It’s a headline that sounds ready-made for outrage-clicks from both the #savethemanuals crowd and those who dislike too much regulation of autos: “Porsche 911 GT3 Manual Can’t be Sold in California.”

Some outlets used some variation of that wording when reporting the story. A story that sounds like a case of overbearing regulators killing the fun by meddling in the free market. Add in the California factor — remember, it’s the only state that can set its own emissions standards — and feel the blood boil.

Truth is, the story is a bit more mundane than all that.

As the 911 has continued to expand in size and skillset over recent years, the line between its sporting and grand touring intentions has started to blur.

Versatility is certainly a virtue for any road-going performance vehicle, but for those looking for a dyed-in-the-wool sportscar, the platform shared between the Boxster and Cayman has always made more sense, offering better weight distribution thanks to its mid-engined layout and dimensions that harken back to the 911’s air-cooled days.

A VIN decoder that has hit one of our parent company’s forums suggests that Porsche has prolific plans for 2021.

Ten Porsche drivers with leaden feet were stopped for doubling the speed limit in Gilpin County, Colorado, and one may have been a press-fleet car.

Or at least, had manufacturer tags.

According to a police officer quoted in The Denver Post, one of the vehicles stopped was being used as a pace car.

Sick and tired of paying through the nose to swap out Porsches all month, wowing your friends and coworkers with your revolving door of high-end rides? Your prayers have been answered.

Porsche Drive, the German automaker’s limited-market, all-in subscription service, has added something new: one- or three-month access to a single Porsche vehicle, rather than a multi-vehicle plan costing significantly more.

If you’re in town for only a short contract or just can’t stand the commitment that comes with leasing, this could be for you.

Officially, the word is “manipulated.”

That’s what Porsche suspects, and the ominous presence in this plot is apparently calling from inside the house. According to a German newspaper, the automaker has launched an internal investigation into possible manipulation of its gasoline engines.

TTAC’s own Sajeev Mehta gets the credit for discovering today’s Rare Ride. It’s the most special version of the Porsche 924, and it’s for sale in his hometown in the tiny republic of Texas.

Rare Rides featured one of Porsche’s 924s a couple of years ago, with the Martini Championship Edition (a steal at $7,000). This 924 is much more obscure — and much more expensive. Is this one-of-17 car worth the cool $925,000 asking price?

Perhaps it’s both. After four long years of teasing, Porsche pulled the wraps off its Taycan electric car on Wednesday, lifting the sheet at a glitzy affair overlooking Niagara Falls.

The four-door EV is sleek, sensuous, fast, expensive, and without a doubt Tesla’s worst nightmare. Why mention the chief rival of Porsche’s new offering? Well, because Tesla’s Model S 100D came first, and it’s still a significant money-maker for the hard-pressed automaker. But Porsche is Porsche — status comes standard with each purchase, and the Taycan brings that desirable badge into the growing realm of hot electrics.

So, what does the Taycan offer?

Think of it as a swan song for gasoline propulsion, not the Macan itself. For the 2020 model year, the hottest version of Porsche’s entry-level ute returns with more power and less displacement on tap, but the Macan Turbo sings its siren song against a funeral dirge backdrop.

This vehicle is a get-one-while-you-still-can proposition.

Porsche’s new 718 Boxster and Cayman T are following a trail blazed by the 911 Carrera T by becoming the value option for enthusiasts. Equipped with the entry-level engine, T-trimmed models receive swathes of standard equipment that focus exclusively on expanding the “joy of dynamic driving.”

For the 718, that bundles the Sport Chrono Package, Porsche Active Suspension Management (lowing the car by almost an inch), torque vectoring (with a locking rear differential), 20-inch wheels, and a short-throw shifter with the standard 2.0-liter, turbo flat-four. That leaves buyers to make do with 295 horsepower and 285 pound-feet of torque, resulting in a car that’s not really any quicker in a straight line but superior in the corners. Of course, speed hunters can still ditch the six-speed manual for the PDK.

Any measure of change to the 911 reliably sends Porsche purists into a tailspin worthy of the car’s legendary snap-oversteer thirty years ago. It has been suggested that the 911 was the leading cause of death of doctors, lawyers, and – erm – entrepreneurs in the ‘70s and ‘80s than anything else, including cocaine.

