As Chicago was holding its first successful auto show in 1901, Professor Ferdinand Porsche was showing his latest project in Paris, France. The Lohner-Porsche, the first successful zero emission vehicle on the market generated great interest at the Paris Auto Show in 1900, as did the Lohner-Porsche Hybrid that followed closely on its heels when it was unveiled in 1901.
The inventive design, without a transmission or gearbox, established the then 24-year-old as a pioneer in the early days of the automobile. Shortly thereafter, Ferdinand Porsche added two internal combustion engines to charge the batteries for the front wheel hub motors, thus creating the world's first hybrid.
More than 100 years after Ferdinand Porsche's innovative work, and its debut in Paris, the engineers at Porsche's Research and Development Center in Weissach, Germany, have returned to Ferdinand's basic concept and are busy developing the Cayenne hybrid, and soon to follow, the Panamera Hybrid.
While the Porsche Hybrid Systems are in development, the latest edition of the Cayenne family, the Cayenne GTS, makes its debut in Chicago. While the Cayenne has already earned a reputation for exceptional on and off-road handling characteristics, the new Cayenne GTS will offer the best on-road characteristics of any Cayenne to date.
The GTS features the same 4.8 liter, direct injection V-8 engine as the Cayenne S but a larger intake manifold and other modifications allow it to produce an impressive 405hp. And for the first time in North America, you can have a Porsche V-8 paired with a six-speed manual transmission. The GTS is equipped with 21-inch alloy wheels carrying 295/35 R21 tires that, when combined with standard air suspension and Porsche Active Suspension Management, offer remarkable street handling that most would never equate to a sport utility vehicle.