If there's one carmaker that perfectly encapsulates the German attitude to speed and performance, it's Porsche. They've been consistently at the forefront of sports car development for decades now, leading the charge with one of the best-selling sports cars of all time, the 911. Of course, there's a lot more to Porsche than just a single iconic car, as models like the 959, Cayman and more recently the 918 Spyder all took the market by storm when they launched.
A manufacturer with such a rich and varied history as Porsche is always going to have a few forgotten gems in its back catalog, but it seems that Porsche has more than most. There's everything from canceled concepts that nearly made it to production, unique variations of popular models, and exceedingly rare one-offs that have only been seen in the flesh by a handful of people. These ten cars have been long forgotten by most Porsche fans, but they're all incredible in their own right and deserve to be more widely remembered.
10 916
The early Seventies was a tricky time for Porsche, as the brand had just launched the 914, which was widely derided for its Volkswagen roots and unusual looks. They still had the fan-favorite 911 though, so some bright spark at the company had the idea to combine the two cars. The result was the 916, a mashup of a 914 body with a top-spec 911 engine pushed under the hood.
This combination turned out to be a supercar killer, as the lightweight 914 body meant the engine's performance could be pushed to the limit. It was ultimately decided that the 916 was too fast to sell to the public, especially since it might take sales away from the regular 911. A handful of examples of the 916 made it onto the roads, and today they're among the most expensive non-911 Porsches to buy. An auction in 2020 saw a pristine example sell for an unbelievable $957,000.
9 935 Street
A truly unique creation, the 935 Street is a one-off project that was personally commissioned by the then-CEO of luxury watchmaker TAG Heuer, Mansour Ojjeh. Ojjeh wanted to go one better than all the 911 Turbo-owning executives of the time, so he approached Porsche directly and asked for a road-going version of the highly successful 935 race car.
Porsche obliged, basing the build on a modified 911 chassis and creating a custom body shell to replicate the 935. A race-derived engine was fitted that meant that the 935 Street was significantly more powerful than even the top-spec 911 Turbo, and so Ojjeh had got his wish. The car was placed into his private collection but has occasionally been seen at classic race meets and events.
8 Panamericana
No, this isn't a misspelling of the Panamera; the Panamericana is actually a 1989 concept car that's loosely based on the 911. It was built as a gift for the 80th birthday of Ferry Porsche, the company's chairman at the time. The idea was to take a 911 chassis and make it into an all-terrain racing machine, hence the chunky tires and cutaway arches.
Two examples of the car were made, one personally delivered to Ferry Porsche and the other appearing at car shows and eventually ending up at the company's museum in Stuttgart, Germany. Executives reportedly considered putting the Panamericana into production at one point, but Porsche was cash-strapped and eventually, they decided not to go ahead.
7 961
Every self-respecting gearhead will know of the 959, but fewer people know about the race car that it spawned. Originally, the 959 was developed as a homologation requirement for Group B racing, but after the category was shut down Porsche wanted to find a new way to prove how competitive the 959 was.
The result was the 961, a one-off creation that only managed to compete at a handful of races before catching fire at the 1987 Le Mans. It was well regarded by everyone who drove and worked on it, but unfortunately, thanks to a miscommunication between the driver and the pit team the 961 burnt to a crisp before fire crews had the chance to save it.
6 911 (997) Speedster
Porsche has a long tradition of building low-volume special editions of its flagship 911, and the 997 Speedster is one of their rarest. Designed to commemorate 25 years of Porsche Exclusive, the company's special operations division, only 356 997 Speedsters were made.
The unique open-top design of the Speedster sets it apart from all other variants of the 997, yet it has largely been forgotten about. It's not just about looks either: the car featured a tuned version of the standard 911's flat-six engine, which pushed its power output up to a beefy 408 hp.
5 Type 64
The Type 64 is considered by many to be the first Porsche, although its close ties with the Third Reich mean that not everyone agrees on that title. What's indisputable is that this is a very important car for the company, as it was the first sports car that Dr. Ferdinand Porsche ever made.
It was based on the chassis of an early Beetle, but it had to be more aerodynamic, hence its odd shape. Three prototypes were made and only one of those survived in its original condition. That original car was put up for auction in 2019 with an estimated price of $20 million, but it failed to sell after a controversial blunder meant the incorrect price was displayed to bidders throughout the auction.
4 989
Everyone knows the Panamera as the first four-door Porsche sedan, but decades before that a similar project nearly made it to production. The 989 was developed after the sales success of the 928 throughout the mid-80s, but cash flow issues and a looming recession meant it never made it to dealerships.
It's a shame as the renowned engineer Dr. Ulrich Bez was put in charge of the project, tasked with making a performance sedan that was both faster and more luxurious than its rivals. Today the sole prototype car is displayed at the Porsche Museum.
3 Tapiro
Unhappy with the critical reception of the 914, Porsche enlisted the services of Giorgetto Giugiaro to create a better-looking car in time for the 1970 Turin Motor Show. It was built on a standard 914 chassis but looked wildly different, with a wedge-shaped design and sharp edges.
It was well received but Porsche wasn't interested in making a production version, so the Tapiro eventually got sold to a Spanish businessman who used it as his daily driver for a while. Reports differ on its fate, as some say it was blown up by a bomb planted by workers unhappy with the businessman's company, while others say it caught fire in an accident. Either way, the car burnt to a crisp, and its charred remains are now on display at the Italdesign Museum in Italy.
2 924 Carrera GTR
Decades before the Carrera GT was unleashed upon the world, another Porsche had used the exact same nameplate. The 924 Carrera GT was built as a homologation requirement to allow Porsche to go racing with the 924 at Le Mans. A total of 400 examples of the car were made to comply with the rules, with four trims for buyers to choose from.
The "regular" GT made 207 hp, the GTS made 242 hp and was slightly lighter, and the Clubsport was even lighter and made 266 hp. The final option was the GTR, a fire-breathing 320 hp version was completely stripped out and looked most similar to its racing cousin. Only 17 examples were ever made, and they're barely ever seen as they've all been snapped up by collectors. One example did cross the auction block in mid-2021 though and it sold for $406,500.
1 911 SC/RS
Although Porsche hadn't fielded a factory team in the top tier of rallying since the mid-Seventies, there was a lingering interest among senior engineers to make a rally car in the following years. This culminated in 1983 with the launch of the 911 SC/RS, a road-legal rally racer that was sold to carefully selected customers.
It was based on the already-discontinued 911 Carrera RS, with Porsche reworking the engine and updating the car's design for the new decade. Five SC/RS models were sponsored by Rothman's and retained by Porsche for use in rallies worldwide, although they never quite made the impact that the later 959 Rothman's cars did on the wider rallying community.