How it all began

History

Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur is today continuing the tradition started by Ferry Porsche, who realised his vision of “building his dream vehicle” in 1948. At that time, the result was the 356/1 Roadster, which received its official approval on June 8, 1948. Today, it is customer vehicles.

As early as the beginning of the 1950s, the repair department at the main plant in Zuffenhausen in Stuttgart worked on special orders. The first certified customer request came in 1962 from the major industrialist Alfred Krupp von Bohlen and Halbach. He ordered a Porsche 356 B Coupé with a rear wiper, which was not part of the series at the time.

Until the 1970s, customer special requests mainly concerned sports-style adjustments. They ordered modifications to the engine and chassis to make their Porsche even sportier. In 1971, Porsche began selling replacement parts for sports vehicles. In this way, Porsche supported professional racing drivers with technical questions. The 911 Carrera RSR, again produced by the customer racing division, was the first small series that was also technically supervised during the racing season.

The Porsche Special Requirements Department

Since 1978, the Special Requirements Department has been developing exclusive series vehicles, mostly in the area of engine and suspension tuning. With the tuning boom of the 1980s, customisation was added as a service. In addition to the traditional requests for enhanced performance and lowering of the chassis, customers were also asking for visual modifications to the interior and exterior. Leather, wood and hi-fi components became increasingly popular. Not to mention wide side skirts and front and rear spoilers. Demand grew. Worldwide.

Porsche Exclusive

In 1986, Porsche was therefore the first automotive manufacturer to set up a special department specialising in vehicle refinement: Porsche Exclusive. Now, customers were able to have their vehicles transformed into distinctive one-off models by means of a separate catalogue. By the second half of the 1990s, the catalogue had expanded into an extensive product range, and with 600 order options to date, it offers customers a comprehensive overview of the individual enhancement possibilities available for their vehicles. In addition to a performance enhancement, this includes a wide range of wheels, aerodynamic kits, and high-quality materials for the interior. Porsche launched its own range of vehicle-related accessories, Porsche Tequipment, in 1995.

Small series – Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur and Exclusive Series

Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur stands for individual vehicles. But that’s not all. It also has a long tradition of producing limited small series and editions. The impetus came early on from Porsche’s own motorsports activity.

The road-going version of the 935, a one-off slant nose with a huge rear wing and 409 hp, is considered to have been the catalyst – developed in 1983 for Mansour Ojjeh, a Saudi Arabian businessman and owner of the company Techniques d’Avant Garde (TAG). Porsche then developed the TAG Formula 1 engine on his behalf, with which McLaren went on to win the world title in 1984 and 1985.

In line with the modifications being made to the Porsche 935, which was dominating racing, the customer service department began offering a “911 Turbo body modification/911 SC Turbolook flat front section” in 1981. The custom-built vehicle, nicknamed Moby Dick, had a characteristic slant nose with integrated double headlights – a modification that was replaced in 1983 with the pop-up headlights of the 924 and 944. Between 1981 and 1989, the Special Requirements Department built 948 copies of the Porsche 911 Turbo in the style of the 935 racing car. As the last representative of the 911 model line, the slant nose 964 Turbo 3.6 has the motorsport look, in this case with pop-up headlights from the transaxle model 968.

The first Porsche Exclusive small series left the factory in 1992. The “911 Turbo S Lightweight”, which was based on the Type 964 of the time, already anticipated many exclusive innovations that were later to be included in the series. This was the first time that 18-inch wheels, red-painted brake callipers and the distinctive exterior colour “Speed Yellow” were used on a Porsche vehicle. A total of 86 models were produced for a unit price of 295,000 marks. In 1993 there followed a 911 Turbo 3.6 slant nose, of which only 76 vehicles were built. A large number of these vehicles were additionally fitted with a power kit.

Rarer and more exclusive than the 911 Turbo S Lightweight is the 911 Carrera 2 Speedster in the broad look of the turbocharged model, which has been produced only 15 times on customer request. Only 14 examples of the 911 Turbo Cabriolet of the type 993 built in 1995 were produced. Even rarer is the 911 Carrera 3.6 Speedster based on the 993. Only two of these cars were built: one for Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, the designer of the 911, as a 60th birthday present, and one for the US comedian and Porsche aficionado Jerry Seinfeld.

Unveiled in 1997, the powerful 993 Turbo S was the last small series in the generation of the air-cooled Porsche 911. With a production run of 345 units, the 450 hp 993 Turbo S with a top speed of 300 km/h marked the climax and the provisional end of the small series tradition at Porsche Exclusive. The successor to the 911 Turbo S was included in the regular model range.

Very popular with collectors today is the 911 Sport Classic from 2009. Limited to 250 units, the 911s were created with almost all options in the model line, including increased performance, ducktail and wheels based on the Fuchs design. The headlight rings are reminiscent of the 1974 Turbo RSR, the double dome roof of the 911 Panamericana design study and the Carrera GT. Porsche Exclusive vehicles often gain collector’s item status as soon as they are launched, as this model immediately demonstrates: Two days after the premiere at the IAA 2009, the small series of 250 cars of the 911 Sport Classic was sold out.

One year later, in 2010, Porsche presented the 911 Speedster, a tribute to the 356 Speedster and limited to 356 pieces. The 911 Club Coupé of the type 991 was the proof that craftsmanship and attention to detail are the driving force of the specialists in the exclusive manufacturing workshop in Zuffenhausen.

Between 2014 and 2015, only 100 models of the Panamera Exclusive Series were produced by Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur. Highlights: Poltrona Frau leather, numerous interior enhancement details, blended paintwork and of course a high-quality limited edition badge. Porsche is continuing this tradition with the new Porsche 911 Turbo S Exclusive Series.

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