Porsche has brought a unique body style to the market in the EV landscape with the Taycan Cross Turismo. A raised station wagon annex shooting brake may not be exactly what you expect from Porsche, but the brand has often played with the idea of special body variants in the past. We picked these six out.
1. Porsche 928 H50 Concept
The 928 H50 seemed like an interesting idea on paper. Take a 928, extend the wheelbase by 25 centimeters and fit rear-opening rear doors. Engineers also extended the 928’s roofline, giving it more of a shooting brake silhouette. Ultimately, Porsche decided not to put the model into production, allegedly because after the necessary testing work it would have turned out that the bodywork had insufficient stiffness due to the extended wheelbase. The prototype was forgotten, but saw the light of day again at the Concours d’Elégance of Pebble Beach in 2012. The H50 looks even more eccentric than the regular 928, but precisely for that reason it is actually a shame that Porsche never put it into production.
2. Porsche Macan Safari
A three-door Macan? It could have been, because Porsche built the Macan Safari in 2013, a year before the Macan made its official debut. In addition to the fact that the Macan Safari lacks two rear doors, it has large plastic fenders that are knocked out, giving it an almost Dakar-worthy appearance. The roll cage in the interior further contributes to this. The Macan Safari will never be able to show its true potential, because the prototype is an empty shell without an engine.
3. Porsche 911 Vision Safari
Well, in terms of body shape, the 2012 911 Vision Safari is just a 911, but it’s higher on its legs, the fenders are knocked out, the rubber has higher cheeks, and it has underguards and an extra set of lights. Broadly speaking, that resembles what Porsche did with the Taycan Cross Turismo. Unlike the previous two models, the 911 Safari may still have a future. Obviously not as 991, but possibly as 992. A while ago our spy photographer caught a raised 911 in camouflage near the Nürburgring.
4. Porsche 989 Concept
In 1988 Porsche already toyed with the idea of launching a sporty four-door on the market. This resulted in the 989, which resembles a stretched 911 in terms of shape. Certain details such as the headlights later returned to the 993, while the rear lights found their way back to the 996 later on. You might think that the 989 has the engine in the back, but appearances can be deceiving. In the front is a V8 that should be good for 300 hp. Porsche scrapped the project in 1992, but fortunately the prototype was preserved. Ultimately, this idea didn’t make its way to the production stage until 2009 in the form of the Panamera.
5. Porsche Vision Racing Service
A Porsche van? It seems unthinkable, but the Vision Renndienst from 2018 proves that the brand was still playing with the idea in a recent past. The concept car has a fully electric powertrain and, according to Porsche, showed that it can also deliver a car in this segment that has characteristic Porsche characteristics. Given Porsche’s past, it does not seem very likely that the brand will manifest itself in the commercial vehicle market. But a sportier version of Volkswagen’s upcoming ID Buzz? Based on the Vision Renndienst, it wouldn’t even be a very far-fetched idea.
6. Porsche C88
In the mid-1990s, the Chinese government wanted to create a car for the people. Before that, it asked car manufacturers around the world to come to the Beijing auto show in 1994. Porsche was also asked to develop a car that resulted in the C88. The engineers in Weissach developed and built the prototype in just four months. Admittedly, you will not see from the outside that it is a Porsche, because the logos are in no way to be seen on the small sedan. The power was therefore not really over with 48 hp. However, the Chinese government did not see the Porsche for Jan Modaal and so the car never reached the production stage.