The Car Thread

[Richard.John]

Not sure if it's been done before but a bit surprised that we don't have one considering that most of us are men.

Anyway, first up, possibly the ugliest car ever created. The new Porsche Panamera. I would post direct pic links but I am not sure if its allowed.

http://globalmotors.net/porsche-panamera-spied-with-very-little-camouflage/

My god it's a moose. A a squashed Cayenne by the looks of it, and that is the world's second ugliest car as it is (after the Panamera of course)

I respect the company for what it is, but why dilute the brand by going SUV and now sedan. I know they want to increase sales to Americans and Chinese, but this thing is a bridge too far, in my humble opinion. Ferrari would never do it so neither should Porsche. I read that Lamborghini have a SUV in the works too which is a travesty. Of the three childhood bedroom poster, fantasy makers, it seems only Ferrari has remained pure to its roots and that should be celebrated.

[vanpeebles]

Er Ferrari has built 4 door cars and estates in the past and Lambo did that pretty cool SUV thing years ago called the LM002 and they also built a light attack vehicle called the Cheetah. These days you go for sales first.

[NW2013]

A car I'm loving at the moment is the new Dodge Challenger. It's so ludicrous that I love it. Massive engine, massive car and 0-60 in about 5 seconds. Plus in America they're about ?20,000. Shame it's more like ?40,000 to import one over here.

[Richard.John]

American cars are unique I guess in their own way. The Dodge looks nice.

[NW2013]

I'm not a massive fan of American cars, I recognise their dynamic limitations, but I like the style of some of them. I saw a gorgeous metallic grey 60's Mustang round my way recently. It sounded absolutely incredible. Check this one out: http://bit.ly/fQUdc. Does anyone else engage in one of my favourite pursuits of trawling the autotrader website for cars they'd like?

That said I recently saw a new Maser GranTurismo and that too was pure aural sex.

[EvilBoris]

My god it's a moose. A a squashed Cayenne by the looks of it, and that is the world's second ugliest car as it is (after the Panamera of course)

The Cayenne is actually not bad in the flesh, that on the other hand is hideous, there are Peugeot that look better than that

[vanpeebles]

I'm a massive fan of American muscle cars, I also like a few of the old land yachts too like the mark 4/5 Continental.

[Richard.John]

Peugeots fell from the ugly tree too. Land yachts have their place too I suppose. You can't beat a nice Rolls, or maybe a Maybach. I recently drove a Toyota Crown Hybrid and it was as quiet as mouse and you couldn't even tell the engine was on, due tot he lack of vibration and electric motor assist. Utterly amazing machine, though not a drivers car with its one finger, super light steering but an impressive tech showcase none the less.

[charlesr]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamborghini_LM002

Cool. 7.2L V12.....

[Richard.John]

I shudder to think of the fuel economy figures for that thing.

[CMcK]

I'm hoping to buy a Panamera 6 cylinder hybrid once the prices come down on used models. I think it looks great and if Walter Rohrls comments are anything to go by it'll be a damn fine steer.

[Richard.John]

You will have a bit of a wait then, surely.

[CMcK]

Yep. I'm thinking about 2014 or so. We have a Mk V Golf Estate on order which I intend to run for 5 years or so until I see how hybrid and electric car technology is working out. I like the idea of leccy motors in a car. Max torque the moment the motor starts spinning. Great way to improve 0-62 times.

[Richard.John]

The lack of noise concerns me though. Near silent cars are potentially dangerous and souless to some degree.

[CMcK]

You could always add your own sound effects! I did read something recently about a firm working on adding noise to the exterior of electric cars. Hopefully someone is working on something similar for the interior as well. Be great to be able to pick a flat six sound when your on a charge then peace while soaking up some motorway miles.