Those diabolically catastrophic handling traits have long been exorcised, of course, along with air cooling and church pew seating. With each change, anoraks have wailed into their Porsche Design espresso cups.

What will be said about a hybrid 911? Well, according to one source, they’ll at least be able to say it’s the most powerful 911 ever made.

If you want a Porsche Taycan EV, you may end up waiting even longer than planned.

Unless you’ve already raised your hand, that is.

Production is a year or more away, but Porsche USA’s top boss is already saying that if all preorders are turned into sales, the car is already sold out for year one. This, despite the company’s CEO saying that production will increase to account for the number of preorders.

Outside of a Nissan-hosted panel preceding the first media day, the typically mobility discussion was muted at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show (and even that panel wasn’t nearly as eye-roll inducing as the usual Ford pronouncements — at least this panel included actual experts making reasonable points, even if I disagree with some of them.)

L.A. was all about the cars – cars you’ll soon be able to buy, should you have the means.

Porsche is in an interesting position. While it remains an enthusiast brand par excellence, adding SUVs and sedans has left the automaker with one foot in the upper-crust portion of a more mainstream market. Fortunately, this has worked out incredibly well for the company. Porsche has broken its own sales record every year since 2012.

This week at the LA Auto Show, the German manufacturer paid service to its most ardent fans by unveiling the new 911. While not Porsche’s best-selling model, it’s easily the most iconic. But what if the brand tried to bridge the gap between adrenaline-seeking Carrera owners and the well-heeled soccer moms who drive the Macan crossover?

Apparently, that’s a concept the company’s staff is currently mulling over — when they aren’t sorting and cleaning their wrenches. A specific member of Porsche’s Executive Board feels it might be a good idea.

Allow me that one, as I’ve always wanted to use it in a headline. Porsche has taken the wraps off its new 911, showing the eight-generation model to a fawning crowd in Los Angeles on the eve of this week’s auto show.

The exterior, well, that’s an unmistakably Porsche 911 profile at which to gaze. Hanging out behind the rear axle of the S and 4S models is a flat-six now making 443 horsepower.

Party, indeed.

What do you get when you combine the sporty personality of Porsche with all the comfort and luxury of a Mercedes-Benz sedan?

The answer is this E500.

The votes are in, and out of the 20 nominees for best vehicle, here are the winners.

It was a difficult campaign full of mudslinging, negative ads, and scandal – oh wait, that’s that other election campaign that ended earlier this month. Sorry, my bad.

Porsche is fleshing out its Panamera lineup by incorporating the Sport Turismo into the GTS trim and slathering on an extra 20 horsepower. Slotting in just below the Turbo, GTS-trimmed Panameras place an added emphasis on performance — swapping the base 3.0-liter V6 for a less rowdy version of the 4.0-liter V8, without forcing customers to write a check in excess of $150,000. It sounds a little odd saying this, considering the model’s elevated price points, but the GTS is the “value option” for serious enthusiasts.

While we’re happy to see a peppier GTS, the big get is that Porsche is willing to bless the wagon with a more-affordable V8. Hopefully it means we’ll see more of them on the road, as these rigs are exceptionally easy on the eyes.

Porsche’s Taycan, a slinky electric sedan that used to carry the Mission E moniker, is only a starting point for the German performance brand. Several EVs are sure to follow that model’s 2019 debut, a couple of which saw light shed on them last week.

For the Taycan, it seems Porsche has plans to instill a little 911-themed heritage into its green car flag-bearer, starting with the car’s roof.

Having already introduced a subscription service for its vehicles, Porsche decided to continue experimenting with alternatives to traditional car ownership. The luxury brand plans to launch two pilot programs on both U.S. coasts (condolences to America’s Heartland) aimed at encouraging drivers to get behind the wheel of a Porsche for brief periods of time.

The first, overseen by Porsche Cars North America, will test exclusively within the Atlanta area, near Porsche’s North American headquarters. Called Porsche Drive, the pilot program launched a few days ago and offers hourly to weekly rentals of new Porsche cars and SUVs. Meanwhile, a second joint venture with peer-to-peer car rental company Turo will service San Francisco and Los Angeles starting next month. That endeavor focuses on the sharing of already purchased (new and vintage) Porsche vehicles by owners inclined to share them.

