a great experience, and you can imagine taking a ride in MotorWeek's latest video. Related Video:

Porsche announces plan to replace 911 GT3 engines

About a month back, we reported that Porsche was suspending delivery of its 911 GT3 due to reported incidents of the engine bursting into flames. A few days later, Porsche told owners of the new track-ready models not to drive their cars and had their local dealers pick up the cars in question. Just a couple of days ago, we reported that Porsche was working on a fix, and now we have the official details.
Following an internal investigation prompted by two such incidents, Porsche has confirmed that is has identified the problem as resulting "from a loosened screw joint on the connecting rod." The loose connecting rod, Porsche found, damaged the crankcase, which in turn resulted in oil leaking and then - in at least two cases - igniting.
Our source is unaware of Porsche being contacted by GT3 owners concerned about the impact of a replacement engine on their car's collectibility or resale value.