BREAKING: More Porsche Panamera pics surface

Thanks for the heads-up to our friends at Supercars.net, where a forum poster has uploaded more official shots of the Porsche Panamera (apparently lifted from Autoweek.nl) ahead of its official reveal extravaganza scheduled for Monday. The first photo and technical details trickled out last night, and the new batch gives you a better view of the car's controversial rump, which is already polarizing enthusiasts the world over. It's not so much that we think a round booty is a bad thing -- it's just that Porsche has done it better before. Or have you guys already forgotten about the awesomeness that's spelled 9-2-8? Anyway. Have a look at the gallery, and stand by for more on Monday (or whenever the next group of pics gets leaked). Gallery: Porsche Panamera Gran Turismo [Source: Supercars.net]

 

VIDEO: Supercars make charity toy run in L.A.

It's not often you see this many sports cars chasing a police cruiser, but this was for a good cause. To help get things kicked off for the 5th Annual Motor4Toys charity toy drive event, a bunch of participants followed a police escort over to a local Toys "R" Us to start buying toys for the December 7th event. The Motor4Toys group has been collecting gifts for needy children since 2004, and to date has donated more than 38,000 toys. The unique thing about this organization is that it is all centered around cars. Motor4Toys taps into the Southern California car community and turns a huge car meet into one of the largest charity toy drives around. Car guys and gals from all over the Southwest show up with their sports cars, exotics, muscle cars, race cars and museum rides to help this worthy cause. Organizers expect to see over 5,000 cars at the event's new home this year, The Anthem Building in Woodland Hills. Entrance to the event is free for everyone, just bring along at least one new, unwrapped toy valued at $10 or more. If you're in the Los Angeles area that weekend, make sure you stop by between 9am and 1pm. And for those who can't make it, PayPal donations are also accepted. Hope to see you there, and remember, every kid deserves a toy! Complete details including maps to the new location and mandatory insurance waivers can be found on the Motor4Toys website. More photos of the drive can be found at Speed and Motion, who provided a video from last year's event that we have posted after the jump.

 

The Paparazzi Strike Again: Ferrari 599 roadster resurfaces

Photos of topless super-models parading around sun-drenched southern Europe -- the paparazzi never tire of snapping them, we never tire of seeing them, and like so many celebrity gossip magazines, here at Autoblog we never tire of running them. Take, for example, this particular Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano spotted now for the second time sashaying around Italy with its top half off. Not only is the regular car a rare treat to behold, but this one lets slip the promise of something more. Although it hasn't appeared completely topless, this test vehicle is wearing an ill-fitting roof that suggests it may show the way for an upcoming convertible 599. That could mean a soft-top like the F430 Spider, a folding hard-top like the California or a rotating flip-top like that featured on the 575M-based Superamerica. Meanwhile, it could also mean a "regular production" model or a rare special edition for the Italian automaker. With the California just making its debut, the 16M Scuderia Spider just around the corner and the initial batch of spy shots just hitting the web, we asked the people at Ferrari what they were working on. Their response was that they're testing a lot of different ideas and that nothing had been given the green light (yet), so we'll just have to hold on and hope the higher-ups get out their stamps of approval. [Source: Autogespot]

 

Canadian cancer patient wins Koenigsegg, opts for cash instead

If you won a lottery that offered you million-dollar supercar or a large cash prize, which would you take? Okay, well you might be a little biased if you're reading Autoblog. So let's make this a little more challenging: what if you lived in a town with no paved roads like Norman Wells (population: 761), some 690 kilometers northwest of Yellowknife in Canada's Northwest Territories, where Louie Edgi lives with his family. Edgi bought ten tickets for the Alberta Cash and Cars Lottery, which was giving away a Koenigsegg CCX and supports local cancer research funds, on a trip down from his northerly home-town to Edmonton, Alberta, (still considered ridiculously close to the North Pole for the rest of the world, including this Canadian-born writer) to undergo cancer treatment. Since getting the car home would have required a long trip up a winter ice road - a prospect that apparently hasn't caught on in the Northwest Territories as it has in Koenigsegg's home country of Sweden - Edgi opted for the cash instead, and is reportedly feeling a lot better about his treatment now. Gallery: Autoblog Drives the Koenigsegg CCX [Source: CBC News via Jalopnik]

 

Jim Glickenhaus gets first Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione in the U.S.

James Glickenhaus is best known in these parts as the rich guy who paid Pininfarina a lot of money to create a custom body for his Ferrari Enzo, thus creating the renowned and oft-driven Ferrari P4/5. Apparently Glickenhaus is not strictly a Ferrari fan, as he has now become the first of 100 Americans to receive the keys to a U.S.-spec Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione coupe. Glickenhaus even reportedly paid enough extra for his 8C Competizione to get the Alfa Romeo factory to finish his car in the same shade of red used on his one-of-a-kind P4/5. Shortly after Glickenhaus took the keys and went for a first drive, the same dealership handed over two more 8Cs to slightly lesser mortals. Gallery: 2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione [Source: VeloceToday via AutoFiends]

 

Rhys Millen victorious at inaugural Red Bull Drifting World Championship

Like Ferrari winning the Italian Grand Prix or a Mazda atop the podium at Laguna Seca, Rhys Millen scored a fitting victory in his Red Bull Pontiac Solstice GXP at the very first Red Bull Drifting World Championship over the weekend. The event featured the top thirty-two drifters from around the world at a purpose-built track at the ports of Long Beach, CA. Formula Drift drivers dominated the event, taking six of the eight spots in the quarter finals and all four places in the semi finals. Millen survived five knockout rounds, defeating the likes of Ken Gushi, Top Gear USA host Tanner Foust and Vaughn Gitten, and eventually beat out teammate Daijiro Yoshihara in the all-Pontiac finals. More details on the event are in the press release following the jump, and we weathered the tire smoke and flying bits of rubber to bring you plenty of fantastic high resolution photos in the gallery below. Gallery: 2008 Red Bull Drifting World Championship

