Send to a frienddetroit9000 February 7th, 2008 5:23 PM Link
Wow. I like it! A 356 for biology professors! No, I really do like it.
Green Speedster: CNG-Fueled PGO Cevennes to Debut at Geneva
Written By: Evan McCausland
Love tooling around in your vintage Porsche 356 (or your Beck-built replica), but have a guilty conscience about your Speedster’s carbon footprint? Fret not, friends; the French folks at PGO Auto are thinking ahead for you. Headed to March’s Geneva motor show is the firm’s Cévennes Turbo-CNG roadster, a 356 replica with a natural (gas) twist.
(Click through for a gallery and more on the green Speedster)
Propelling the car (and coupled through a six-speed manual) is a four-cylinder, 1.6-liter turbocharged I-4, capable of running on compressed natural gas. The motor, with a compression ratio of nearly 11:1, delivers close to 150 hp and 155 lb-ft of torque, enough to move the car to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds and to a top end of 130 mph.
With a 132 liter CNG tank, the Cevennes’ range is estimated at being 280 miles, at which it returns an equivalent of 35 mpg and emits little more than 118 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer.
Interested? If so (and you live in Europe), speak up - and quickly. PGO plans to only begin production of the CNG roadster if public demand mandates it. Should it enter production, expect it to carry a price tag of around $70,000.
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7 Comments
detroit9000 February 7th, 2008 5:23 PM Link
By the way, if I was Porsche, I’d be stamping the cease and desist letter right about now.
Ducati Minor February 7th, 2008 6:38 PM Link
Neat idea (except for it being a fake Porsche), but the truth is that these replicas are better to drive than the originals. The 356 was not a great car, I hate to say. The XK120 was far more impressive as a sports car, in my opinion.
Mena February 7th, 2008 6:43 PM Link
Nice but what’s the “carbon footprint” of an original 356?
Ducati Minor February 7th, 2008 6:54 PM Link
Well, the A model flat-four engine was marked in “cc” race classes because it was so small (just above a liter), and the largest engine was a 2.0 L dual-cam four, so it wasn’t very much compared to a competing Ferrari V-12 berlinetta of the late ’50s.
CARSON44 February 7th, 2008 8:19 PM Link
With all the head scratching and hand wringing over carbon footprints and foreign oil usage why isn’t more being done with CNG. The technology is proven, the conversions are cheap and easy and it seems a good answer.
Aaron February 8th, 2008 9:50 AM Link
I think it’s a beautiful modern interpretation of the 356 (though I agree with detroit9000 about Porsche inking up a C-and-D).
However, it’s far “greener” to drive an old car than to buy a new one due entirely to the amount of energy and material that goes into making a new car. So, this is a bit misguided.
@ CARSON44: It’s my understanding that most natural gas is obtained as a byproduct of oil drilling and refining.
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