ONE person's dream car is another's nightmare, so which of those is this to you?
A 'CUT PRICE' version of Porsche's Cayenne off-roader is on the way costing some £10,000 less than the current cheapest model.
When it arrives here sometime in the first half of next year, it will bring the price of owning a new car with a Porsche badge down to around the same level as a mid-range Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Audi A6 or Jaguar S-Type - and it comes with the added bonus of being big enough to seat all the family and with full off-road capability.
But its launch seems to be almost an embarrassment to the German sports car maker which talks in terms of the new power plant as a "basic engine" and goes to great pains to point out that it comes from an outside supplier - albeit developed and modified by Porsche's own engineers.
And as if to emphasise that it's a bottom of the range version, Porsche hasn't even bothered to give the new entry-level car its own model designation. It will simply be called Cayenne to differentiate it from the more powerful, V8-engined S and Turbo models.
It is the first ever Porsche with a V6 engine and although the new 3.2 litre power unit's 250bhp might sound impressive, the huge weight of the car means that this is the slowest Porsche to be produced in modern times. It has a top speed of 133mph but its 0-62mph sprint time of 9.1 seconds means it can be outgunned by many respectable two litre family cars.
That compares with 7.2 seconds for the £44,530 Cayenne S and 5.6 seconds for the flagship, £68,970 Turbo which have top speeds of 150 and 165mph respectively.
However, the new entry level model will cost just £34,350 and it will equipped with plenty of standard equipment including a six speed manual gearbox with high and low ratios and a lockable centre differential. It will be available in the first half of next year.
Whose Dream Car?
Anyone who's ever coveted a new Porsche but either a) can't afford one or b) needs a full four seater.
Whose nightmare?
Any buyer who pulls up at the traffic lights alongside the local cowboy in a souped-up Vauxhall Nova.