photo by Porsche Cars
Por sche's Fir st Four -Door Sedan Y
By Larry Printz
"Por sche ha s dr ea med of building a spor ting four door for deca des, but somehow the 911 a lways seemed to get in the way."
ou would be forgiven if you thought that Porsche's introduction of the Panamera at the 2009 Auto Shanghai International Automobile Show represented its first foray into sedan territory. After all, the torch bearing brand ambassador who have forever worshiped at the altar of rear-engined, air-cooled flat six sports cars, blanched at the heretical notion of water cooling. and positively came unglued in 2002 when the crest was affixed to...good Lord!...an SUV, will persistently acknowledge that date of relative infamy. Yet the Panamera was not only an incredibly capable sedan, but a real Porsche in every sense, because Porsche had some very impressive credentials in the high-performance four-door sedan product category. In the closing years of the '80's decade, Mercedes-Benz engineering teams were heavily invested in the development of the new W140 S-Class flagship to the point of not having enough resources to develop a desired performance sedan based on the W124 E-class platform. Mercedes commissioned Porsche engineering to redesign the W124 chassis to accommodate the fitment of their 326hp 5.0L V8 sourced from the SL, along with upgrades to the suspension and drivetrain. Porsche completed the project only to discover that the dictated widened front and rear fenders would not fit down the Mercedes assembly line! Ooops! Porsche was thus commissioned to build the 500E, and over the course of the production run, 10,459 units were hand built in Zuffenhausen on the very same production line where the legendary 959 supercars were assembled. The 500E was a true performance sedan, eclipsing the 0-60mph run in 6 seconds with an ECU limited 155mph top speed representing a half-hearted attempt to limit the horsepower arms race. The 500E was priced at around $79,200 and a quick look at current trading prices hovering around $40,000, the Mercedes-Porsche 500E is a rare, and highly valued bruiser of a sedan. So, the argument could well be made that the Mercedes 500E engineered by Porsche is really the title holder of Porsche's first four-door sedan engineered in-house, usurping the Panamera's claim to that ground.
photo by Porsche Cars
Or...as you'll soon discover...there's the rest of this story...
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