Meet the Porsche Cayenne convertible concept developed 20 years ago

KUALA LUMPUR: Porsche’s top-selling Cayenne is a great SUV that offers sports car-worthy performance along with a cushioned ride. It is modern and elegant and kitted with all swanky materials and a bucketload of user-friendly tech features. The sporty SUV has been around for two decades now and the automaker is celebrating its 20th anniversary by unveiling a prototype with a foldable rooftop. But there’s a catch.

The Cayenne convertible concept was developed in 2002 and was never revealed to the public. It was conceived to analyse the practicality of the Targa top on the SUV, but the company decided not to pursue it further bearing in mind its profitability concerns. 

“Forecasts regarding profitability were not particularly promising and doubts remained as to whether the car would look as appealing as a Porsche should," says Porsche.

However, Porsche did not discard the developed model and still has a single example of it that you can find at the Porsche Museum. Although it is not going to be a road car, there is no harm in knowing more about it. So, here we have the Porsche Cayenne convertible key highlights -

• Porsche calls it a ‘package function model’, which is basically a rolling chassis created for design and ergonomic development
• It features shorter A-pillars, fold-open rear panels, and a truncated windshield
• It measures 4.8 metres in length, and instead of the traditional four-door set up, it is equipped with two doors only, which are 200 mm longer than the standard units
• The mechanism of the folding top was conceived as the one available with the ongoing 992-911 Targa models. Although it was never fitted to the vehicle and the roof you see here folds manually
• The automaker experimented with different rear profiles pictured below; the left one is more curved and sporty while the right is more upright, maybe for better luggage space

Besides convertible Cayenne, Porsche also planned to develop a stretched 7-seater version of the SUV in the same year that was also discarded at a later stage.

What are your thoughts on the Porsche Cayenne convertible? Let us know in the comments.

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