Porsche Cayenne GTS

As far as ludicrous ideas go, the Porsche Cayenne is right up there with Lyndon LaRouche. A legendary sports car manufacturer building a heavy SUV? It's not a conspiracy, but almost a mortal sin.

The Cayenne has been a wildfire sales success for Porsche and proven all the naysayers, including me, wrong. While it still can't be called attractive, this new GTS model is more involving with its optional six-speed manual.

Porsche SUV, stick shift, absurd performance, off-road capability. That combo would have been blasphemy to Ferry Porsche. Then again, he didn't own 20 percent of Volkswagen because of it.