Porsche Varrera

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 money, 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.

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.