Porsche 984 rear-engined roadster should be special back in the 1980s

ONE-OFF Porsche AG is an automotive company from Germany which is known to have built many prototypes since it was first founded by Dr. Ferdinand Porsche in 1931. While most of them did not go into production they eventually became the basis for future models.

The Porsche 984 is developed between 1984 and 1987 by the Porsche Development Center in Weissach, and was intended as a study for future vehicle concepts. (Picture from: Pinterest)

And this car called Porsche 984 is one of those developed between 1984 and 1987 by the Porsche Development Center in Weissach, and was intended as a study for future vehicle concepts. As quoted from Porsche, the car was actually continued by the sports car development work previously done for SEAT a Spanish car maker (which wasn't owned by Volkswagen at the time), to fill the market niche previously occupied by the Porsche 924.

The Porsche 984 rear-engined roadster featured with a low front end wore round headlights and horizontal turn signals. (Picture from: StuttCars)

Furthermore, the Porsche 984 two-seater sports concept car was also intended to be produced as a compact and affordable sports car to appeal to a a young, sporty clientele with a starting price range of 40,000 German marks or the equivalent of $14,000 at that time.

The Porsche 984's interior taken clues from many other Porsche models such the seats are 928-style and door openers are from 911. (Picture from: Rennlist)

Tehnically, the development objective is primarily focused on dynamic driving characteristics, which will be achieved through low driving resistance rather than high engine power, while low fuel consumption is also set as one of its development goals.

The Porsche 984 prototype used a rear-mounted 4-cylinder air-cooled Volkswagen unit although a new Porsche flat-4 was to be created for the Junior and for aircraft use. (Picture from: Rennlist)

The concept car was powered by an air-cooled two-liter four-cylinder rear boxer engine rated at around 88–110 kW (120–150 hp) to emphasize the model's technological uniqueness. As you can see this convertible sports car with an innovative folding hard-top had previously been envisioned, such as an all-wheel-drive model for motor racing.

Unfortunately the development project for the Porsche 984 had to come to a halt early without ever hitting the production line, when the dollar plummeted in 1987, sending the stock market crashing and resulting in poor Porsche sales. However, the Porsche 984 was not completely abandoned, in the 1990s its ideas had revisited when Porsche created its famous Boxster models. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | PORSCHE | AUTOBLOG | RENNLIST | STUTTCARS | ANDONISCARS ]

Note: This blog  can be accessed via your smart phone.