 

LA 2008: Lotus Evora makes it to the States

The "mostly" U.S. version of the "midsize" Lotus Evora was shown today at the LA Auto Show and it looks exactly like the one that debuted at the 2008 British Motor Show back in June. It's just missing its side marker lights. The Evora follows the '70s Lamborghini Urraco, Maserati Merak, Ferrari 308GT4 and its follow-up the Ferrari Mondial in being a mid-engine 2+2 sports car. It's arguably the best looking of that quintet, though. Two adult American males fit up front and there's still room in back for a couple of kids, while power comes from a Toyota-sourced 3.5L V6 producing 276 hp. With a curb weight of just 2,976 lbs., that should be plenty to scoot this puppy along. Expect 0-60 in 5 seconds, a top speed of 160+ and 30 mpg. As cool as all of that is, the interior is what will blow you away, especially if you've ever served time in an Elise or Exige. There's leather all around, a proper nav system, an advanced touch-screen multi-media system and, get this, actual human beings can get in and out of it without requiring ridiculous flexibility. The Evora will be built on a new assembly line in Hethel at the rate of 2,000 annually for worldwide consumption. To Lotus's credit, they designed it from the get-go to meet safety and emissions requirements around the world so all they have to do is put the steering wheel on the proper side. Talk of a supercharged S model and an even larger Esprit-successor is likely true. And Lotus executives have confirmed that a convertible variant with a power-retractable roof is in the works. Production of the standard Evora will begin in October of 2009, with sales in the U.S. beginning in late November or early December. Six-speed manual-equipped models will be available in the beginning, with an automatic (with paddle shifters) coming to market in April of 2010. But for now, we're happy with just the Evora. Twice as stiff as an Elise and a little extra room for passengers and cargo sounds just about perfect. One additional note: Although this upsized Elise went by the codename Eagle during development, there's apparently no truth to the rumors that the upcoming convertible version will be called the Bald Eagle. Gallery: LA 2008: Lotus Evora   Gallery: Lotus Evora [Source: Lotus]

 

Seven-figure Ferraris on the block in Gstaad

Crisis? What crisis? That could be the title of the upcoming auction in Switzerland, where London-based auction house Bonhams is preparing to put a series of multi-million-dollar Ferraris on the block. Among those going under the hammer on December 20 at the Palace Hotel in Gstaad is a the 1955 121 LM Spyder Scaglietti, raced at Le Mans and the Venezuelan by the late, great Phil Hill, and anticipated to fetch $4-5.5 million. A '51 212 Export Spyder by Carrozzeria Motto ($2.4-3.2 million), '58 250 GT TdF Aluminum Competition Berlinetta ($3.5-4.3 million) and an Enzo ($1.1-1.4 million) are also up for grabs, along with the unique Ferrari motorbike we reported earlier. Follow the jump for the press release and check out the Bonhams website for more pics. [Source: Bonhams via Luxist]

 

Porsche on the waiting list for Tesla Roadster

Electric vehicles... they're so hot right now. And none are hotter at the moment than the Tesla Roadster, which looks positively sublime in Very Orange paint. Even Porsche, the longtime purveyor of some of the world's best sporting hardware, is interested in the little electron powered machine. In fact, rumor has it that the German automaker is much more impressed with Silicon Valley's first ever sports car than it is with the lithium ion-powered E-Ruf electric 911. Is it too slow; too heavy; too expensive? Nobody knows for sure outside of Stuttgart's engineering offices, but we do know that the German automaker has placed an order for a Tesla Roadster of their very own for closer scrutiny. We'd imagine that the EV's dissection could offer some enlightening revelations to Porsche, rumored to be hard at work on an electric sportscar of its very own. Considering Porsche's recent history with other automaker's wares, this could get very interesting. Gallery: Jason Calacanis' Tesla Roadster [Source: Inside Line]

 

Adventures in rare '90s supercars: the Lamborghini Diablo SVTT

The 1990s was an amazing time of progress for supercars. The first part of the decade saw the introduction of the Jaguar XJ220, Bugatti EB110, McLaren F1, and, of course, the Lamborghini Diablo. The successor to the venerable Countach, the Diablo was equipped with a 5.7L V12 producing 492 horsepower and 428 lb-ft torque that seemed wretchedly excessive at the time, although somewhat tame by today's supercar standards. Various versions followed, including the SE30 in 1994, the all-wheel-drive VT, and the SV. Of utmost rarity were a handful of twin-turbo Diablos that represented perhaps the ultimate expression of the supercar at the time. Commissioned by Platinum Motors, a Lamborghini dealership in Southern California, the twin-turbo package could actually be ordered as a factory option and was even listed in the NADA price guides. The twin-turbos provided up to nine pounds of boost to the V12, which reportedly produced 750 horsepower. Less than a dozen were actually built - five VT's (named the VTTT) were initially constructed for customers, with an additional four owners converting their cars post-purchase. This car, the SVTT, was one of those four cars and was the only SV version built. We've seen the car a handful of times, including the Concorso Italiano in 2004, but haven't come across it in a few years. We've put all the photos we have in the gallery below, which are available in high-resolution for use as desktop wallpapers. Gallery: Lamborghini Diablo SVTT Photos copyright (C)2008 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.