Weekly Porsche Wrap

Qatar still interested in a stake in Porsche – It’s been a couple of months since news of this hit the streets and it looks like the Emir of Qatar is still a potential investor. Porsche needs something, from somebody, and relatively quickly. [Via Reuters.com]

Need For Speed SHIFT will include greats like the Porsche 911 GT2 – EA announced a new Need for Speed racing game called SHIFT set for release this Fall. The game will feature a number of tracks as well as over 65 present and past cars in “pixel perfect” detail. It appears the game will be a true hardcore racing title designed to deliver a true drivers experience. Might be time to invest in a decent racing wheel and pedal setup. [Via Zoknowsgaming.com]

It pays to be a ‘dirty’ city official in Ecorse, Mich…or does it? – Ecorse, a suburb of Detroit, is the focus of a scandal involving more than $2.5 million in fraudulent billings by a contractor. In fact, a 2002 Porsche 911 Cabriolet was seized back in January and was purchased with money from the Ecorse work. The FBI reported that kickbacks to city officials ranged from $1,500 to $10,000. How in the world do people think they are going to get away with stuff like this?. [Via Chicago Tribune]

Man drives Porsche into the drink – A man drove his Porsche 911 off a Seattle, WA waterfront street and into Puget Sound. The police believe it was a high-speed crash. The driver was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. You have to see the two videos. First, watch the news footage here: KIROTV.com. Next, watch the raw footage and check out the car submerged under the water here: NWCN.com. All I can say is sad. [Via KIROTV and NWCN]

Pair awarded the Professor Ferdinand Porsche Award – Worth 50,000 Euro and one of the world’s most coveted awards for research in automobile technology, the Professor Ferdinand Porsche Award was given to Michael Keller and Herbert Kohler for a lithium-ion battery that can be used in volume production of hybrid cars. Yeah, I probably don’t have to worry about prepping an acceptance speech for THAT award. [Via WheelsUnplugged.com]

Porsche’s Joyride – I’d like to see one of the Porsche family write a book titled “A Day In The Life Of As A Billionaire” or “What This Goldfish Ate For Breakfast” (the answer is: a whale). This whole story still fascinates me. Newsweek has a decent little blog post on it that is worth reading here: Porsche Goes For a Joyride. [Via Blog.Newsweek.com]

Comments

  1. mitchell says

    that porsche crash was pretty amazing. the mangled car, the fact the the guy wasnt hurt. probably would have been cool to see it happen live. … oh, and a cameo by kenny rogers! lol

    • I just couldn’t get over the footage of the car completely submerged under water. That was crazy!

  2. i think thats a great testament for the safety of porsches. what it really means is one can drive their porsche A LOT faster than they previously thought because they are very safe and they’ll live through the wreck!!

    • Interesting login there James. Not sure you’ll get a lot of supporters of it, but interesting nonetheless.

  3. how many need for speed games are there now?? is this volume 14?? i’ve been out of the loop for awhile but is there a “realistic” racing wheel and pedal set up for games??

  4. I feel sorry for the Porsche at the bottom of the bay.

  5. That guy had to be intoxicated. Does insurance cover this? :-p

  6. the Porsche/VW story was well written, really summarized well what was/is actually a very complex situation

  7. I have wanted a Porsche all my life but priorities have said no, Yet there are boneheads like the u boat commander in that video who get these cars and shamefully dump them into the bay and charge up all the resources it takes to bail him out because its fun to screw around on the streets and not know what you are doing ..This wasn`t an accident of no fault to him. Ok i am glad he is alright, But it irritates me.

  8. ryan i’m guessing you’re talking about the safety of the porsche comment i made? it was intended to get a reaction out of you =)

  9. Qatar could buy just about whatever it wants. Good for Porsche that they have found supporters in the wealthy oilmen.

  10. Is there any way to referb a Porsche once it has been completely submerged in salt water? I’m guessing ‘no’.

  11. The Porsche joyride article is interesting because it shows how small we each are in this world. Even though Porsche is smart enough and maybe big enough to buy or take over VW, there are larger forces at work. Sounds like we don’t know much about it over here, compared to Europeans, but thanks to Porsche Perfect we are educated.

  12. Really happy to see the taxpayers’ money hard at work dragging that guy’s a$$ out of the Sound.

  13. @Jeremy – I don’t know if you can referb it, but I bet you can get a heck of a deal on it right now.

  14. Kris Basicker says

    Farhvenugen

  15. If I purchased said submerged Porsche, I could at least pull a Joey Tribiani and lean up against it out on the street… pretend like I own a Porsche and get some props for that.

  16. I’m all for simulated Porsche driving experiences.. kudos to EA for providing us poor folk with such an opportunity.

  17. much better car than driver.

  18. he should have stuck to simulation.

  19. lol @ everybody being mad with the guy who drove his porsche into the water…it happens…his car, his rules