The lost and forgotten 4-seater version of Porsche 911

Forgotten ONES - Now We would be discussed about a unique 4-seater classic coupe made by the German automotive manufacturer, Porsche. Maybe you will immediately guess that it is a Porsche Panamera, that we all know its existence today possbly has not received as much attention as the Porsche Taycan EV, even so the Porsche Panamera series remains one of the most exciting Porsche models ever, and even its sales surpassing of the 911. No, it is not about the Panamera.

The Porsche 911 Troutman & Barnes was built for William J. Dick Jr, co-owner of a Texas-based Porsche distributor, and first appeared in green with the iconic Porsche 'FUCHS' alloy wheels. (Picture from: Monochrome-Watches)

As we are about to find out, the Panamera wasn’t the first four-door coupe-styled car that carried the brand’s emblem. Well, previously there’s an obscure 1968 Custom-built 4-seater version of Porsche 911 originally intended as a Christmas present you might have never heard of before. Although at the same time during the 1960s, the Stuttgart-based automaker once tried to make a number of four-seater concepts based on the 911 and the 928, for instance. But never made it to the road. Apart from one, although not officially built by Porsche featured with 2+2 seater layout, this weirdly obscure one-off also has 4-doors.

It turned out that William J. Dick Jr.'s wife was not hugely fond with the color and the wheels of the Porsche 911 Troutman & Barnes, so it was resprayed into a Porsche shade of red and the iconic wheels were rightfully refitted. (Picture from: CarThrottle)

As quoted of Monochrome-Watches, it was built in 1968 and is known as the Porsche 911 Troutman & Barnes, and it is known as equal parts weird and wonderful at the same time. It was the idea of William J. Dick Jr, co-owner of a Texas-based Porsche distributor. According to him, he had asked the Stuttgart-based automaker repeatedly to build him a 4-seater 911 but they never did. Then he decided to have one to be a Christmas present for his wife, and built by commissioning to Troutman & Barnes, a custom car shop in Culver City, California.

The Porsche 911 Troutman & Barnes was built on an original 911 chassis and components, with the back doors open up backwards (seems to have deliberately adopted a suicide door style). (Picture from: CarThrottle)

So this one-off 911 is not an official product from Porsche but it was built on an original Porsche 911S chassis, and also its parts as much as possible and the result was odd, really. After carefully deciding where to hack it up, 21 extra inches were inserted. Two more doors were installed, the roofline geometry was rearranged, a second row of seats was built by Porsche upon special request, and a walnut wood trim was installed.

The Porsche 911 Troutman & Barnes got carefully hacks it up, 21 extra inches were inserted with 2 more doors were installed, the roofline geometry was rearranged, plus a second row of seats. (Picture from: CarThrottle)

Oddly enough, the back doors open up backwards (seems to have deliberately adopted a suicide door style) in order to keep the original handles without having to alter too much. Power comes from a naturally aspirated 2.0 liter flat 6 producing around 160 horsepower paired with a sportomatic 4-speed select shift automatic transmission. For all those conversions allegedly cost him more than a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow at the time. 

For all those conversions allegedly cost him more than a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow at the time. . (Picture from: Monochrome-Watches)

After completion the car was green and had the iconic Porsche 'FUCHS' alloy wheels, though the decision was made to replace that set with a more minimalistic set of steel wheels with hubcaps, as these were deemed more fitting on a saloon car. And when it was handed over, it turned out that William J. Dick Jr.'s wife was not hugely fond with the color and the wheels that were installed on the car, so it was resprayed a Porsche shade of red and the iconic wheels were rightfully refitted.

The Porsche 911 Troutman & Barnes's interior covered in a shade of orange-brown genuine leather, and also features a good deal of walnut paneling. (Picture from: CarThrottle)

Turn out, the story of Porsche's 4-seaters doesn't end there, as others have emerged prior to the Cayenne and Panamera. For example, in 1969 the Stuttgart-based manufacturer explored the design of real 4-seater version of 911 through Italian coachbuilder Pininfarina which became known as the Porsche 911 B17 though this never reached into production.

The Porsche 911 Troutman & Barnes is powered by a naturally aspirated 2.0 liter flat 6 producing around 160 horsepower paired with a sportomatic 4-speed select shift automatic transmission. (Picture from: HotCars)

It continued in 1989 the Stuttgart-based automaker built the Porsche 989 Concept, which looks nothing more than another stretched 911 with more room in the back. The development of the Porsche 989 continued in 1991, this time with the involvement of the legendary automotive design studio ItalDesign by developing the Porsche 932 Panamera II Study.

The Porsche 911 B17 prototype was the real 4-seats sports car built by the Italian coachbuilder Pininfarina for Porsche in 1969 though this never reached into production. (Picture from: en.Scuderia)

In essence, this was nothing more than a restyled concept from ItalDesign, which previously was badged as the Seat Proto TL. It was never shown to the public and resides in the archives of Porsche in Stuttgart. Very little images can be found of this four-seater design study. All in all, it would be another two decades before Porsche would build its first four-seater production car, the Cayenne, with the Panamera following a few years later.

Finally in 2019, the Porsche Taycan EV completed the line-up of Porsches with more than two seaters. Thus it seems this quirky, Porsche 911 Troutman & Barnes custom sports sedan of 1968 had successfully started one that was never thought possible before, although its whereabouts are unknown to date (while in the video above it is not stated the location where the car exhibited). Does anyone know where the car is? *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | MONOCHROME-WATCHES | CARTHROTTLE | ROADANDTRACK | EN.SCUDERIA | HOTCARS ]

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