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Porsche celebrates Le Mans return with Martini edition 911

If we've said it once, we've said it a hundred times - but we'll gladly say it again: there are few racing liveries as iconic as Martini. And while those stripes have adorned countless Lancia and Ford rally cars, grand prix racers (like the latest Williams) and even speedboats, they remain inexorably tied to Porsche. Fortunately that point is not lost on Porsche itself, which has lately put them on its own 918 Spyder, race-spec 911 and all manner of merchandise. And this is the latest.
To celebrate its return to Le Mans this year, Porsche Exclusive is offering this special Martini Racing Edition. It's based on the 911 Carrera S, which means the more potent 3.8-liter flat six with 400 horsepower, but upgrades, as you might have guessed, with a whole mess of Martini Racing stripes and logos, along with the Aerokit Cup front and rear spoilers. The badges and stripes abound inside as well, where you'll also find such optional extras as the Porsche Communication Management system, Bose audio and black leather electric sport seats.
Porsche is offering the 911 Carrera S Martini Racing Edition in either white or black, but unfortunately not in our market - just in Europe, China and Latin America. Those who miss out will (in certain markets anyway) be able to order the decal set separately though. Feel free to read more in the press release below.

Porsche has doubled US sales to women [w/videos]

Porsche is having a good sales year in the US, with 25,129 vehicles delivered year-to-date coming off the automaker's best July sales ever. That's a 31-percent increase over the same period last year (19,253 deliveries). With year-to-date Panamera sales a surprising 36 percent lower than last year, what possibly could be driving Porsche's sales surge? If you answered Cayman and Boxster sales, you're right. But dealerships are noticing another factor: more women are coming in to buy Porsches, CNBC reports, the bulk of whom picked up new Cayenne SUVs. The German automaker's sales to women in the US have more than doubled in the past two years, increasing from 7 percent to 15 percent. This has helped year-to-date Cayenne sales reach 11,082 - 31 percent higher than the same time last year.
Porsche executives have been trying to tap into the women's market, as evidenced in part by the company's move to pick professional tennis player Maria Sharapova as a brand ambassador. Porsche maintains it has not moved to dramatically change its brand image, but it has shown a number of ads in recent years that uncharacteristically emphasize its vehicles' practicality under the "Engineered for Magic. Everyday" banner - some featuring female drivers.
Be sure to watch CNBC's video report on Porsche's female movement below - you'll also find one of the aforementioned Engineered For Magic ads as well as an interesting case study video on the campaign from ad agency Cramer-Krasselt.

Magnus Walker pops up again, this time with his Irish Green 911

He was the subject of a short film called Urban Outlaw. He has been on Jay Leno's Garage. Twice. He even graced the cover of Road & Track in June. And after all of that, he appeared in a video by Hong Kong-based Silly Thing. So it isn't really surprising that Magnus Walker is at the center of attention in the latest video from XCAR, but it's surprising - and a treat - to see his mostly original Irish Green 1966 Porsche 911.
Powered by an air-cooled 2.0-liter flat six with 130 horsepower (more like 120 hp today, Walker says), riding on 5.5-inch wide wheels and turned with a wooden steering wheel, the little green 911 does represent some of the best aspects of classic car motoring.
Head on below to watch the long-form video on Walker and his Porsche, but if your time is limited, you're not missing much if you call it quits at five minutes - especially if you've seen his aforementioned videos before.