Porsche

You look fat in that. Of course I'll be late. Your baby reminds me of Gollum's uncle. This is what the 2013 Subaru BRZ might say if it could talk. The all-new, rear-wheel-drive sports car starts at $26,265, and boy is it honest - perhaps more so than any other car on the market today, save for its mechanical twin, the Scion FR-S. The two were jointly developed by Subaru and Scion's parent company, Toyota, with both assembled by Subaru in Japan. The question about the BRZ is, can you handle the honesty?

An ex-convict who was free on probation has been arrested after police discovered tens of thousands of dollars' worth of items they say he may have stolen from cars parked near movie studios. Police believe Sean C. Ray, 35, of Los Angeles rented a Mercedes-Benz convertible to avoid calling attention to himself while driving the streets and scouting cars to burglarize. Ray was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of receiving stolen property, LAPD Det. Jim Hays said at a news conference in front of the Hollywood Community Police Station.

An ex-convict who was free on probation has been arrested after police discovered tens of thousands of dollars' worth of items they say he may have stolen from cars parked near movie studios. Police believe Sean C. Ray, 35, of Los Angeles rented a Mercedes-Benz convertible to avoid calling attention to himself while driving the streets and scouting cars to burglarize. Ray was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of receiving stolen property, LAPD Det. Jim Hays said at a news conference in front of the Hollywood Community Police Station.

Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, who designed the first 911 sports car and went on to found a consumer products design firm that also carried the Porsche name, died Thursday in Salzburg, Austria. He was 76. Born Dec. 11, 1935, in Stuttgart, Germany, he was the eldest son of Dorothea and Ferry Porsche, who along with Ferry's father Ferdinand Porsche founded the business that grew into the sports car maker. Porsche grew up in the auto business during a turbulent time. His grandfather designed the original Volkswagen Beetle for the Nazi regime in Germany in the 1930s as well as tanks that were used by the Germans in World War II. As a child, "Butzi" - as he was known to his family and business associates - enjoyed designing and building his own toys.

Base price: $97,350 (including destination) Price as tested: $126,750 Powertrain: 3.8-liter, DOHC, direct-injected, six-cylinder engine with variable valve timing; eight-speed dual-clutch transmission with paddle shifters Horsepower: 400 at 7,400 RPM Torque: 325 pound-feet at 5,600 RPM 0-60: 3.9 seconds Curb weight: 3,120 pounds Wheelbase: 96.46 inches Overall length: ...

It was one of those freeway on-ramps where two lanes merge into one, and the big black Mercedes had the pole position, already at cruising speed. Good time to see just what the new Porsche 911 Carrera S could do. A few seconds later, the Mercedes was in the rear view. Thank you, Dr. Porsche. And thank you, David Undercoffler, for letting me get behind the wheel. Undercoffler is a producer for the latimes.com home page, but for nearly two years he has moonlighted as an auto reviewer for The Times' Business section.

One hundred years from now, when auto historians go all Charles Darwin dissecting the evolution of Porsche's 911 sports car, they may notice a bit of a dogleg in the year 2012. The car's progress since its inception in 1963 has been carefully modulated. Along the way, its blend of aptitude and approachability has earned it the unique distinction of having as much respect at the racetrack as it has with both patrons and proprietors of our nation's plastic surgery clinics. Yet the 2012 model is the most liberal interpretation of the 911's ethos yet. Available now as the basic Carrera and the more powerful Carrera S that I tested, it grows significantly in size and it puts a previously unappreciated importance on efficiency.

Porsche said it slightly increased its share in fellow German automaker Volkswagen, in which it plans to take a majority before the end of the year. Porsche Automobil Holding is Volkswagen's biggest shareholder and said last month that it had increased its stake to just over 35%. Spokesman Albrecht Bamler said Porsche bought additional Volkswagen shares off-market, "significantly under the current market price."

Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez and his wife, October, have listed their Manhattan Beach house for sale at $3.6 million. To sweeten the deal, the NFL player will include a new Porsche 911 Cabriolet within 10 days of the close of escrow if he receives a full-price offer. The Spanish-style beach house, built in 1983, is two blocks from the sand. Its 1,700-square-foot rooftop deck, with views from Malibu to the Palos Verdes Peninsula, is one of the best features of the home, Gonzalez said.

Thanks for the Porsche review ("The $54,000 Question," June 12). The exotics are always the most interesting. I owned a 1988 Porsche 944 before the combination of high insurance and maintenance flattened me like pea gravel. Automotive writer Paul Dean didn't mention one of the other reasons Porsche sales have gone down so badly: Insurers hate insuring Porsches and Corvettes. Carriers are afraid to insure these cars, even though a $40,000 Porsche has the same value as a $40,000 Mercedes-Benz.

Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, who designed the first 911 sports car and went on to found a consumer products design firm that also carried the Porsche name, died Thursday in Salzburg, Austria.  He was 76. Born in Stuttgart, Germany, he was the eldest son of Dorothea and Ferry Porsche, who along with Ferry's father Ferdinand Porsche founded the business that grew into the sports car maker. Porsche grew up in the auto business and during a turbulent time. His grandfather designed the original Volkswagen Beetle for the Nazi regime in Germany in the 1930s as well as tanks that were used by the Germans in World War II. As a child, “Butzi” - as he was known to his family and business associates - enjoyed designing and building his own toys.

The car: 2012 Porsche Panamera S Hybrid The power: 380 total horsepower and a maximum of 428 pound-feet of torque at any given time. A supercharged 3.0-liter V-6 engine makes 333 horsepower and 325 pound-feet of torque while an electric motor puts out 47 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque. The photos: 2012 Porsche Panamera S Hybrid The speed: Zero to 60 miles per hour in 5.7 seconds with a top speed of 167 mph The bragging rights: The least thirsty Panamera in Porsche's lineup -- even better than the base Panamera The price: $95,975 starts you with only the destination charge.

Porsche will recall 2012 model year 911 Carrera S sports cars because the fuel line might come apart.   The recall involves 1,232 of the cars, which each sell for about $100,000. The problem results from what Porsche called an “assembly error” that can cause a coolant line to knock into and release a locking mechanism on the fuel line. “The customer may detect the odor of fuel or notice a fuel leak. This can result in engine misfiring, or cause the engine to stall, increasing the risk of a crash.

Base price: $97,350 (including destination) Price as tested: $126,750 Powertrain: 3.8-liter, DOHC, direct-injected, six-cylinder engine with variable valve timing; eight-speed dual-clutch transmission with paddle shifters Horsepower: 400 at 7,400 RPM Torque: 325 pound-feet at 5,600 RPM 0-60: 3.9 seconds Curb weight: 3,120 pounds Wheelbase: 96.46 inches Overall length: ...

One hundred years from now, when auto historians go all Charles Darwin dissecting the evolution of Porsche's 911 sports car, they may notice a bit of a dogleg in the year 2012. The car's progress since its inception in 1963 has been carefully modulated. Along the way, its blend of aptitude and approachability has earned it the unique distinction of having as much respect at the racetrack as it has with both patrons and proprietors of our nation's plastic surgery clinics. Yet the 2012 model is the most liberal interpretation of the 911's ethos yet. Available now as the basic Carrera and the more powerful Carrera S that I tested, it grows significantly in size and it puts a previously unappreciated importance on efficiency.

It was one of those freeway on-ramps where two lanes merge into one, and the big black Mercedes had the pole position, already at cruising speed. Good time to see just what the new Porsche 911 Carrera S could do. A few seconds later, the Mercedes was in the rear view. Thank you, Dr. Porsche. And thank you, David Undercoffler, for letting me get behind the wheel. Undercoffler is a producer for the latimes.com home page, but for nearly two years he has moonlighted as an auto reviewer for The Times' Business section.

Porsche bought additional shares in Volkswagen and will boost its stake in Europe's biggest carmaker to more than 50%, attaining indirect control over Swedish firm Scania. Porsche said it would be required by Swedish law to launch a mandatory offer for the truck manufacturer. Porsche, based in Stuttgart, Germany, said it doesn't have a strategic interest in Scania and is not interested in acquiring Scania shares.

A Costa Mesa man thrown from a car was in critical condition Thursday and two others were being treated for major injuries after a head-on collision on Irvine Avenue. Robert K. Elliott, 21, suffered serious head injuries after he was ejected from the 1972 Porsche his friend was driving. The accident occurred about 6:30 p.m. on the winding section of Irvine Avenue just north of Private Road, police said. Dale Cross, 22, who was driving, apparently lost control and drove over the center divider into oncoming traffic, police said.

Porsche departed from the traditionally product-oriented public announcements at this year's L.A. Auto Show with news that the company plans to build a Porsche Experience Center in the city of Carson. The facility, only the second in the country and the fifth in the world, will sit on a 53-acre section of land just off the 405 Freeway near the interchange with the 110 Freeway. Much of the space is currently the Dominguez Hills Golf Course and at one point the area was a landfill.

Not content with introducing to North American audiences a complete revision of one of the most iconic sports cars of all time, Porsche used the L.A. Auto Show to unveil a beast of quite a different nature. Yet ostensibly, the company sees it in a similar light as the new 991. It's the Panamera GTS. GTS is a moniker the automaker has used as a designation of sport-tuned characteristics paired with a naturally aspirated engine. It was last seen on the final iteration of the departed 997, but also used on an earlier version of the company's Cayenne SUV. (Go way back into Porsche lore and you'll find that the Porsche GTS was also a street-legal variant of a race car made in 1964 and 1965, but let's not tell this new Panamera GTS about that, lest it suffer an identity crisis.)