Auto News 5

This is more like it. In one simple profile revision, from whalelike fastback four-door to tough-looking aerodynamic sport wagon, Porsche's Panamera has been transformed from a car I wouldn't want to be seen driving into something I actually could covet. The concept of a fastback four-door sedan is intriguing, but making one genuinely attractive is a difficult task. General Motors managed it from 1949-51 with Chevrolet, Pontiac, and Oldsmobile, basically because the roof tapered inward quite sharply in plan view and because, by our contemporary standards, they were pretty big cars, allowing a long roofline. But many other attempts, including the 1949 Lincoln, GM's late-'70s downsized four-doors, and Porsche's first sedan, have ranged from grotesque to ghastly.