Instant Alert: This is why one of Porsche's most important cars is one of its most controversial

MANAGE SUBSCRIPTIONS   |   UNSUBSCRIBE   |   VIEW ONLINE   This is why one of Porsche's most important cars is one of its most controversial by Benjamin Zhang on Jul 31, 2016, 1:59 PM Advertisement The Porsche Panamera is one of the most polarizing cars on the road today. While many people don't like the sedan's fastback rear end, others swear by the car's prowess on the road. When the Panamera entered production in 2009, it became the first sedan in Porsche's illustrious history to reach showrooms.  In June, Porsche unveiled the second generation Panamera in Berlin to universal acclaim. The automotive world immediately became enthralled by the car. Mostly because Porsche had fixed the only thing that kept people from falling in love with the first generation Panamera — the tail.  Although I've driven several Porsche models, I never had a chance to spend any time behind the wheel of a Panamera. With the second generation Panamera still months away from reaching our shores, Porsche was gracious enough to lend me one of their final first-generation cars for a few days.  SEE ALSO: Here's what happened when I finally got to drive the car of my childhood dreams Here it is! A 2016 Porsche Panamera GTS! A few weeks ago, I made the trip down to Atlanta — home of Porsche Cars North America's new $100 million corporate headquarters. (As a side note, the facility also served as The Avengers' home base in "Captain America: Civil War".) There, I met up with a shiny new 2016 Porsche Panamera GTS clad in stylish silver metallic paint.   That escalated quickly. Even though the base Panamera starts at a fairly reasonable $78,000, our medium grade GTS test car carries a base price of $113,400. With options such as special metallic paint ($3,100), upgraded Bose surround sound system ($1,590), black high gloss sport wheels ($3,375), and Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control ($5,000), our test car came in at $140,525. Then again, no one ever said Porsche magic comes cheap.  But first, a bit of history. Although the Panamera was the first Porsche sedan to make it into production when it arrived in showrooms for the 2010 model year, the company had actually been mulling over the idea for some time. More than two decades ago, Porsche built the 989 prototype to be a sports car for the whole family. The 989 was powered by a 4.2-liter, 350-horsepower V8 engine, and Porsche claimed it could hit a top speed of 173 mph.   See the rest of the story at Business Insider   Share the latest business news with your network: Email sent to:   |   Manage your email preferences   |   Unsubscribe Terms of Service   |   Privacy Policy Business Insider. 150 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011