Future: Porsche Panamera
The four-door Porsche we've all been waiting for
By Editors of Motor Trend
Photography by the Manufacturer
Porsche has officially confirmed it'll build a four-seat, four-door sport coupe for the 2009 calendar year (2010 model year). To be called Panamera (supposedly for the Carrera Panamericana race), it'll become the fourth car in Porsche's lineup (911, Cayenne, Boxster/ Cayman) and will not share its platform or development with any other carmaker.
Its V-8 engines are from the Cayenne, the 340-horsepower naturally aspirated and 450-horse, 4.5-liter twin-turbo, although Porsche certainly has the capability to raise the power for each by the 2010 model year. Porsche's Leipzig factory will build the front-engine, rear-drive Panamera alongside the Cayenne SUV and the Carrera GT supercar.
Porsche will fund the $1.2-billion-plus project on its own and expects annual worldwide sales of at least 20,000 (it had previously said it could break even on 10,000). If history is any guide, about half that will be sold in the United States and Canada. The four-door Panamera's code name is E2B, and Porsche may design a sport-wagon variant off it.
You don't want to rush these things...
Porsche has been toying with this idea for years.
Porsche 989 (1993)
Stillborn four-door developed by then head of R&D Ulrich Bez (now Aston Martin chief). Engine was to be front-mounted 3.6-liter V-8 with 300 horses. Mechanical mules built using E-Class bodies hit 60 mph in about 6.0 seconds, and planned top speed was 170 mph. Three full-scale models were built. Styled by Harm Lagaay, they looked remarkably like an elegantly stretched 911. Insiders claim the interior package rivaled contemporary BMW 5 Series.
Porsche 928S (1984)
Built as a 75th birthday present for Ferry Porsche, this 160-mph four-seat 928 had almost 10 inches inserted into the wheelbase, and a more upright B-pillar and longer roofline for better rear-seat headroom.
Porsche 911/C 20 (1970)
The wheelbase of this one-off was extended by a massive 13.6 inches, resulting in dachshund proportions and a turning circle the size of the Bismarck's. It was powered by a 180-horse, 2.2-liter flat-six.
Porsche 911 B17 (1969)
Pininfarina put 7.5 inches into the wheelbase of a regular 911, all of it behind the B-pillar. The weight ballooned to almost 2500 pounds, killing performance, and the roofline looked a VW Type 3 Fastback's.