Porsche 989 (1991)

Porsche 989 Concept (1988 – 1991)

Introduction

As you can see from the images, the Porsche 989 was a four door performance sedan that looks a lot like a 911. Unlike the Panamera however, the Porsche 989 never saw production.

The idea of Porsche’s very own performance sedan was explored as early as 1982. While it was shown in 1991, actual development actually began in 1988. The reason for the gap in time was the fact that Porsche was still stretching the capabilities of the 928 platform, attempting to make a longer shooting-brake version of the car that would feature four normal seats. Due to the inability to make the chassis stronger, the project was eventually dropped in 1987. One year later, development of the 989 commenced, under the supervision Porsche engineer Dr. Ulrich Bez.

In 1982 Porsche sales were strong, particularly the Porsche 928 and Porsche was confident that it could build a car to compete with Mercedes-Benz and BMW executive sedans. The Porsche 989 featured a new front-engine, rear-drive platform with a wheelbase of 2826 mm (111.3 in) and was powered by an 80 degree, water cooled V8 engine with a power output of around 300 HP and displaced somewhere between 3.6 and 4.2 Liters.

As a four-door “family sports car” or “Porsche for more than two,” the front-engine V8 sports sedan with rear-wheel drive was to hit the market by 1995 and target a new market segment. But even during the initial project phase, development costs for the technically sophisticated four-door rose to improbable heights, making it impossible to keep the purchase price below US$ 53,000. When the price calculation ultimately topped US$ 80,000 and the envisioned annual production quantity of 15,000 units could not be achieved economically, the supervisory board stopped the project in January of 1991.

The efforts were not entirely in vain, however; many of the ideas and detail solutions found their way into future Porsche models such as the 996 type series of the 911.

Specifications

Years: 1991
Engine: V8
Displacement: 4,200 cc
Power: 350 hp (257 kW)
Weight empty: 3,465 lbs.
Top track speed: 173 mph

Porsche’s Take

With Porsche in the midst of an economic downturn in the late 1980s, it was decided in 1988 to begin development on a new model line with a project named 989. As a four-door “family sports car” or “Porsche for more than two,” the front-engine V8 sports sedan with rear-wheel drive was to hit the market by 1995 and target a new market segment. But even during the initial project phase, development costs for the technically sophisticated four-door rose to improbable heights, making it impossible to keep the purchase price below US$ 53,000. When the price calculation ultimately topped US$ 80,000 and the envisioned annual production quantity of 15,000 units could not be achieved economically, the supervisory board stopped the project in January of 1991. The efforts were not entirely in vain, however; many of the ideas and detail solutions found their way into future Porsche models such as the 996 type series of the 911.

More Details

After Porsche’s peak sales of more than 53,000 cars in 1985/86 (1986 model year) everything looked brilliant, but the sales started to drop sharply, mostly in USA which had earlier contributed to more than half of the sales. Porsche needed new cars. The project of the 984 Junior sports car was dropped and a bit later new hopes were set on the 4-door 989.

The head of the 989 project was Ulrich Bez. He returned to Porsche in the end of 1988 after being the director of BMW Technik and contributing to the BMW Z1. At Porsche, Bez started to lead Porsche’s research and development department in Weissach.

The 989 with its front-mounted V8, was supposed to be launched in 1995 to replace the 928. A 2-door 989 Cabriolet with 4 full-size seats was also planned.

The development had already cost around 150,000,000 DM and the funds dried up because of Porsche’s ever dropping sales that had fallen more than 3 times by 1991 compared to the peak sales in 1986 model year. Porsche didn’t have the money to build the 989 in a way such a project needed. The 4-wheel-drive and the rear-axle steering were considered as a must to compete with the competitors, but Porsche’s finances didn’t allow that. Ferdinand Piëch, the grandchild of F. Porsche and part-owner of the Porsche company, liked the 989, but had his influence in cancelling the project in 1991. In addition to Porsche’s financial worries, Piëch was the CEO of Audi, had launched the Audi V8 4-door 4WD performance sedan a few years earlier and was creating the successor, the Audi A8 at the same time. The 989 would compete with the Audi A8.

The expensive rear multi-link suspension, first developed for the 984 and then for the 989, finally went into production with the 993 generation 911, as well as did the headlamp design. The rear end design of the 989 saw its life in the 996 generation 911.

Although the 4-door Porsche project was terminated, for the future use a patent was filed on October 25, 1991. On the patent document is Porsche designer Harm M. Lagaay and the description says “a sports car embodying my novel design”. Patent term was 14 years.

Later, when Ulrich Bez became the CEO of Aston Martin, he oversaw the creation of the 4-door Aston Martin Rapide.