Fritz-Dieter Rencken

@WRCPAST And 968 front light treatment - also designed by Lagaay.

**Concept Cars** 🇩🇪 1989 Porsche Panamericana Concept 1 of only 2 made Only two examples of the 1989 Porsche Panamericana concept car were built. It was designed as a birthday gift for Ferry Porsche's 80th birthday, unveiled at the 1989 Frankfurt Motor Show, and served as a testbed for future design elements like the 993-generation 911 and the Boxster. One car was gifted to Ferry, and the other was used for shows and is now in the Porsche Museum.  The Porsche Panamericana was intended to be only a concept car, and although Lagaay hoped that his creation would be produced at least in small series in 1992, the growing financial crisis at Porsche put an end to his wishes. However, the car had an influence in the development of the 993 911 Targa and Boxster. The Panamericana was shown at the 1989 Frankfurt Motor Show, after a development period of only six months. It was built on the chassis of a 911 (964) Carrera 4 cabriolet and its bodywork was built with plastic and carbon fiber panels. A notable design element of the car was its wide wheel covers, with the objective to have enough room for various sizes of rims and tires, so if necessary it could be transformed into an off-road car. The three part Speedline rims used on the concept were made exclusively for this Panamericana. The roof line was homogeneously streamlined and sloped gently towards the rear engine deck. It featured a removable waterproof fabric top that could be attached by a pink zipper. Various roof configurations were possible and the car was in fact a hybrid of a targa, convertible, coupe, and off-roader. When viewed from the front its style has a resemblance with the 996 and the Boxster—as could be expected, since Lagaay also has designed the Boxster. In spite of its un-streamlined wheels, its aerodynamic drag coefficient was only 0.30. 📷 @Porsche 👏🏻👏🏻 @PorscheGB @CarSighting #cars #conceptcars #porsche

@5054magazine Which means it was a Japanese import into 🇿🇦, usually a mix of 🇯🇵 🇦🇺 and 🇬🇧 spec

Proper.

@NoContextBrits Grease

What word comes to mind when you see this?

@5054magazine And named after a Mazda model from the 70s

As expected, it's clearly related to the Puro.

@sniffpetrol CAR mag ran this as the mid-engined R5 mock-up for 2014 launch

MMM. That's right, it's Mystery Mule Monday. And today's mystery is this weird thing, spotted near Lotus's place in Norfolk in 2007. Claimed at the time to be a hack for an upcoming VW Phaeton coupe, but I'm not convinced. For one thing, the wheelbase is way too short.

@sniffpetrol When did you buy the car?

Perfect plate

@5054magazine @PentagramMsport Under Sergio Marchionne, Montezemolo’s ‘scarcity’ strategy of 10k units/annum was waived for ‘emerging’ markets. SM’s argued that 1k units sold in 🇨🇳 didn’t affect scarcity in 🇺🇸 or 🇩🇪 In 2024 Ferrari sold 13,5k, of which 2,5k in 🇨🇳 plus 1k in wider Asia.

@PentagramMsport It used to top out at 10k. Am also surprised.

The new Ypsilon est mort.

@5054magazine So roughly where Maserati was and should be?

Interesting. Jaguar's marketing boss has been to sceptics, including 'ex Jag designers and execs'. Pins down new positioning as above Merc/BMW below Aston and Lambo.

@5054magazine The sort of tactility insisted upon by F Pïech in all VW Group products. Remember damped grab handles and glove box lids?

When switches were works of engineering art.

@quillerrees @abarthuk @Abarthownerclub @AutoItaliaMag So was I @AutoworldBxl :

Out playing with Abarths today #abarth @abarthuk @Abarthownerclub @AutoItaliaMag

@allardkalff Here’s the first interview Adrian gave (to me) on RB17 back in June 2022: autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-c…

So this weighs in at 900kg. Now compare that to a current F1 car…… This is fast 😀 #awesome #RB17

A truly memorable day yesterday at Windsor Castle receiving my MBE from The Princess Royal. Thank you to @RoyalFamily and the whole team for making it such a special experience in recognition for my work with @RemembrWildlife 🙏🏻

Paying tribute to all of these beautiful cats who have allowed me glimpses into their secretive world on #internationalleopardday ❤️🙏🏻🐆

THANK YOU to the 1250 wonderful folk who supported the @RemembrWildlife Kickstarter to fund Remembering Tigers! We didn’t *quite* break the record but not far off & now cannot wait to make this book for you all. Our hearts are full! 🐅🙏🏻🐅 #rememberingtigers

Drivers getting ready for the first ever African Karting Cup! 📆 : 15 - 17th February 📍: Zwartkops Kart Circuit, South Africa 📺 : Live on RokCupSA YouTube channel Get ready for action 🚀

@Kernow_NickC @MrCarFacts And I’ll happily add the GSM Dart to that, known as Delta in UK due to issues with Daimler’s Dart

@MrCarFacts Dodge and Daimler both had a Dart but legal action made Daimler rename it SP250

Let’s play a game! Show me 2 (or more) cars with the same name, but from a different brand. I’ll start with Bora. Both Maserati and VW named their cars after famous winds, but Bora was the only one they both used.

The competition for 20 places in the new Remembering Tigers book is in full swing! We're thrilled at the quality of images being entered including this Bengal Tiger taken in Bandhavgarh National Park by Fiammetta Venner. Submit entries by 2nd March here: rememberingwildlife.awardsplatform.com

@sniffpetrol Rotary won’t start

Cyan ink low

Buyers of #F1 race packages beware: fia.com/news/warning-u…

A GP in LV is topical but not novel, told as only CJ could.. youtu.be/CQT2etjobJE?fe…