The Porsche Panamericana's Wheel Arches Looked Like That For Very Practical Reasons

No, not the Porsche Panamera — that slab-sided powerhouse is ugly just out of choice — but rather the sensational late-1980s concept car that was the Porsche Panamericana. This striking Porsche was designed and built as an 80th-birthday present for the brand's then-chairman, Ferry Porsche, son of founder Ferdinand. He was powerfully influential throughout his tenure at the company, and as a way of saying thanks, the crew put together one of the more fascinating concepts to roll off of the factory floor.

Its influence comes from the Carrera Panamericana race , which took place throughout Mexico back in the 1950s, and was as tough as any race got. It spanned five days and thousands of miles, and saw contestants battle a number of environments. The car was more than just Panamericana in name — those unusual wheel arches were designed so the wheels and tires could be swapped easily and suspension adjustments could be made in haste. Say, for example, you needed to trade your tarmac setup for some all-terrain tires, or vice versa. Naturally, if you were swapping from smooth tarmac to sand dunes, you might want to change your suspension, too. See, practical.

This concept is far more than just an early 964 with some funky arches and chunky rubber. Everything about it is unusual, yet you can immediately identify it as a Porsche, an offspring with some 911 descendancy. Designed by Steve Murkett, the Panamericana concept is half Targa, half convertible — perfect if Ferry Porsche fancied topping up his tan while traversing Mexico's toughest terrain. The quirks are more than just skin deep, though. While built on an early 964 Carrera 4 chassis, the bodywork is unique, and built of carbon-fiber too — à la the Porsche 959.

Its rear lights were designed to closely mimic those of the 928, while the rear deck's vents were inspired by the early 356 — a car that actually competed in the original Panamericana race. As is typical for a Porsche, its power comes from a flat-6 engine located beyond the rear axle. Specifically, power comes from a 964 Carrera 4 flat-6, with 250 horsepower and 229 pound-feet of torque on tap, and that grunt is distributed via all four wheels. It's unlikely that Ferry Porsche ever galavanted across Mexico in this oddly handsome concept; instead, it has lived a simple life within the walls of Porsche's museum collection in Stuttgart, Germany.

If you truly want a like-for-like Panamericana concept, your best bet would be buying a 964 Carrera 4 cabriolet as a base, and finding someone to carry out an insane number of modifications. Given the number of companies building 911 restomods, we doubt you'd struggle to find someone up to the task, but the bill might be a little steep. However, if you're happy enough with a modern interpretation, getting behind the wheel of a 911 Dakar would probably be an awful lot easier. And cheaper, too, even if these limited-run off-road specials still command upward of $300,000.

No, the 911 Dakar doesn't have those striking wheel arches, but what it does have is four-wheel drive, almost 2 extra inches of ground clearance over a standard model, and a 473-horsepower twin-turbocharged flat-6. That ought to get you across Mexico, or just about anywhere, in a hurry. Similarities between this and the Panamericana concept extend to include carbon-fiber bodywork, although sadly the roof is firmly affixed on the 992-based production model.