Wheels Australia — August 2016

16 WheelsMag.com.au

Panamera’s

electric punch

Four-door Porsche to receive

pair of line-topping hybrids

PORSCHE will use 918 Spyder-

style plug-in hybrid technology

to create not one but two models

to top the second-generation

Panamera line-up.

“Very soon there will be two

performance-oriented plug-in

hybrid versions,” said Porsche

CEO Oliver Blume at the official

unveiling of the new Panamera in

Berlin on June 28.

“You see the Panamera, and

you see the 918,” powertrain chief

Jörg Kerner told Wheels, “and at

the end you can see what’s the

right way for Porsche.”

But why does Porsche need

two? “We don’t want to talk too

much about the hybrid cars for

the future,” Kerner said. “But we

think, in our strategy, we need

both. You will see it, and then

you can understand why we

have both.”

The pair of plug-ins will be

potent, as they’ll add to already

impressive internal combustion

outputs. At launch, the new

Panamera will introduce three

new engines for Porsche.

Most important are a pair

of petrol-burners, both twin-

turbocharged hot-vee designs.

HYBRID

BELTER

INCOMING

AUGUST 2016

Ford honours classic Le Mans win

How do you make the reborn Ford GT cooler?

Matte-black paint and gold wheels to honour

the original 1966 Le Mans-winning car, that’s

how. Ford unveiled a ’66 Heritage Edition of

its already exclusive supercar, sporting the

dashing new paint scheme based on the car

that led home the iconic 1-2-3 GT40 finish

50 years ago. It’s unlikely the car will ever

come to Australia, but a pair of Kiwis in Bruce

McLaren and Chris Amon made up the driver

line-up for the winning car in ’66, so we feel

compelled to drool over this modern tribute.

R

lin