Porsche Prototypes are Always Awesome to Pour Over
Daily Slideshow: These five prototypes may not have seen the light of day, but they inspired the success of today's top-selling Porsche cars and SUVs.
Porsche’s Top Five Prototypes
Porsche has built many prototypes over the years, many of which have been termed as marvels of automotive design. Porsche is renowned for being relentless in its pursuit of automotive excellence, and as such, it has consistently pushed the limits the design and engineering over the years to build vehicles that fully embody the kind of exclusivity, style, innovation, and performance that Porsche is known for.
It is said that Porsche stores most of the road- and race-car prototypes that it has built over the last century in a hidden warehouse that is just a few blocks away from the ritzy Porsche museum in Stuttgart, Germany. Out of this secret stash, Porsche recently picked out five outstanding prototypes for its ‘Porsche Top 5 Series’ on YouTube. These prototypes may not have gotten the green light for mass production, but they greatly inspired some of the top-selling Porsche nameplates that we have today.
Photo Courtesy of the Porsche Newsroom
5. The Porsche 984
In the mid-80s, having been inspired by car manufacturer SEAT, Porsche attempted to build a small, affordable, aerodynamic, and lightweight sports coupe dubbed the Porsche 984. With an estimated price range of around 40,000 German marks, it was meant to appeal to youthful driving enthusiasts.
Photo Courtesy of Carscoops.com
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The Porsche 984 (Rear)
With this car, Porsche endeavored to find out whether a small sports coupe that was focused mainly on driving dynamics (and not much on power) would appeal to car buyers. It came equipped with a small two-liter, 4-cylinder boxer engine with an output of just 135 horsepower, so it was much less powerful than the most of the other sports cars that Porsche had in production at the time.
Photo Courtesy of Carscoops.com
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4. The Porsche Cayenne Cabriolet
Another prototype that made it to Porsche’s top-five list is the Porsche Cayenne Cabriolet of 2002. In 2002, when Porsche had just launched the Cayenne and had seen how well it had been received, it decided to explore the idea of having a cabriolet version of the Cayenne. At the time, the idea was not well received, but today we see many versions of the SUV cabriolets on our roads. Therefore, we can say that the Cayenne Cabriolet was way ahead of its time.
Photo Courtesy of Carscoops.com
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The Porsche Cayenne Cabriolet (Rear)
The Cayenne Cabriolet also features a two-sided rear end that shows portions of both of the rear fascia designs that the design team was trying to decide on. This prototype also seats 4 people just like a true cabriolet, and it adds a unique design feature that many driving enthusiasts still see as pure genius – a Targa roll bar.
Photo Courtesy of Motor1.com
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3. The 1987 911 Carrera 3.2 Speedster Clubsport
The 1987 911 Carrera 3.2 Speedster Clubsport comes in third place. Inspired by the 2-seater Porsche 550 Spyder race car, the 911 Carrera 3.2 Speedster Clubsport is an open single-seater sports car.
Photo Courtesy of the Porsche Newsroom
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1987 911 Carrera 3.2 Speedster Clubsport (Front)
Instead of having a windscreen, it features a small wind deflector in front of the driver and a plastic cover over the rest of the cabin. This prototype is equipped with a 3.2-liter flat-six engine that churns out 231 horsepower and achieves a top speed of 245 km/h.
Photo Courtesy of the Porsche Newsroom
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2. The 1989 Porsche Panamericana
The 1989 Porsche Panamericana was Porsche’s first solid attempt at making a sporty crossover. It was meant to be a birthday present for Ferry Porsche; that year (1989) marked his 80th birthday, and the folks at Porsche were not going to let it pass without some celebration. The Panamericana crossover is built upon the chassis of the Porsche 964 Cabriolet but it features a funky body design with flowing lines and arches, brawny cutaway front and rear fenders, and chunky, and dune-buggy-like wheels and tires.
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The Porsche Panamericana (Rear)
The Panamericana also features a soft-top roof that can be easily unzipped and fitted into the trunk. The structure of the Panamericana’s roof was also well ahead of its time; it ended up influencing the designs of all the Targa models that came after it. Powering the Porsche Panamericana is a 250-horsepower flat-six engine that enables this crossover to achieve a zero-to-60-mph time of 5.8 seconds.
Photo Courtesy of Detectandpreserve - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
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1. The Porsche 918 Spyder Prototype Rolling Chassis
After Porsche unveiled the Porsche 918 Spyder concept car to the world in March 2010 at the Geneva Auto Show, it decided to go a step further and showcase a rolling chassis prototype of the car in early 2012, several months before the car was scheduled to start being produced. The prototype has hardly any bodywork, so it exposes the anatomy and inner workings of the Porsche 918 Spyder in a bizarre way.
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Testing The Porsche 918 Spyder Prototype Rolling Chassis
The Porsche 918 Spyder Prototype Rolling Chassis was shown to only a few selected automotive journalists who even got the chance to test drive it at the Porsche test track in Weissach, Germany. As it stands, this prototype’s hybrid powertrain delivers a combined output of 550 horsepower.
Photo Courtesy of Eurocarnews.com
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