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Might be growing on me. How scary. It’s still “sacrilege,” and overpriced, and I still think the 300 horsepower 3.6 liter V6 is inappropriate, and I’d still contend it weighs too much for a Porsche, whatever that’s supposed to be. Anyway, more pictures for your enjoyment.
Also, we now know that AWD will be optional on all models, that there are at least three engine options (the V6, a V8, and a turbocharged V8), and that a six speed stick or seven speed dual-clutch auto will be available.
And Lieberman is right, brown is the new black.
3/4 shots looks better then side view. From the side it looks like enlarged 1948 Tatra without shark fin and with motor in the right place. Perhaps it is better looking in 3D, then photographs.
@ Justin:
Wow. I’m disappointed and terrified amazed to hear you say that. The Focus vent in the front? The pile of amorphous shapes theme? The backyard stretch 911 proportions? The utter enormity and unsportiness of it? Not to go all Clarkson on you but, it is the worst car, no, product design of all time.
it is the worst car, no, product design of all time.
I know, it might be. But that makes it weird and horrible, and that means I like it.
It’s still a wretched car from a branding standpoint in my opinion.
I agree that it grows on you. I think more sedans should have this shape – more of a hatch than a wagon body. The rear is really not on much more of a slant than a Lexus IS.
The front end does not look U.S. ready, which is unfortunate because i like that sleek, clean line.
Still ugly. It grows on you like flesh eating bacteria.
Porsche branding went out the window with the Cayenne.
Baseball has a DH. The Big 10 and Pac 10 champs have not met in the Rose Bowl for 8 years.
Times change, and you have to change with them.
What’s next? The Porschamino?
Sacrilege.
Still ugly.
Fugly.
All was good until the C-pillar. The ass-end of a 911 looks the way it does for a reason – it’s rear engined. Putting the same tail on an overgrown 4-door makes it look like a giant hemorrhoid. I’m sorry, but this design will never grow on me. Big sedans shouldn’t masquerade as hatchbacks – because yes, it does make your ass look fat. Somehow, this makes the Cayenne look coherent.
Do you need Airbus flight certification to fly the damn thing? There’s fewer cockpit buttons in the space shuttle.
I’m done now…
Just to be contrarian, I like it (at least the blue one, not so sure about the other colors). Nevermind all that talk about it being a sedan; it’s clearly a station wagon with a sloping roof. How can you not love a Porsche station wagon? It’s also much, much more brand-appropriate than the Cayenne.
It’s actually better looking than most contemporary sedans. And far better looking than the hot pepper Porsche SUV. I’d give it a B+ (I’d give your average Japanese sedan a C or C-). Still, there’s no excuse for a car this expensive not to get an A.
Anyone know the pricing? I bet this will be the most expensive V6 300hp sedan on the market.
To me it looks like a G37 Sedan with a Cayman/hatchback back end… Minus 30 hp and add $30-40K?
Could there be more German-engineered, finely-stylized suitcases, ever? I submit that there could not! Looks like suitcase bombs in a Bond movie. Definitely a bad-guy car.
I still think it looks like the rebirth of the Citroen DS…
I have seen a lot of ugly stupid styling of cars recently (Most recent: Mazda3 smiling guppy, Subaru Impreza).
This actually looks quite fine to me. The lines are clean and flowing, it has good stance. It has no hideous features.
This is a really decent looking luxury-sport-cruiser IMO.
The rear shot looks awesome. I think it is a groundbreaking design, a breath of fresh air for a segment dominated by 3-box designs. It will take getting used to, just as many classic designs did before.
When the 911 was introduced in the 60s, Porsche purists screamed about the sellout of core brand values. I guess some things never change. . .
I love it. It’s wide, low, futuristic and will beat the shit out of any competitor dynamically.
I’ll take one as a family wagon when I hit my very late 20’s. Make mine with the 7-speed dual-clutch and the blown V8.
If you think about it, this car is a quintessential Porsche design – a vehicle that makes sense. A well-built, (relatively) lightweight machine that fits the purpose, projects elegance, and goes fast as hell. Best of all, it makes sense.
This is the ultimate family car – and who says people who can afford one don’t have a family? I don’t know about you all, but I’m gonna go submit my graduate school application half a year early. I want this car.
Yuck! What an abortion. Definitely not growing on me. This will appeal to only the most koolaid-drunk Porschephile (or gold chain-wearing poseur). Unfortunately for Porsche, with Wall Street’s vaporization vaporizing end of year bonus-fed bad taste buying binges, the market for this thing seems to have, well, vaporized.
