California 1974 Porsche 911 Sunroof Coupe {49 Photos} on 2040-cars

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Hyundai, Porsche top J.D. Power APEAL study

Just as they did in the Initial Quality Study, Porsche and Hyundai have taken the premium and non-premium crown, respectively, for the 2014 J.D. Power APEAL study. This is the tenth consecutive year for that Porsche has been rated the best premium make in the APEAL study, which attempts to figure out how pleased owners are with their purchases. For 2014, it asked 86,000 owners of MY2014 cars to rate their vehicles in 77 different categories 90 days after their initial purchase. The resulting figures were plugged in deliver the APEAL score, which is rated on a 1,000-point scale.
The industry average sits at 794 points for 2014, although that's a one-percent decline over last year's rating. In this year's study, premium brands averaged 840 out of 1,000, while non-premium makes average 785. For their part, Porsche netted an impressive 882 points, while Hyundai earned an 804. Interestingly, only four non-premium brands (Hyundai, Ram, Volkswagen and Mini) finished above the industry average for 2014.
It's also interesting to see the clear delineation between premium and non-premium brands, with an eight-point gap between the non-premium champ, Hyundai, and the lowest-rated premium brand, Volvo.

Son of Porsche 911 designer recalls 1963 Frankfurt debut

The Goodwood Revival is described by its presenters as the greatest motorsport racing party of the year. We often focus heavily on the motorsports, but you can't forget about the party. For the first preview of the new 911 Turbo in the UK, Porsche recreated its booth from the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1963 - the time and place of the original 911's public debut.
Porsche's cameras also caught up with Mark Porsche, the great grandson of Dr. Ferdinand Porsche and son of the late Ferdinand Alexander "Butzi" Porsche, who oversaw the design of the 911. Mark Porsche admires the 911's friendly design, which is set off by the round headlights, and says his mother, who was at the original Frankfurt booth in 1963, was milling around the booth at Goodwood - no doubt taking a trip down memory lane.

Submit your questions for Autoblog Podcast #344 LIVE!

We're set to record Autoblog Podcast #344 tonight, joined by Doug DeMuro, author of Plays With Cars, formerly of Porsche Cars North America, and all-around swell guy. You can drop us your questions and comments via our Q&A module below, and we'll give them extra-diligent attention. Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes if you haven't already done so, and if you want to take it all in live, tune in to our UStream (audio only) channel at 10:00 PM Eastern tonight.
Discussion Topics for Autoblog Podcast Episode #344
BRZ STI?