Porsche’s contribution to the motoring world can never be overlooked. This German car manufacturer has over the years built some of the best road and track cars. Porsches have grabbed and held on to titles across different motorsport competitions including Group C, rallies, endurance races, among many more.
This dominance and success only go to show that Porsche has been working on its secret recipes to make sure that they achieve the perfect balance. To get the right car, Porsche has experimented by building some amazing machinery. However, not all these builds have been sold. Some are displayed at the Porsche museum where only 85 cars can be displayed at a time. The rest are held at the Porsche warehouse in Zuffenhausen.
9 Porsche 989 Concept
Concept cars are always a way for car manufacturers to experiment and build some of the wildest cars. While not many of these cars make it to production, the few that do sometimes change everything, either positively or negatively.
The Porsche 989 Concept is a good example of a car that changed things for the better. This car brought forth the Porsche Panamera. The 989 Concept was a project that Porsche worked on in the early 1980s before the first-generation Panamera debuted. The 989 Concept debuted in 1988 as a four-door performance sedan. And after four years of development, Porsche abandoned the 989 Concept project.
8 Porsche 965/969
When Porsche was looking to build a car to succeed the 959, the company looked at the new generation 964 911 for inspiration. This saw the build of the Porsche 965. This car was built as an all-wheel-drive hyper 911.
This car featured a 3.3-liter flat-six engine that was mated with twin turbos. However, during the early stages of testing, this engine failed. This forced Porsche to look for alternatives. They ended up settling for an Indy V8 engine, which also failed. The final prototype was powered by an Audi V8 engine. After all this, Porsche still canned the project, and it never went into production.
7 Porsche 804
Porsche's reputation for building sturdy dominant cars has always been a source of marvel among Porsche enthusiasts. Before Porsche settled for supplying McLaren with engines, it was a standalone F1 team.
During its Formula One run, Porsche upgraded its 718 Formula Two car to participate in the 1961 F1 race. However, this car failed catastrophically. In 1962, Porsche learned from its previous mistakes, and they brought in a new car, the Porsche 804, which performed better than expected. This car was pitted against the monocoque Lotus cars and the Sharknose Ferraris and came out on top with Dan Gurney behind the wheel.
6 Porsche 928 Cabrio
Porsche has always insisted on building cars that appeal to true Porsche purists. Since the company was started, Porsche has managed to maintain its cult-like following. Over the years, Porsche has admitted to very few mistakes, one of which was the wrong placement of the 911 engine.
The Porsche 928 Cabrio is an oddball because convertibles have never been Porsche’s forte. This car was built as a special edition car for Tom Selleck. It was to be featured in his show. However, after the build was complete, Tom decided he didn’t like the car. The Porsche 928 Cabrio is the only Porsche factory-build convertible.
5 Porsche Panamericana Concept
The Porsche Panamericana Concept was designed by Dutchman Harm Lagaay. This was the same man who designed the Porsche 924 and a couple of 911s. He also designed cars for BMW like the BMW Z1.
The Panamericana Concept was built for Ferry Porsche for his 80th birthday. This car also served as the testbed for some design and engineering features that were used on the Porsche 993 generation 911. This car was built on the base of the 964 Carrera 4 Cabriolet. It was made of carbon fiber and plastic. It made its debut in 1989 at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
4 Hess-Porsche Single Track 356
Although this is a car list, we had to sneak in one really special Porsche build – a motorcycle. Once upon a time, Porsche tried its hand in building motorcycles. During this period, Porsche built only one bike, the Hess-Porsche Single Track 356.
This bike was designed and built by Mr. Hess, a Porsche Designer. He used the forks and other bits from a BMW motorcycle. The powertrain featured a Porsche 356 engine. While this bike remained a concept, it inspired many Porsche enthusiasts to build their own Porsche motorcycles.
3 Porsche 935
The Porsche 935 is one of Porsche’s most iconic builds. This car was in production for five years from 1976 to 1981 when it was discontinued. The Porsche 935 was based on the 911 racecar. It featured a bespoke aerodynamic body and its powertrain featured a unique 3.3-liter type 935 twin-turbo flat-six engine.
The racing variants of this car were estimated to produce up to 845 horsepower. The Porsche 935 participated in a number of races during its time. These included the FIA Group 5 Category where it dominated. This car was succeeded by the Porsche 961 after the FIA restructured the racing divisions in 1928, rendering the 935 obsolete.
2 Porsche 928 "Study H50"
The Porsche 928 “Study H50” started out as a special limited edition 928 that was gifted to Ferry Porsche during his 75th birthday. This concept car evolved into the “Study H50”, three years after it was gifted to Ferry Porsche.
The Porsche 928 “Study H50” was a station wagon and many believe that the Panamera has ties with the Porsche “Study H50”.
1 McLaren Porsche MP4/2C F1 Car
Formula One is a true testament to what proper engineering and car design can achieve. Formula One cars have over the years been the source of intrigue and inspiration for almost all car manufacturers. Car manufacturers have teamed up with F1 teams to build cars inspired by F1 cars.
Porsche was one of the few car companies that held off experimenting with F1 technology for a long time. However, in the early 1980s, Porsche collaborated with McLaren to build the McLaren Porsche MP4/2C F1 car. This car participated in the 1984 F1 season where it won the Constructor’s Championship title with Niki Lauda and Alain Prost behind the wheel.