7 Early Attempts at Porsches for the Whole Family
Many Porsche fans cried foul when the Cayenne SUV and Panamera sedan were introduced because they were not proper Porsche sports cars. But there have been attempts to create family friendly Porsches since the early days. Here are 5 notable attempts from over the years.
1. Troutman and Barnes 1967 911 Sedan
Way back in 1967, when few people who weren't into sports cars or motorsports had any idea what a Porsche was. The person who commissioned it was reportedly a Richard Mottweiler, who is often referred to as "Mr Dick" in stories of the time, who loved driving his 911, but felt Porsche ought to make sport sedans as well. Troutman and Barnes, a fabricator of race cars among other tings, were tasked with cutting in half a new 911, stretching it 21 inches, and making new doors. The interior was reupholstered by noted hot rodder Tony Nancy, based on a pair of leather cowboy boots the owner loved. It was so unusual it ended up in the pages of Road and Track, and even traveled to Germany for Porsche to study, before going missing. To this day no one knows what became of it.
2. Pininfarina 1969 911 B17 Concept
The folks at Porsche must have thought the Mr. Dick's idea had merit, because they commissioned a prototype Porsche 911 with a real back seat in 1969. Pininfarina stretched the stock floorpan nearly 8 inches, giving much needed leg room to passengers in back. In order for rear passengers of average height to fit in back, the roof line was radically altered, giving the car a hunched back look. Management was not happy with the new look of the car, and did not move forward with a stretched 911 2+2. The only B17 prototype did end up being sold to a private party, and now is in Sweden, updated with bright green paint, and a later motor and exterior trim. Oddly enough, the original Panamera introduced in 2010 has a similarly awkward hump to the rear roof.
3. Porsche 1970 911 C20 Concept
Porsche still was itching to make some of the money Jaguar had rolling in with that E-type 2+2, and so created another stretched 911 in 1970, called the C20. This one was done in house, and is much better looking. The wheelbase was stretched slightly from the B17 concept, and 6 inches were added between the rear bumper and axle, to provide headroom and fix the proportions of the slope of the roof. Handling was reported to suffer from putting even more weight over the rear wheels, but before that could be corrected, the project was cancelled in favor of the Porsche 928. This car is now in the Porsche museum.
4. Porsche 1987 928 Concept
Of course, when the 928 appeared in 1977 it gave Porsche a car that could carry 4 normal sized people, as long as those in back weren't too tall. The company still envied the production numbers BMW was seeing for their 3-series and 5-series sport sedans though. In 1987 they built a 928 based concept with elements of the shooting brake and sedan in it, dubbed the H50. The chassis was stretched about 10 inches, and 2 rear hinged mini doors were added. The sloping rear roof was eliminated, and an upright hatch was added, along with wagon like side windows. It was ultimately deemed too flexible without significant chassis improvement, and sold in 2002 at auction. The back of it bears some resemblance to the new Panamera wagon.
5. Various 911 Stretch Limos
Seriously, the less said about the various Porsche 911 based stretch limos that have been made over the years, the better. You have to hope they were made out of two cars that had been hit in the back and front, and spliced together. Why, why, why?
6. Porsche 1989 989 Panamera Concept
The Porsche 989 concept is so close to the shape of a four door 911 you might think it was rear engined and air cooled. This car was based on the 928 platform, though substantially revised for the added weight and size of a sedan. Just one look at it and anyone who loves Porsches would agree it would have been a sales winner, but the money to develop and launch it was just not there. It took sharing development costs with VW/Audi years later to get the Cayenne and Panamera built.
7. Porsche 1991 932 Panamera II Concept
Porsche still wanted to branch out and sell to drivers who needed room for more than just themselves and a single passenger. Building on the 989 concept, there was another 932 sedan built just a few years later. The nose looks much like the 928 of the day, but the back looks like any number of generic sedans. There is very little to this car that identifies it as a Porsche; in fact, it looks a lot like the current Tesla Model S, or a Lexus. You may hate the looks of the 1st generation Panamera, but it certainly looks more like a Porsche than this car.
And if you need help keeping your classic of late model Porsche running well, take a look at the how-to section of Rennlist.com.