Panamera - who likes? Many pix

[K. Roman]

from C&D

[dd74]

Hideous!

[legion]

The Dodge Charger is a better looking sporty 4-door.

[cairns]

Don't get me started.

It's sad to see Porsche start with a clean sheet of paper and come up with this "thing".
And the interior is an overwrought abomination.

We'll see what the market says. I'm sure performance will be quite good but I'd buy a BMW, Merc, Aston Martin or Maserati before I plunked down $ for that thing. And probably save a lot of $ in the process.

[legion]

Aston Martin makes the best looking front-engined four-seaters IMO.

[the]

Simply dreadful.

All the mismatched styling cliches on the exterior, ugh.

Completely overwrought video parlor interior, complete with multiple snoop dogg monitors everywhere.

But, who really cares.

[Gogar]

I don't think it's that bad, except for those Mustang rip-off front quarter cutout vent thingys.

[kach22i]

It could always look worse, but it pains me to imagine how.

[TechnoViking]

Interesting. Wikipedia says "[The Panamera] will be marketed as a direct competitor to automobiles such as the Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG, Aston Martin Rapide, Lamborghini Estoque and Maserati Quattroporte and (to a lesser degree) a less expensive alternative to vehicles such as the Bentley Continental GT and Ferrari 612 Scaglietti. "

Seems to me he BMW M6 offers better performance (or at least the same performance as the Panamera Turbo S or something) and has much better looks:

[HardDrive]

I think it looks awesome.

[Moses]

The rear end is a disaster. It looks like a Porsche 911 has sex with an AMC Pacer.

[K. Roman]

Yeah, the rear end is terrible. As for the statement about the M6, the M6 is more of a 2+2, not much room in the back.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

I think it looks awesome.

I have to see it in real life, and maybe it will grow on me like the Caddy CTS did.

I just don't see it now.

[jyl]

Exterior - the rear is the biggest problem, it looks heavy plus the clunky cut line from the rear wheel well up to the top of the taillight gives it a segmented look, like a worm.

The way the window line turns sharply up and ends in the rear door makes the C pillar look huge. I think if they had extended the window line past the rear door, with glass in the C pillar, it would look better - more flowing, less stubby and massive. The BMW pictured above has that look, so does the 928, although they are two-doors which makes things easier.

And they chould have positioned the cut line more horizontally, say from the rear wheel well to the bottom of the taillight.

Interior - looks like a McMansion. Everything is so massive and drenched with leather. The rear seat monitors are ridiculous, notebook computers are less than a inch thick so why do these monitors look like encyclopedias?

I think Porsche had a particularly hard job, because they wanted a four-door with actual legroom in the rear. The attractive four-seat GTs are all two-doors, including the Aston Martin earlier mentioned. Taking something the size and functionality of a BMW 7-series, and trying to make it look like a sports car, may be hopeless. You just get a big barge.

Face facts - Porsche is just not particularly talented at styling. Yes, the 356 and 911 are classic shapes. But every Porsche since has been at best so-so looking. The 914 is so ugly its almost cute. The 924 was boring, and needed a decade of bulges and flares to make it palatable. The 928 is an acquired taste at best. The Cayenne is a smoothed-over SUV. And now this thing.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by jyl

I think Porsche had a particularly hard job, because they wanted a four-door with actual legroom in the rear. The attractive four-seat GTs are all two-doors, including the Aston Martin earlier mentioned. Taking something the size and functionality of a BMW 7-series, and trying to make it look like a sports car, may be hopeless. You just get a big barge.

Exhibit A:


Exhibit B:


Exhibit C:


Exhibit D:


Exhibit E:



Porsche dropped the ball. I remember seeing sketches for the last few years of the Panamera, they ranged from decent to hideous. The real thing is worse than any sketch I recall seeing. Why is it that Porsche sees the need to make every model look like a mutated 911?

[Moses]

Originally Posted by Martin Smith

Wikipedia says "[The Panamera] will be marketed as a direct competitor to automobiles such as the Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG, Aston Martin Rapide, Lamborghini Estoque and Maserati Quattroporte and (to a lesser degree) a less expensive alternative to vehicles such as the Bentley Continental GT and Ferrari 612 Scaglietti. "

The rear of the Aston Rapide. It's beautiful.

[TheMentat]

Originally Posted by legion

Aston Martin makes the best looking front-engined four-seaters IMO.

big +1! doesn't look as roomy though:

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by kach22i

I have to see it in real life, and maybe it will grow on me like the Caddy CTS did.

I just don't see it now.

I have not seen one in person. True. Cars can look a heck of a lot different when you can walk around them and take them in with your own eyes.

[the]

You guys who posted those pictures of those nice looking big 4 doors are forgetting the One Critical Styling Rule of Porsche:

All vehicles MUST cash in on the 911's heritage and styling.

Therefore, it MUST look like a 911 version of a giant 4 door sedan. Which is ridiculous because the 911 is a REAR ENGINED sports car, not a front engined monster luxury sedan. It's just ridiculous for Porsche to try to make that thing look like it is a rear engined, air cooled car.

That's why it looks like a 14 year old's bad photoshop of a 997 turned to a 4 door sedan. Take picture of 997, stretch it, add 2 doors, add hump so people can fit in the back. Then, hey, let's spice it up with cool (passe/cliche) front fender vents (like Ford and everyone else is doing on everything down to economy cars now). It's a joke.

[pwd72s]

The nailed it...MUST look like a 911? Ridiculous. This results in trying to make a silk purse from a sow's ear.

Oh well, all good things must come to an end...