Porsche is good at a lot of things, but perhaps what it excels at the most is building special edition 911s. Many of these special editions pay homage to 911s of days gone by like the 911 R, 911 Spirit 70 and 911 Speedster. Now, it’s looking like the next ultra-special, ultra-exclusive 911 will pull its inspiration from the Flachbau — the Slantnose as it’s known to American yokles like you and me.
According to a recent European Trademark filing reported by Road & Track, it sure looks like Porsche is gearing up to bring back the iconic design that was a staple of 1980s coke-fueled madness. Its origins go back to Porsche Motorsport; ‘s 935 racecar. Kremer Racing developed body kits for roadgoing cars that mirrored the look in 1981. A year after that, Tag Heuer owner Mansour Ojjeh called on Porsche to build a road-legal 935. Here’s a little bit more about its history, from R&T:
The resulting project was based on a 930 Turbo, and featured a ton of bespoke hardware. That car proved to be so popular with enthusiasts that Porsche would start offering the flat fender look under the Sonderwunsch program in 1986.
The package wasn’t cheap, adding as much as 60% to the price of a standard 930. Still, according to 911Flachbau, 948 cars were ultimately converted to the slantnose spec, although only 160 found their way to the United States.
Far more were built in the aftermarket — as is tradition — but factory-made cars carry significantly more value on the used market.
A modern Slantnose
Earlier this month, rumors spread of the European Union Intellectual Property Office receiving a request for the terms “Porsche Flachbau” and “Flachbau RS.” That does sound like a very promising lead, doesn’t it?
It’s hard to say exactly which 911 a potential Slantnose would be based on. Traditionally, they were all 911 Turbos underneath, but the “RS” nameplate does muddy the waters a bit. I wouldn’t be too surprised if a modern Flachbau was based on a 911 GT3. I suppose we’ll have to wait and see.
A few years back, Porsche unveiled a modern 935 race car that was limited to just 77 examples built off the 911 GT2 RS Clubsport. With a 700-horsepower twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter flat-6, this thing was a real monster. It even featured Slantnose-esqu styling up front, but it certainly wasn’t a road car. It also didn’t have popup headlights, which are half the fun.
