Conceived by a Porsche distributor who wanted to send a message to the factory that they needed to expand their line-up to succeed in the automotive industry, this four-door 911 was constructed in California and made a Christmas present later that year.
The story of this one-off Porsche 911S four-door sedan includes two Indy 500 constructors, a failed trip to Italy and custom leather from world-famous cowboy boot maker Lucchese.
That's the short-form version of the story. For a complete version, please read on.
The Origins of the Four Door 911
In the 1960s, Dr. William Dick, Jr. was part owner of Porsche Cars Southwest, a distributor of Porsche cars in San Antonio, Texas. He was also a sports car aficionado, owning several exclusive imported sports cars.
While Dick loved the performance of his Porsche, Maserati and Ferrari, he lamented that they carried only the driver and passenger. In fact, Dick believed that these car markers must expand their lines to include four-door sedans to survive.
To prove his point, Dick sent his general manager Bill Jones to Italy to find a partner for his project. There Jones approached several well-known coach builders with the idea of a four-door Porsche and was turned away by all but one. Jones did find one who was interested and returned to the US with some initial drawings under his arms.
California Craftsmen Selected For The Job
A friend of Dick's then suggested taking the project to race car builders Troutman-Barnes in suburban Los Angeles. They constructed a car that captured both Porsche AG's attention and became a surprise Christmas gift for Mrs. Dick.
The Troutman-Barnes company was formed in the mid-1950s by metal forming expert Dick Troutman and his partner, mechanical engineer Tom Barnes in the west Los Angeles suburb of Culver City. They had become the foremost coach builders in the US by constructing several Indy Cars, Scarab F1 and sports cars, Jim Hall's first Chaparral, Pete Brock's Samurai race car, and the Mustang I for Ford Motor Company, among other projects.
Troutman-Barnes suggested the design work be outsourced to famed industrial designer Chuck Pelly. Pelly had styled the Scarab and Chaparral sports cars and would go on to contribute designs to BMW, Land Rover and Disney. His Designworks firm was later purchased by BMW.
Pelly delivered a design that was as masterful as it was practical. He had raised and extended the roofline of the 911 to accommodate full-sized passengers in the back.
When Porsche management became aware of Dick's project, they commissioned legendary designer Pininfarina to create a prototype 911 that sat four adults comfortably. Its design was considerably less attractive than Pelly's creation. Porsche then dropped the four-seater concept for 50 years before introducing the Panamera.
The conversion process began with Troutman-Barnes carefully selecting locations on the floor and roof to determine where to split the car in half. They then integrated the new sheet metal with help from famed IndyCar builder Emil Deidt. An entirely new roof panel was fabricated to Pelly's design from windshield header to rear window. The result was a gain of 21 inches in overall length and wheelbase.
Troutman-Barnes then installed a center pillar between the front and rear doors. The rear door opening was shaped so that 911 doors could be installed, complete with outside handles. The doors are hinged at the rear, in suicide door fashion. The rear doors required new windows and frames, fabricated in-house.
An Interior Inspired By Cowboy Boots
Being a Texan, Dr. Dick owned a custom pair of Lucchese cowboy boots in a shade of orange-brown that he found particularly attractive. He acquired a leather sample from Lucchese for the four-door build and sent it off to Porsche in Stuttgart. The company matched the dye and fitted the hides to a pair of front seats. Porsche created a pair of non-adjustable rear seats for the rears covered in the same hides.
Tony Nancy trimmed the interior. Nancy, an NHRA Top Fuel dragster driver, installed custom interiors for Steve McQueen, James Garber and Burt Reynolds.
The interior also features a good deal of walnut paneling. In addition to the wood panel initially specified for the dash, Troutman-Barnes suggested a wood floor for the package area behind the rear seats. Doug Mays, who machined wooden molds for castings, fashioned both walnut pieces, including access for speakers in the cargo area.
Interestingly, the builders created power window lifts for the car using the motors Porsche typically installed to open and close the sunroof.
Concerned about the extra weight the project had added to the 911 platform, the builders changed out the wheels and tires. The Fuchs alloys standard on the 911S were swapped out for standard Porsche steel wheels, while the 165HR15 tires were replaced with the larger Pirelli CN32 tires for increased load capacity. It was also felt that the stock steel wheels with hubcaps seemed more appropriate to a sedan than the more aggressive Fuchs five spokes.
Two more changes were needed before the car was shipped back to Texas. Dick sent a pair of mechanics to California to install one of Porsche's new Sportomatic semi-automatic transmissions and a Texas-made Delanair air conditioning system.
A Road & Track editor stumbled into the Troutman-Barnes shop and discovered the four-door conversion in process. The magazine wanted to publish information about the project immediately but was encouraged to embargo the story until after Christmas so as not to ruin the surprise.
Without Road & Track, the four-door 911 could have just disappeared into Texas.
In fact, the Troutman-Barnes four-door Porsche 911 has sort of disappeared. After the Dicks sold the car, it was spotted around Huntington Beach, California repainted in plum purple and later in Colorado. Its current whereabouts are unknown, but it most likely resides in a publicity-shy Porsche collector's fleet.
And as to what Mrs. Dick said when presented with her unique Christmas gift also remains unknown.