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'We're not a hedge fund': Porsche plans to curtail speculators and flippers

A sizable number of speculators view cars as an investment. Rare or unusual models are quickly snapped up and either parked for years or flipped for a profit. Cars from automakers like Porsche and Ferrari are more prone than others, and at least some people behind these models are getting a bit tired of it. While it's difficult to police what goes on after you sell a car, Porsche has some plans that might curtail the problem before it starts. Andreas Preuninger, the head of GT road-car development and the man behind the new 911 GT3, spoke to Car and Driver at a recent event. "I personally like to see my cars being used," he said. "That's what we build them for. They are just too good to be left to stand and collect dust." One recent example of this rampant speculation is the 911 R. While the special manual-only model sold for $185,950 when new, used versions were selling for nearly $1.3 million just months after it went on sale. While the car is a masterpiece and an instant classic, a good number will be parked and simply used as art and not the rolling testaments to the man/machine interface they were intended to be. The concern over valuations has become so fierce that some owners are upset that Porsche is offering the new 911 GT3 with a manual transmission, fearing that it may hurt the value of the 911 R. "When I said we're not a hedge fund, I'm talking to those people who are yelling at us for offering the manual transmission similar to the R," Preuninger said. "But if there are people wanting to buy cars like that, then as a company we should try to fulfill that, to meet that demand." It seems Porsche is keeping a close eye on who is flipping cars. Since there is often far more demand than supply with certain models, the German automaker has a name for every car before it's built. Buyers with bad reputations might not even make the wait list. Related Video:

Evo makes the case for the world's best driving road in Majorca

What good is a sports car if you haven't got a great place to drive it? It's a common refrain that we've heard time and time again. But few are as familiar with the problem as they are in the UK, where the number of people, cars on the road and traffic cameras keep growing to conspire against the joy of driving. Leave it to Evo, then, to depart in search of the greatest driving road in the world.
It's a pursuit that's taken the British car mag across Europe, most recently to Romania's Carpathian Mountains where it added the Transalpina Pass to its short list. But its latest journey has taken Evo to the Spanish island of Majorca, where Henry Catchpole found not one, but two spectacular driving roads from behind the wheel of the new Porsche Boxster GTS. We could drone on about the smooth, empty ribbons of twisting tarmac with excellent visibility and panoramic vistas... but you really want to see the video for yourself. Don't miss Evo's previous trip to Romania in the Jaguar F-Type, which we've included below, as well.

Another cool projection vid, this time with a Porsche 911

Porsche has become the latest automaker to take advantage of clever projection technology. The automaker worked up a quick presentation for the 2013 911 Carrera 4S to show off a bit of "motionless driving." The display tracks the sports car from production to back-road caning and city-center cruising, displaying a variety of exterior color choices and wheel options without resorting to a two-dimensional video.
This isn't the first time we've seen an automaker use its new product as a projection screen. Subaru, Hyundai, Lamborghini and others have all done the same, and the trick never fails to be visually interesting.
As you may recall, we got to play with the 2013 911 Carrera 4S back in November and found the machine to be a better daily driver than its rear-wheel drive counterpart. You can check out the projection video below.