Porsche Panamera hits the heights in Shanghai

A Porsche Panamera on its way to the 94th floor of the World Financial Centre in Shanghai

The stories of car makers doing daft things with cars to garner a bit of publicity have been rarer of late. Which, considering the sombre mood of car makers and the car buying public in recent months, is no real surprise. Even Motor Shows have been relatively sombre affairs (the Detroit Motor Show was particularly muted in 2009), but China is still booming, and the Shanghai Motor Show has been pretty much an old fashioned, glitzy affair.

So I suppose it’s no surprise that we got a ‘Daft things with Cars’ story from Shanghai. This one involves Porsche, a new Panamera, an exhibition platform on the 94th floor of the world’s third tallest building, and a lift.

The Shanghai World Financial Centre has an exhibition centre on its 94th floor – 1,394 feet up. Which if you’re showing off the latest photocopier, or showcasing digital chop sticks, is not a big issue. But if you issue an invite to the world’s car journos to view a great big, 4 door Porsche Panamera, there are a few logistical issues to overcome.

But in a case of great Occidental-Oriental co-operation and effort, those efficient Germans and enterprising Chinese found a way to stick the Panamera in a lift and on up to the 94th floor. Perhaps not quite as flamboyant as Lamborghini’s efforts in flying a Reventon across Turin strapped to a military helicopter, but definitely more of a squeeze.

Check out the operation in the gallery below.