Porsche has grown rather chummy with the video game community of late. In 2017, the automaker used North America’s largest gaming expo as a platform for the debut of the 911 GT2 RS. You can attribute that to a relatively recent marketing push that resulted in its vehicles appearing in interactive media after a long-standing absence. Porsche, for whatever reason, spent years being exceptionally choosy about which developers can license its vehicles for their games. This usually results in blockbuster titles using “RUF” as a placeholder or simply abandoning Porsche vehicles entirely.

The last five or six years have been different, however. Automakers want to broaden their marketing approach and get away from the big industry trade shows. For Porsche, that means video games, and the relationship is only getting stronger.

This week, Porsche Epic Games and the graphical processing wizards at NVIDIA gathered to showcase what they claim is a major breakthrough in computer design rendering. While we can’t say with any authority that this will forever change automotive design, what they’ve managed to accomplish certainly looks impressive.

Electric cars are a polarizing matter among automotive enthusiasts. While a small group of ardent EV loyalists exist, a large portion of car people look at them with varying levels of contempt. However, let’s not kid ourselves, electrification is an inevitability. Even if EVs don’t proliferate like rabbits in springtime, standard powertrains will continue to evolve and electric automobiles will account for some of the most extreme performance models on the road.

We’ve already seen what Tesla can do if given enough money. The Model S P100D can already hit 60 mph in just over 2 seconds — putting extravagantly priced, flamboyant supercars to shame.

More vehicles are coming to fit this mold. Porsche has been working on a rival for Tesla’s sedan for a while now, and recently released the specs. While the Germans seem to have developed a strong performer, ready to feed plenty of internal combustion vehicles a crow supper, it doesn’t appear to be quite as fast as Tesla’s best. Either that, or Porsche is downplaying the Taycan’s (formerly the Mission E) technical specifications.

When you think about Porsche, you’re probably thinking of the 911. However, you really should be thinking about the Macan. It may have started out as a supplementary model for families interested in the Cayenne SUV but who found it beyond their means, but it’s quickly become the company’s best-selling vehicle. You now see them in every neighborhood where status is the deciding factor in automobile purchases.

Fortunately, the Macan also drives better than any compact crossover has a right to — further helping its popularity. But, with more competition within the premium utility segment than ever before, Porsche can’t leave the model to rest on its laurels. The manufacturer has updated the model for 2019 with loads of changes, but spotting them is a little like tackling the Double Check in a Highlights magazine under the influence of a rather severe childhood learning disability.

Even if some of its buyers don’t have one, Porsche prides itself on building cars with a unique essence, a certain substance that cannot be denied. A soul, in other words. Now, the automaker promises we’ll all discover that same quality in its upcoming electric sedan, which recently picked itself up a new name: Taycan (pronounced “tie-con”).

Formerly called the Mission E (seen in concept form above), the Taycan appears next year as a luxurious, long-range four-door with a price tag that almost certainly begins in the six-figure range. It’s a clear competitor to what was, for years, the only choice in this field — the Tesla Model S.

In a recently released video, Porsche seems to be making the argument that buyers who care the least bit about history and soul will have no use for that other car. It’s also a pretty good piece of marketing in its own right.

The auto industry has become so unconventional, so bizarro world, that I became momentarily confused after reading a report that Porsche has a Panamera coupe in development.

Automakers don’t develop new coupes. They develop slightly more curvaceous versions of four-door crossovers and SUVs and call them coupes, but they’re certainly not coupes. Thus, I found myself picturing a curvaceous four-door liftback version of a curvaceous four-door liftback. Reality bent and flexed around me and the universe crumbled.

That’s apparently what Porsche is up to, though, and it’s looking like the two-door version of the Panamera — if built — will serve as a spiritual successor to the long departed 928.

If you want a good example of evolution, you don’t need to venture all the way to the Galapagos Islands. Simply look at the lineage of the Porsche 911 for confirmation of how a species evolves and adapts over time.

Not long ago, the mighty 911 Turbo was the only example of the breed with a snail attached to its rear-mounted engine. Now, with turbos pervading nearly the entire line, it seemed as if naturally aspirated 911s would disappear like the dodo bird. However, we’re now hearing rumours the GT3 may retain its non-turbo status … with a flat-six that screams its way to 9,500 rpm.

