What actually happened to the Porsche 980?
01/07/2023
In mid-2000, the magazine "auto motor und sport" announced the Porsche 980. The type designation hardly means anything to anyone today; the mid-engined sports car coupé was to compete against the Mercedes-Benz SLR. The basis for the 980 was the Le Mans racing car, which Porsche was not allowed to enter in the 24-hour race.
The 700 hp coupé was expected to cost DM 750,000 in the year 2000. The engine? A 5.5-liter 90-degree V8 with a supercharger. Together with strict weight fitness, the power was to guarantee a 0-100 km/h sprint of 4 seconds, 200 km/h was to be reached in just 10 seconds. A top speed of 360 km/h seemed realistic.
It would arrive in 2003 at the earliest, but it never came, at least not as expected.
Back in October 2000, a concept car called the Carrera GT (project code 980) was presented at the Paris Motor Show. This one-off model had ditched the 996-style headlights as well as the coupé roof. And from 2004, 1270 production cars of the Porsche Carrera GT type with a 5.7-liter V10 engine were built.
