Porsche is working on multiple special projects, including some that will be revealed in a few months.
At Monterey Car Week’s The Quail, Porsche revealed the Flachbau RS, which took a 2018 911 GT2 RS and made it into a Slant-Nose 911. This was the first special project under Sonderwunsch, Porsche’s “special request” program.
Porsche’s Vice President of Product and Individualization, Alexander Fabig, recently told Car and Driver about a few special one-of-one builds in the works.
Special cars for special customers
Each of these special one-of-one builds will take about three years to make, from design to delivery. Fabig explained that they have been getting worked on in teh background, which is why the public has largely seen short-term projects.
The special models are created based on customer requests, so Porsche is only making what’s desired. That is largely sports cars, although there are some requests for four-door sports cars, according to Fabig.
But these vehicles are, unsurprisingly, not for performance. I mean, who would take a one-of-one custom built car to the track? Only a crazy person. Instead, most customers are requesting looks-related work.
“The majority of [Sonderwunsch] customers are not so much into the horsepower performance,” Fabig said. “Because the program is all about being part of Porsche, and being the creator of your own car. Therefore, the body style and design elements of the car are much more, let’s say, tangible for the customer.
“You dream it, we build it.”
Well, it has to be within your price range, of course. Your dream will cost you about $150,000 for the concept phase alone. You will be looking at over $2 million for a completed vehicle. And there’s currently a wait list.
How does Porsche’s Sonderwusch work?
The Flachbau RS debuted alongside two other Sonderwunsch cars tied to a charitable push benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, the American Red Cross, and Starlight Children’s Foundation, and the trio of one-off vehicles reportedly helped raise three million dollars split between the three organizations.
On the classic side, the program has also handled recommissioning work, including a first-generation facelift Cayenne GTS built for an American collector who wanted an SUV to match his 911.
Sonderwunsch is a reminder that at a certain price point, a car stops being a product and starts being a commission. Most of us will never get a call from Porsche’s design team about custom stitching, but it’s still fun to see what happens when money, patience, and obsession all point in the same direction.
