The Porsche W124 Coupe test mule

[2phast]

Couple of pictures posted up on Facebook of the Porsche 989 with the Porsche V8 drive train

 

[mike52787]

This is the coolest concept i've ever seen. Imagine if that was actually produced in any quantity. Looks like a very tight fit in that engine bay.

 

[036]

Porsche 989 Erprobungsfahrzeug

Dieser Mercedes C124 hat einen Porsche-Motor und 300 PS. Der Prototyp ist einer der wenigen Überlebenden eines gestoppten Projekts.

www.auto-motor-und-sport.de

 

[2phast]

Porsche 989 Erprobungsfahrzeug

Dieser Mercedes C124 hat einen Porsche-Motor und 300 PS. Der Prototyp ist einer der wenigen Überlebenden eines gestoppten Projekts.

www.auto-motor-und-sport.de

I can't get past some sort of info pop up, so can't look at the article, can you save and post the pictures?

 

[744Brillantsilber]

I can't get past some sort of info pop up, so can't look at the article, can you save and post the pictures?

View attachment 149563

You can click on the left red field and then continue. This means that you accept to read with advertisements and tracking. Otherwise you have to pay to read without both.

 

[036]

This Mercedes C124 has a Porsche engine and 300 hp. The prototype is one of the few survivors of a stopped project.

Engineers in vehicle development use "mules" to test parts of cars that are not yet finished. This could be an engine or a complete chassis, for example. The advantage of this is that the entire car does not have to be finished - development is faster - and new technology can be tested inconspicuously - ideally, no one will notice. This can be very helpful when a manufacturer is planning a completely new model series. Porsche, for example. In the late 1980s, the sports car manufacturer was considering a four-seater sports car. Twenty years before the Panamera's premiere, it was almost ready.

Porsche engineers built eight mules for testing. The new technology was barely visible from the outside. One of the prototypes still exists today; Porsche even has studio-quality photos of it. The body was donated by a Mercedes 230 CE from the W124 series. Porsche installed a V8 engine with 300 hp. This is somewhat reminiscent of the 500E, which premiered in Paris in the fall of 1990. The flared wheel arches and tire dimensions (225/55 ZR 16) are also strongly reminiscent of the 500E. But the Porsche engine has a displacement of 3.6 liters instead of five and is coupled to a manual transmission.

Things are tight under the hood, and it is easy to see in some places that this is not a production car. However, Porsche lettering can only be found on the starter battery. Incidentally, this sits where the 500E has its control units: in the rear left of the engine compartment.

Inside, Porsche installed its own seats with integrated headrests, an airbag steering wheel, and a gearshift lever from its in-house parts warehouse. Instead of a foot-operated parking brake, this C124 has a handbrake stick on the center console.

However, the development of the coupe did not make it to series production: In 1992, head of development Ulrich Bez and CEO Arno Bohn had to leave. Wendelin Wiedeking became head of Porsche, stopped the project and concentrated all the ailing company's energies on the new Boxter (986) series and the new 996 911 with water-cooled engines and many common parts. The 928 was phased out, and there was no V8 until the Cayenne. And of course - almost simultaneously with the 989 prototypes - in the 500E, which Porsche assembled in Zuffenhausen.



Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

 

[TimL]

Thanks for posting @036!

 

[RicardoD]

Wow, very cool, a total mashup of the ear of cars I love.

 

[2phast]

This Mercedes C124 has a Porsche engine and 300 hp. The prototype is one of the few survivors of a stopped project.

Engineers in vehicle development use "mules" to test parts of cars that are not yet finished. This could be an engine or a complete chassis, for example. The advantage of this is that the entire car does not have to be finished - development is faster - and new technology can be tested inconspicuously - ideally, no one will notice. This can be very helpful when a manufacturer is planning a completely new model series. Porsche, for example. In the late 1980s, the sports car manufacturer was considering a four-seater sports car. Twenty years before the Panamera's premiere, it was almost ready.

Porsche engineers built eight mules for testing. The new technology was barely visible from the outside. One of the prototypes still exists today; Porsche even has studio-quality photos of it. The body was donated by a Mercedes 230 CE from the W124 series. Porsche installed a V8 engine with 300 hp. This is somewhat reminiscent of the 500E, which premiered in Paris in the fall of 1990. The flared wheel arches and tire dimensions (225/55 ZR 16) are also strongly reminiscent of the 500E. But the Porsche engine has a displacement of 3.6 liters instead of five and is coupled to a manual transmission.

Things are tight under the hood, and it is easy to see in some places that this is not a production car. However, Porsche lettering can only be found on the starter battery. Incidentally, this sits where the 500E has its control units: in the rear left of the engine compartment.

Inside, Porsche installed its own seats with integrated headrests, an airbag steering wheel, and a gearshift lever from its in-house parts warehouse. Instead of a foot-operated parking brake, this C124 has a handbrake stick on the center console.

However, the development of the coupe did not make it to series production: In 1992, head of development Ulrich Bez and CEO Arno Bohn had to leave. Wendelin Wiedeking became head of Porsche, stopped the project and concentrated all the ailing company's energies on the new Boxter (986) series and the new 996 911 with water-cooled engines and many common parts. The 928 was phased out, and there was no V8 until the Cayenne. And of course - almost simultaneously with the 989 prototypes - in the 500E, which Porsche assembled in Zuffenhausen.



Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Thanks for posting