The luxury Porsche
02/19/2023
Hardly anyone remembers this. In November 1994, Porsche presented a prototype called the C88 Luxury at the International Family Car Congress in Beijing.
Two dozen car manufacturers had been invited to show their vision of the automotive future. Two of them had arrived with actual new designs, one of which was Porsche, the other Mercedes-Benz. The C88 Luxury was the top model of a new series planned in three versions, which, however, had to do without any Porsche logos.
Wendelin Wiedeking had traveled to China especially for the presentation and even explained the model in Mandarin.
Gasoline engines with a displacement of 1.1 and 1.6 liters as well as a turbo diesel were planned. The 980 kg, slightly longer top model with 67 hp was to reach 165 km/h and accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in around 16 seconds.
The competition for a simple and affordable vehicle for Chinese families did not end with a winner; the tender was ended prematurely. Nevertheless, the Chinese probably learned a thing or two, but Porsche was left with the one-off, which is now part of the museum collection.
Incidentally, the interior is said to have been much more innovative than the exterior of the four-door saloon. The Automobil Revue wrote in November 1994:
"The instrumentation and switch arrangement was remarkably original for the C88 Luxus. Even the brand logo on the center of the steering wheel is said to correspond to the Chinese taste and sense of form. Such a dashboard "away from convention" could also appeal to Western individualists."
P.S. Mercedes-Benz showed the "FCC", which was based in principle on the upcoming A-Class.