Wait I’m confused – what are those four boxes where the engine is supposed to be? Is this some kind of fancy electric battery powered car?
Oh. I get it.
Glad to see that Porsche is now using baboon asses as their design language. The rear is a baboon ass.
See?
http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/799157.html
the general outline is great. Some of the details, like the hood and side creases, aren’t quite right, and maybe don’t belong at all.
Wow – what a Duesy!
DaPope:
“Looks like suitcase bombs in a Bond movie”
Nuclear suitcase bombs!
Question: is this car, or for that matter the Estoque, based off an existing or future Audi platform?
I’m pretty sure that the platform for the Panamera was developed by Porsche alone. I don’t know about the Estoque, but it might very well be based on some Audi.
This guy who I have a great deal of respect for says it’s based on the Cayenne platform. Who would have guessed?
http://www.autozine.org/0_News/Archive/2008_11/News_frame.html
oh and before I forget. It’s horrendously ugly. They have really raised the bar on ugly with this one.
I like it, as someone mentioned before it reminds me of the Citroen DS, witch is a good thing in my book.
So what will the optional Suitcase-Set painted in vehicle color go for? $18.900?
And the Roof Rack!
I am just waiting to see my first Panamera on the Autobahn with roof rack and a trailer on the hitch.
There will be a trailer hitch.. will there?
M5 with a V10 or a Panamera with a V6 – like that will be a tough decision. 500 hp and 4000 lbs vs. 300 hp and 3800 lbs. I’m not so sure the brown color is such a good idea either. Given the cars shape I’d recommend rethinking that decision.
I think I speak for everyone when I say that Porsche should cut off the back doors, resize it, bring back the 928 designation and call me in the morning…
I’m sure it’s going to be a great car…too bad it looks so bad…
I have to say that I think it’s slightly better after I’ve seen the 360° view on the Porsche web site, but it’s still bad.
I think it’s that “dent” on the roofline. Had they given it a slightly more agressive shape and ignored head-space in the rear seats for a second, it could actually have looked rather good.
And of course that fat ass is a problem. Maybe the rear end from the Carrera GT could have worked wonders by giving it a slightly more sedan like appearence. That 911 shape just doesn’t work.
The design is innovative, a breath of fresh air, and will be immediately and widely copied. This is a hallmark car.
And this will be the car that gets people in the U.S. to purchase their first luxury hatchback. Hooray!
Yet another put me to sleep M5 wannabe. If it’s new-new-thing-ness keeps a few clowns from wallowing around blocking my views in tinted window Zuffenhausen ape tractors I guess it’s a good thing, but why not rear engined? No giganto engine weighing down the front, and no transmission tunnel stealing back seat space, that would have been quite a revelation. And something entertaining for a change. I mean, Bimmers are nice and all, but there are other paths to automotive greatness.
What a looming disaater…
It’s a hatch-back? Now I really got some wood over this design…
So what is the Panamera?
It’s not a four dour coupe, a) because it actually has five doors (it’s a hatchback) and b) because it is obviously not a coupe.
Did I mention the doors with frames? What’s up with that?
What it really looks like is a squashed Cayenne and such a description can be hardly taken as a compliment.
One could argue that apart from the 911 which is after all a 50 year old shape and some moments of clear thinking (928) Porsche designers cannot really put together a beatifull car (I would consider Boxster/Cayman too similar to the 911 to count as different designs).
So who is Porsche now trying to compete with? The Cayenne took the brand opposite the likes of Land Rover, but the Panamera is unlike any other car. It’s not a Quattroporte nor an S-Class. 911 purists will hate it as they did the Cayenne, so what kind of customer is Porsche addressing with this one?
But that’s the price you pay when you want to convert. Porsche actually calls itself nowdays a “premium car manufacturer” rather than the previous title of “sportscar specialist”. So it’s not only a matter of a “peculiar” car, such as the Panamera, but rather that of a peculiar brand. After all which other manufacturer sells 100.000 units a year but owns a group that sells almost 80 times that?
Which begs the question: does Porsche really need the Panamera to succeed? They could cease production of their cars and still be hugely profitable on their share of VW. So who really cares what the Panamera does? If they don’t, why whould we?
Strange huh? That’s Porsche.
300 horsepower 3.6 liter V6?
Did I read that right?