The investigative parade continues in Germany. Prosecutors investigating Volkswagen Group’s diesel-emissions scandal have now turned their attention to Porsche. Roughly 10 facilities owned by the automaker in Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg were searched by around 160 investigators.

Stuttgart-based prosecutors claimed to be interested in three specific individuals suspected of fraud and fraudulent advertising as it relates to the manipulated emissions-control systems of diesel passenger cars. The office clarified that Porsche CEO Oliver Blume was not among them, however.

Last year, Porsche paraded out its 911 GT2 RS at the Electronic Entertainment Expo and dubbed it the most powerful 911 in history. However, its 640 horsepower will seem tepid when the next-generation 911 debuts. Referred to internally as the 922 series, the model will continue to host turbocharged flat-six engines in conjunction with rear- or all-wheel drive. But Porsche is also working on a plug-in hybrid variant of the car that’s scheduled for 2021.

While the 911 Turbo S is rumored to make around 630 horsepower, Porsche CEO Oliver Blume suggests the PHEV should be able to surpass it by a wide margin when it rolls off the assembly line a few years after the internal combustion cars. Assuming it’s using the same electrical system as the Panamera 4 E-Hybrid, that could tack on another 136 bhp to whatever six the company chooses to install.

People tend to associate (and with good reason, because he was a founder) the Porsche company with Dr. Ferdinand Porsche. However, the first Porsche car did not spring from the Dr. Eng. Porsche’s fertile mind, but rather from that of his namesake and son, Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche, known as Ferry. It was he who created the 356 model that established — permanently, it seems — the paradigm for Porsche sports cars that continues through today in the latest iteration of the 911 (itself designed by Ferry’s son, Butzi).

In 1998, for the 50th anniversary of Porsche’s beginnings as a car maker (the design firm was founded in 1931 with Adolph Rosenberger and Ernst Piech, the senior Porsche’s son in law, but the first Porsche branded car appeared in 1948), and apparently just prior to Ferry Porsche’s passing, he appeared in a commercial conveying his view of the Porsche company’s mission statement.

There is wisdom in his words that anyone in business should heed.

It always felt little odd whenever a diesel-powered Cayenne sidled up to you next to a stoplight. A Porsche that builds SUVs, we used to mull, and diesels, no less!

The public’s discomfort with a German sports car maker entering the utility vehicle field is long gone, and we can now say the same for Porsche’s short-lived dalliance with diesels. The automaker has stated it’s pulling its last remaining oil-burning models off the market.

A new Porsche is born, cleaner, but perhaps no purer.

Porsche created a small problem for itself when it released the updated 911 GT3. The model was just as powerful as the current RS version of the car. While the race-focused model maintained its edge just about everywhere else, Porsche knew it looked bad on paper. An upmarket model should have upmarket specs across the board.

Fortunately, the company solved its problem by making the new 911 GT3 RS the most powerful naturally aspirated Porsche ever to grace public roads.

Silver on the outside, and multi-shaded maroon on the inside, this Porsche 959 is the most expensive car we’ve featured in the Rare Rides series to date. What do you get for $1.25 million dollars, aside from service visits costing $100,000?

As you prepare to sell off your mixed security holdings, let’s find out.

Porsche, the iconic performance nameplate diving ever deeper into luxury and electrification, once again finds itself incapable of withholding its excitement toward both. Company board member Detlev von Platen claims Porsche is seriously considering increasing the production capacity of its upcoming Mission E model beyond 20,000 annual units and electrifying the Macan crossover.

According to von Platen, initial customer inquiries into the Mission E has been so strong that the brand wants to make sure it can meet demand. Buying habits also give the automaker hope that its customer base is prepared to make the eventual switch from internal combustion to electrically-assisted engines.

“In Europe, around 60 percent of Panamera vehicles were delivered with a hybrid drivetrain,” von Platen said.

Porsche threw a party at its museum on Thursday, marking and celebrating 70 years of sports cars. The first vehicle to bear the Porsche name was registered on June 8, 1948 – a 356 “No.1” Roadster. With it, Ferry Porsche’s dream of a sports car turned into a reality.

