Ralph Steenstra, who owns the coffee shop just around the corner from my condo, has been, for weeks, enticing me with rumours of the upcoming Porsche 4-door sedan. Ralph thinks it's the best thing since the Boeing 707 that he piloted as First Officer back in his aviation days. I'm not convinced.

Why should a maker of full-blooded sports cars meddle in the luxury sedan category? It's been attempted, with little success, by Aston Martin. The exalted Ferrari toyed with the the idea and gave up. Way back when, Bugatti made ten Royale sedans, the survivors now worth millions but only of interest to the super-wealthy. Porsche, it seems to me, has been hyptonised by the marketing nonsense that says every car maker should have a presence in every category. Regardless of what I think (careful, Porsche, I was once your Canadian pr guy) the Porsche Panamera has been approved for production in Leipzig, alongside the Cayenne and the Carrera GT, beginning in 2008.

The Panamera (poor name choice: "Panamericana" is easier to say and reminiscent of the PanAmerican Road Race) will be powered by a modified version of the Cayenne's V-8 on a unique rear-wheel-drive chassis. Porsche envisages making 20,000 Panameras annually. So far, the only supercar manufacturer to make a success of a sedan is Maserati with the Quattroporte. The truth is, a 4-door sedan with the low, sleek lines of the sports car from which it was derived demands Olympic gymnastics from passengers when they attempt entering the back seat. So what's the point?

By the way, though I truly wanted to include a view of the Panamera the only photos were copyrighted spy shots by Brenda Priddy. Thus the Cayman is shown, inasmuch as it has some styling hints. For a peak at Brenda's photos, please go to theCarConnection article.