October 23, 2007
Porsche's four-door future
Take a look at what's set to be one of the most controversial cars of the decade - Porsche's long-awaited Panamera.
These renderings, commissioned for the Bulgarian edition of Top Gear magazine, give us the best idea yet of what the likely 'love it or hate it' coupe-like four-door will look like.
The last of the four pictures is Porsche's official sketch of the Panamera from a couple of years back, and you can see that, as expected, the production car will get taller and roomier on the inside while losing the caricatured low-slung profile.
Our best guess is that the Panamera will be officially unveiled at the Geneva show in 2009, becoming an obvious rival to the Maserati Quattroporte, Mercedes CLS and Aston's planned Rapide.
As you can see from the pics, the engine's up front and there's a large rear hatch with, we expect, a retractable spoiler. We know that the Panamera will be rear-wheel drive, but there's nothing official from Porsche yet on what'll be providing the power.
However, rumours suggest the Panamera will get three different engines, ranging from a 300bhp V6 to a twin-turbo V8 with more than 500bhp.
Porsche has hinted at the possibility of a hybrid model, but that'll likely arrive later than 2009, when the first Panameras are due to hit the market.
Out of interest - and we realise these are only renderings, so we won't hold you to it - what do you think?
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