Mixed in with the event’s nostalgia was a look to the future, as CEO Oliver Blume outlined a three-pronged strategy to diversify its lineup. The three pillars? Plug-in hybrids, combustion-engined sports cars, and sporty electric vehicles.

Porsche is apparently working on a new supercar platform for itself. However, both Audi and Lamborghini are said to be able to get in on the action, too. The platform is an entirely electric one, dubbed SPE, and it’s to be part of Volkswagen Group’s “third-wave” shift towards a fully electrified fleet.

However, the platform’s existence was only officially mentioned in VW’s capital markets presentation from November. The report shows SPE coming into play after the solidification of the initial MEB platform and the establishment of VW’s PPE (Premium Platform Electric) architecture — intended for luxury segment models after 2021. As the third phase of the group’s electrification strategy, SPE-based vehicles likely won’t enter production until 2025.

Porsche has had more than a few victories in motorsport, so we’ll allow their latest PR move as an appropriate homage to successful racing campaigns of yesteryear – even if the liveries are applied to a crossover. It would be much better if Porsche had slathered this paint and stuck these decals on a bevy of Caymans or 911s.

Still, in this sleepy week between Christmas and New Year’s, it’s neat to see shoutouts to great designs of the past. Porsche chose Singapore as the venue to show off these specially painted Macans.

Ah the Nineties. Lots of cylinders, reliable new technology, and wide-track styling. But enough about Pontiac and the 3800 V6, because we’re talking today about German cars from the era.

Which German vehicles from the best decade really caught your eye?

It’ll be a long time before Porsche removes any hint of internal combustion from its beyond-iconic 911. The flat-six is safe for the next decade or so.

However, Porsche CEO Oliver Blume says the company wants a plug-in hybrid version, hopefully by 2023 — when the next-generation model reaches its mid-cycle update. “It will be very important for the 911 to have a plug-in hybrid,” Blume told Automotive News last week. There’s no stamp of approval yet, but Blume feels the German automaker “will go for it.”

This shouldn’t come as a surprise. If European sales of the recently introduced Panamera E-Hybrid are any indication, an electrified 911 is an insurance policy that’s sure to pay off.

Like BMW, which aims to keep gas-powered M cars in production for as long as humanly possible, Porsche is also making a commitment to motoring purity in the face of new technologies and government overreach. That circular device positioned in front of the driver? Porsche wants to keep it there.

The specter of Big Government and Big Safety conspiring to kill non-autonomous motoring is a real fear, one that’s been talked about more than a little here at TTAC. Call it the Red Barchetta scenario.

Porsche seems aware of it, too, though it tiptoes around the entity at the center of the issue. Nevertheless, the automaker claims a future Porsche “will be one of the last automobiles with a steering wheel.”

Singer Vehicle Design, builder of meticulously re-imagined Porsches, has partnered with the advanced engineering arm of UK’s Williams F1 team. Together, they’ve created an incredible commission for a well-heeled classic Porsche enthusiast. The sales commission was probably pretty good, too.

With a focus on keeping the weight down, this “Dynamics and Lightweighting Study” has resulted in the beautiful machine you see here, cranking out 500 horsepower and weighing less than 2,200lbs.

Porsche is considering an electrified variant of the iconic 911, which isn’t all that surprising, considering Volkswagen Group wants a battery-enhanced version of every model it builds. But changing the 911 is tantamount to sacrilege among some circles and is likely to receive some mixed responses.

That said, it’s not as if the model remained unchanged since 1963. Porsche has implemented loads of electronic aids over the last decade and even chucked in a turbocharger. Besides, Ruf Automobile already built an all-electric 911 — which it called the eRuf Model A — way back in 2008. The foundation has been set. But we’re not convinced Porsche will walk that path.

Much more likely is that the company will use electric motors to supplement a semi-traditional internal combustion unit, or perhaps utilize a 48-volt mild hybrid system.

For over a decade, the Porsche 924 remained the brand’s entry-level sports car. During its 12-year run, Porsche shifted over 121,000 examples, meaning the normal 924 is not uncommon today and your local Craigslist probably has one for sale.

But what we have here is a special edition 924 that encourages you to buy vermouth while you’re out for a drive. This 924 is the Martini Championship Edition.

