Doug&Julie

Watching the Sebring 12 hour race I heard one of the announcers mention "a little birdy told me" that there may be something new coming from Porsche, hinting that the 911 has reached the "end of it's development". He said "not today, not tomorrow, but possibly in a year or two". He failed to elaborate...does anybody know anything about this? Is Porsche giving up on the rear engined layout? ..or are they talking about a V8 "911"? All speculation on my part, FWIW. The only other thing they added was "remember, you heard it here first!"

abe

I have not heard anything...but I strongly doubt that Porsche is going to abandon one of its most successful car. IMHO, the "911" will be here today, tomorrow and 20 years from now. It may be a hybrid, diesel, 4 cylinders, 12cylinder or with an electric motor if they have to. The 911 is not going away...remember, you heard it here now.
abe

MUSSBERGER

I heard the same thing? WTF

whalebird

They have been saying this since 1970. The TV guys are the last to know anyway, the guy was probably trying to fill his boring monologue with something he read in autoweek last year.
Remember...you heard it here for over 30 years.

moto one

Remember that Porsche has expanded it's self some, and maybe were they are taking the 911 is in the mid engine direction...

Mark.

LaughaC

A stupid move like cancelling the 911 would increase our car values and sink Porsche...

However, I do think they should only build the new ones to order, and like Ferrari they should always make one less than the demand. We have been the bargain supercar for too long if it is no longer profitable.

The car market always amazes me, though. Most people keep buying ugly cars that handle like vans so automakers keep stamping out mediocrity.

My guess is that announcer was talking about the Panamera, which is a 4-door that looks like a stretched 928 with 911 tail lights.

84_Carrera

Actually, my guess would be a 3.8L RSR Cayman. If you're going to go racing, (uh outside of Ricky Bobby country) do you pick the 2-door mid-engine platform, or the 4-door front-engine platform?

Doug&Julie

I got the impression they were referring to the racing cars only, not so much the road cars.

Daniel Dudley

If they could race a 4WD platform, the 911 would STOMP the Ferraris. But they can't. They need to move over to a mid engine platform. Enough said, and we have been saying it for years here.

flatsixnut

Old School aside...it would be their best bet to go with a mid engine platform for racing. Porsche has always been a budget super car...thats what has made them successful.

cornerhans

They have gotten far enough away from the original 911 design, maybe it will be something retro.

whalebird

Porsche invented the mid-engine, so that could be done without any hiccups.. Discontinuing the 911 is like Ford saying they have run out of development for the F150 pickup. Rear engine is a platform that has advantages over any other. They pioneered it and it is as apt now as ever. I could see some merit to that statement in a motorsports context, but The 911 is THE Porsche.

UberXY

If Porsche makes a mid-engined V8 911, my kids can forget going to college.

bart1

I'm gonna cross-post this both ways. Check out this thread on the 993 forum:

https://rennlist.com/forums/993-foru...ne-design.html

Fahrer

A mid engine car to replace the 911 would be quite expensive ( think Audi R8). Indeed, the ultmate design for the track is mid engine but the 911 is the 911 and if the icon disappears, it will be a big problem for the brand. The 911 is the reason they get to sell all of those Boxsters and Cayennes.