If you are planning to visit Porsche Museum in the near future, then now is a good time as from September 17, 2014, to January 11, 2015, the Porsche Museum will present the special exhibition called “Project: Secret!”, showing never-built studies, unknown concept cars, and camouflaged prototypes from Porsche over the decades.
There will be a total of fourteen cars on display including:
Porsche 924 world record car that instead of standard car’s 125bhp four-cylinder engine used a turbocharged unit producing 250bhp, resulting in a top speed of 174mph. The aerodynamics also received special attention, as the drag coefficient was an outstanding Cd 0.268. 250bhp from a four-cylinder turbo back in 1977 was very impressive and still is.
Porsche 984 was a two-seater roadster concept developed between 1984 and 1987. Powered by an air-cooled 2.0-litre rear boxer engine with around 120-150bhp, the concept also had an innovative folding hard-top, as well an all-wheel-drive model for motor racing. The plummeting dollar in 1987, however, put an early end to the 984 project.
Concept Car Type 995 was commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Research and Technology. During 1978/79, Porsche developed the four-seater Type 995 concept car, that instead of focusing on pure performance was all about fuel economy, safety, and noise emissions.
The 928 was used as a the technological basis, with special features like a five-speed double-clutch transmission working in conjunction with two low- consumption petrol engines – a 3.0-litre V8 with automatic cylinder deactivation as well as a 2.2-litre four-valve, four-cylinder alternative.
Porsche 959 C29 aerodynamics study was a preview to the amazing 959 supercar with a 450bhp 2.8-litre boxer engine with water-cooled cylinder heads, bi-turbo sequential charging and a top speed of 186mph.
The Type 959 C29 was used for extensive wind-tunnel testing in 1982, which resulted in a low Cd-value of 0.31 thanks to the rear wing integrated in the bodyshell, the smooth transition from the windshield to the A-pillar, and the aerodynamic plastic underbody cover.
Before Porsche brought us the Panamera, there was a 989 concept a four-door “family sports car”. The development started in 1988 with power coming from a 350bhp 4.2-litre V8 sent to the rear axle.
Porsche planned to price the 989 below 100,000 German marks, but as price calculation ultimately topped 150,000 German marks, it was hard to meet the annual quantity of 15,000 units, resulting the supervisory board to stop the project in January of 1991.