After an extended battle with his family, Ferdinand Piëch has finally acquiesced to resign from the board of Porsche Automobil Holding SE and sell off his remaining shares. At 80 years of age, leaving VW Group’s parent company was probably long overdue for Piëch, but you can’t help but wonder if the manner in which his retirement unfolded hasn’t left him bitter.

Still, with his 14.7 percent stake rumored to be worth over a billion euros, he’ll have the means to stage the most elaborate revenge any of us could possibly imagine — assuming that’s what he intends. One certainly could make the case that he’d have valid reasons for doing it.

It’s kind of difficult to imagine if you aren’t old enough to remember, but there was a period in the 1980s when the Porsche 911 was almost removed from the automotive landscape. In 1979, Porsche had made plans to replace the 911 with the new 928. The working logic was that the 911 was too quirky, impractical, and a bit of a handful. Porsche executives figured it just made good sense to swap it with something that had a broader appeal, especially as the company’s finances weren’t looking particularly robust at the time.

However, in 1981, Porsche AG found itself with a new chief executive — a German-born American named Peter Schutz. And he was having absolutely none of that nonsense.

Porsche is apparently seeking 200 million euros — or $234 million — in damages from its Audi stablemate over the costs associated with using its emissions cheating diesel engines. According to reports, Porsche has already issued its claim to Audi and the wheels of justice have been set in motion.

With no verified sources or official word from either automaker, the news is more than just a little strange considering both manufacturers are part of Volkswagen Group. However, Audi did supply both Porsche and Volkswagen with defeat device-equipped 3.0-liter V6s for use in various models. One of those models was Porsche’s Cayenne, and sales of the TDI variant were shelved as the scandal raged.

On this, TTAC’s authors and TTAC’s audience are largely in agreement: luxury sport utility coupes are not the answer to the vehicular challenges of this age.

So Porsche is probably going to build a Cayenne Coupe.

It’ll probably have four doors. It’ll probably be more expensive than a regular Cayenne. It will almost certainly not be as good or half as attractive as a Porsche Cayenne.

“It is very close to what you saw two years ago at Frankfurt,” Porsche CEO Oliver Blume says of the forthcoming production version of 2015’s stunning Mission E Concept.

“It will be exciting but a bit different from the concept,” Blume told CAR Magazine at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

That’s for beholders to gauge once the production version of the Mission E is pictured in 2019, when the model arrives exclusively with electric powertrains. Oliver Blume did, however, make clearer commitments relative to the Mission E that will delight Porschephiles and — perhaps — convert Tesla fans.

Right from launch, the Porsche Mission E — likely a 2020 model year vehicle — will be marketed with a 350 kW charge rate that “will be enough for a 400-kilometer range on an 80 percent charge,” Blume says. That’s 250 miles of range from a 15-minute charge. All of this in a car that Porsche claims accelerates from rest to 60 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds and tops 155 mph, a car Porsche couldn’t have developed “so quickly without the 919” — the automaker’s Le Mans-winning hybrid endurance racer.

Plymouth Superbird. Lamborghini Countach. BMW 3.0 CSL. A80 Toyota Supra. Ford Escort Cosworth. Acura Integra Type R. Subaru Impreza WRX STI.

Some cars are indellibly linked with the rear wing that sat atop their trunklids. In some cases, the spoilers weren’t mandatory, but in your mind’s eye, you always envision the WRX STI and Countach with large aerodynamic addenda.

Certainly not every edition of the Porsche 911 is fitted with a rear wing. But from ducktails to speed-sensitive units to gigantic struts supporting flat planes, the Porsche 911’s shape has been connected to additional rear bodywork for decades. The faster the 911, the more likely you were to find an extra piece affixed to the “911” above its engine.

But times, they are a-changin’. And in an attempt to mute the 2018 Porsche 911 GT3 for a mature, purist clientele, a new Touring Package deletes the GT3’s fixed rear wing and forces the fitment of a six-speed manual transmission.

Touring Package cost?

This season’s must-have fashion for high-end automakers is the proposed elimination of diesel-powered engines. Volvo may keep theirs, but only if they’re supplemented by an electrified unit after 2019, and the same is true for both Jaguar and Land Rover. Mercedes-Benz hasn’t been quite so overt about its own diesel death, but it is pressing aggressively toward mild hybrids.

