1988 Porsche Varrera (C-88)

[faksta]

Wikicars:

In 1988, Porsche was on a concept-car roll - the Porsche 969, Porsche 989, Porsche Panamericana and the next-generation 911 were all in the pipeline, and Porsche, with its bank account brimming with bucks, embarked upon another project - the Porsche Varrera. The Varrera was to be an MPV, or Minivan, based upon the Volkswagen Sharan chassis, and powered by the ubiquitous flat-six engine from the 911.

[edit]The Thirty-Year Project
Porsche initially embarked upon such a project in the Sixties, under the codename EA226, as the Stuttgart concern hankered after a vehicle with the performance of a 911, but the storage space of a van. Needless to say, EA226 was cancelled, but Porsche felt that it was necessary to produce such a vehicle for the next decade. Working closely with VW, the Varrera would sit upon a highly modified Sharan chassis, but would feature the flat-six and gearbox from the 911. The Varrera was also to use very similar bodywork to the Sharan, with different lights and bumpers to make it look more 'Porsche'. Harm Lagaay was again used to create the bodywork modifications, and the interior would also be appreciably different from the VW - projected designs featured a unique dashboard, the traditional Eighties Porsche steering wheel and leather trimmed, wide-bolstered seats. A proper stereo and full electric system would compliment the interior. It was never confirmed whether the Varrera would use the seven-seat layout of the Sharan.

The prototype was photographed in a light gold metallic, and fitted with Cup alloys. The project was terminated (some say that this project was the first to be axed in the late 1988/early 1989 prototype cull, which saw the Panamericana, 989 and 969 scrapped) but the spirit lives on today in the Porsche Cayenne. To all accounts, the prototype was destroyed.

[The_Canuck]

Haha, awesome

[NSXType-R]

I'm so happy this thing wasn't built.

[Rockefella]

That is as funky a car as it comes, especially with the Porsche badge.

[HILL33]

it looks like twingo

[faksta]

Originally Posted by HILL33

it looks like twingo

Twingoed Sharan

[go.pawel]

Originally Posted by faksta

The Varrera was to be an MPV, or Minivan, based upon the Volkswagen Sharan chassis,

That's strange, considering the Sharan/Galaxy project only started in 1991 and first cars were produced in 1995.

[netburner]

That is not a Prototype picture, but a photoshop made by someone (IIRC) from auto motor und sport (german car magazine) in ~ 1994. The original picture showed a Sharan going around that corner.

There maybe was such a project, but there never was such a prototype!

[faksta]

Originally Posted by netburner

That is not a Prototype picture, but a photoshop made by someone (IIRC) from auto motor und sport (german car magazine) in ~ 1994. The original picture showed a Sharan going around that corner.

There maybe was such a project, but there never was such a prototype!

Are you 100% sure? I've seen pics of it at several sites, and none of them told about any Photoshop...

[Gungrave]

Sick model. Well, Porsche not first time showed a strange prototype.
Like C88 (blah)

[f6fhellcat13]

Better looking than the Cayenne

[NSXType-R]

Originally Posted by f6fhellcat13

Better looking than the Cayenne

I disagree. It's much uglier by a longshot.

[Matra et Alpine]

Well pic2 seems to be a mirror of pic1 so I wonder how many "copies" of the same pic are floating around

[Gt1Street]

I think that we have a problem, the C88 cant be two different cars at the same time

Porsche C88
Porsche C88

[Revo]

Originally Posted by Gt1Street

I think that we have a problem, the C88 cant be two different cars at the same time

Porsche C88
Porsche C88

Post #1 should be taken with a grain of salt. None of it makes any sense. Like netburner said:

Originally Posted by netburner

...There maybe was such a project, but there never was such a prototype!

Here are Porsche Engineering milestones from 1976 to today. No mention of such a important project as the developing VW Sharan chassis.

However, on that list is a developing of Lada Samara on behalf of soviets in 1984. That was a bit of surprise for me!