Porsche Panamera tour/market research/concept cars?

[T-1 Thunder]

I just saw 6-7 black Panameras, each with additional bodywork intended to "cover up" the real look? A bunch of German guys. They're going cross country or something. All sporting Georgia plates.

I snapped a photo as I was getting closer, but before I took any more pics or closeups, one of the guys asked me to not shoot. I was nice and agreed not to. I asked him if they worked for Porsche, and he said he could not answer and could not talk about what they were doing or answer questions about the cars. Told me I would read it about within 2 years. ?

The bodywork looked crappy, like duct tape and spray paint. This is why I think the intent was to cover up rather than genuinely add to the vehicle.

Anyway, the secrecy has got me curious. I did a search and it seems other people have seen these guys. I wonder if they have an actual website or are there any answers about them out there at all?

I'm just all kinds of confused with this. :dunno

 

[serazin]

And just maybe, had you not been such a nice guy, the car rags would have paid big time for your photos. :laughing

You could have been paid Paparazzi!

 

[TheRobSJ]

Test mules for Panamera hybrids. Porsche's US headquarters is based in GA.

 

[rsrider]

Dude, keep on taking photos. Plenty of mags pay for those photos. They are in the public and so they can't ask you do to anything.

Panameras are the shit, inside. Outside they look like a turd. Maybe they're changing the styling up a bit. We can only hope.

 

[Papi-C]

Panameras are soo ugly

 

[crank1000]

Yeah, I can't understand why Porsche would release such a shitbox. But yes, op, they cover concepts, or future releases with all kinds of funky tape and 'bras' so you can't tell what they look like. These are likely the test guys for porsche giving them a real world QA to let the company know what works and what doesn't. Then the company can ignore all their good advice, and release another version of the shitbox again.

 

[T-1 Thunder]

People have a right to ask anything they want. No different than if I own a business and ask someone else to not blow my surprise.

They were all gathering around as one guy or another would show features or aspects of the cars. It has some cool electronic thing at the back with the spoiler and the drop-top. I know the interior must have good features, too, from the reaction of the other guys as they pointed out details on the inside. I wish I could remember German, it was my second language afterall. No doubt they speak in German to protect the information they're talking about.

They had money, and guys that have money don't do halfass bodywork on their nice cars. That clue told me the bodywork was a coverup of the real deal. They used some kind of tape on the rear end, disguising what the spoiler looks like. Imagine taking duct tape from the spoiler to the "trunk" in a bunch of vertical strips. The front ends had coverup work, too. Folded creases that were painted over showed clear signs of hokey-type body work with duct tape and spray paint. Some had fog lights in the lower section or the front bumper, others did not.

They look similar to what you find in google images. A little better than the pics I see online, though. Guess we'll wait until October when they come out, and then I'll post the picture I took of them and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Edit: another confusing thing. The guy said 2 years or so. Yet I read online they're coming out in October. Probably disinformation. :dunno

 

[cencalballer]

could also be a new 928. they are supposedly planning on releasing one soon.

 

[xtasie99]

Yes, the bodywork is done poorly and haphazardly because it doesn't matter, and they want the car to be ugly. My roomate was an engineer doing this sort of testing for a different car company. You take whatever car has some new feature that needs testing (sometimes its a really boring detail like a different alternator or different panel on the dashboard), slap some disguises on it if its a not-yet-released model, and go drive the crap out of it. Sometimes those people will not even work for the company, they may be random people hired for that specific test, to get an outsider's opinion. Feel free to take a picture and send it to a car magazine or website. Chances are it's already been spotted, but you never know.

 

[uhmeebuh]

could also be a new 928. they are supposedly planning on releasing one soon.

Did it look like this, T-1?

If so, it looks like it may have been the new 928 which looks like a shortened Panamera. Which, IMO looks MUCH better...

Fingers crossed for a good looking 928. But all the concept pics looks WAY better than any Panamera with or without a body kit

 

[Asphaultnaut]

only way I can figure it is that the coasts contain enough people who a)absolutely gotta have the Porsche lifestyle no matter what and b) desperately needed capabilities not existing in any current model and c) couldn't afford two vehicles.

Not a demographic I'd design for, that's for sure. :rolleyes

Yeah, I can't understand why Porsche would release such a shitbox..

 

[Entoptic]

Did it look like this, T-1?

If so, it looks like it may have been the new 928 which looks like a shortened Panamera. Which, IMO looks MUCH better...

Fingers crossed for a good looking 928. But all the concept pics looks WAY better than any Panamera with or without a body kit

That car is awesome with a chocolate coating of win!

 

[T-1 Thunder]

Very similar to the first one. Some had spoilers, though and I don't think the rear lights were thin and long like the other pictures. Could be though, because I think the spoilers go up and down electronically. Very hard to see because of all the crap they had on them to hide the real details. They even painted the wheels black to take attention and all "bling" away.

 

[T-1 Thunder]

Sent an email to the company today to ask if it's ok to post the picture.
Also mentioned if the answer is "no", it would be nice if they send my kid a little toy Porsche.

 

[MrIncredible]

only way I can figure it is that the coasts contain enough people who a)absolutely gotta have the Porsche lifestyle no matter what and b) desperately needed capabilities not existing in any current model and c) couldn't afford two vehicles.

Not a demographic I'd design for, that's for sure. :rolleyes

Or just like Porsches and occasionally, need more seating. If I were rich, and had a family, I'd have a 911 for commuting, something else for the track, a classic for car shows, a four door for the kids, and the SUV to tow dirtbikes, because why the hell not?


They're already selling cars geared to people with money-what's one more?

 

[Asphaultnaut]

I think you forget that one does not blackmail with the Germans :rofl

Sent an email to the company today to ask if it's ok to post the picture.
Also mentioned if the answer is "no", it would be nice if they send my kid a little toy Porsche.

 

[ScorpioVI]

That Top Gear episode where they were all hating on the Panamera was funny.