However, no manufacturer has the same incentive to distance itself from diesels as Volkswagen Group. Porsche, Audi, and VW all suffered from the company’s emissions scandal. Moving away from the fuel was to be expected, but Porsche’s chief executive hints diesel death may occur within a year as the company decides the future of the next-generation Cayenne.

When we previewed the new SUV last month, Porsche mentioned a pair of turbocharged gasoline engines but no diesel option. That was because the brand is still investigating whether diesel even has a place in the Cayenne and, by extension, the rest of its fleet.

Porsche revealed a new, third-generation Cayenne on a new platform late last month, but the U.S. arrival of the third version of Porsche’s original SUV won’t take place until the second half of 2018.

While the new Cayenne will be sold in some markets as a MY2018 vehicle, the 2018 Cayenne on this side of the Atlantic is the outgoing Cayenne. Yes, that Cayenne, the Cayenne that’s suffering from a sharp sales decline.

In August 2017, the Cayenne’s gradual and not entirely unpredictable old-age decline was matched to a sudden downward shift from its smaller sibling, as well. Macan sales plunged 29 percent last month. Cayenne volume was down 28 percent. Jointly, the duo lost 1,003 sales, year-over-year.

You know what that means. The overwhelming majority, the lion’s share, most, nearly half, more than a third of the vehicles sold in Porsche’s U.S. showrooms in August 2017 were sports cars. Yes, Porsche still builds sports cars, rather decent ones, in fact. And in August, Porsche’s sports car sales were very healthy indeed.

Back in August, Tim Cain reported on some rather strong statements made by McLaren. The company’s chief engineer proclaimed that McLaren stood alone among true sports car offerings — quite a stance to take, indeed. Don’t worry, the statement was not without very specific qualifiers.

Today we ask you to set your own qualifiers (or definition) around that term tossed around more than a football: sports car. What defines the breed for you?

Though not the first BMW-powered vehicle in our Rare Rides series, and not the first with two doors, it is the first BMW convertible we’ve seen here. And the two aforementioned doors on this little convertible have One Simple Trick up their sleeve — disappearing into the body of the car. It’s the kind of detail you’d only expect on some crazy old Citroën.

But that’s not the only unique aspect of the Z1. Want to learn something?

The Macan may be Porsche’s best-selling vehicle, but it owes all of its success to the Cayenne. When the SUV began production in 2002, we all scoffed and claimed it would never work. But the vehicle’s success has had us feasting on crow for the last 15 years.

About to enter its third generation, the Cayenne doesn’t appear to have changed much at a glance. Appearances are often deceptive, however, and this would be a prime example of the phenomenon. For 2019, the SUV comes equipped with new engines, new brakes, a new transmission, and gobs of added tech.

Visually, Porsche says the “the new Cayenne retains a strong visual connection to its predecessors.” If that’s code for saying it looks nearly identical to the previous model and, by extension, all modern Porsches, then it wasn’t very difficult to decrypt. But the German automaker knows it has an incredibly well-established design language. It’s not about to shake things up for the sake of being different.

Porsche claims to be the first automaker to bring braided carbon-fiber wheels to a production car by offering a quartet of ultra-strong, ultra-light, dark grey rims as an optional upgrade on the 2018 Porsche 911 Turbo S Exclusive Series.

You remember the one. It’s a regular ol’ 911, only turbocharged and upgraded to S trim and then further upgraded with 27 more horsepower for — make sure you’ve swallowed that last bite — $67,000. There will only be 500. The top speed is 205 miles per hour. The total cost is $257,500, or roughly the cost of a regular 911 Turbo S and a Macan GTS. There’s a lot of Golden Yellow Metallic.

And for the price of a 2017 Ford Fiesta, you could upgrade your 2018 Porsche 911 Turbo S Exclusive Series with $14,980 wheels.

Yesterday, Tim Cain reported on the new Chevrolet Tahoe Custom trim, which lowers the point of entry on the Tahoe by $3,750 for 2018. If you’re a nerd and enjoy trim-level discussions like I do, this is an important moment. For the first time since the Tahoe grew to four doors in 1995, you’ll be able to buy a trim lower than the LS.

