The latest special exhibition at the Porsche Museum in Zuffenhausen opened last month, and it focuses on the weird and wonderful prototypes the company builds when developing new cars.
Running until 17 January 2015 the exhibition features 16 unique vehicles, many which have never been seen before, and give an insight into the world of new car development and testing Porsche-style. Among the exhibits are mix of secret concept cars and design studies that never made the light of day, camouflaged prototype test cars and one-of-a-kind record, test and experimental vehicles Among the exhibits include the FLA sustainable car research project, a result of the 1973 world energy crisis, the world record setting Porsche 924 and the Type 995 experimental passenger car. Visitors will also be able to see the 959 test car built for aerodynamic work, a 928 Cabriolet and a Type 984 Roadster Concept car (which has never been shown before). Also within the exhibition is the 965 sports car, a rear-engined 911-based concept that was powered by a water-cooled V8 engine.
From the Nineties, Porsche is showing the 989 four-door family saloon which, while dropped from the product strategy, did provide a design direction for today’s models. There is also a 964 Targa that was used as a test bed for the original Boxster and more recent camouflaged test cars such as Panameras.
It is rare for manufacturers to be so open about their past, especially when it comes to models that never made it to fruition and highlighting the lengths a company will go when disguising all new model platforms, but like many of its competitors it has decided that an open door policy is a far better way of telling a story than denying it ever happened at all. And we’re all for it. The exhibition opened on 17 September and runs until 11 January 2015. The museum is open from 9am through to 6pm Tuesday to Sunday.
