Porsche Releases Panamera Teaser Picture

Justin Berkowitz
by Justin Berkowitz

Porsche has released a nice shot of the front clip of its new Panamera uber-sedan. It’s good news and it’s bad news. The good news: it looks like the rest of the Porsche lineup. The bad news: can’t Porsche come up with a new design? They have the 911, which works, and then graft that face onto everything else they make. At one point, the front of the Boxster was considered so similar to the 911 that Porsche worried 911 buyers would go to other brands rather than risk being confused with a lowly Boxster driver (even if the Boxster’s mid engine and proper weight distribution make it the superior driver’s car). So while Porsche experimented with some great designs from an aesthetic standpoint as well as their aptitude for being great behind the wheel (924, 944, 968, 928), the $150,000 Panamera seems to rely on the old faithful maxim for Porsche: everything must look like the 911. Cool yes, but also painfully unimaginative.

Justin Berkowitz
Justin Berkowitz

Immensely bored law student. I've also got 3 dogs.

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  • Ingvar Ingvar on Sep 15, 2008

    It's all in the execution. I find it interesting that the Panamera design is inferior to the almost twenty years old and sadly stillborn Porsche 989 concept: http://usuarios.lycos.es/cporschecat/images/porsches/projectes/989_snf.jpg Key members in that project was Harm Lagaay and Ulrich Bez, the latter head of Aston Martin nowadays. Ant there's a lot of The Aston Martin Rapide in that rear haunch of the 989. And there's a lot of the 911 in the rear haunch of the Aston Martin V8. The 911 was the benchmark for the V8 project. Then, Porsche did have the tech, but not the money. Now they have the tech, the money, but lost their mojo somewhere in between. How come the Panamera looks so tremendously ugly and out of place, when the 989 is as beautiful as can be? Is it the Audi-sourced V8? The Volkswagen Touareg underpinnings? Where did all that mass come from? How could it go so wrong?

  • Kazoomaloo Kazoomaloo on Sep 15, 2008

    I have a sneaking suspicion that the big ol' ass we're seeing in all the spy shots is some kind of a trick that Porsche is pulling, and the actual car will be more well proportioned.

  • Ingvar Ingvar on Sep 15, 2008

    Yeah, I would hope so too. But that design seems more finalized than the Volt vaporware will ever be. And the Panamera pics I have seen have been more or less the same looking for the last three years...

  • SupaMan SupaMan on Sep 15, 2008
    highrpm : September 15th, 2008 at 10:45 am I saw a spy shot of the rear of this thing on another site. I hope it looks a lot better in production. I have high hopes for this car. A Porsche that can haul the wife and some kids sounds pretty good. I know the 911 has seats but they are more for decoration than utility. There's a Cayenne at your local Porsche dealer with your name on it. I'll have a Rapide thank you.
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