This new (relatively) low-cost trim is seen by many Internet Car Enthusiasts here at TTAC as the way forward: dispensing with unnecessary options like infotainment, large wheels, and a third row seat that rarely sees use. Seems like a decent enough idea, so let’s take it across the board today.

Which vehicles deserve a cost-cutting trim level?

In most cases, it’s a foregone conclusion. When there are multiple bodystyles available, the fewest number of buyers exist for the wagon.

The Porsche Panamera’s case is unique, however. There is no Porsche Panamera sedan. This is a battle between the regular second-generation Porsche Panamera — a hatchback or liftback or fastback or backbackbackgone or whatever you want to call it — and the new Sport Turismo, a shooting brake five years in the making.

Yet with limited practical benefit, “It’s a question of taste; some people like the Sport Turismo more, some people like the sports sedan more,” Porsche’s sales and marketing director told Stefan Utsch, told Motoring.

80 percent of taste buds apparently prefer the regular Panamera.

“You wanna roll up to this thing with Magnus tomorrow?”

It’s amazing how many times I’m just minding my business, living my best life, and I run into my old friend Matt Farah. In this case, we happened to both be in Miami at the same time for work. My work, of course, being of the cubicle-dwelling, advertising-selling variety, and his being of the driving-an-Aventador S-around-Wynwood-slowly-in-front-of-cameras variety. Naturally, I insisted that we meet up at the most Miami place I could think up, Lagniappe, for some wine, jazz, and excellent company on a Tuesday night.

Turns out that Matt’s good friend and occasional TTAC subject, Magnus Walker, was doing a book signing the following evening at Parkhaus1, a veritable institution in the Porsche community. I normally despise this sort of thing. I’m not a particularly social person to start with, and while I had never made the acquaintance of Mr. Walker and I assumed he was a pleasant and genial fellow, I’m not one to stargaze at another grown man.

“Nah, man. Besides, what would I show up at Parkhaus in? My rental Grand Cherokee (which, by the way, is an excellent vehicle and totes deserving of its own review)?”

“Why don’t you get on Turo and rent something dope?” (Matt says “dope” a lot. And “dank.” I’ve tried his vernacular on for size but it doesn’t work for me.)

Now there’s an idea.

A Porsche dealership in Hamburg, Germany fell victim to a fire targeting roughly a dozen vehicles last night and there is some speculation on whether or not the arson was politically motivated — primarily due to its close proximity to this weekend’s G-20 summit. Relegated primarily to 718s and Macans, firebugs apparently missed some of the hotter ticket items in the showroom to burn the less-expensive models sitting in the lot. However, at least one Porsche 911 went up in smoke, along with an almost unrecognizable Panamera.

While the fire may have been unrelated vandalism or insurance fraud, Hamburg protesters spent a portion of the evening starting dumpster fires and setting cars ablaze in other parts of the city. They’ve since geared up and organized for a weekend of globalist opposition near the city’s center as police rolled in with water cannons and riot gear. Organizers of Thursday’s demonstration have titled the event “G-20: Welcome to Hell.”

If you’re going to spend $294,250 on a 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS, revealed today at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, you undoubtedly are a Porschephile with high expectations.

That’s why Porsche, having already jettisoned the six-speed manual transmission for a faster-shifting, seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, has removed the concept of shifting altogether. What can shift faster than a continuously variable transmission, which doesn’t have to shift at all?

911 GT2s have always been a handful in the wet because of Porsche’s need to distinguish the GT2 from the all-wheel-drive 911 Turbo. That’s unacceptable now, so Porsche has made the CVT-equipped 911 GT2 a front-wheel-drive car.

While the United States concluded its investigation into Volkswagen Group’s diesel emissions scandal months ago, the wheels of justice turn appear to turn more slowly in Germany.

Prosecutors in Stuttgart have launched a preliminary investigation into employees at Porsche to assess whether they were involved in designing any of the company’s emissions-cheating software. Porsche is the latest addition in a governmental probe against Volkswagen Group. German prosecutors have already launched a formal investigation against the core brand and Audi.

Prosecutor Jan Holzner explained on Thursday, however, that the Porsche inquiry was not yet a formal investigation. The same could not be said of managers at Bosch, who Holzner believes may have had a role in aiding and abetting Volkwagen’s emissions fraud.