High=altitude testing makes strange bedfellows. In this case, a team of German-speaking engineers, holed up at a Colorado retreat with six Porsche Panamera prototypes, found themselves in close proximity to John the tipster, who snapped a few photos of the proceedings. To wit:

I am at a conference at the the Keystone Inn right now in Keystone, Colorado... a ski resort near Breckenridge. There are about 6 Panameras hidden in back parking lot, and a handful of Germans with laptops who aren't too interested in striking up a conversation. They've been here for a few days and the cars are modestly disguised with tarps, plastic, reflective tape, and big plastic crates over the rear spoiler, although there's not much that can truly hide a Porsche the size of an Avalon. The interior was also well disguised with vinyl covering the dash, doors, and even the steering wheel. Made my conference a little more interesting.

Porsche says all this testing will be done by the 2009 Frankfurt show, where the Panamera will hit the floodlights.

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