Porsche is set to launch a four-door, four-seat coupe,
called the Panamera in 2009.
The car, powered by a modified version of the 4.5 L V8 found in the Cayenne equipped with
the FSI system, will be front-engined and rear-wheel-drive.
Rumors are that an option for the Panamera will be the V10 engine from Porsche's
limited-run Carrera GT supercar, although you would have to think this is extremely unlikely.
The Panamera will be produced in the new Porsche plant at Leipzig
alongside the Cayenne.
It is the first V8-engined sports car built by Porsche since 1995, when the 928 was discontinued. Some consider it a suitable successor to the two-doored 928.
The company built the new model as a direct competitor to the
Mercedes-Benz CLS 55 AMG and Maserati Quattroporte and,
to a lesser degree, as a less-expensive alternative to high-performance cars such as
the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, Bentley Continental GT
and Aston Martin Rapide.
Like Porsche's Carrera name, the term "Panamera" derives from the
Carrera Panamerican race.
Before Porsche decided on the Panamera it toyed with other four-door
sedans prototypes. Such as the 1991 Porsche 989 prototype
or the even earlier 4 door prototype based on the 911, but those protypes
never went into production.
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